Publisher's Synopsis
The magic of the ancient Maya comes to life in a modern world. Consider the consequences! The ancestor spirits of the Maya underworld, Xibalba, crafted a golden disc to honour Venus, their goddess of death. As powerful as it is mysterious, the disc with its golden chain, not only cures sickness throughout the village, but heals injury and prevents aging in its lord. Manipulating the disc triggers transference to Xibalba, and thus, a vanishing: invisibility in the earthly world. Needing a ruler for their Yucatan village of Witz Balam, the ancestors attract a worthy wanderer who is on a vision quest. Drawing him into their cave -- the entrance to Xibalba -- they select him as first Lord of the Disc and name him King Smoke Jaguar. Virtually immortal, the king rules for centuries until disaster strikes, leaving him and his priests and nobles, crushed, trapped, buried at the foot of the temple pyramid. After a millennium, an illegal drug processing operation takes over the site. With the only access by small plane, pilots are hired. Carter Boyle is one of them. Boyle is a likable rogue of dubious values, but he gets caught in a betrayal and is locked up at the ruins. Though wounded and miserable, he gets lucky. In an escape attempt, he uncovers a subterranean passage under the floor of his cell. Exploring the passage, he stumbles onto the ancient -- yet still living -- King Smoke Jaguar. Spotting the Venus Disc and seeing only gold, Boyle rips it free and throws it around his neck. Then, after a vicious fall down the passage's damp steps, the disc's healing magic saves him. He soon learns its invisibility trick along with the often-horrifying consequences of manipulating it. Boyle manages to escape with the disc, though only just before a rival cartel attacks and destroys the operation. Reluctantly, the spirits of Xibalba accept and worship Boyle as the new Lord of the Disc, but submit him to their trials in the Maya houses of Fire, Knives, and Ice. He succeeds, though not with the result he imagines. The disc wards off death, but it also enhances the traits of its lord. In an enlightened king, that can be extraordinary. Not so with Boyle. He becomes a silent, unseen killer bent on revenge. Without the disc's protection, Smoke Jaguar disintegrates. His spirit, however, appears in a ritual to high school teacher Hector Perez. Hector receives visions of Witz Balam and the Venus Disc and learns he is Smoke Jaguar's 24-times great grandson. As such, he is now rightful owner of the disc and heir to the Witz Balam throne. Eventually, Boyle faces off against Hector, who must fight to claim the disc and -- at Smoke Jaguar's command -- rebuild Witz Balam; which, because of the disc's magic, has since become the archaeological dig of the century.
