Strindberg's Star

China, 1895 - In the shifting sands of the Taklimakan Desert, a new Pompeii has come to light, and with it, two remarkable artefacts, found in a hidden burial chamber. A metal ankh and star - covered in strange inscriptions.
The Arctic, 1897 - A hydrogen balloon is readied for a polar voyage. Publicly, it is a patriotic attempt to put Sweden in the lead of the race to the North Pole. Privately, the three men on board have another objective. But S. A. Andree, Knut Fraenkel and Nils Strindberg will never be seen alive again.

Germany, 1942 - As the Second World War devastates Europe, behind the barbed wire of concentration camps gruesome, inexplicable experiments are performed on the prisoners.

Sweden, present day - 260 metres under the earth, in a flooded mineshaft, a diver's torch-beam plays over a mouldering corpse with a fist-sized hole in its forehead. Skeletal fingers clutch a metal amulet. It is the key to the annals of a secret history so deeply buried that the few who knew of it thought it lost forever. Until now ...