Some see them as saints and deities, while great artists such as Ovid, Dante and Orpheus described them as "shades". Thousands of others have called them angels, but few have ever descended to the bowels of the earth to discover their true faces. Today, however, for the first time, a human being is close to grasping their true essence. While studying similarities between Christianity and Thracian Orphism, archeologist Vera Kandilova stumbles across perplexing symbols tied to a prehistoric Balkan civilization that mysteriously disappeared 5.000 years ago.
What begins as a purely academic scavenger hunt across Germany, Russia, Italy and Bulgaria leads her to frescoes in the Roman catacombs, a medieval amulet, engraved golden tablets, prehistoric clay vessels and ultimately to a cryptic manuscript called "The Parchment Maze". The intellectual puzzle quickly gets visceral - after a series of murders, thefts of valuable artifacts and a kidnapping, the clues show Vera the path to uncovering the secret of the legendary incorporeal ones - those who jealously guard the most ancient knowledge from humanity and grant insight only to enlightened individuals such as Jesus and Orpheus. Their secrets have been sought over the centuries by powerful scientists and politicians, including Hitler, numerous popes, secret services and military organizations.
Vera is determined to follow a trail of clues to the Lower Kingdom before the handsome assassin Ariman, with pale skin and colorful eyes, can obliterate them - and Vera herself. An underground brotherhood led by the ghoulish Incorporeal One has raised Ariman to be a cold-blooded automaton. However, the merciless killer is also on a secret mission of his own - the only thing that could possibly tempt him from his path is love, since angels are capable of loving as no human being can...
"Fiction and science combine in an intriguing novel based on real archaeological discoveries and actual icons, a daring combination of Dan Brown and Umberto Eco. Could the legend of Orpheus and his descent into the Underworld be more than just mythology? There is a supernatural love story, there are secrets; there is murder, there is history; from Berlin to Moscow, from Rome to Burma, the novel is sure to intrigue."
Colin Falconer, author of twenty novels, translated into seventeen languages over twenty-five years
"A carefully crafted literary work that is both entertaining and illuminating for readers. The contribution of the novel to the literature of the occult is quite significant. In my professional opinion, this novel surpasses those of both Dan Brown and Elizabeth Kostova in terms of complexity and theme."
Joseph Ceccio, Ph.D, professor of English literature, University of Akron
Ludmila Filipova is a best-selling Bulgarian author who has published seven highly acclaimed novels: "Anatomy of Illusions", "Scarlet Gold, Glass Butterflies", "The Parchment Maze", "Dante's Antichthon", "The Anomaly" and "Typo". Her books have been translated into 7 languages, and have become both national and international bestsellers, while three of them are currently being developed into feature films. In 2011, Ludmila Filipova won Bulgaria's "Woman of the Year" award in the category of culture.
