Bronzeville, 1939. The jazz is hot, the streets are colder, and death wears a painted smile.
 
Richard Wentworth was a soldier once—now he’s just a man with too much money, too many secrets, and no faith left in the system. But when a series of grisly murders leaves victims posed like marionettes, their mouths carved into grotesque grins, Wentworth digs deeper—and uncovers a truth so ugly it can only wear a mask.
 
They call him The Clown—a criminal mastermind cloaked in greasepaint and chaos. He's not just killing for sport—he's building a circus of crime, pulling Chicago’s underworld into a twisted spectacle of fear, performance, and blood. And every act leads back to Bronzeville’s elite, where power is just another illusion behind the curtain.
Wentworth knows the law won’t touch this. So he becomes something else.
 
The Spider. A mark in red. A creed of vengeance. And a warning to those who think justice is a joke.
 
But shadows move in more than one dimension. As the case spirals out of control, a mysterious woman named Jenny Everywhere appears—her presence cryptic, her timing too perfect. She knows things no one should. Things about other realities. Other battles. Other versions of this war.
 
Richard’s not ready for that. Not yet.
 
Because this isn’t about gods or time fractures.
Not yet.
This is personal.
And The Spider is just getting started.