There is a mystery older than the millennium, a puzzle whose solution has challenged the most brilliant minds humanity has ever known and a game that has been played by the famous and infamous. It is the secret of the Eight.

Catherine Velis is a workaholic computer whiz who finds herself manipulated by sinister influences into using her unrivalled problem-solving skills to find and reassemble the legendary chess set. It is a journey that takes Cat throughout time and history, from the bloodshed of revolutionary France to the court of Catherine the Great and, finally, to Algeria, a land of tradition and mystery. It is the greatest treasure hunt of all time.