Hand of the Executioner (City of Chains #1)

All the heroes are dead.

Adelstrad's walls have withstood the northern barbarians and their dark gods for centuries, overseen by the tyrannical Nameless Barons. Not even the dead are safe from the corpse alchemists and their hunger for bodies in this land where life is cheap and only the strong survive.

None dare ask where Viktor the Executioner came from or what sin got him sentenced to wear the black hood. Both the elites and the crime guilds stay clear of him and his menacing axe, but Victor is no one’s slave. He merely bides his time until he can break his chains.

Escape may come sooner than expected. A vicious gang boss with a seething vendetta against Viktor is smuggling a magical explosive with the power to murder thousands into the city. Terrified of what she might do, the nobles dangle a pardon in Viktor's face. The freedom he’s always sought could be his at last, if he makes himself useful…

A dark fantasy epic for fans of Game of Thrones and The Witcher, Hand of the Executioner is the beginning of a new series of blood, vengeance, and the cost of freedom.