Marlowe thinks he's found his first big headline in the attempted assassination of a priest-the bullet miraculously rebounding off the holy man's cross. Employing a young pickpocket to help him uncover the identity of the sniper, Cobb is soon led into a far more dangerous story: the advancement of German officials coming into the city from ammunition ships docked in the port. Then, when Cobb falls for a young Mexican laundress, he believes he's found...

"The story of Harrison William Shepherd, a man caught between two worlds -- Mexico and the United States in the 1930s, '40s, and '50s -- and whose search for identity takes readers to the heart of the twentieth century's most tumultuous events"--Provided by publisher.

Illustrations and text describe how the Mixtecs create painted manuscripts, or codices, that reflect their way of life and document their history, science, land tenure, tribute, and sacred rituals.