COIL OF THE SERPENT

Coil of the Serpent is a novel of the love and lust that lay beneath the surface of an ancient Aztec city in the empire of Anahuac. It is the story of the youthful ruler of the empire, Nezahual, and the princess he was forced to choose by a rival city. History records her as "the princess of a hundred lovers", a woman whose licentious and murderous nature was carefully concealed behind a mask of innocence. Within the Emperor's heart, too, was an emotion of a nature so forbidden he could not allow himself to voice it. The secrets and jealousies that destroyed Anahuac unfold with the skill that won Mr. Allen's first novel, Jaguar and the Golden Stag, in which he introduced the fascinating Nezahual. In Coil of the Serpent, the second phase of his rule rather than a continuation of the story, new readers will meet him as an untried war-lord in a beseiged city. There is color and excitement as well as unforgettable characterization in this account of the last days of Aztec glory.

Trade Paperback:
6 x 9 inch
322 pages
$17.95