The Library of Alexandria was the most important collection of ancient knowledge ever assembled. The building stood for six hundred years and contained more than half a million manuscripts. Then suddenly it vanished. No trace of this literary treasure has ever been unearthed.

Fifteen hundred years after the library's disappearance, Cotton Malone finds himself at the heart of this mystery. His son is kidnapped, and his book shop is attacked--all because he's the only man alive who knows the where abouts of the Alexandria link, the key to locating the missing library. Purposely hidden away for more than a millennium, a forgotten truth lies within that lost cache of knowledge--one that, if revealed, will have grave consequences not only for Malone but for the balance of world power.