Tom Block

The Fool Returns Tom Block

Bill is alone on the New York subway late one night, in the spring of 1992. A man runs into his compartment and drops an ancient card in his lap. This other man is promptly chased down by a shadowy figure and shot to death. In this single moment, Bill's life explodes. He goes from being a hapless bartender to a wanted man - and the most important person in a centuries-long mystical quest. The card takes Bill from his mundane existence as a bartender, on a labyrinthine voyage far from home, and deep into the past. He travels to hidden Iberia, into a world of hidden mysteries, of Gatekeepers and Porters, chapels made entirely out of human bones and secret tunnels buried deep beneath a medieval town. He is passed from one place to another by a mysterious fraternity of unknown family members, with shared roots dating back almost 800 years. In the end, Bill will either successfully complete his quest - or find himself floating face down and dead in the Tagus River, in Lisbon. Like the last family member who attempted to return this card to its ultimate destination.