Author Description

Have the ancient gods abandoned Rome for good? After a brutal career running intelligence for multiple Roman emperors, Marcus Numidianus can almost taste the pleasures of retirement to his Constantinople garden. He tackles one last task as spy chief-to escort Goth fighters begging Emperor Valens for imperial sanctuary from the encroaching Huns. But the Danube River crossing of tens of thousands of barbarian refugees disintegrates into slave-trading, starvation, and assassination by corrupt border officers. In the confusion, one of Marcus' high-stakes hostages disappears and his best agent is seized. Marcus searches for them across Goth-ravaged Thrace as Valens' peace deal with his barbarian 'recruits' collapses due to double-dealing on both sides. Instead of a well-earned pension, Numidianus faces a debacle threatening the Valentinian dynasty and even the Empire to which the battered freedman has devoted three decades of service. The Farewell of the Gods is the long-awaited final volume in the ground-breaking 4th century espionage series, the Embers of Empire, which has delighted fans of Bernard Cornwall, Steven Saylor, and Robert Harris.