The spectacular heist from the San Martino Cathedral in Lucca had cost a security guard his life. But now the priceless icon lay in splinters on a seaside loading dock. The theft is a shock to Professor Johann Krugel, but not the destruction. After all, the thieves were acting on archeological research lifted from him. Someone else knew that a civilization lost to history had left behind objects of tremendous power. Some of these became sacred icons of the world's great religions, while others remained safely hidden. Until now. The professor's graduate student Jose Santiago forays into the...

This book contains some really bad ideas that should not be acted on by boys and girls between the ages of two and seventy-five. On the other hand, you could view it as a learning experience. For example: Chapter 6 will teach you how to make a bully talk like Mickey Mouse (and leave you alone forever). Chapter 12 teaches you not to fire a homemade rocket in the direction of a neighbor's house, as this tends to get them upset when it goes through their bedroom window in the middle of the night. Chapter 13 points out the consequences of rolling a 380 pound tire down a steep hill. Your neighbors...