The Tower

AD 70: a group of Roman soldiers crossing the Sahara desert is destroyed by a ferocious and mysterious presence hidden in a solitary tower at the extreme borders of the sea of sand. The sole survivor, Etruscan seer Avile Vipinas, is inexplicably saved by the sound of his silver sistrum. Nineteen centuries later, young American scholar Philip Garrett discovers the house of Avile Vipinas in the underground ruins of Pompeii, sealed by the earthquake of 79 AD. Who is the ancient civilization, older than the oldest known, that created this tower? What is its purpose?

Valerio Massimo Manfredi is an archaeologist and scholar of the ancient Greek and Roman world. He is the author of 16 novels, which have won him literary awards and have sold 12 million copies. His Alexander trilogy has been translated into 38 languages and published in 62 countries and the film rights have been acquired by Universal Pictures. His novel The Last Legion was made into a film starring Colin Firth and Ben Kingsley and directed by Doug Lefler.