In this first volume of the Night Angel trilogy, Azoth begins his apprenticeship to assassination specialist Durzo Blint and quickly learns that the perfect killer has no friends—only targets.

For Durzo Blint, assassination is an art-and he is the city's most accomplished artist, his talents required from alleyway to courtly boudoir.For Azoth, survival is precarious, something you never take for granted. As a guild rat, he's grown up in the slums and learned to judge people quickly-and to take risks. Risks like apprenticing himself to Durzo Blint.But to be accepted, Azoth must turn his back on his old life and embrace a new identity and name. As Kylar Stern, he must learn to navigate the assassins' world of dangerous politics and strange magics-and cultivate a flair for death.

Brent Weeks was born and raised in Montana. After getting his paper keys from HillsdaleCollege, Brent had brief stints walking the earth like Caine from Kung Fu, tending bar, and corrupting the youth. (Not at the same time.) He started writing on bar napkins, then on lesson plans, then full time. Eventually, someone paid him for it. Brent lives in Oregon with his wife, Kristi. He doesn't own cats or wear a ponytail.