A set of symbols scratched on the wall of a crypt in southern France.
A flag bearing a red cross on a castle fortress high on a stone ledge.
And deep in the heart of the Vatican, a team of agents charged with making sure no one discovers what connects them all.
Ben Hope is a magnet for trouble. Years since leaving the SAS, he can still feel when danger is stalking him. But stumbling across someone researching the Knights Templar seems like a problem for historians rather than his military skills.
It's only when a terrible twist of fate puts not just Ben but the people he loves in the firing line that he realises the battles of the past will soon wreak carnage in the present.
Faced with uncovering a mystery that strikes at the heart of Western civilisation, Ben might finally have unearthed the one secret that could take him down.
Scott Mariani is the author of the worldwide-acclaimed action-adventure thriller series featuring ex-SAS hero Ben Hope. Scott’s novels have topped the bestseller charts in his native Britain and are translated into over twenty languages worldwide. To date the Ben Hope series comprises the #1 Bestseller The Alchemist’s Secret, The Mozart Conspiracy, The Doomsday Prophecy (published in the USA as The Hope Vendetta), The Heretic’s Treasure, The Shadow Project, The Lost Relic, The Sacred Sword and the forthcoming The Armada Legacy (May 2013). Scott is also the author of the bestselling Kindle eBook novella, Passenger 13. Scott’s novels have been described as ‘James Bond meets Jason Bourne with a historical twist’.
