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"An extraordinary debut novel--dark, fast-paced, thrilling--set in contemporary and nineteenth-century Europe, the United States, and Scotland, involving the true inventor of moving pictures; his lost film, Seance Infernale, made in Edinburgh in 1888; and a shocking series of crimes terrorizing the city in present time. A riveting story of suspense; a compelling tale of adventure. The time: 2002. Alex Whitman, a movie memorabilia dealer who can find anything, is hired by an eccentric film collector to locate what could be the first film ever made, Seance Infernale. Its creator, Augustin Sekuler, is considered by those who know about movies to be the true inventor of motion pictures--not the Lumiere brothers; or Thomas Edison. In 1890, Sekular had boarded a train from Dijon, headed to Paris, days before he was to present to the world his greatest new invention, the first of its kind--a moving picture machine.