“Smart, thrilling, and utterly unnerving,” says Gillian Flynn, #1 bestselling author of Gone Girl, of this spellbinding tale that also has The New York Times Book Review declaring, “Bring on the devils.”A STOLEN CHILD, AN ANCIENT EVIL, A FATHER’S DESCENT, AND THE LITERARY MASTERPIECE THAT HOLDS THE KEY TO HIS DAUGHTER’S SALVATION Professor David Ullman is among the world’s leading authorities on demonic literature, specializing in Milton’s Paradise Lost. Not that David is a believer—he sees what he teaches as a branch of the imagination and nothing more. So when the mysterious Thin Woman arrives at his office and invites him to travel to Venice and witness a “phenomenon,” David is hard-pressed to overcome his skepticism. But there are forces at work beyond anything David can imagine, and they will stop at nothing to ensure that the professor does not escape their grasp. Against his better judgment, David, accompanied by his beloved daughter, Tess, finds himself traveling to Venice, where an unspeakable horror awaits. Soon David is pulled into a journey that will redefine what he is willing to believe. Guided by symbols and riddles from the pages of Paradise Lost, David races to save his daughter. If he fails, he will lose Tess forever.