The Demon Code

Leo Tillman & Heather Kennedy #2

by Adam Blake

Three years ago, Heather Kennedy left the Metropolitan police under a shadow that has followed her ever since. Now she has been called in to advise on a supposed burglary in the now-defunct British Museum reading room. Kennedy soon establishes that rather than steal anything, someone has broken into the stacks in order to photograph pages from books about Johann Toller, a crazed prophet of 17th century Europe. Toller believed that the end of days was at hand, and he made a number of prophecies relating to the Apocalypse and the events that would precede it. None of them came true.

Until now.

One after another, the grotesque signs and wonders Toller predicted come to pass, no matter how unlikely they seem. The river Rhine runs bright red, the towers of London bow to kiss the ground, and an angel with a fiery sword is seen over Jerusalem. With the help of a nineteen-year-old girl from a secretive tribe and ex-mercenary Leo Tillman, Kennedy must work to stop the next prophecy coming true - the destruction of an unnamed city...

Genres: Thriller, Fiction, Crime, Adventure, Action, Fantasy, Mystery

576 pages, Paperback

First published June 12, 2012

About the author

pen-name of comic books writer Mike Carey

Reviews

[Elina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ωραίο για Αμερικανιά! Για να περάσει κανείς το χρόνο του, μια χαρά!

[Mohikanos · Rating 2 out of 5]

Άνθρακας ο θησαυρός! Μην παρασυρθείτε από το οπισθόφυλλο, σε καμία περίπτωση δεν μιλάμε για "το καλύτερο συνομοσιολογικό θρίλερ της χρονιάς" (θρίλερ με μόλις 2,5 σκηνές δράσης δεν υπάρχει), ούτε για "ένα μυθιστόρημα γεμάτο κώδικες" (αν αυτό το βιβλίο είναι γεμάτο κώδικες, τότε ο "Κώδικας Ντα Βίντσι" είναι εγκυκλοπαίδεια κωδικών!!!). Ουσιαστικά σε κανένα σημείο του βιβλίου δεν κατάλαβα γιατί ο συγγραφέας μπήκε στον κόπο να το γράψει. Ίσως για να εξαργυρώσει την επιτυχία του "Ευαγγελίου των δολοφόνων"...Εν ολίγοις, μιλάμε για ένα πολύ φλύαρο βιβλίο, μονότονο, χωρίς ένταση, με σκηνές δράσης που είναι πολύ πίσω σε σχέση με αυτές του προηγούμενου βιβλίου, με πολύ μπλα-μπλα μεταξύ των πρωταγωνιστών και όλων των εμπλεκομένων, με κακούς που ενώ είναι κορυφαίοι στο είδος τους τελικά αποδεικνύονται κουτοί και άμπαλοι, με ήρωες που δεν αναλύονται περαιτέρω οι χαρακτήρες τους, και με ένα τέλος τόσο διεκπαιρεωτικό που σε ξενερώνει αφάνταστα (μολονότι σίγουρα το περιμένεις). Είχε τόσες ανούσιες συζητήσεις, που από την 400η σελίδα περίπου μέχρι την 500η σκεφτόμουν πως θα περάσουν οι σελίδες...Παρόλα αυτά, το βιβλίο διαβάζεται σχετικά γρήγορα, και αυτό με στενοχωρεί περισσότερο για την επιλογή του συγγραφέα να φτιάξει ένα τόσο εύκολο και αδούλευτο βιβλίο. Αν δεν σας το δώσουν μην κάνετε τον κόπο να πάτε να το πάρετε...(5/10)

[GreekReaders · Rating 5 out of 5]

Το άρχισα αμέσως μόλις τελείωσα το πρώτο βιβλίο. Και ναι, μπορώ να πω πως είναι ισάξιο του πρώτου. Φυσικά, αν κάνεις το λάθος και διαβάσεις πρώτα αυτό χάνεις το καλύτερο μέρος της ιστορίας, που είναι η γνωριμία με τους κεντρικούς ήρωες και επίσης την ευκαιρία να διαβάσεις άλλη μια εξαιρετική περιπέτεια, αφού ο συγγραφέας επέλεξε να κάνει αρκετές αναφορές στα γεγονότα του πρώτου βιβλίου, με αποτέλεσμα ακόμη κι αν δεν το έχεις διαβάσει, να μάθεις όλα τα κομβικά για την ιστορία γεγονότα.

Δεν το βαρέθηκα στιγμή, ιδιαίτερα στις τελευταίες 150 σελίδες ήθελα να καθίσω στον καναπέ μου όσο χρειαστεί για να μάθω το τέλος της ιστορίας. Το οποίο τέλος δεν είναι καθόλου άσχημο, δε με απογοήτευσε, όχι.

Όπως έχω ξαναπεί, κύριε Blake, δε ξέρω ποιος είσαι (είναι γνωστός Βρετανός συγγραφέας λένε, αλλά υπογράφει αυτά τα βιβλία με το όνομα Adam Blake), αλλά συνέχισε να γράφεις έτσι!

Μ.

[Vivone Os · Rating 5 out of 5]

Drugi dio knjige Misterij Mrtvog mora istog autora. Opet se družimo s londonskom detektivkom (sada bivšom koja postaje privatni istražitelj) i bivšim plaćenikom koji nastavljaju s istraživanjem vezanim za davno izgubljeno pleme, čiji odmetnuti ogranak pod svaku cijenu želi sačuvati njihovu anonimnost pa makar to značilo ubijanje svih onih koji su u ruci imali primjerke knjige koja je njima kao Biblija. Upoznajemo i neke nove likove, neke negativne koji nas do kraja iznenađuju. Napeto, zanimljivo, dobra radnja. Nadam se uskoro novom nastavku.

[Πάνος Τουρλής · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ένας διαρρήκτης κλέβει από το παράρτημα του Βρετανικού Μουσείου, στο Μέγαρο Ράιγκεϊτ, έναν αποθηκευτικό χώρο των χιλιάδων αντικειμένων που δεν εκτίθενται λόγω έλλειψης χώρου, ένα βιβλίο του 1660, που το είχε γράψει ο Γιόχαν Τόλερ, μέλος του κινήματος της Πέμπτης Μοναρχίας, μιας ομάδας θρησκευτικών και πολιτικών αντιφρονούντων στην Αγγλία του 17ου αιώνα. Ο Γιόχαν Τόλερ, μετά από πτώση σε χαράδρα, είδε άγγελο Κυρίου που του προφήτεψε τα σημάδια για την καταστροφή του κόσμου κι αυτό το κείμενο που έγραψε αποτέλεσε την αφορμή για έναν αιρετικό του λαού του Ιούδα να επισπεύσει το τέλος του κόσμου, προβαίνοντας στα εγκλήματα που περιγράφονται στο βιβλίο.

Η συνέχεια του Ευαγγελίου των δολοφόνων είναι εδώ και παρασύρει τον αναγνώστη σε νέο γύρο περιπετειών, συνωμοσιών, εκπλήξεων, ανατροπών και δολοφονιών. Τρία χρόνια μετά την πρώτη αναμέτρησή τους με τον λαό του Ιούδα, ο Λίο Τίλμαν και η Χίδερ Κένεντι ξαναμπαίνουν στο μάτι του κυκλώνα, αυτήν τη φορά για να συνεργαστούν με αυτούς τους επικίνδυνους και φανατικούς ανθρώπους. Ο λαός του Ιούδα κινδυνεύει από έναν αποστάτη, ένανα αιρετικό, που πιστεύει ακράδαντα στην ανωτερότητα της φυλής τους αλλά δεν μπορεί να περιμένει το τέλος του κόσμου και παίρνει την τύχη στα χέρια του, σκορπώντας τον θάνατο με τη συνεργασία χιλιάδων πιστών υπηκόων που τους έχει πείσει για την αλήθεια των δικών του λεγομένων. Ο λαός του Ιούδα ζητά τη βοήθεια των δύο πρωταγωνιστών και στέλνει συμπαραστάτη τους τη μυστηριώδη Ντιέμα, που δεν είναι άλλη από την κόρη του Λίο Τίλμαν!

Από το Λονδίνο στη Βουδαπέστη κι από κει στη Νέα Υόρκη, η ιστορία ξεδιπλώνεται σταδιακά μπροστά στον αναγνώστη και τον παρασέρνει σε συνωμοσίες, ιερά μυστικά, γρίφους και απειλές κατά της ανθρωπότητας. Προσωπικά δε με κράτησε όσο το πρώτο, ακριβώς γιατί διαπραγματεύεται μια ιδέα που ολοκληρώθηκε μια χαρά στο πρώτο βιβλίο. Υπάρχουν πραγματολογικά στοιχεία (στοιχεία οπλουργίας, χημείας, μαθηματικών, βιβλιολογίας, ευρωπαϊκής ιστορίας του 17ου αιώνα) που δείχνουν ψάξιμο και μελέτη του συγγραφέα, αλλά η επανάληψη της κεντρικής ιδέας δε με κράτησε όσο περίμενα. Έχουμε μια καλή συνέχεια του πρώτου βιβλίου όμως ειλικρινά δε θα διαβάσω και τρίτο βιβλίο (σε περίπτωση που έχουμε να κάνουμε με τριλογία). Ειδικά η εμμονή του λαού του Ιούδα στη δική του θεωρία, με τους δικούς του κοινωνικούς και διαπροσωπικούς κανόνες παρ’ όλο που έχουν δει και διαπιστώσει ότι δεν τους βγαίνει (σωρεία θανάτων, περιπτώσεις φυγόδικων από τη φυλή, ανηλεές κυνηγητό από την Αστυνομία λόγω των εγκλημάτων που πραγματοποιούνται στον κύκλο τους) κάπου αρχίζει να μην πείθει.

[Quintin Van der Merwe · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I picked up this book, I saw the book as a challenge - try to get through this one before I get to some of the better ones I have to read. I was thoroughly surprised when I started reading though.
Riveting story with a few surprises and a surprising lack of predictability towards the end, which in my opinion always makes for a good read. I love the writing style as well - it is easy to read but not so easy that you would think the target audience would be teens.
I have not read his first book and initially wasn't really interested, but after finishing this one I am going to do the odd thing of reading book one (the Dead Sea Deception) ASAP.

[Sonia Cristina · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 estrelas

Bem, acabei há instantes este livro e ainda não sei que pensar ou dizer. Adorei o livro anterior, O Enigma do Mar Morto, protagonizado por Heather Kennedy e Leo Tillman e queria muito ler mais sobre eles os dois, por isso tinha mesmo de ler The Demon Code, que acontece 3 anos depois; Leo anda lá na vida dele e Heather está a passar por alguns problemas na sua relação com a namorada Izzy.

O povo de Judas conhecido do primeiro livro também aparece aqui, com a mesma importância de antes, o que foi inesperado para mim. Já estava a ver essa parte terminada, mas, lembrando-me que a filha desaparecida de Leo faz parte desse grupo, só faz sentido que continuassem a ser uma parte importante do enredo.

Foi estranho ler sobre 2 grupos - o Povo de Judas e o grupo que se formou quando um dos seus elementos abandonou o Povo, que quer agora provocar um apocalipse baseado num livro do século XVII escrito por, supostamente, um filho de Judas que se designou Profeta após ser visitado por um anjo... E o Povo de Judas precisa da ajuda dos chamados Adamites, ou seja, Leo e Heather a que, por um acaso, se junta um jovem, Ben Rush. E quem serve de ligação? A filha de Leo, Diema.

Há qualquer coisa no enredo que não soa bem e não é convincente mas não consigo precisar o que é... Independentemente disso, foi um livro que me deu prazer de ler. Estava ansiosa para saber como ia ficar a relação entre Leo e a filha.

O final foi um bocado estranho. O Kuutma poupou a vida dos Adamites mas ficou com Tillman como refém para assegurar que Heather e Rush não falavam a ninguém do que aconteceu, do Povo de Judas, etc... Mas não deixa que Tillman e Diema convivam... E acede aos caprichos de Tillman como ele querer uma janela com vista (apesar de estar a viver no subterrâneo) e eles tratam de lhe abrir uma janela e colocar um ecrã com imagens de um lago LOL E agora estão a tratar de gravar os sons envolventes desse lago para reproduzir. Bem, pelo menos Diema é que convenceu Kuutma a poupar a vida de todos e aceitou o pai, por quem já começou a ter sentimentos.

Era mesmo bom que o autor tivesse escrito um 3º livro, com mais desenvolvimentos.

[Laura Esguerra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Este libro me lo empecé a finales de enero y lo termine a principio de febrero, fue más de lo que esperaba, fue mi primera vez leyendo a Adam Blake, me sorprendió bastante toda la imaginación, la historia consta de 5 partes, la primera contada por Kennedy, la detective, esta parte me pareció algo floja, se demoraron mucho encontrando el libro, pero en el momento en que se encuentra el libro, desde ese instante, el libro es una bomba de emociones y de historias, que no van a entender sino hasta llegar a la segunda parte, en algunos casos, solo entenderán al llegar a la tercera parte, sin embargo a veces eso hace que se mantenga el suspenso, la segunda parte es la historia de Diema, como llega allá, quien es, a que va, porque en la sinopsis nombran a Diema como la salvadora pero en el libro no aparece sino mucho después, lo único que puedo decir es, que imaginación tan grande la de este autor, la verdad es mi primera vez leyendo un libro con este tipo de trama, diganme ustedes si lo han leído uno parecido, si ya se leyeron el libro, diganme que opinan, realmente me gustaría contar tanto, pero si lo hago ya seria spoiler. Las otras 3 partes ya son más normales, a mi me gustó

[Ayla SM · Rating 3 out of 5]

No es memorable, pero cumple perfectamente su función: entretener.
Tiene una trama llamativa que se desarrolla mediante un ritmo estable, que mantiene la tensión en la medida justa.
La historia no es precisamente original, pero sí muy efectiva. Induce al lector a acompañar la investigación y saber todo el trasfondo. El desenlace, aunque puede no llegar a las expectativas creadas, es coherente.
La narración tiene elementos que me molestan, como las parrafadas excesivamente largas sin puntuación. Sin embargo, las comparaciones y metáforas de las descripciones son muy curiosas.
Hay personajes carismáticos a los que enseguida se les pilla cariño y otros que, a pesar de pretender ser igual de carismáticos, toman actitudes que no me convencen.
En general, puedes disfrutarlo perfectamente si te gusta el género policíaco y de misterio.

[Kirsty · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish it was made more obvious on a cover on a book if it's second in the series! Luckily the author had explained everything in this book but I felt like I still missed out on quite a few of the references from the first book.
Anyway I did enjoy this book. I didn't think I would so it was a nice surprise. I did feel like it was a bit long winded but it was very detailed. Which is great. It really helps you to get into the storyline.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

It drew me in from page one...right up until the end. The idea of the Judas people was interesting, and Diema was just brilliant....Rush was a great character too. If there was an apocalypse brewing i'd want Diema to be the one to try and stop it.

[Shireen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this book in a Crime Vault giveaway back in 2013. I was only able to read 5 of those books before finally admitting that my reading comprehension ability wasn't coming back after brain injury. Fast forward to 2018 and Lindamood-Bell restoring my reading comprehension. And after years of almost daily practice, building back up by reading familiar series or easy novels, I was ready to tackle these books. I'm not rereading the first 5; I began the next 5 with You're Next, and this is the penultimate one of 5.

I gave this 3 stars because the diction, plotting, crafting, characters, and editing were good. Solid writing. No obvious holes that I came across (though I did skim after awhile here and there). I liked the characters Kennedy and Diema and Rush. But really, this whole Dan Brown-esque idea of some sort of distorted Christian-spawned myth makes me yawn, roll my eyes, barf. But since I won this book, and the non-cliched chapters that featured Kennedy engaged me, I kept reading. The whole secret society born out of early Christianity was like a cookie stamp. A prophet men follow unflinchingly. Stamp. Rituals. Stamp. Same old diction describing demonic-type rituals. Stamp. Murder as justified. Stamp. All a bit much.

I think if you like that sort of thing, this book will keep you reading. Otherwise, I felt the only redeeming value of it was that I spontaneously began reading chapter by chapter.

In Lindamood-Bell's visualizing and verbalizing program to (re)gain reading comprehension (for me after brain injury), you build up how much you can visualize before verbalizing the imagery. You increase from a sentence to sentence by sentence to a peragraph to a paragraph by paragraph to a page to page by page to a chapter to chapter by chapter. Even though I regained my reading comprehension in 2018, it's taken my years of almost daily reading practice to stabilize at the chapter level. Reading chapter by chapter may've occurred here and there but not spontaneously and not reliably. That happened for the first time with this book. It occurred in the section giving Diema's background, so it was easy reading as in cliche after cliche. But I was able to do it again in the next section. It helped that some chapters were barely over a page long; that was when I visualized 13 chapters chapter by chapter before I paused to verbalize. So satisfying! The best part is I've retained my imagery a week later as I write this and remember the plot.

The ending tied up all the loose ends but one. I'm not sure if Blake intended to write another book in this series, using that untied end as the starting point, or he ran out of ideas or he assumed the reader would figure it out or he wanted the reader to make up their own ending for that. In any case, it was a shame for that character.

[Socrate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Participanţii fuseseră pregătiţi.
Răpitorii îi legaseră de mâini şi de picioare, îi aliniaseră în ordinea prestabilită, obligându-i să îngenuncheze pe pardoseala rece din piatră, în cămăruţa din spatele clădirii vechi. Încăperea era într-adevăr mult prea strâmtă pentru ritualul care urma să aibă loc acolo. Mai erau şi altele, mult mai potrivite, dar aceasta fusese aleasă de profet din raţiuni ezoterice pe care doar câţiva dintre ei le înţelegeau.
Era o noapte caldă, soarele ascunzându-se chiar sub linia orizontului, dar lespezile de piatră erau încă reci. Poate din acest motiv sau din altele la fel de valabile, bărbaţii şi femeile tremurau în timp ce aşteptau în genunchi.
Ber Lusim l-a trimis pe unul dintre oamenii lui să-i spună profetului că erau gata să înceapă.
Bărbatul s-a întors imediat, păşind plin de respect în spatele sfântului. Shekolni se îmbrăcase într-o robă roşie, căptuşită cu negru – roşu de la sânge, negru pentru doliu. Panglici roşii erau împletite în barba sa neagră şi pe palmele mâinilor lui fine, ce păreau a fi de medic sau de violonist, cuvintele în aramaică pentru viaţă şi moarte fuseseră scrise cu tuş roşu şi contur negru – ceea ce însemna că Dumnezeu îi delegase atât puterea de a cruţa, cât şi puterea de a distruge.
Profetul avea în mâini cartea sfântă deschisă, ţinea capul plecat, ca şi cum ar fi citit. Însă ochii lui erau închişi. Ceilalţi bărbaţi care stăteau în picioare ştiau că era mai bine să nu vorbească într-un astfel de moment, dar îşi aruncau priviri unul altuia, temători şi miraţi de acest mic semnal ciudat din partea profetului.

[Caroline · Rating 2 out of 5]

Glad to have finally finished this book. I only kept reading it to see how it ended. The threatened attack was stopped in the nick of time and everyone left injured and standing was pleased.
The Judas People are back trying to end the lives of the Adamites (those of us who don't follow their ways). The Messengers are out in the world (in the Nations, as they call it) to try and do their best/worst to help their leader fulfill the prophecies of a man from the mid seventeenth century.
All the 'prophecies' have come to pass, except the final one. Kennedy, Tillman and Ben Rush are instrumental in preventing it from happening.
The 'religious' parts of the storyline are so deeply confusing that I'd find Particle Physics or Theoretical Physics easier to understand!!!!!
Looking forward to reading a more enjoyable book next.

[Carrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first thing that drew me to the book was the cover and the name demon code. I love anything to do with demons so I knew I'd like it. I read the blurb but didnt realise until half way through reading it theres no real demons or strong blood/ gore and no mythical creatures. It's a conspiracy story about a extreme religious group but it was so very thrilling. I loved diema such a feisty character, but I really didn't like how it ended it made me sad that it wasn't a very rewarding ending for the heroes who technically saved the world. It was very well written and could easily read it in one go but been spacing it out as a calm night time read. I think the relationship between Izzy and heather is just purely toxic. But I still enjoyed the book.

[Kieran McAndrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

A bizarre burglary at the British Museum sees Heather Kennedy called in to consult on security. The board insists that nothing has been stolen, but they want to know how the burglar got in and out. However, the investigation soon leads to a shocking discovery which returns Kennedy back into the mysterious underground world of the Judas People and a terrorist threat linked to a centuries old prophecy.

Another fast paced thriller from Mike Carey which is better than its predecessor and comes to a somewhat satisfying conclusion but will probably fall apart under too much scrutiny. Enjoy it for what it is, but don't try to make it great genre literature. It works well as a holiday read, easily picked up and put down with enough of the plot easy to remember from day to day.

[Declan Wiseman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Completed this book merely for the sake of competing it. At times vaguely engaging. Otherwise quite dull, characters stereotyped, too much detail into a made up sect. Action scenes feel a bit drawn out...Iliadic in some ways which isn’t necessarily a bad thing: but looks better in a movie than a book.

[Gothicc Library | Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read this book twice now and it was even better the second time. This book holds a lot of centimental value for me! I bought this book whilst on a family holiday as a teen and picked it up purely because of the front cover but I'm so glad I did. This was the first 'big' book I read all the way through and I was on a massive reading hype after that.

[Jemimah White · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one hell of a book! Lots of twists and turns and it’s quite difficult to follow just from the length of it. It was a good read however and had me completely hooked by the end and I liked the character journeys however now I’ve read it I know that this book was definitely a step out of the comfort zone for me! A good book but not an easy read!

[Trudy Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maybe should have read the first in this series before this but once id worked out who the people were then enjoyed it very much. And wasnt necessary to have read the first. Very much more a fantasy thriller than I normally read but believable enough that I really enjoyed it.

[Kerry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Took a while to get into this, perhaps because I have not read the first book in the series. However, it works as a stand alone and I started to really enjoy it towards the end. Worth persevering with. I might go back and read the first one, but probably not.

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another exciting thriller featuring Heather Kennedy & Leo Tillman and the infamous Judas Tribe from “The Dead Sea Deception”.
The action is non-stop and covers many areas of the world from London to Budapest and New York.
There is plenty going on and it makes this an easy read.

[Steve barclay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent story

Seeingg as Amazon dont like the real opinions
God book good story want to read another
Good good good good good
👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

[Andrei Musteata · Rating 3 out of 5]

Frumoasă ipoteză, o altă viziune atât asupra religiei creștine contemporane cât și asupra principalilor idoli religioși.

[Maria Dorey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this read! The plot keeps you guessing and a few good "edge of your seat" moments.

[Metta · Rating 2 out of 5]

Awalnya seru ketika mencari petunjuk dan memecahkan siapa yg harus dihadapi tapi begitu udh ketahuan ceritanya jadi terasa biasa aja hingga bab terakhir.

[Michaela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kdyz jsem zacala cist, doslo mi, ze je to uplne jiny typ knihy, nez normalne ctu.
Ale nakonec me to celkem i bavilo. Rozkryvani vsech zapletek, premysleni nad tim, jak to dopadne.

[Sehar · Rating 1 out of 5]

Lazy lazy writing.

[Barry J Chater · Rating 5 out of 5]

Real shame no more from the author, found it an excellent story

[Soho_Black · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's just as well I don't judge a book by its cover, as reading the back of ''The Demon Code'' was not a good start. For one thing, it's a conspiracy thriller with a title that evokes comparisons with an over-rated bestseller from a few years ago. Then there is the fact that Adam Blake is a pseudonym for another author and, as Stephen King once said of writing as Richard Bachman: "If it was any good, the guy would have put his real name on it. If he lied about his name, the book must suck...''

Inside, things are better for the reader, but less so for former Detective Sergeant Heather Kennedy. She's just punched the first and only client of her private security business, who was supposed to be her link to other clients. Someone from her past, Emil Gassan, keeps calling to talk about a case she handled while she was with the Police and which resulted in her being thrown out of the force. She's also struggling to cope with the fact of her father's death a year previously, as well as failing to move on from catching her partner Isobel cheating on her.

When she does finally take Gassan's call, he has a job for her. Recently appointed as curator of the British Museum's archives, he inherited a strange situation. The archives suffered a break in that resulted in no apparent theft, with the only clue a bloodied knife that cannot be matched to a victim. Digging deeper unearths a book of prophecies that are starting to be fulfilled and a group of killers determined to prevent anyone slowing this process. As Kennedy gets more involved and her life becomes endangered, it appears she is being watched and, on occasion, assisted, without ever knowing why or who by.

Despite, or maybe because of, my reservations, this is a thoroughly enjoyable book. Like Jan Wallentin's "Strindberg's Star", there is a secret the author is determined to reveal little by little. The characters may be following clues from a book, but they're not the kind that can be followed by the reader, as we never have the same picture as them, so you're never left disappointed by how simple some of the answers turned out to be. Indeed, the one clue I felt able to take a guess at, my guess was out by more than 3000 miles. Part of the fun here is the depth of the mystery, as just when it looks like it was about to be solved, there was another facet added and the story continues.

Adam Blake, whoever is really is, certainly knows how to write a gripping story. The pace is relentless virtually from the first page and even when the characters are taking a moment of down time, it's not for a moment boring as you always retain the sense of anticipation that something is about to happen. In many ways, the story comes at you more like an action film, where you know you're only moments away from the point at which the bullets will start flying again. It's a lengthy book, but such is the pace of the action that the pages turn quickly and the end is upon you before you realise it.

One thing that helps with this is how the characters interact. With two factions that have been reluctantly forced to team up, there is some resentment and much verbal sniping between the two sides. Whilst the characters may never come to life in full physical detail, the language they use with each other gives a good indication of their personalities and helps the reader draw a picture of what they are like, with what they look like being secondary.

There were a couple of minor annoyances that took the edge off the book slightly. There were a couple of slightly predictable moments towards the end, using similar clichés to those used in the action films I've already mentioned. There was also an apparent need to tie things off too neatly at the end, resulting in a slightly twee ending that didn't seem to entirely fit with all that had come before. With this being Adam Blake's second Heather Kennedy novel, there were also references back to previous events that left you wondering about the previous novel as much as about this one. But these things certainly didn't spoil the book in any important way and it's an exciting read if you decide to give the book a try.

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