A sacrifice may cost a man his soul—and doom all of humanity—in this epic historical fantasy where angels and demons wage war on Earth. The world that the former monk Thomas Neville knows is crumbling about him. The Holy Mother Church of Rome is losing its power and men are coming to question the nature of religion and the role of those who rule them by sword and cross. It is not merely the dawning of a new time for men to try to think and judge for themselves but a result of the rift in the fabric of the world, where demons have escaped their prison and are trying to breach the very gates of heaven. The great archangel Michael gave Thomas the task to find the demons dwelling in human form and expose their evil natures. To accomplish this, he had to turn his back on one set of vows and return to his noble connections. In doing so, he reunites with his childhood friend Harold Bollinbroke, the fair young "Prince Hal" —who might be more (or less) than he seems. And he meets the fair young Margaret, an enigmatic beauty who he takes to wife—not out of love, but as a means to discover if she is one of those who would destroy mankind. Old friends, a new love, and temptations that will try his conscience. And his soul. For Thomas is beginning to think that all that he knows may not be true. Faced with mortal love and friendships that he desperately wants and fears, he knows that time is growing short. And the choice that he makes will reshape the world.