in this exciting sequel to The Heretic …

• It is 1478 at the very peak of the Italian Renaissance in Florence.
• Benjamin and Esther Catalán are young Jews who have escaped the claws of the Spanish Inquisition and are brought to Florence under the patronage and protection of Lorenzo de Medici, the wealthiest and most powerful man in Europe.
• Their promising future is threatened, however, by a plot to murder Lorenzo and his brother Giuliano, a conspiracy organized by Pope Sixtus IV in Rome.
• As the fast-paced plot moves forward, Benjamin and Esther’s often heroic struggle to build their new lives is set against the evolving progress of the Pope’s plan.
• Esther Catalán, a woman unlike any other ever seen in Florence, shows blazing intelligence and engaging style as she sets the Catalán Press on a path to print previously unpublished works of Plato and the Jewish Talmud. Her friendship with Lucrezia de Medici, mother of Lorenzo and Giuliano, offers a unique look into the lives of one of the most famous families in history.
• Benjamin Catalán surprises Lorenzo with his boldness and political acumen. He develops a close friendship with Giuliano, involving football, hawking and hunting with a cheetah.
• Both Benjamin and Esther become integral participants in the cultured and opulent Medici inner circle even as they seek to re-make their Jewish life in an environment that resembles the anti-Jewish furor they experienced in Spain.
• Directed from the Vatican, the net around Lorenzo and Giuliano tightens. Rumors of a possible attack are reported by Medici spies.
• Benjamin joins with the Medici family to try to thwart the conspiracy.
• Lorenzo refuses to believe the Holy Father is brazen enough to attempt murder almost to the day the would-be assassins arrive in Florence.