Publisher's Synopsis
Why would MI6 and an Islamist intelligence team both be intent on seizing a Templar medallion, recently acquired by Etruscan scholar Tom Burns? Unbeknownst to him, as he travels with it to Rome seeking to win back the heart of the young aristocrat Flavia Dacia, his every move is being monitored by the British Secret Service. In parallel, Flavia's latest monograph on the Knights Templar has drawn a Hizbollah team to her, in the terrorist group's search for the missing Fata Medallion needed to open the Devil's Doors, under Jerusalem's Temple Mount. Behind them lies the Ark of the Covenant, whose power Hizbollah hopes to harness against the infidel West. Through the use of conjurations, anagrams and the knowledge imparted to them by the Order of the Society of Jesus, Tom and Flavia manage to unlock the significance of the medallion but, in the meantime, need to avoid the constant attempts to seize their prize. Initially set in Italy, the action moves at a fast pace to medieval cities and mystical sites in Spain, building up historic context along the way and also enabling the two main protagonists to work out their feelings for one another. Hanging in the balance, to the very end, are both the possession of the medallion and their very survival.
