Near the end of World War Two, the commanding officer of a Nazi extermination unit makes an astounding art discovery. Then... disappears.Seventy-five years later, artwork by Leonardo da Vinci unexpectedly surfaces at a New York auction. When a street person disrupts the proceedings, Adam Barrow finds himself embroiled in a 500-year-old mystery. An ancient book holds the key, but its owner is murdered, and the book vanishes.Beautiful and bewildering Leslie Strickland emerges as an unexpected ally in Adam's search for the book and the truth. Like him, she is the victim of an impoverished childhood and he falls in love with her. Opposed by New York's high-stakes art world, they are thrust into a deadly chase. Are the da Vincis real? And who are their unseen enemies?