John M. Ford's Men of the Night is an extraordinary novel about the game of intelligence and human treachery, weaving past and present in an atmosphere of suspense. Nicholas Hansard is a talented historian from a small college in New England. This is the external part of his career, but the hidden part consists of working for the White Group - a “research and advisory agency” with shadow connections in the government. In collaboration with them, Hansard exposes the secrets of old and new documents - and proves himself to be a brilliant codebreaker. But profitable work has many pitfalls. Thanks to her, it turns out that one of Hansard’s friends and colleagues, Dr. Allan Berenson, is a Russian spy. And then Berenson dies under mysterious circumstances. Shocked, Hansard escapes into the world of literature and immerses himself in the study of an ancient manuscript that may have been written by Christopher Marlowe himself. The scientist is sure: nowhere can one more reliably hide from the dark secrets and murders of our time than in a lost play 400 years ago... Never before had he been so mistaken. “People of the Night” is a novel in the spirit of British spy thrillers of the mid-century, without fantastic assumptions, but with a lost play by Christopher Marlowe at the center of the story. From a marketing point of view, this is a book on the level of The Name of the Rose. Suffice it to say: “We have a damn brilliant writer who in his book combined high culture with low culture.” – Neil Gaiman “Blending modernity with Renaissance intrigue, this novel is part of the rediscovered legacy of World Fantasy Award-winning Ford...Ford turns historical speculation about Marlowe and the plot to assassinate Queen Elizabeth into a bizarre blend of death-game and high-tech— into something that will appeal to both fans of spy novels and connoisseurs of alternative genres.” - Publishers Weekly "Full of dark humor and fast-paced action, with a certain cosmopolitan weight and savvy about ethics and utilitarianism, there is nothing superfluous in this book: just an alternation of touching and dramatic scenes with angry action." – Locus “Direct entry into the world of death and betrayal. Ford's fine art work is subtle and complex." – THE MYSTERY FANcier “The plot has a touch of Tom Clancy, but the style is all John M. Ford. In the novel, all the necessary elements of a thriller are collected into a more or less familiar scheme, but they are built at such a strange angle that they form something completely different.” – Science Blogs “A wonderful kaleidoscope of imagination.” – Paul Anderson “Extraordinary...both original and dazzling.” – The Cleveland Plain Dealer