After learning that his brother has died in a boating accident near the Mediterranean island of Malta, Benjamin plans a trip there to learn all that he can and to visit the gravesite. But before he departs, he receives a postcard that reads "Reports of my demise have been greatly exaggerated" and signed, confusingly, ColeRidge. Hoping against hope that his brother is indeed alive, if in hiding, Benjamin embarks on the transatlantic voyage that ends in Valletta, the ancient city of the Knights. Almost immediately he finds himself offered tantalizing clues by a man who appears to be nothing than an old drunk but who claims to know his brother. Before long, a web of subterfuge, eerie dreams, and even kidnapping sweeps Benjamin up, and his adventure begins.
