Chateau Beyond Time

In Chateau Beyond Time, celebrated explorer, author, and filmmaker Michael Tobias draws us into an exquisite kingdom: a sublime refuge with fiercely protected surroundings. This chateau, nestled within an unexpected wilderness in the heart of France, has only been known to artists, philosophers and kings: the exclusive members of a secret society of guardians dating back to the dawn of humanity. Deputy director of the Interpol Wildlife Secretariat Jean-Baptiste Simon is awakened by a phone call in the middle of the night: a one-horned animal has escaped from smugglers on the docks of Antwerp. The next day, an elderly museum gardener is murdered, a horn thrust through his throat. Even more baffling is the nature of the horn. Its DNA profile leaves the forensic team at an utter loss. Meanwhile in London, Martin Olivier, a specialist dealing in many of England’s finest estates, with his wife Margaret, a precocious art historian and museum curator, is befuddled by an urgent message from an eccentric uncle, James, whom Martin hasn’t seen in years. Martin must come at once to a place he had always been told was simply a remote family farm. He is given a series of cryptic instructions, including a map delivered by a falcon. Martin and Margaret will soon discover that the Olivier family is heir to an ancient lineage of stewardship, and they are plunged into a desperate race to save nothing less than the original Arcadia.

“Chateau Beyond Time is a rare find. Award-winning filmmaker, ecologist and prolific author Michael Tobias once again takes us on a fast and exhilarating journey, set in contemporary Europe. The author's vision of a quirky, compelling kingdom of peace leads relentlessly to an end that is actually the new beginning we've all been hoping and praying for.”  —Marc Bekoff, author, The Emotional Lives of Animals and Animals Matter

“An environmental thriller, a Utopian novel that artfully blends fiction and facts, a page-turner with a plot so intricate and ingenious that I could not put it down until the final mystery revealed itself.”  —Michael Pastore, publishersweekly.com

Michael Tobias is an author, ecologist, animal rights advocate, and filmmaker. He is a frequent contributor to Forbes magazine and his books include The Adventures of Mr. Marigold, Sanctuary, Voice of the Planet, and World War III: Population and the Biosphere at the End of the Millennium.