Tormented Souls is one of the most brilliant and twisted stories ever written by the incomparable Clive Barker. At once brutal and erotic, brutal and astonishingly beautiful, it takes us into the heart of the legendary "first city" known as Primordium, a place of political upheaval, passionate encounters and astonishing acts of transformation. At the edges of this extravagant story lurks an ancient being known as the "Agonist" , which takes the pleas of a select few "Petitioners", transforming them through a combination of art, magic and pain into avatars of violence and vengeance. The story begins when a hitman named Zarles Kreiger commits a routine murder for hire. This act will lead him to two life-changing encounters: one with the daughter of his victim, the other with the Agonist himself. It is this connection of the human and the non-human that is at the center of this instantly captivating creation. With more knowledge and just as much development, Tormented Souls expands to become a portrait of Primordius himself with his hierarchies, his hidden secrets, his shifting power structure and - most of all what matters is his indelible character. A perfect example of what Barker calls "fantasy", Tormented Souls is something truly special, a story whose creative reach and sheer narrative power is evident on every page...