Opening sentence: Firelight on the faces of the villagers showed their lust for the burning.
A follow-up to the
best-selling art-history thriller “The Witch of Babylon,” this sophomore novel
is a sophisticated, literary thriller, rich in both modern European culture and
centuries-old book history.
John’s quest takes him
through libraries and bookstores that will garner the envy of every
bibliophile. Each city he visits is infused with colour and life, from the
rain-washed roads of London to a sun-drenched Naples marketplace.
Landscapes parallel and enhance the action, whether angry seas on a rocky shore
or the barren, sulfurous plain of the Solfatara volcano. A hint of the
paranormal is as chilling as the inky waters of the Thames.
A new character is
almost the antithesis of the cultured, book-loving John, and equally skilled in
his own, very different sphere. An unexpected twist dramatically raises the
stakes, drawing John into a second and even more deadly search. The two quests
intertwine in the hands of a masterful storyteller. This is a gripping and
literate race against evils old and new, from New York
across continental Europe and into the sands of Mesopotamia.
Penguin, 2013
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