Early in the seventeenth century, Filippo Veroneo encounters adven ture, intrigue, danger, and relentless enemies as well as unexpected friends when he journeys from Venice to free his father, Geronimo, a hostage in Afghanistan. Filippo plans to raise his father’s ransom in Hindustan at the court of the Mogul emperor Shah Jahan by using a magnificent diamond Geronimo cut and set years ago—a diamond men would spill blood for. A visionary from birth, Filippo finds his second sight enhanced after the diamond is embedded in his skull. A believable setting, strong characters, and a compelling plot rich in adventure, intrigue, and danger distinguishes this fine historical novel. mac Author lives in England but was born in India

Originally published by Egmont Great Britain, in 2003.

Here is the story of the Ocean of the Moon, a diamond without peer, a "blood stone" that is its owner's passport to a world of spies, deception, and death. In Venice, the jewel promises wealth and prestige to greedy Bernardo Pagliarin. At the court of the Great Mogul in Agra, it holds the key to the throne itself. For Filippo and his family, the stone is worth far more. For thousands of miles, Filippo must carry the priceless diamond as a ransom for his kidnapped father--a father he is too young to know. His treacherous guardian schemes to get his hands on the stone, and those Filippo meets on his way are prepared to kill for it. Always a breath away from disaster, Filippo travels from Venice to Hindustan, but will he be in time to find his father alive?
This seventeenth-century adventure takes us on a dazzling whirlwind journey, over seas and across deserts, into the very heart of danger.