二十四岁的维罗妮卡厌倦了死水般的日子，决定服药自杀。 醒来时，她却发现自己躺在一家精神病院，四肢捆绑、一丝不挂，并且患上严重的心脏病，只剩下最后一周时光。 在与疯人们的相处中，她出乎意料地体验到人生的欢愉和真实的自我，深深爱上梦想成为画家的英俊男子爱德华。生活的热望前所未有地燃烧起来…… 可是，已到尽头的生命如何挽回?

Like the one-time bestseller Jonathan Livingston Seagull, The Alchemist presents a simple fable, based on simple truths and places it in a highly unique situation. And though we may sniff a bestselling formula, it is certainly not a new one: even the ancient tribal storytellers knew that this is the most successful method of entertaining an audience while slipping in a lesson or two. Brazilian storyteller Paulo Coehlo introduces Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who one night dreams of a distant treasure in the Egyptian pyramids. And so he's off: leaving Spain to literally follow his dream.
Along the way he meets many spiritual messengers, who come in unassuming forms such as a camel driver and a well-read Englishman. In one of the Englishman's books, Santiago first learns about the alchemists--men who believed that if a metal were heated for many years, it would free itself of all its individual properties, and what was left would be the "Soul of the World." Of course he does eventually meet an alchemist, and the ensuing student-teacher relationship clarifies much of the boy's misguided agenda, while also emboldening him to stay true to his dreams. "My heart is afraid that it will have to suffer," the boy confides to the alchemist one night as they look up at a moonless night.
"Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself," the alchemist replies. "And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every second of the search is a second's encounter with God and with eternity." --Gail Hudson, Amazon.com Review

雅典娜，一个和智慧女神同名的普通吉卜赛女子，因为从小表现出的异常禀赋而披上神秘的光辉，也因此招致普遍的怀疑与猜忌。她自由不羁，离经叛道，无惧传统成见，远赴东方学习书法，去伦敦波多贝罗街头迷狂舞蹈……
岁月回溯，碎片重新拼接，通过前夫、神甫、生母、房东、记者、邻居的眼睛，串成一个寻访心灵故园的望乡故事，打开一个鲜为人知的惆怅世界……

戛纳电影节大幕拉开，无数巨星、富豪华丽登场。
伊戈尔，阿富汗战场的优秀老兵，退役后和妻子白手起家成为俄罗斯电信大亨。他来这里寻找离家出走的妻子。
但随后的一天，他以神秘的桑博术杀了卖手工艺品的女孩，用带巨毒的大头针射向著名电影发行人，将钢质刀片插进女制片人的身体……
亿万富翁为何连环杀人？无情地杀戮无辜，难道是为了让妻子回心转意？当真相完全揭晓的一刹那，故事内外所有人心中的震撼竟排山倒海而来……