The Mysterious Life of Maria Maruby; Book 1

THE MYSTERIOUS LIFE OF MARIA MARUBY

A Novel · Print Edition · 286 Pages By Gema Isabelle writing as Agent Alhaja

She has three names. A number tattooed on her neck. One eye hidden under a patch. And a past so buried even she can't find it.

The Mysterious Life of Maria Maruby begins at dawn on the canals of Venice — a girl in a black tracksuit running across the pavement with blood-stained bandages on her wrists and ankles, something gaining on her, and a piece of paper in her pocket that holds the key to everything.

What follows is a chase across four of Europe's most cinematic cities — Venice, Rome, Florence, and Madrid — through Vatican gardens and palace dungeons, flamenco stages and airport brawls, train cars and rooftops in the rain. Maria is fast, sharp, and completely alone. She makes dark jokes when she's scared, speaks four languages when necessary, and trusts almost no one. She is seventeen years old and she has already survived more than most people do in a lifetime.

But someone has been watching her for a long time.

The Lady in Roses sits on a red velvet throne at the center of a world Maria is only beginning to understand. She is elegant. She is guiltless. And she wants Maria alive — for now.

This book is for readers who want: A story that moves like a film and never slows down. Characters who feel like real people with real histories and real secrets. A villain you'll fear and somehow find fascinating. Dialogue that is sharp enough to cut. Grief that is quiet and devastating. And a mystery that doesn't let you breathe until the last page — and even then, not quite.

286 pages. Set across Venice, Rome, Florence, and Madrid. Written by a Puerto Rican author who began this story at age 10 and finished it at 17. This is Book One.