When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder—much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It’s hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing—not even a smear of blood—to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy? This is Clary’s first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It’s also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace’s world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know. . . . Exotic and gritty, exhilarating and utterly gripping, Cassandra Clare’s ferociously entertaining fantasy takes readers on a wild ride that they will never want to end.

卡桑德拉·克莱尔，出生于伊朗首都德黑兰，幼年时期经常跟随家人在全世界旅行。在一次前往喜马拉雅山脉的长途旅程中，刚学会走路的卡珊卓拉就在父亲的背包里生活了一整个月。这样的经历，使她自然地与书为友，十二岁时开始创作。

大学毕业后，卡桑德拉曾在好莱坞当过娱乐新闻记者，搬到纽约曼哈顿区后，这座城市的景观启发了她的灵感，驱使她写出生平第一部小说《骸骨之城》。她表示：“在童话故事中，魔法和冒险总是发生在城镇外的神秘黑森林里。我想要创造一个世界，其中的都市本身就变成黑暗森林——这些都会空间拥有其自身的魔力、危险、神秘及奇异的美丽。