Paradise (Samborn)

A riveting thriller ignites with a time-spanning love story. Perfect for fans of Dan Brown, Diana Gabaldon, Neil Gaiman or David Mitchell. A 400-year-old murder. A disembodied whisper: "Amore mio." My love. Nick and Julia O'Connor's dream trip to Venice collapses when a haunting voice reaches out to Nick from Tintoretto's Paradise, the world's largest oil painting. Though Julia worries her husband suffers from a delusion, Nick is adamant the voice belongs to a woman from the 16th century - his soul mate from a previous life. He discovers a religious order that has developed a method of extracting people's souls, which they imprison in Paradise. Over the centuries, they've judged thousands of souls and sentenced them to eternal purgatory. As infatuation with the past clouds his commitment to a present-day wife, Nick must right an age-old wrong - destroy the painting and liberate his soul mate. But freeing her would allow all the souls to be reborn. The order will never let that happen.

A soul mate trapped in purgatory. Dangerous alliances. The quest for ultimate power. After escaping Venice with their lives, Nick and Julia O'Connor have one goal: return home so they can end their nightmare vacation. But before they reach the American consulate, they're captured by Interpol and returned to Venice. Behind Nick's detention is Salvatore della Porta, the corrupt head of an ancient, enigmatic order that controls Paradise, Tintoretto's Renaissance masterpiece that's also a purgatory for thousands of souls-including Nick's soul mate from the sixteenth century. Della Porta believes Nick's previous life knows the location of a book lost to the ages. This mysterious manuscript will bring him world-changing power-or topple the order. As Nick's link to the past consumes him, it's up to Julia to save her husband and crush della Porta. But with friends in short supply, she must enlist Carlo Zuccaro, unaware the young artist is the order's new Painter and warden of the damned.

Impossible odds. A relentless pursuit. The brink of world domination. With her husband imprisoned in eternal purgatory, Julia O'Connor and her friends must use every tool in their arsenal to stop Salvatore della Porta from completing his plan of global supremacy through Veritism-the one veritable religion-and save millions of souls from a similar fate. Della Porta's men doggedly track the team across Europe to Asia and back to Venice, as they seek an age-old journal that will either catapult della Porta to triumph or crush him for good. To free the souls and end the madness, they must also unearth an ancient relic that can destroy the Sun Crystal-the key to our past, present, and future. In a final, desperate gambit, Julia and her band of renegades have one last chance to save her husband, liberate the imprisoned souls, and stop della Porta from gaining boundless power. Their every move is a race against destiny in this gripping, globe-spanning historical thriller.