Author Description

Product Description In January 532, mobs rule Constantinople, capital of the Roman Empire. Against a murderous backdrop lit by raging fires, John, chamberlain to Emperor Justinian, must find those seeking to use the Nika Riots to dethrone the emperor. Porphyrius, the most famous charioteer of his time, may know more than he tells about the mysterious disappearance of two men under imperial guard. What role is being played by a pair of brothers with a distant claim on the throne? Does a headstrong young girl hold the key to the mystery? With the fate of the empire at stake, will General Belisarius and his armed troops side with the rioters or remain loyal to Justinian? To some the riots portend the end of the empire; to others the end of the world itself. John must untangle a web of intrigue in a city where death holds court at every corner. About the Author Mary Reed and Eric Mayer, husband and wife, published several short stories in anthologies and in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. Their first full-length novel, One for Sorrow, featuring John the Lord Chamberlain, appeared in 1999 and began the mystery series that won the 2005 Glyph Award for Best Book Series. The American Library Association's Booklist magazine in 2003 named the series as one of its four Best Little-Known Series.Simon Prebble, a British-born performer, is a stage and television actor and veteran narrator of some three hundred audiobooks. As one of AudioFile's Golden Voices, he has received over twenty Earphones Awards and won the prestigious Audie in 2010. He lives in New York.