The eruption of Italy's Mount Vesuvius in AD 79 buried a city and its people, their treasures and secrets. Centuries later, echoes of this disaster resonate with profound consequences in the life of classics professor Sophie Chase.
Beneath layers of volcanic ash lies the Villa della Notte - the Night Villa - once home to the captivating slave girl at the heart of an ancient controversy. And concealed in a subterranean labyrinth rests a cache of antique documents believed lost to the ages: a prize too alluring for Sophie to resist. But whatever shocking events transpired in the face of Vesuvius's fury has led to deeper intrigues - and Sophie is swiftly sucked into their dark and terrifying vortex . . .