A mysterious stranger in the company of the devil comes to the mountain village of Viscos with 11 bars of gold and a Faustian bargain for the entire town. He confides to Chantal Prym, the local bartender, the particulars about his murderous offer, intended in his eyes to crystallize the struggle between good and evil. Coelho's parable (first published in Europe in 1992) poses a morality test for Viscos in a way that recalls works like Mark Twain's "The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg" and Chaucer's "The Pardoner's Tale." Linda Emond's effective reading is lightly characterized. This self-effacing, low-key performance accords with the fable-like quality of the novel and makes Coelho's morality tale personal and absorbing. G.H. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

A new novel of temptation by the author of the international bestsellers The Alchemist and The Zahir.

A community devoured by greed, cowardice, and fear. A man persecuted by his painful past. A woman searching for happiness. In one eventful week, each of them will face questions of life, death, and power, and each will choose their own path. Will they choose good or evil?

In the remote village of Viscos, a stranger arrives, carrying with him a backpack containing a notebook and eleven gold bars. He comes searching for the answer to the question: Are human beings good or evil? In welcoming the mysterious foreigner, the whole village becomes an accomplice to his sophisticated plot, which will forever mark their lives.

Paulo Coelho's stunning novel explores the timeless struggle between good and evil and brings to our everyday dilemmas fresh incentive: to master the fear that prevents us from following our dreams, from being different, and from truly living.