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Discover the series you can’t put down …

‘A high level of realism … the action scenes come thick and fast. Like the father of the modern thriller, Frederick Forsyth, Mariani has a knack for embedding his plots in the fears and preoccupations of their time’

Shots Magazine

‘The plot was thrilling … but what is all the more thrilling is the fantastic way Mariani moulds historical events into his story’

Guardian

‘Scott Mariani is an ebook powerhouse’

The Bookseller

‘Hums with energy and pace … If you like your conspiracies twisty, your action bone-jarring, and your heroes impossibly dashing, then look no further. The Ben Hope series is exactly what you need’

Mark Dawson

‘Slick, serpentine, sharp, and very very entertaining. If you’ve got a pulse, you’ll love Scott Mariani; if you haven’t, then maybe you crossed Ben Hope’

Simon Toyne

‘Hits thrilling, suspenseful notes … a rollickingly good way to spend some time in an easy chair’

USA Today

‘Mariani constructs the thriller with skill and intelligence, staging some good action scenes, and Hope is an appealing protagonist’

Kirkus Reviews

‘If you haven’t read any Mariani before but love fast-paced action with a historical reference, maybe this one won’t be your last’

LibraryThing

‘A breathtaking ride through England and Europe’

Suspense Magazine

‘This is my first Scott Mariani book … and I totally loved it. It goes on at a good pace, and for me Ben Hope was brilliant, the ultimate decent good guy that you are rooting for’

AlwaysReading.net

‘Scott Mariani writes fantastic thrillers. His series of Ben Hope books shows no sign of slowing down’

Ben Peyton, actor (Bridget Jones’s Diary, Band of Brothers, Nine Lives)

‘A really excellent series of books, and would make a wonderful television series as well!’

Breakaway Reviews

‘Scott Mariani seamlessly weaves the history and action together. His descriptive passages are highly visual, and no word is superfluous. The storyline flows from beginning to end; I couldn’t put it down’

Off the Shelf Books

Epigraph

His body a bloody ruby radiant

With noble passion, sun-souled Lucifer

Swept through the dawn colossal, swift aslant

On Eden’s imbecile perimeter

He blessed nonentity with every curse

And spiced with sorrow the dull soul of sense,

Breathed life into the sterile universe,

With Love and Knowledge drove out innocence

The Key of Joy is disobedience

Hymn to Lucifer

Aleister Crowley

PROLOGUE

The pursuit had led northwards from the English south coast into the heart of the Surrey countryside, deep among thick broadleaf woods under a full moon. It was late March, the spring equinox, and the night was mild and balmy and filled with the sweetly pungent scent of the flowering bluebells that carpeted the woodland floor.