LORETTA

Flavius Ferox is the hard-bitten centurion charged with keeping the peace on Britannia's frontier with the barbarian tribes of the north. Now he's been summoned to Londinium by the governor, but before he sets out an imperial freedman is found murdered in a latrine at Vindolanda fort. Ferox must find the killer. As he follows the trail, the murder leads him to plots against the empire and Rome itself. Bandits, soldiers and gladiators alike are trying to kill him, old friends turn traitor, and Ferox is lured reluctantly to the sinister haunts of the old druids on the isle of Mona.

One of history's greatest mysteries, the Ninth Imperial Legion guarding Rome's northernmost frontier in Britannia disappeared around the year 122 AD. Badly outnumbered, facing certain destruction, and cut off from supply, the Imperial Roman Ninth Legion Hispana is surrounded by the hostile Celtic army. Then the unthinkable happens. Senior Centurion Karus and the Ninth are transported to a strange place, far away from the Britannia they knew. The legion's deliverance from danger at first appears to be a blessing from the gods, but....

You don't need a book to tell you this much: Sometimes things fall apart, crack open, and miss the mark. You can plan and strategize and keep your eye on the horizon, watching for trouble. And nothing you can do will protect you from the fact that things might, when you least expect it, go terribly, horribly wrong. If you're anxious about this, it's not like you don't have a reason. If you're very anxious about this, you're certainly not alone.