Keith Jessup is a PhD student at Oxford University completing his studies in early English literature. One of his professors has for years been searching for a 17th-century manuscript written by John Milton that purportedly addresses one of the major questions in English literature: the true meaning of Paradise Lost. When this professor fails to arrive to deliver a lecture disclosing the contents of the long-sought Milton Manuscript, Keith begins to worry—and rightfully so, for he soon discovers that his professor is dead. In spite of warnings that there may be those willing to do anything to prevent its discovery, Keith resolves to take up his professor's quest and find the manuscript. As he soon discovers, however, his professor's death was no simple accident, and Keith's scholarly hunt of truth puts him and Joanne, the woman he loves, in great peril. Brimming with intrigue, mystery, and suspense, this tale of literature, forgery, and religious conspiracy thrillingly exposes the enigma behind Milton's epic poem.