When a childhood tragedy comes back to haunt Professor David Shepherd,
he finds himself in possession of knowledge that holds the world in a
delicate balance. He uncovers the Book of Names--an ancient text
originating with the biblical Adam, and thought lost to history forever.
By Kabbalistic tradition, the book contains the names of each
generation's thirty-six righteous souls--the Hidden Ones--by whose
merits alone the world continues to exist. Legend holds that if all
thirty-six Hidden Ones were eliminated, the world would meet its end.
When the Hidden Ones start dying of unnatural causes, the world grows
increasingly unstable: war in Afghanistan, massive flooding in New York,
brutal terrorist attacks in Melbourne, a tanker explosion in Iran. David
finds himself battling against the Gnoseos, a secret religious sect
whose goal is to destroy the world by eliminating all of the righteous
souls. David's involvement quickly turns personal when his
stepdaughter's name is discovered to be one of the endangered. With the
help of a brilliant and beautiful Israeli ancient texts expert, David
races to decipher the traditions of the Kabbalah to save the righteous
souls, his stepdaughter, and perhaps the world.
