Volume 1 at Amazon Released November 1, 2004. ISBN 1401205194, 232 pages Volume 1 has three stories: A Thousand Kisses, Iron Klaus and Achillies' Last Stand.

A Thousand Kisses. Sadly the very first part is one of the parts I dislike most of the whole series. It is still worth reading, don't get me wrong, but hang in there and you will get to the really good stuff. We meet Caesar Gabriel, Sugar Plum and Leopard Solid. They're cute, interesting characters and we'll never meet them again after volume 1. However, we also meet "Apollo, with his magnificent locks of gold" - or Earl Dorian Red-Gloria, a.k.a. Eroica, the art thief. The Dorian of the first volume isn't quite as we get to know him in further parts either; he does evolve as a character. He is still our Dorian, bound and determined to get what is rightfully his. "I like beautiful things. I'm always searching all over the world for works of beauty to make them mine. And whatever I want, I get. It's my personal policy." - but in the first volume he shows a certain coldness and ruthlessness that only rarely crop up later. Of course, part of that might be that he concentrates his efforts on the wrong guy in this part; sweet Ceasar, rather than our handsome hunk of a hero - Klaus. Oh, I did mention that Dorian is gay, didn't I? I didn't? Well, he is. Gloriously so. He surrounds himself with his gang of thieves - all of them pretty young men who adores him.

Iron Klaus. Then part two starts, half a year later, and things gets more interesting at once. We meet Major Klaus Heinz von dem Eberbach. He works for NATO, the intelligence division, Bonn, West Germany. "The other side calls him 'Iron Klaus' out of respect and fear." He is tall and strong and handsome, with long, black hair and green eyes. He can shoot his Magnum one-handedly and, "I always accomplish my mission." To his help he has his 26 subordinates, the Alphabet: A, B, C, D and so on. Dorian and Klaus clashes from the start. "I have no intentions of letting you strip off my uniform." Klaus detests Dorian on sight and Dorian thinks Klaus a philistine without any sense for the beauty in the world. "I find you loathsome to even look at," Klaus tells Dorian. "The feeling is mutual," Dorian replies. And thus the Anglo-German war began ... Dorian steals paintings from Klaus, especially one The Man In Purple, portraying an ancestor of Klaus's. Klaus is determined to get it back. "It's my little policy to always finish off my enemies. I'll chase you to the ends of hell." He catches him too, in a way. Or Dorian catches him, one could also say. "Do you want to tear off my uniform and attack me?" Um ... sometimes Klaus overreacts just a tiny bit ... But eventually Dorian realizes that Klaus does appreciate beauty, albeit one of steel. He even starts seeing what Klaus sees in it - and promptly steals something very dear to Klaus ...

Achillies' Last Stand. In part three Dorian decides that he wants a handsome Achilles statue. "I have a right, you know, to own all things beautiful." Unfortunately, a microfilm is hidden under the statue's khiton ... Klaus is sent to retrieve it. He is not happy ... "I don't find it particularly agreeable to be looking under the skirts of men." (Noticeably, he doesn't seem to prefer looking under the skirts of women. And when Dorian compliments him and Klaus finds that worrying, Dorian asks if he would be happier if a woman had done so. Klaus's reply: "Equally worrying.") The agent responsible was promptly sent to Alaska (the fate of all agents who displeases Klaus).

When Dorian does steal the statue (and right before Klaus's nose too ...), Klaus has to hunt Dorian for it. Klaus is not very happy about this either. "You bloody fool! This time I'm going to get you!" He follows Dorian to Portugal. Only, Dorian's skinflint of an accountant, James, has prompted for Dorian to send Achilles with a cruiser ship - which gets seajacked during the journey and might get blown to smithereens. So now both Klaus and Dorian need to get aboard and save the Achilles. Dorian shows a strong side and gets into a fight with the seajackers. Of course, "If it has to be one way or the other, I'd say I'm a sadist. Although I don't particularly fancy beating people." Luckily, the Major is near and he does fancy beating people.

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