New York: Penguin, 2005. dj. Hardcover first edition - A highly praised debut novel, one which moves between the twelfth-century where a Sicilian cat burglar snatches a sack of artifacts from the king's geographer's library, and these alchemical tools and objects are soon scattered all over the world. Nine hundred years later that a young reporter investigating the suspicious death of a local professor stumbles upon evidence that someone is collecting them again. Alan Furst called this 'magnetic and sharply written, with excellent history, a strong narrative, and a mind of its own.' 374 pp. ISBN: 1594200386.