The Venetian Betrayal

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Locating Alexander the Great's final resting place-- unknown to this day-- remains a tantalizing goal for both archaeologists and treasure hunters. Now the quest for this coveted prize is about to heat up. After narrowly escaping a fire that consumes a Danish museum, Cotton Malone-- former U.S. Justice Department agent turned rare book dealer-- learns from his friend, the beguiling adventurer Cassiopeia Vitt, that the blaze was part of a campaign of arson intended to mask a more diabolical design. From the ashes of the U.S.S.R., a new nation has arisen: the Central Asian Federation. At it's helm is Supreme Minister Irina Zovastina, a cunning despot with the single-minded desire to surpass Alexander the Great as history's ultimate conqueror. The Federation has amassed a harrowing arsenal of biological weapons, and only one thing keeps Zovastina from setting in motion her death march of domination: a miraculous healing serum, kept secret by and ancient puzzle and buried with the mummified remains of Alexander the Great- in a tomb lost to the ages for more than 1,500 years. Together, Cotton and Cassiopeia must outrun and outthink the forces allied against them in order to unravel a riddle whose solution could destroy or save millions of people-- depending on who finds the lost tomb first.