{"product_id":"the-fatal-scroll-a-herculaneum-mystery-9781770418400","title":"The Fatal Scroll: A Herculaneum Mystery","description":"\u003cb\u003eA literary murder mystery about the shady side of the antiquities trade, ancient philosophy, and tech's utopian promises.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eMarcus Sinclair is a history teacher whose life is stuck in neutral when he inherits a papyrus scroll from his antiquarian uncle. The mysterious scroll might contain a lost masterpiece from ancient Rome or perhaps an ancient recipe for personal tranquility, but it's unreadable unless Marcus can figure out a way to unroll the scroll without destroying it. His quest takes him to Naples, where he befriends a Google software engineer days before the man is found dead. Marcus is interviewed by an investigative journalist, Kristi Grainger, and they find themselves on parallel paths leading to a Neapolitan trafficker in antiquities, a tech mogul obsessed with the distant past, and a clutch of academics searching for the lost library of Herculaneum. In a seaside city that is by turns lush and lethal, Marcus must confront the unraveling of more than a scroll. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThis novel is inspired by a real place -- the Villa dei Papri, the only library from antiquity to have survived -- and coincides with the Vesuvius Challenge, a real-life international competition to decipher Herculaneum scrolls.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e ECW Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 05\/06\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781770418400\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 240\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.43lbs","brand":"Eric Siblin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45169515692213,"sku":"9781770418400","price":16.96,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/img_b08cfeaa-24a1-4dcc-b1b4-9c1e6b98c746.jpg?v=1741703410","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/the-fatal-scroll-a-herculaneum-mystery-9781770418400","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}