“Lush colorful and utterly compelling, this is a superbly wrought novel of suspense that evokes its period with enviable panache. FOUR STARS out of four stars.”
—Detroit Free Press
“King [develops] a series of voluptuous set pieces: about the learning of language, prestidigitation, and disguise; about shipboard mores among the upper classes; about the daily habits of a maharaja’s many-splendored guests and how they are housed, fed, and entertained. All the while and underneath these musings develops a wondrously taut mystery, ticking away like a malevolent clock…. Fabulous reading, breathless excitement, and the myriad pleasures of watching great minds at work.”
—Booklist, starred review