The perfume of old books and the smell of danger...

Publisher Alex Plumtree is in for the most astounding week of his life. First he comes into possession of a rare, centuries-old book, rumored destroyed on orders of King Edward IV. Then he receives an undreamed-of honor: an invitation to join a select society of book collectors...who are also some of the most powerful men and women in England.

But Alex's triumph quickly turns sour. The book vanishes from Alex's office. His initiation weekend with the Dibdin Club is rife with bizarre behavior, appalling accidents-and a death that sends Alex reeling. He quickly begins to suspect that his valuable find is even more than it seemed on first glance. For hidden in its pages is a shocking secret that could change the history of books forever...as well as the face of the modern world. And there are people-and foreign powers-who would do anything to keep this secret from coming to light.

All Alex has to do is figure out what that secret is. If he can stay alive long enough.