Publisher's Synopsis
Robert Grey is an ordinary man caught in extraordinary circumstances. He is about to "walk the plank" celebrating his 50th birthday and he has traveled to Venice, Italy, with his wife, Rachel, to resuscitate himself and his marriage. Venice is where he came of age twenty-seven years ago, and he hopes returning there will quiet the demons clamoring inside his head. But when he visits his old hotel, he tumbles through time and returns to the Venice of his youth. Rachel has disappeared, and his Euros and credit cards are useless. All seems lost until he meets Lucrezia Vicentino and her family. Robert embarks on a series of thrilling and frightening adventures. He attends secret festivals sponsored by the Vicentinos for the elite families of Venice. He helps Lucrezia face the jealousies of an ex-lover and threats from a rival family wanting to gain control of the festivals. But he also tumbles further back in time again, to the 18th century, where he makes a remarkable friendship and faces life-changing challenges. Somehow, Robert manages to return to Lucrezia's world, but he cannot find his way back to Rachel's, and the more he becomes involved with Lucrezia and her family, the less likely it seems that he ever will. Then, the spell-binding world Robert has entered turns violent, and he must run for his life.