Highly respected, middle-aged university professor Alan Rudgear, his wife Sylvia, and their son Clint were living a secure, comfortable, happy life. Or so they thought. Nine months ago Alan's best friend, Gerald, was sent to prison for assaulting his wife Becky in a drunken rage. While consoling Becky, Alan seduces her, a decision that brings his life crashing down around him. With Gerald's release looming, Alan must come to terms not only with his betrayal and its terrible consequences but also the unspeakable horror he experienced as a boy.

Calaf and Ishmael are two friends thrust into a world of clashing empires in 3rd century CE Rome and Persia. Growing up in the court of the brutal Kushan emperor Timur, Calaf is Timur's son and heir, and Ishmael is the son of a scribe. They are inseparable, with ties of love and devotion that stretch back to births days apart and shrouded in mystery.

When Calaf nearly dies saving Ishmael, his father is furious that he would risk his life for a servant, and does all that he can to separate the friends. The fall of Timur's empire flings the two young men across the ancient world, and...