The Mayan Empire is at its peak, the last mighty roar before its cataclysmic fall, and there are no Central American people, however small and nomadic their tribe, that remain free of its murderous grasp. When his people are massacred and Jaguar Paw captured he, with the remnants of his tribe, begins a long and merciless journey to the Mayan capital, a place due to be his last, brief, bloody home. But the knowledge of the survival of his wife and child wills Jaguar on to become more than just an find out more...

(Fictitious) ambitious Austro-Hungarian Crown Prince Leopold is politically advantageously engaged to beautiful Hungarian aristocrat Sophie, but her heart is set on an old teenage flame, the illusionist Eisenheim. The story is seen through the eyes of Leopold's protegee police inspector Uhl, whose surveillance duties include 'protecting' Sophie. Telling you too much of the intriguing plot would spoil the story but trust me - it's very good. Clues are discreetly there, the characters developed, t find out more...