Antonio & Isaac (The Annotated Account of Phillipe Wolf, Composer & Spy)

In this genre-bending, speculative historical novel set in Europe at the height of the Age of Enlightenment, Austrian composer and spy, Phillipe Wolf, risks his life to reconcile an incendiary clash between Isaac Newton and Antonio Stradivari over how to create a perfect violin. Can science alone be enough? Or is it a matter of bringing forth the soul of the violin? In love with Newton’s niece, Catherine Barton, Wolf and Barton compose a perfect score for a perfect violin, while Wolf spies on her employer, infiltrates a counterfeiting ring, and plans a surprise attack inside the enemy’s fortified citadel. On every page there is surprise, insight, and suspense, and in the end, perhaps, solves the enduring mystery of why 300-year-old Stradivarius violins remain the most revered. 

With technical illustrations by Todd Shimoda.