An unexpected lunar eclipse. A poisonous fog that cripples the capital. Statues that weep blood. As the catalogue of calamities mount, fear and paranoia provoke rumours of terrorist attacks. But from whom? History professor Juliet Harrington is an authority on sixteenth-century mysticism and a long-time believer in the existence of the Almanac of Forbidden Wisdom, a potent spell-book legend insists was compiled in that period by a cabal of powerful occultists. Its magic is summoned though only at disastrous cost, signalled by The Auguries. Juliet is convinced that the recent plague of disasters means someone reckless is using the book - and she has little time left to stop them.