As an antique map dealer in a small English town, Harry Blake appreciates the quiet life. But when a local landowner asks him to value a 400 year old journal and twelve hours later he is brutally murdered, Harry's peace of mind is shattered. What does the dusty journal contain that is a matter of life or death? Why is someone prepared to pay Harry a fortune to steal it? He turns to marine historian Zola Khan to uncover the mysteries. The trail of the journal leads him into a world of deadly Elizabethan conspiracies, and the thread of history takes him through a thousand years of religious intrigue back to the blood-soaked Crusades. And he finally learns that at stake are millions of dollars and a plan to trigger nothing less than war...