Adventurer Ethan Gage travels through the darkest and most superstitious
realms of eighteenth century Europe, to the castles and caves of Bohemia
to rescue his family and uncover a mysterious medieval device rumored to
foretell the future.
Having quick-wittedly survived the battle of Trafalgar, Ethan is rushing
to rescue "Egyptian priestess" Astiza and son Harry from imprisonment by
a ruthless mystic who seeks revenge for disfigurement, and an evil dwarf
alchemist who experiments with the occult on Prague's Golden Lane.
Using death as his ruse, and a pair of unlikely allies--a Jewish
Napoleonic soldier and his sutler father--Ethan must decipher clues from
Durendal, the sword of Roland. Astiza uses her own research to concoct
an explosive escape and find a lost tomb, their tormentors in relentless
pursuit.
William Dietrich skillfully weaves intrigue and magic, romance and
danger in a historical thriller that sprints from the fury of Napoleonic
war to the mystic puzzles of Central Europe. What enigmas will the
fabled Brazen Head finally reveal?