The divine conjuror

the long version

"A thousand years ago, Sylvestre II, the Pope Magician, created an extraordinary machine. Some said he was in league with the Devil; others, that he was a sorcerer. But the mystical machine, shaped in the form of a giant head, carried with it Sylvestre's belief that he could prevent the doom prophesied in the Book of Revelation. One thousand years later, the Count of Divange discovers the talking head deep in the cellars of his castle in France. The sudden disapperance of the Count forces his wife and daughter, with the help of a young detective, on a spiral of dangerous encounters that lead them across Europe..."--Publisher's description.