A mummified corpse, over half a century old, is found in the cellar of an abandoned building in a remote New Mexico ghost town. Junior FBI Agent Corrie Swanson needs to ID the body, and determine cause of death. When archaeologist Nora Kelly lends her expertise to the investigation, they uncover that the deceased died in a fetal position, skin coming off in sheets, a rictus of horror frozen on his face. And hidden on the corpse is a sixteenth century Spanish gold cross of immense value. When they at last identify the body -- and the bizarre cause of death -- Corrie and Nora open a door into a terrifying, secret world of ancient treasure and modern obsession: a world centered on arguably the most defining, frightening, and transformative moment in American history.