The Rule

The Rule
Jack Colman

In Helvik, a single rule governs the people: ‘No person of Helvik may kill another person of Helvik. Any person who breaks this rule is no longer a person of Helvik.’

Gunnarr remembers a time before the rule, when blood feuds and petty rivalries led to endless death. In the days since, an uneasy peace has fallen over the town, and Gunnarr has made himself the man to enforce it.

When an innocent friend suffers from a breach of the rule, Gunnarr rushes to deal retribution. Too late, he discovers that what appeared a mindless act was actually something far more sinister. And now he has left his unborn child and family unprotected, just when they need him most.

A vast host of warriors is at the gates of Helvik, and with Gunnarr gone, nothing and no one stands against them…

The Rule

JACK COLMAN

HarperVoyager

An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

www.harpervoyagerbooks.co.uk (http://www.harpervoyagerbooks.co.uk)

First published in Great Britain by HarperVoyager 2015

Copyright © Jack Colman 2015

Cover photographs © Shutterstock.com;

Cover design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2015.

Jack Colman asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Digital eFirst: Automatically produced by Atomik ePublisher from Easypress.

Ebook Edition © March 2015 ISBN: 9780007593057

Version: 2015-03-05

Table of Contents

Cover (#uedad31a2-3a45-5cc0-9b5f-ed457c867e35)

Title Page (#ua43b0742-a96a-5913-821e-214acf51e9e9)

Copyright (#ucb528a03-1021-5c04-852d-bbb8a7ebd3b6)

Dedication (#uf56a573d-9dbd-52b3-9b96-854a14fdb918)

Prologue (#uefb0d1f7-1621-5b1a-aa55-5dc317b074a9)

Chapter One (#u520f577c-7567-5616-afbf-b123b4bacaf4)

Chapter Two (#u80730e8f-fc3c-586d-9c45-e98bc20d4b8d)

Chapter Three (#u44ab0ad7-96ec-5de0-b415-0d90b8eb7c6b)

Chapter Four (#u814951f3-5916-5285-b540-497f4b9c626d)

Chapter Five (#u906194ee-8eb9-5bcb-9226-5240d71e8e0d)

Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Fourteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Fifteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Sixteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Seventeen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eighteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Nineteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-One (#litres_trial_promo)