Aladdin

Simon & Schuster, New York

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www.SimonandSchuster.com/Authors/Kevin-Sands

Also by Kevin Sands

The Blackthorn Key

Mark of the Plague

The Assassin’s Curse

Call of the Wraith

This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division

1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020

www.SimonandSchuster.com

First Aladdin hardcover edition May 2021

Text copyright © 2021 by Kevin Sands

Interior illustrations on pages 56, 58, 65, 101, 196, 204, 212, 256, 374 copyright © 2021 by Jim Madsen

Sir Erkenwald’s tomb image on page 180 courtesy of Hathi Trust Digital Library (public domain)

Whitehall 1860 map image on pages 55 and 283 courtesy of Wikimedia Commons (public domain)

Jacket illustration and interior illustrations on pages 167–171 copyright © 2021 by James Fraser

All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

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Series design by Karin Paprocki

Jacket designed by Karin Paprocki

Interior designed by Hilary Zarycky

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Sands, Kevin, author.

Title: The traitor’s blade / by Kevin Sands.

Description: First Aladdin hardcover edition. | New York : Aladdin, 2021. | Series: The blackthorn key | Summary: In 1666, after four months away, friends Christopher Rowe, Tom, and Sally return to London triumphantly but, guided by coded riddles, face a conspiracy that threatens Christopher, as well as the king himself.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020040952 (print) | LCCN 2020040953 (eBook)

ISBN 9781534484566 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781534484580 (eBook)

Subjects: CYAC: Adventure and adventurers—Fiction. | Ciphers—Fiction. | Apprentices—Fiction. | Friendship—Fiction. | Secret societies—Fiction. | London—History—17th century—Fiction. | Great Britain—History—Charles II, 1660–1685—Fiction.

Classification: LCC PZ7.1.S26 Tr 2021 (print) | LCC PZ7.1.S26 (eBook) | DDC [Fic]—dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020040952

LC eBook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020040953