INSPIRED BY A 1756 SPANISH INQUISITION TRIAL.

Antonio arrives in Spain on a mission to recover a family debt. But he’s naïve to the politics of the country, and to what might happen if he offends the wrong people. No surprise, then, that he fails in his mission and loses everything - fortune, status and (he believes) the love of his life, Luisa.

Out of options, the self-named Lord of Lost Causes enlists. He’s popular, clever and soon wins the respect of his comrades. When his commanding officer asks him to help uncover a thief, he devises an elegant ruse. Too elegant. The thief is dealt with leniently, but disaster follows for Antonio when he’s reported to the Spanish Inquisition and falls into the hands of a powerful adversary.

Set against the backdrop of 18th-century Europe, when Enlightenment ideals based on reason and equality were sweeping the continent, the story is a tale of human endurance, love, and a fight to save a man from becoming another victim of a regime that fears progress more than injustice.