The Witch of Babylon: Book One In The Mesopotamian Trilogy

Out of the searing heat and sand storms of Baghdad's infamous summer of 2003 comes a gripping tale rooted in ancient Mesopotamian lore and its little-known but profound significance for the world. John Madison is a Turkish-American art dealer raised by his much older brother Samuel, a respected Mesopotamian scholar. Caught between Samuel's obsession with saving a priceless relic looted from Iraq's National Museum and a deadly game of revenge staged by his childhood friend, John must solve a puzzle to find the link between a modern-day witch and an ancient one. Aided by Tomas, an archaeologist, and Ari, an Iraqi photojournalist - two men with their own secrets to hide - John races against time to decipher a Biblical prophecy that leads to the dark history behind the science of alchemy: Is the notion of turning lead into gold possible after all? Against his will, John returns to Iraq where a fabulous treasure trove awaits discovery and where the truth behind a famous story the world believes to be a myth is finally revealed. Out of the searing heat and sandstorms of the infamous summer of 2003 in Baghdad comes The Witch of Babylon, a gripping story rooted in ancient Assyrian lore and its little-known but profound significance for the world. John Madison is a Turkish-American art dealer raised by his much older brother, Samuel, a mover and shaker in New York's art world. Caught between his brother's obsession with saving a priceless relic looted from Iraq's National Museum and a deadly game of revenge staged by his childhood friend, John must solve a puzzle to find the link between a modern-day witch and an ancient one. Aided by Tomas, an archaeologist, and Ari, an Iraqi photojournalist-two men with their own secrets to hide-John races against time to unearth the dark history behind the old science of alchemy: Is the notion of turning lead into gold possible after all? Against his will John is taken back to Iraq. Awaiting him is a fabulous underground treasure trove and the truth behind a famous story the world believes is only a myth. John needs to unearth the dark history behind the old science of alchemy while trying to survive through a deadly game set up by an old childhood friend. The Witch of Babylon features John Madison, a New York art dealer caught up in the aftermath of the looting of the Baghdad Museum. It includes an elaborate puzzle that must be solved in order to locate a missing biblical antiquity and a spectacular lost treasure, as well as alchemy, murder, and the Mesopotamian cult of Istar. Alternating between war-torn Baghdad and New York, with forays into ancient Mesopotamian culture, The Witch of Babylon takes readers deep inside the world of Assyriology and its little-known but profound significance for the modern world. John Madison, a Turkish-American art dealer, is trying to solve a puzzle: to find the link between a modern day witch and an ancient one. Aided by Tomas, an archeologist, and Ari, an Iraqi photojournalist - two men with their own secrets to hide - John races against time to unearth the dark history behind the old science of alchemy: Is the notion of turning lead into gold possible after all? The truth lies in Iraq. This is a thriller inspired by the looting of the Baghdad museum Samuel dies in a car accident, while his brother John lives through it with minor injuries. Six weeks later, family friend Hal dies from an overdose and John discovers that Hal stole from Samuel a valuable piece of art that Samuel saved from the National Museum in war struck Baghdad. A few days later, John, who decides to cooperate with the police, receives a post-mortem riddle from Hal. If he manages to solve it he will recover the lost art piece.