For centuries, emperors, historians, and even the Vatican have tried to locate Ivan the Terrible's magnificent Library of Gold - a fabled archive of gilded, bejeweled scripts and lost knowledge dating all the way back to the ancient Greeks. Now one of the volumes, The Book of Spies, has surfaced, and along with it a highly secret, shadowy cabal. They want their book back and they will stop at nothing to achieve their goal. When the CIA unearths a connection between the legendary library and a bank account linked to terrorists, they turn to rare books curator Eva Blake for help. When an attempt is made on Eva's life, she turns to the only person she can trust - Judd Ryder, a former intelligence agent with his own agenda and a troubled past. Racing from London to Rome, Istanbul to Athens, Judd and Eva must use all their wit and tradecraft to stay ahead of the deadly forces hunting them. They must do what no one else has been able to do: find the library AND stay alive.