The labyrinthine world of Elizabethan power is laid bare and the Gloriana vision of Queen Elizabeth’s reign is rubbed tout to reveal an England which is politically unstable and religiously divided.  A country under siege from foreign enemies and home-grown religious radicals. A Protestant state trying to anchor itself in choppy waters on the edge of a largely Catholic continent.

The Pope declares Queen Elizabeth a heretic and unleashes half a century of plots, armadas and eternal Catholic hopes for regime change. To combat this onslaught Queen Elizabeth looks to a father and son team to keep her safe – they are her spymasters and between them they will establish a secret state with tendrils reaching into Catholic conspiracies at home and abroad. It will keep her safe, secure the state, and darken the souls and bloody the hands of its masters.