Publisher's Synopsis
Five stories set in the1660's Paris Underworld involving a young orphan pickpocket trying to survive in a criminal enclave. If only he were as competent at his trade as he believes himself to be. Plus, four stories set in 1850s Chechnya following an Armenian trader of Turkic goods and his Nogai servant as they depart the Cossack cordon along the Terek River headed south into the Wild Country, a land of hill tribes warring against Russian expansion. One mishap could earn them an unmarked grave.
