Where are the symbols coming from? What do they mean? Why have they appeared in an Egyptian tomb, a Peruvian palace, and a shape created by a fakir's snakes? Could they be related to the astounding disaster at Stonehenge? Dr. Gatsby Donovan's work at the British Museum has made her an expert in decoding ancient writings, but this archeolinguistic puzzle is the greatest challenge of her life. Will her empiricism unearth the answers, or are they secreted within the very manuscript that she dare not decipher? With the help of Cambridge archeologist Martin Traussbery, Gatsby resolves to break the code--unsure whether she is deciphering a shared hallucination or perception itself--and finds herself dangling from the ledge of everything she once believed about reality.