Tournament of Shadows

A Detour Into Adventure In India In The Midst Of A Most Tragic Civil War

Series plot:

Follow Bill Sikes the Nineteenth Century Cat Burglar and Jewel Thief Extraordinaire as he corner’s India’s famous jewel market in 1856 while rumors of civil war circulates among the scared elite and the British Military secretly prepares to fight for their lives against a Wahhabist conspiracy to wage jihad. All as India careens into a bloody civil war and armies crash together in battlefields and sieges as the first state of the art rifle makes its appearance on the world’s stage and unleashes modern warfare as we know it: the Enfield Rifle.

This series is divided into the three books below.

View illustrations from the Tournament of Shadows series here

Book 1: A Necklace Worth Dying For

Plot: Follow Bill Sikes the Nineteenth Century Cat Burglar and Jewel Thief Extraordinaire as he hunts down and buys (or steals) the famous gems to reconstruct the legendary Prince Potemkin Necklace for Catherine The Great. Discover the tragic history behind each fabulous diamond, emerald, ruby, and pearls. Meet the people who died while wearing each curst gem. Follow the Jewish European gem merchant as he acquires the priceless gems to create the legendary necklace for Catherine’s famous Crimea junket. Witness the destruction of the court of the last Nawab of Bengal as the curst gems (and a greedy dragon) wreaks havoc. Follow Catherine’s epic journey across the newly captured Crimea as elite European diplomats and spies plot to either expose or else sabotage the geopolitical coup of the century. And meet the famous and infamous Prince Potemkin the mad architect of the Crimea Conquest which one hundred years later triggers the bloody Crimea War. Then follow Bill Sikes as he fights for his life in a modern day gladiatorial arena of a wily Indian Prince before trying to escape assassins to seize his cache of gems and jewels in a bank vault in Delhi to escape India before it explodes into civil war in 1857. Only to find himself trapped in Delhi as the Great Mutiny explodes!

Book 2: The Siege of Delhi

Plot: Follow Bill Sikes the Nineteenth Century Cat Burglar and Jewel Thief Extraordinaire as he finds himself trapped in Delhi as the Great Mutiny explodes into a civil war tearing India to pieces. As Delhi implodes into the chaos of war Sikes joins a dacoit named ‘Eddie’ to survive by creating a black market while colluding with Military Intelligence spies to acquire a Get-out-of-India-free’ carte blanche (or is it carte sable?). All as the notorious Irish Berserker John Nicholson relentlessly marches the Corp of Guides across the Punjab to besiege Delhi.

Book 3: The Dance of Destruction

Plot: Follow Bill Sikes the Nineteenth Century Cat Burglar and Jewel Thief Extraordinaire as he desperately tries to survive the Battle of Delhi as the full horrors of war are unleashed upon the Delhiwallahs. All as the architects of the civil war, both good and bad, both venal and noble, both mad and cowardly, both senile and tragic, as they face their judgement day as Delhi burns. Then follow the embattled Sikes as he runs of gauntlet of burning cities to get out of India only to be ensnared into the machinations of the notorious Rani of Jhansi as she desperately plays friends and foes alike against each other. Watch Jhansi burns as General Rose entertains Sikes for tea. Then follow the desperate Rani and General Tope as they lead the last tattered remains of the mutineers, deserters, holy jihadists, freedom fighters, adventurers, Peshwa pretenders, badmash, and desperadoes toward Gwalior for a final bloody showdown.

The Complete Trilogy: Books 1-3

Navigation: Home / Ages / Stories / Illustrations / J.E.F. Rose / Merchandise