In 323 B.C.E, having conquered Persia, Alexander the Great
set his sights on Arabia, then suddenly succumbed to a
strange fever. Locating his final resting place–unknown to
this day–remains a tantalizing goal for both
archaeologists and treasure hunters. Now the quest for
this coveted prize is about to heat up. And Cotton Malone–
former U.S. Justice Department agent turned rare-book
dealer–will be drawn into an intense geopolitical chess
game.
After narrowly escaping incineration in a
devastating fire that consumes a Danish museum, Cotton
learns from his friend, the beguiling adventurer
Cassiopeia Vitt, that the blaze was neither an accident
nor an isolated incident. As part of campaign of arson
intended to mask a far more diabolical design, buildings
across Europe are being devoured by infernos of unnatural
strength.
And from the ashes of the U.S.S.R., a new
nation has arisen: Former Soviet republics have
consolidated into the Central Asian Federation. At its
helm is Supreme Minister Irina Zovastina, a cunning despot
with a talent for politics, a taste for blood sport, and
the single-minded desire to surpass Alexander the Great as
history’s ultimate conqueror.
Backed by a secret cabal
of powerbrokers, the Federation has amassed a harrowing
arsenal of biological weapons. Equipped with the hellish
power to decimate other nations at will, only one thing
keeps Zovastina from setting in motion her death march of
domination: a miraculous healing serum, kept secret by an
ancient puzzle and buried with the mummified remains of
Alexander the Great–in a tomb lost to the ages for more
than 1,500 years.
Together, Cotton and Cassiopeia
must outrun and outthink the forces allied against them.
Their perilous quest will take them to the shores of
Denmark, deep into the venerated monuments of Venice, and
finally high inside the desolate Pamir mountains of
Central Asia to unravel a riddle whose solution could
destroy or save millions of people–depending on who finds
the lost tomb first.
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