For the past 50 years, the golden treasures of Troy have been lying in the basement of the Pushkin Museum in Moscow. Now Germany and Turkey are both reclaiming the treasures. But who really owns the precious antiquities? American lawyer Sarah Kaplan, an expert on the reclamation of property, is drawn into the debate when the Turkish government employs her to get the treasure back. But things go horribly wrong and Sarah ends up in a Turkish gaol, accused of theft and blasphemy. Alone in a filthy cell, Sarah's only link with the outside world is the amulet she wears, passed down to her from her great-grandmother. Engraved with the symbols of the bull and owl of Troy, the amulet's origin is a mystery. But, gradually, through the interweaving of two stories 3000 years apart, the secret of the amulet becomes known.