In a city whose streets are nameless, a scholar searches for an ancient sword. The manuscript is more than one thousand years old. Written in a forgotten tongue of the Near East, it gives directions to a place across the desert where the mythic Jewel King hid his famous sword. When Dr. Mitchell Parmenter discovers the sheaf of faded pages, he knows that if it is authentic, it is one of the greatest anthropological finds of the century. For the sake of his research, he uproots his family and moves them to Amaz-an ancient land whose mysteries are as endless as the desert itself. An earthquake struck Amaz some years back, and the city's nameless streets still seem to move in the night. As Parmenter delves into the story of this fabulous relic, his family uncovers other mysteries, exploring Amaz in search of answers to questions no traveler was meant to ask.
"[Goldstein] has given us the kind of magic and adventure that once upon a time made us look for secret panels in the walls of wardrobes, or brush our teeth with a book held in front of our eyes, because we couldn't bear to put it down."
The New Yorker
"Inventive, well-paced, and witty . . . A Chinese box of endless delights."
