<b>“One part <i>The Da Vinci Code,</i> one part <i>The Name of the Rose</i> and one part <i>A Separate Peace </i>. . . a smart, swift, multitextured tale that both entertains and informs.”—<i>San Francisco Chronicle</i></b><br> <br><b><i>NEW YORK TIMES </i>BESTSELLER</b><br><b> </b><br> Princeton. Good Friday, 1999. On the eve of graduation, two friends are a hairsbreadth from solving the mysteries of the <i>Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, </i>a Renaissance text that has baffled scholars for centuries. Famous for its hypnotic power over those who study it, the five-hundred-year-old <i>Hypnerotomachia </i>may finally reveal its secrets—to Tom Sullivan, whose father was obsessed with the book, and Paul Harris, whose future depends on it.<br> <br> As the deadline looms, research has stalled—until a vital clue is unearthed: a long-lost diary that may prove to be the key to deciphering the ancient text. But when a longtime student of the book is murde