Elle Newmark is an award winning writer whose books are inspired by her travels. She prowled the back streets of Venice to cook up The Book of Unholy Mischief and explored India by car and elephant to conjure The Devil’s Wind. She calls California home.

It is 1498, the dawn of the Renaissance and Venice teems with rumors of an ancient book that hold the secrets of unimaginable power. Rich and poor alike speculate abouthe the long buried secred tht might be scrawled in its pages and where the book might be hidden in the labyrinthine city. While those who seek the book will stop at nothing to get it, those who know will die to protect it.

As a storm of intrigue percolates in Her Most Serene Republic, Luciano, a penniless orphan, is plucked off the street by the doge’s chef and taken in as the chef’s apprentice. In the palace kitchen Luciano is initiated into the chef’s rich and mysterious world where recipes are more than they seem.

It is not long before Luciano is caught up in the madness. Torn between loyalty to his street friends and his passion for Francesca, a convent girl, Lucianco’s worthiness is tested. Armed with a precicious mind and insatiable curiosity, Luciano embarks on a perilous journey to uncover the truth. What he discovers will swing opent he shutters of his mind, inflalme his deepest esires, and leaven an indelible mark on his soul.

My name is Luciano ― just Luciano. I’m Venetian by birth, old now and chained to my memories, compelled to return, link by link, seeking clarity.

There’s a matter about which I am sworn to secrecy, but times have changed since I took my oath. In my lifetime, I’ve witnessed man’s emergence from centuries of darkness. Great thinkers have unlocked our minds, and great artists have opened our eyes and our hearts. Some are calling it a renaissance ― a rebirth ― and it will reverberate far into the future because of a miraculous new invention called the printing press. Perhaps, now, it would be a disservice to the advancement of knowledge to remain silent. Perhaps the pendulum has swung a full arc, and the time has come for me to speak. If I proceed with caution … well, those who have ears let them hear.

The intrigue took place in my youth, when I served as an apprentice to the doge’s chef in Venice. I first suspected some unholy mischief when the doge invited an uncouth peasant to dine with him in the palace. In the time-honored tradition of servants everywhere, I assumed my post behind the slightly open service door to the dining room in order to spy, and I marveled at the sight of them together: the doge, chief magistrate of the Most Serene Republic of Venice, gracious and bejeweled, sat with his guest, a bewildered paesano with calloused hands, dirt under his fingernails, and unwashed hair that had been hastily wetted and pushed off his face to show respect.

READ THE REVIEWS:

“Elle Newmark immerses us in 16th century Venice with lush and vivid detail. We live history through the eyes of an urchin named Luciano who, seemingly by pure chance, is plucked from the streets by the head chef of the lavish Doges Palace. But just as we are about to lose ourselves in a particularly exquisite entrée, we are caught up in a vicious search for a book of alchemy, said to contain the secrets of wealth, power, and life itself. Tension builds as we find that this coveted book has a curious connection to the palace kitchen. Beautifully and cleverly descriptive, the story twists, turns, and finally emerges as a lasting testament to wisdom and truth.”
-Mary Fagan

“This is a well written story and it held me captive for two nights running. At times I wanted to speed read through, but I fought the urge as it’s so beautifully written, I simply wanted to make it last. That’s how good this story is.”
-Ken Douglas

Elle Newmark’s THE BOOK OF UNHOLY MISCHIEF VIRTUAL BLOG TOUR ‘09 will officially begin on Dec. 1 and end on Jan. 29. You can visit Elle’s blog stops at www.virtualbooktours.wordpress.com during the months of December and January to find out more about this great book and talented author! If you would like to host Elle, contact Tracee Gleichner at reviewfromhere(at)aol(dot)com. Thank you!