"Amara has escaped her life as a slave in the Wolf Den, the city's most notorious brothel, but now her survival depends on the affections of her patron: a man she might not know as well as she once thought. At night in the home he bought for her, the house with the golden door, Amara's dreams are haunted by her past. She longs for her sisterhood of friends--the women at the brothel she was forced to leave behind--and worse, finds herself pursued by...

All along the Mediterranean coast, the Roman empire’s richest citizens are relaxing in their luxurious villas, enjoying the last days of summer. The world’s largest navy lies peacefully at anchor in Misenum. The tourists are spending their money in the seaside resorts of Baiae, Herculaneum, and Pompeii. But the carefree lifestyle and gorgeous weather belie an impending cataclysm, and only one man is worried. The young engineer Marcus Attilius...

"No one in the bustling city of Pompeii worries when the ground trembles beneath their feet. The beast under the mountain Vesuvius, high above the city, wakes up angry sometimes--and always goes back to sleep. But Marcus is afraid. He knows something is terribly wrong--and his father, who trusts science more than mythical beasts, agrees. When Vesuvius explodes into a huge cloud of ash and rocks that fall from the sky like rain, will they have time...