One of history's great enigmas gives this tense and thrilling novel about life in the ancient Maya Empire of Latin America a background of mystery and wonder. Modern archaeologists are still searching for the key to the puzzling legend of Kukulcan, the savage Toltec king who captured the magnificent city of Chichen-Itza around 1300, instituted the practice of human sacrifice and then mysteriously disappeared. 

Part and parcel of this fascinating riddle is the story of teen-age Ulil, a sculptor's apprentice who holds the center of the stage in this unusual tale. When he fought a fierce jaguar to save the pet fawn of a young Maya girl, Shale, Ulil had no way of knowing how closely he would be affected by the next sacrifice to the Rain-God. For Shale was destined to be the bride of the god who lived in the dark depths of the Maya's Sacred Well.

Through Ulil's eyes, readers will see the great sporting events, the religious rituals, and daily lives of the Maya. Their great national game, pok-ol-pok, in which Ulil starred, provides this novel with scenes as stirring and exciting as any you could find on today's basketball courts or football fields. The hair-raising run for a goal, the excitement of throngs of spectators, the heady feeling of victory come alive amidst a setting of ancient grandeur and magnificence.

But for Ulil, the victory of his team meant nothing as the day of Shale's sacrifice approached. How that final scene of tragic pageantry was avoided will keep every reader fascinated until the very last page of the book.

From the dust jacket