Born almost 2500 years ago in Babylon of a wealthy Jewish family in exile, Azriel is forced to take the role of a god for three days, paying for his people's freedom with an eternity of half-death, half-life, caught forever between heaven and earth. His restless spirit may be called forth by whoever holds the casket of golden bones and understands its mystery. From the household of an ancient Greek philosopher to the deathbed of Alexander the Great, from the Mongolian steppes to a pogrom in 14th century Strasbourg, where the Jews were made the scapegoats for the Black Death... Azriel bears witness to it all. In the present he is summoned to witness and avenge a brutal murder on Fifth Avenue. The dead women is Esther, step-daughter of the fanatical Gregory Belkin, messianic leader of a worldwide cult, The Temple of the Mind. The world knows that Belkin is a Holocaust survivor, but he has a secret history that binds Azriel's fate to his. Swayed by instincts almost forgotten, Azriel is caught up in a malevolent plot which could destabilise the world. Cover photo by Colin Thomas.