Thomas Lourds ventures to Istanbul University in Turkey to examine artifacts never before seen by Western scholars. He's barely off the plane before he's kidnapped by ruthless people who leave a string of dead bodies in their wake. They want Lourds to translate coded writings that they hope will lead them to a lost scroll authored by John of Patmos – the same John who wrote the Book of Revelation in the Bible. The writings on the scroll might bring about the end of the world – or might stop it. They might even raise the Devil himself – but there are signs that the Devil has already risen and that he is very interested in Thomas Lourds. No one knows for sure what will happen if the scroll is found, decoded, and translated, but several powerful men are seeking it, and they will stop at nothing to get it. And one of those people has ties to the US government, ties that lead directly to the White House. Before he knows it, Thomas Lourds is in over his head, dodging spies, crooks, and bullets. He needs help to stay alive – and he has it in the form of a beautiful but deadly Irish Republican Army operative, and in his old flame, Olympia Adnan. Can they navigate the secrets hidden in ancient Istanbul 's most secret depths before they are killed? Or will they be too late to stop the terrible workings of the Devil himself before he can bring the world down around them?