Two months have passed since Jonathan Starling discovered Darkside, a secret borough of London, and clues to his family’s past. Determined to find out more about his mother Theresa’s disappearance and protect his recovering father Alain, Jonathan opted to return to the strange world shortly after being rescued along with another boy from the bounty hunter Marianne and her associates. Since then, he has been staying with Elias Carnegie, a wereman detective, who was an old friend of Jonathan’s mother. Jonathan is often taken along during Carnegie’s cases, where the teen learns just how shady the genteel of Darkside can be.

One day, Carnegie receives a message from a reporter at The Darkside Informer, the only newspaper in Darkside. When they arrive at the Informer, Jonathan meets Arthur Blake and editor-in-chief Lucien Fox. Jonathan is surprised to learn that his mother also worked as a reporter at the Informer. The star reporter asks for Carnegie’s assistance in investigating an unsolved, rather gruesome murder committed a few days earlier. Arthur is disturbed by the case, not only in the way in which the victim appears to have been killed (as though by wild animals), but because of the startling similarity to a cold case from 12 years before.

The victim’s name was James Arkel, who was later revealed to be a Ripper. Jonathan learns of the Blood Succession --- a twisted rite of passage in which the secret heirs to the Ripper throne, upon the death of its current ruler, reveal who they truly are and engage in a deadly duel in Lightside. Whoever survives is considered to be the successor to the Darkside throne. At the time of Arkel’s death, however, there was not supposed to be Blood Succession. So who would have been so bold as to uncover and kill a Ripper?

As the investigative team begins their search, they are led to the Cain Club, where another possible link to the murder victims is uncovered. Meanwhile, their old acquaintance Raquella seeks their assistance with a mystery of her own. As the clues begin to piece together, a possible connection between the Arkel case and Jonathan’s mother’s disappearance is revealed. Unfortunately, Jonathan may not be able to discover the truth as he finds himself a target once again.

Suspense-driven with rare moments of wicked humor, LIFEBLOOD provides plenty of surprises as readers who enjoyed the first book in Tom Becker’s page-turning series discover more secrets of Darkside’s shady residents.