The Devil's Pawn

A showmans fate is in the hands of the devil in an enthralling novel inspired by the Faust legend from the bestselling author of the Hangmans Daughter series. Rome, 1518. The church is tarnished by greed. Peasants are rebelling. Tumultuous times demand drastic recoursebefore the devil gets his due. Johann Faust is a renowned magician, astrologer, and chiromancer traveling through Germany with his successful troupe: the orphaned juggler Greta and his loyal companion Karl. The avaricious Pope Leo X now requires Johanns services to replenish the papacys drained coffers through alchemy. But the devil, with whom a regretful Johann once agreed to an unholy trade for fame, wants something else. Racked with paralyzing seizures, Johann fears that his debt is nearer to being settled. In France, Johann hopes for answers from an eminent new friend who could hold the key to his torment, body, and soul. For the celebrated artist, inventor, and anatomist Leonard da Vinci is suffering from the same accursed malady. Time is not on his side either. Now they all must outrun the devil, and the more human threats of the papal henchmen, before Johann is dragged straight to hellalong with everyone he holds dear.