Never before has Arturo Perez-Reverte attempted a work of such epic proportions; the sophisticated reader will discern in this novel masterfully played out echoes of almost all modern classics, from Patrick Suskind's Perfume to Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow. And at the same time, this is a return - on a qualitatively new level - to the ideas and themes stated by the Spanish master in his time-tested books, loved by millions of readers around the world, “The Dumas Club” and “Flemish Board”, “Drum Skin” and “ Map of the celestial sphere." “Technically, this is my most complex novel, with the most branching structure,” says Reverte. — The result of two years of work. It was like I was returning to my old novels twenty years later. There is political intrigue, espionage, investigation, a love story, naval battles, and adventures.” This is a book with many unexpected plot twists, there is a main secret, a conspiracy that can change the course of history; Here the beautiful mistress of a trading empire is trying to rescue a captured ship with valuable cargo and sort out her feelings for a dashing captain with a privateering patent, and a ruthless police officer is trying to find an elusive killer of young girls armed with an iron whip and win a game of chess near death.