Venice, 1576. The island of Murano holds a monopoly on the finest glass in the world, and its secrets are guarded by the ruthless Council of Ten. Assassins hunt any glassblower who dares to leave the lagoon. Caterina Zeno, the brilliant daughter of an aging master, has secretly helped her father perfect a legendary, impossible formula: Rubino Oro, a glass as red as fresh blood, created by suspending pure gold in silica. When a corrupt magistrate discovers their success, he murders Caterina’s father to steal the formula and sell it to the Ottoman Empire. Armed only with the memorized chemistry in her mind and an unyielding desire for justice, Caterina must navigate the plague-shadowed canals of Venice. Teaming up with Luca, a cynical gondolier and smuggler, she must infiltrate a lavish masquerade ball to steal back her father’s prototype and expose the magistrate’s treason before she becomes the lagoon’s next floating victim.
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