Summer, 304 AD. Aelius Spartianus, historian and envoy, is researching the nearly two hundred year-old unsolved drowning of Emperor Hadrians male favorite, Antinous. Soon he finds himself embroiled in murder and mystery involving a lost letter by Hadrian, mentioning a grave threat to the State, whose details are supposedly hidden in Antinous grave. Aelius begins to investigate, puzzled that someone might want to keep secret an ancient conspiracy. In a province racked by civil unrest, Aelius embarks in a double search: for Antinous final resting place, and those who have killed for the mysterious document hidden in it. Internationally renowned and critically acclaimed author Ben Pastor brings her thematic skill to bear in this new historical mystery. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

In A.D. 304, the historian Aelius Spartianus steps into a conspiracy spanning centuries in Pastor's satisfyingly convoluted historical, which ranges from Egypt to the villas and back alleys of imperial Rome. Researching a biography of the deified Hadrian, Aelius is curious about the drowning death of Antinous, the emperor's favored male consort. The historian learns of a letter from Hadrian, which hints at a plot against the empire, that may be interred with the youth in an unknown grave. A source soon suffers Antinous's watery fate in the Nile, and attempts on Aelius's life quicken. Pastor (Liar Moon) bases her characters, even Aelius, on historical personages and weaves strong threads of contemporary gay culture, Christian suppression and the Jewish revolt into an elaborately detailed canvas. As the search for Antinous's grave narrows, red herrings abound. The shadowy conspiracy against Rome ought to resonate powerfully with readers today. (Mar.) Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information