I was just a freelance hero doing his best in a hard world' The spirit of adventure calls Falco on a new spying mission for the Emperor Vespasian to the untamed East He's picking up extra fees from his old friend Thalia the snake dancer as he searches for Sophrona her lost water organist With the Chief Spy Anacrites paying his fare Falco knows anything can go wrong A dangerous brush with the Brother the sinister ruler of Nabataean Petra sends Falco & his girlfriend Helena on a fast camel-ride to Syria Here they join a travelling theatre group which keeps losing members in non-accidental drownings The bad acting & poor audiences are almost as bad as the desert & its scorpions
- then as the killer hovers Falco tries to write a play