Friday, May 06, 2011

Pg. 69: Robert Masello's "The Medusa Amulet"

The current feature at the Page 69 Test: The Medusa Amulet by Robert Masello.

About the book, from the publisher:
Benvenuto Cellini—the master artisan of Renaissance Italy: goldsmith, sculptor ... necromancer. Creator of a beautifully carved amulet that was once the proud possession of popes and princes, queens and conquerors. A work of unimaginable power ... and menace.

In this new spine-tingling thriller by Robert Masello, the critically acclaimed and bestselling author of Blood and Ice, the quest to recover a legendary artifact—and plumb its secrets—depends upon one man: David Franco, a brilliant but skeptical young scholar at Chicago’s world-renowned Newberry Library.

What begins as a simple investigation quickly spirals into a twisting, turning tale of suspense and intrigue, a race against time that carries Franco across continents and centuries in a desperate search for the ultimate treasure—and an answer to a riddle that has puzzled mankind since the beginning of time.

Aided only by a beautiful young Florentine with a conspirator’s mind and dark secrets, Franco is soon caught up in a life-and-death struggle from which there is no escape. Relentlessly pursued by deadly assassins and demons of his own, in the end he must confront—and defeat—an evil greater than anything conjured in his worst nightmares.

Packed with breathtaking invention and breakneck adventure, The Medusa Amulet is a harrowing ride from the streets of Chicago to the châteaux of France, from the ramparts of the French Revolution to the palazzos of Rome, a story where historical fact meets with fascinating conjecture ... and the impossible becomes terrifyingly real. Like a masterpiece from the hand of Cellini himself, The Medusa Amulet is a unique and powerful work, as inviting as it is forbidding, as ingenious as it is bold.
Learn more about the book and author at Robert Masello's website.

The Page 69 Test: Blood and Ice.

The Page 69 Test: The Medusa Amulet.

--Marshal Zeringue