Finished: Labyrinth (Mosse) In 2005, during an archaeological in the Pyrenees Mountains in France, a volunteer named Alice uncovers a hidden cave which contains a mysterious labyrinth, two graves, an ancient ring, and a pouch that is thought to have contained one of the three sacred books (The Book of Words, The Book of Numbers, and The Book of Potions). The startling discovery leads Alice on a dangerous adventure where she meets all the descendants of the people who have been looking for the books for centuries. Some want them for good, and some want them for nefarious reasons. The books, when used together, hold hieroglyphic codes that will apparently lead to the Holy Grail. Alice is also haunted by vivid dreams that take her back to another place and time where she is almost reliving the experiences of another person. In 1209, seventeen year old Alais, the daughter of the right hand man of the viscount of the same area in France, is on an adventure of her own. The Crusades have begun. The "host", army, created by the Catholic priests and the wealthy landowners, has been created to rid the world of all the religious heretics. As the wars move closer to her town, Carcassonne, Alais is told by her father of the three books, their importance, and how he is one of five official keepers of the books. He's got the Book of Words in his possession and he knows who safeguards the other two. He fears the books will be lost in the wars so Alais volunteers to be the next generation of guardians for The Book of Words. The story goes back and forth between current day and the 1200's as both Alice and Alais, obviously distant relatives, take their dangerous journeys to either find and protect (in present day) or hide and protect (centuries ago) the books. In the end, we find out who wins the ultimate battle of the good guys or the bad guys, who the skeletons in the cave belonged to, and the location of the missing book from the cave. A really good book given to me by my son for Christmas. He knows how to pick a good story for me! :-)