dee, john

While working at pleasant but mundane summer jobs in San Francisco, fifteen-year-old twins, Sophie and Josh, suddenly find themselves caught up in the deadly, centuries-old struggle between rival alchemists, Nicholas Flamel and John Dee, over the possession of an ancient and powerful book holding the secret formulas for alchemy and everlasting life.

The discovery in 1669 of a journal recording Henry Hudson's tragic search for a passage to Cathay over fifty years earlier, forces Robert Bylot, a once-great maritime explorer, to recall his experiences as part of that expedition--memories he would prefer to forget.

After fleeing to Ojai, then Paris, and escaping to London, Josh and Sophie Newman are finally home, and after everything they have seen and learned in the past week, they are both more confused than ever.

Fifteen-year-old Josh has chosen to side neither with his twin sister Sophie nor with the Alchemyst, Nicholas Flamel, but rather to fight alongside Dr. John Dee and the mysterious Virginia Dare, while the immortal Machiavelli and Billy the Kid follow the Elders' plans to set loose the monsters of Alcatraz on San Francisco and trigger the end of the humani race.

After fleeing to Ojai, then Paris, and escaping to London, Josh and Sophie Newman are finally home, and after everything they have seen and learned in the past week, they are both more confused than ever.

Fifteen-year-old twins Sophie and Josh Newman continue their magical training in Paris with Nicholas Flamel, Scatty, and the Comte de Sant Germaine, pursued by Doctor Dee and the immortal Niccolo Machiavelli.