_A hidden killer...a conspiracy of treachery...and two people caught in the most desperate game of all...
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In Renaissance Italy, intrigue is as intricate as carved cathedral doors, but none is so captivating as that surrounding the prized Wind Dancer, the lost treasure of a family--and of the man who will stop at nothing to reclaim it. Lionello Andreas is bound by his vow to guard the exquisite statue. But to recover what is rightfully his, he will need the help of a thief--one he can control body and soul. He finds his answer on the treacherous backstreets of Florence, in a sharp-witted young woman whose poverty leaves her no choice. But in the end, the allure of the Wind Dancer , and the ruthlessness of those who would possess her, will catapult them both into a terrifying realm where death may be the most merciful escape.
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From Publishers Weekly
Johansen ( Strong, Hot Windsone title/pk ) gets her new trilogy off to a promising start with a lively and imaginative blend of romance and adventure set in early-16th-century Italy. A small gold statue of the winged horse Pegasus that, as legend has it, was given to Lionello Andreas's family at the fall of Troy has been stolen by Lion's enemy, Francisco Damari. The rightful owner intends to steal it back. A contact alerts him to an accomplished pickpocket whose loyalty and skills can be bought: 16-year-old Sanchia, a slave owned by a local printer. Lion acquires the girl, intending to exploit her talents to recover the statue and then retire her to a life of comfort. But the plan goes awry, and and by the time Sanchia falls into the hands of the brutal Damari, Lion has already begun to wonder if his real treasure might in fact be a light-fingered young woman. In Lorenzo Vasaro, companion to the hero, Johansen offers an unlikely but likable character who upstages everyone else in the book, a worldly-wise and intriguing blend of ruthlessness and charm. 700,000 first printing.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
_Praise for Iris Johansenβs novels
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_βIris Johansen keeps the reader intrigued with complex characters and plenty of plot twists....Moves so fast, youβll be reading the epilogue before you notice.β
--*People
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_βJohansenβs thrillers ooze enough testosterone to suggest she also descends from the house of Robert Ludlum. Johansen pushes the gender boundary in popular fiction, offering up that rarity: a womanβs novel for men.β
--_Publishers Weekly
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