Jeremy is a sensitive teenager who is happy for his mother when she remarries. However, the sweet-talking man who is his new stepfather turns out to be a serpent in disguise -- hes a sadist and a pedophile, and it isnt long before he makes Jeremy his target. After months of horrific, systematic abuse, Jeremys mind becomes unstable and his thoughts turn vicious. He decides to murder his stepfather in order to get rid of him -- but the plan goes awry, and when he sabotages his stepfathers car, his mother also dies in the crash. Shocked and wracked by guilt, Jeremys reactions seem strange to the average onlooker. His brittle and bizarre behavior isnt just that of a grieving sons. This is when Ian, the free-spirited son of Jeremys stepfather, begins to suspect Jeremy of murder. He finds several clues that tie Jeremy to the crime, but in unearthing them, Ian also discovers the fact that Jeremy was abused. What should Ian do with his evidence? Caught in a moral dilemma -- between punishing a criminal and atoning for his fathers sins -- Ian begins to be haunted by lust for Jeremy. Is it lust, or is it love? Ian wonders whether he shares his fathers proclivities, and despite his best efforts, he is drawn into a passionate and painful relationship with Jeremy. A Cruel God Reigns is a true BL classic written by Hagio Moto, one of the founders of the BL genre. In seventeen intense volumes, A Cruel God Reigns traces both Jeremys and Ians journeys towards redemption. The story-telling is rich and unique, and the art is breathtaking. To this day, A Cruel God Reigns remains one of the most powerful BL epics ever written. - by The Pink Panzers Winner of the first Osamu Tezuka Cultural Prizes Award for Excellence.