The Nightshade Chronicles Series

The Nightshade Chronicles series is about a civilisation super intelligent and long lived rats. It consists of three books:
 * Book One: Nightshade City
 * Book Two: The White Assassin
 * Book Three: Lords of Trillium

Main Characters
The main characters throughout the series consists of Juniper and Billycan.

Nightshade City Preview


Deep beneath a modern metropolis lies the Catacombs, the kingdom of mutant rats of superior intellect. Following a bloody coup, the once peaceful democracy has become a dictatorship, ruled by decadent High Minister Kildeer and vicious Billycan, a demented former lab rat and now head of the Kill Army. Three young orphan rats--brothers Vincent and Victor and a clever female named Clover--rebel against the Ministry, joining forces with Juniper, Billycan's archenemy. Juniper and his maverick bank of followers, helped by a tribe of earthworms, plot to overthrow their oppressors and liberate the citizens to create a new city: Nightshade City. This impossible-to-put-down animal fantasy, set in a brilliantly imagined subterranean world, explores timeless themes of freedom, forgiveness, the bonds of family, and the power of love.

The White Assassin Preview
Book II of the Nightshade Chronicles begins three years after Juniper and his rebel band of rats liberate the Catacombs and defeat their oppressors. A sense of peace has settled over Nightshade City, but it is a false one. Billycan, the white assassin, has been found. Deep in the southern swamps, he now rules a primitive horde of savage swamp rats eager to overrun Nightshade City and claim it for their king. With the help of an ancient colony of bats and an uneasy alliance with the swamp snakes, Juniper and his Council set out to thwart Billycan's plans. When an old secret is revealed--one so shocking it shakes both Billycan and Juniper to the core--the fate of Nightshade City and the life of Juniper's only son depend on Juniper's decision: should he help his mortal enemy? The past resurfaces with devastating impact in this exciting sequel to  Nightshade City, a dark tale on intrigue, deception, and betrayal.

Lords of Trillium Preview


When the albino rat Billycan left Trillium at the end of The White Assassin, he fled to the island of Tosca. There, here learns that a former ally, working undercover in Nightshade City, is plotting to free Killdeer's imprisoned evil generals and seize power. He races back to Trillium to join in the coup -- but on which side? So begins the gripping conclusion to Hilary Wagner's Nightshade Chronicles. But something even more sinister is afoot in Trillium City. Rats are disappearing, and so Juniper leads a search party topside, where they discover that Prince Pharmaceuticals, the insidious corporation that tortured so many rats, is back in business, still searching for the secret of Trillium rats' incredible intelligence and longevity. The fate of the Nightshade rats is in Billycan's hands, but can he be trusted? Can he use his connection to the human scientists to ensure the safety of the Lords of Trillium forever?