In Da Vinci's Ghost, critically acclaimed historian Toby Lester tells the story of the world’s most iconic image, the Vitruvian Man, and sheds surprising new light on the artistry and scholarship of Leonardo da Vinci, one of history’s most fascinating figures. Deftly weaving together art, architecture, history, theology, and much else, Da Vinci's Ghost is a first-rate intellectual enchantment.”—Charles Mann, author of 1493 Da Vinci didn’t summon Vitruvian Man out of thin air. He was inspired by the idea originally formulated by the Roman architect Vitruvius, who suggested that the human body could be made to fit inside a circle, long associated with the divine, and a square, related to the earthly and secular. To place a man inside those shapes was to imply that the human body could indeed be a blueprint for the workings of the universe. Da Vinci elevated Vitruvius’ idea to exhilarating heights when he set out to do something unprecedented, if the human body truly reflected the cosmos, he reasoned, then studying its anatomy more thoroughly than had ever been attempted before—peering deep into body and soul—might grant him an almost godlike perspective on the makeup of the world. Written with the same narrative flair and intellectual sweep as Lester’s award-winning first book, the “almost unbearably thrilling” (Simon Winchester) Fourth Part of the World, and beautifully illustrated with Da Vinci's drawings, Da Vinci’s Ghost follows Da Vinci on his journey to understanding the secrets of the Vitruvian man. It captures a pivotal time in Western history when the Middle Ages were giving way to the Renaissance, when art, science, and philosophy were rapidly converging, and when it seemed possible that a single human being might embody—and even understand—the nature of the universe.

"From 1501 to 1505, Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo Buonarroti both lived and worked in Florence. Leonardo was a charming, handsome fifty year-old at the peak of his career. Michelangelo was a temperamental sculptor in his mid-twenties, desperate to make a name for himself. The two despise each other."--Front jacket flap.

MONA LISAS GHOST, a thrilling mystery, is the sequel to The Crystal Navigator in the Lucy Nightingale adventure series. During a class video about the Mona Lisa, Lucy and her best friend, Sam Winter notice that the painting seems to be melting. The painting is mysteriously stolen and Lucy must find it before it is destroyed. In an adventure that takes Lucy through the ghost-infested Catacombs of Paris, down underground rivers, and back to sixteenth-century France, she solves a mystery that would shock the world if it were ever made public.

Sixteen-year-old Riley copes with the loss of her mother two years earlier with the help of a support group, which gets involved in a mystery surrounding a relic of St. Ignatius.

A small town once haunted by a serial killer braces for a new evil in this debut horror novel by the New York Times bestselling author of Ink. Thirty years ago, a blues musician called the Bone Man killed the devil at the crossroads, only to be beaten and hung like a scarecrow in a cornfield—or so the story goes. Today, the people of Pine Deep celebrate their town’s grisly past by luring tourists to the famous haunted hayride, full of chills and scares. But this year as Halloween approaches, “The Spookiest Town in America” will learn the true meaning of fear. Its residents will see the real face of evil lurking behind the masks of ordinary people. They will feel it—in their hearts, in their bones, in their nightmares. Because evil never dies. It only grows stronger . . . Winner of the Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel First in the Pine Deep Trilogy Praise for Ghost Road Blues “Maberry supplies plenty of chills, both Earth-bound and otherworldly, in this atmospheric horror novel . . . . This is horror on a grand scale, reminiscent of Stephen King’s heftier works.” —Publishers Weekly Praise for Jonathan Maberry “Jonathan Maberry’s horror is rich and visceral. It’s close to the heart . . . and close to the jugular.” —Kevin J. Anderson “Maberry has the chops to craft stories at once intimate, epic, real, and horrific.” —Bentley Little “Maberry spins great stories. His (Pine Deep) vampire novels are unique and masterful.” —Richard Matheson “Maberry’s works will be read for many, many years to come.” —Ray Bradbury

A Wall Street Journal Book of the Year A Spectator Book of the Year “A truly intimate portrait of one of the greatest creators in human history,” this biography of Leonardo Da Vinci “has the pace, elegance, and authorial omnipresence of a novel,” bringing both artist and Renaissance Italy to life (Noah Charney, author of The Art of Forgery) Why did Leonardo Da Vinci leave so many of his major works uncompleted? Why did this resolute pacifist build war machines for the notorious Borgias? Why did he carry the Mona Lisa with him everywhere he went for decades, yet never quite finish it? Why did he write backwards, and was he really at war with Michelangelo? And was he gay? In a book unlike anything ever written about the Renaissance genius, Mike Lankford explodes every cliché about Da Vinci and then reconstructs him based on a rich trove of available evidence—bringing to life for the modern reader the man who has been studied by scholars for centuries—yet has remained as mysterious as ever. Seeking to envision Da Vinci without the obscuring residue of historical varnish, the sights, sounds, smells, and feel of Renaissance Italy—usually missing in other biographies—are all here, transporting readers back to a world of war and plague and court intrigue, of viciously competitive famous artists, of murderous tyrants with exquisite tastes in art . . . Lankford brilliantly captures Da Vinci’s life as the compelling and dangerous adventure it seems to have actually been—fleeing from one sanctuary to the next, somehow surviving in war zones beside his friend Machiavelli, struggling to make art his way or no way at all . . . and often paying dearly for those decisions. It is a thrilling and absorbing journey into the life of a ferociously dedicated loner, whose artwork in one way or another represents his noble rebellion, providing inspiration that is timeless.

Beth Luxenberg was an only child. Or so everyone thought. Six months after Beth's death, her secret emerged. It had a name: Annie. Praise for Annie's Ghosts "Annie's Ghosts is one of the most remarkable books I have ever read . . . From mental institutions to the Holocaust, from mothers and fathers to children and childhood, with its mysteries, sadness, and joy--this book is one emotional ride."--Bob Woodward, author of The War Within and State of Denial "Steve Luxenberg sleuths his family's hidden history with the skills of an investigative reporter, the instincts of a mystery writer, and the sympathy of a loving son. His rediscovery of one lost woman illuminates the shocking fate of thousands of Americans who disappeared just a generation ago."--Tony Horwitz, author of A Voyage Long and Strange and Confederates in the Attic "I started reading within minutes of picking up this book, and was instantly mesmerized. It's a riveting detective story, a moving family saga, an enlightening if heartbreaking chapter in the history of America's treatment of people born with what we now call special needs." -- Deborah Tannen, author of You Just Don't Understand and You're Wearing That "This is a memoir that pushes the journalistic envelope . . . Luxenberg has written a fascinating personal story as well as a report on our communal response to the mentally ill." -- Helen Epstein, author of Where She Came From and Children of the Holocaust "A wise, affecting new memoir of family secrets and posthumous absolution." -- The Washington Post "Annie's Ghosts will resonate for many, whether the chords have to do with family secrets, the Depression, memories of a thriving Detroit, the Holocaust's horrors, or the immigrant experience." -- The Detroit Free Press

"For lovers of art history, this lavishly illustrated and well-written book is an absolute gem." – Italia! Magazine Leonardo da Vinci was the epitome of the Renaissance humanist ideal, a logical polymath of epic proportions who excelled and had interests not just in art but in invention, anatomy, architecture, engineering, literature, mathematics, music, science, astronomy and more. His oeuvre is astounding and he is rightly famed for his masterpieces of painting such as the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper, and his astonishingly technical and graceful drawings. The phenomenon that was Leonardo would not of course have flourished to such an extent had it not been for the patronage and sponsorship of the Medici family, who commissioned a large proportion of the art and architecture of the era and fostered a fertile climate for creativity. This sumptuous new book offers a broader view of this master artist in the context of this environment, alongside the work of other key artists who benefited from the Medicis, from Brunelleschi through Donatello to Michelangelo and Raphael.

An award-winning author takes on the genesis of Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man. In this modest drawing, da Vinci attempted nothing less than to calibrate the harmonies of the universe and understand the central role man played in the cosmos. Lester brings Vitruvian Man to life, resurrecting the ghost of an unknown da Vinci.

Jack Dunn was devastated to discover Dan Brown had stolen the story from his novel The Vatican Boys to create the international bestseller The Da Vinci Code. The plagiarism was obvious. There were hundreds of similarities between the two books, including characters, settings, plot lines and subject matter. The discovery changed the course of Jack's life. He began an extraordinary fight for justice which pushed him to the depths of despair as he tried to prove his work had been copied by Dan Brown. The Da Vinci Fraud is Jack's story, his explosive true account of the greatest literary fraud in history and a book which will change forever the way the world sees one of the most successful writers of all time.