The second Carter Cox novel begins after Carter and his wife Beth move to California to make a new start. Carter makes a significant discover in the tar pit he is excavating, and his team begin to carefully remove an ancient skeleton. Meanwhile Beth is specifically chosen by an eccentric billionaire to translate an illuminated manuscript-- a bestiary-- that has been with his family for a thousand years. Carter is soon pulled into the billionaire's sphere as the man seeks his aid in saving parts of his menagerie, a collection of specimens moved from his family's palace in Iraq that match the fantastic mythical creatures of the bestiary.

The novel is an interesting follow up to Vigil, chronicling the next chapter in the Cox family's lives. The protagonists remain interesting and sympathetic, and the research Masello did both on manuscript restoration and paleontology is fascinating. Parts of the novel do reference the events in the first book, and the oddities surrounding Joe Cox and Arius will remain confusing and unexplained to someone unfamiliar with the prior book. ( )