Six months after teen savant Maxine Schooling helped the CID capture the Singapore Spectre, she has been once again roped into a murder investigation. An unrelated grouping of people is being killed by what witnesses can only refer to as a vampire. At the same time, Max meets a former colleague of her parents, who can potentially give her clues to whoever killed her family and put her in a coma. Reader Reviews: “Ning Cai is a wonder.” –Neil Gaiman, internationally celebrated author of The Sandman and The Ocean at the End of the Lane “Smart and funny, Max is exactly the best kind of companion to travel with through this clever, high-octane thriller. After the first book, I was hooked, and this second instalment in the series doesn’t disappoint. This is Max coming into her own. More please!” –Jane McKie, author of Kitsune and senior lecturer, University of Edinburgh “Maxine Schooling is the funny, curious, kick-ass best friend you always wanted, in a twisty, action-packed adventure that grabs you from the first page. Manipulation has never been so much fun!” –Jane Alexander, award-winning author of A User's Guide to Make-Believe “Ning Cai’s writing has the drama and invention one might expect from a former star performer in the world of magical illusion. Her stories unfold at pace with numerous surprising twists, all carefully planned, one feels, not to trick the reader but to entertain, which she does not only ‘in spades’, but all the suits in a deck of cards.” –Robert Alan Jamieson, author of Plague Clothes