Book Blurb:
Knowledge can be magic—until it falls into the wrong hands.
The ritualistic murder of a British professor at the University of Exeter points to a startling cast of suspects: his own students. All are enrolled in a postgraduate program covering the history of witchcraft, folklore, and spiritualism.
All evidence points to Sharyn Karr—an American student. Prior to the professor’s death, he had thrust a centuries-old book upon her. It appears to be the handwritten and encrypted diary of an eighteenth-century mystic and occultist, the Comte de Saint-Germain. The professor begged her to keep the text safe, ending with a warning: Trust no one.
Such a responsibility forces her into cooperation with Duncan Maxwell, a fellow postgrad and the sixteenth in line to the British Crown. Already, Duncan has proven himself a savant with encryptions. Unfortunately, the pair clash at every level, but they both need one another. Especially when they discover the book’s opening words: Herein lies the secret to my immortality. Come find me, if you dare.
As dark forces close upon the pair, she and her friends are forced to flee, pursued by law enforcement and hunted by a powerful cabal. In an explosive chase across Europe—from the Tower of London to Parisian chateaus to a fortress in the Italian Alps—Sharyn must learn the true secret hidden in Saint-Germain’s text. It will send her and the others across history and deep into the heart of one of the world’s greatest mysteries, a secret buried at the roots of Western Civilization, a discovery that could topple empires and change humanity forever.
For what lies at the end of Saint-Germain’s diary is as shocking as its opening words.
My Review:
Definitely not what I expected. I read the author’s name and downloaded. Then I read the blurb. So, my month continues.
This one reminded me of the wild movie series Indiana Jones or the Da Vinci Code but in this particular novel there is that history of witchcraft and folklore, which usually draws me in. I found this novel to start in a rather slow to set-the-scene kind of way.
But it never hooks like Indiana Jones or achieves the pace. The plot is interesting and poses several questions. (Treasure?) The main character is a young woman carefully chosen to protect a book too valuable to leave with the professor who knows his ownership may warrant violence.
Realizing she may be in over her head, Sharyn Karr (American) enlists the aid of Duncan Maxwell (British). Predictably, they mix like oil and water, but with their heads together, they do present an indomitable force. The problem is, I didn’t really get invested in either. I’m not sure they were developed sufficiently for that—the focus is on the search for the secret in the book.
It doesn’t take long before the professor has turned up dead and the two postgrads realize they are in a world of hurt. They’ll flee with the book as they also try to decrypt it and determine that it is far more important than either initially thought. Are they looking for treasure, or is the treasure more a biological secret? Both?
I did enjoy the narrator who did a fine job with the French language. It was a fun little European jaunt sampling Paris and the Italian Alps until the two find themselves trying to survive against both factions (the black-hearted Brotherhood and the Guardians) deep in the limestone caverns of the Alps escaping through subterranean chambers of ice caves.
And I can tell you from experience that ice caves are no fun.
Perhaps lacking the visual thrill of the Indiana Jones flick, it didn’t always keep my rapt attention, although I give credit to the narrator for inflicting as much ferocity as he could.
Are they able to discover the secrets hidden in the book? Wait. What happened to it? While some found it fast-paced and fascinating, I listened with half an ear sometimes. If you are a solid fan of the author, go for it.
Many thanks to my local library for providing me with the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook. The thoughts expressed here are my own.
Rosepoint Publishing: Three point Five Stars 
Book Details:
Genre: International Mystery & Crime, Action Thriller & Suspense Fiction, War & Military Fiction
Publisher: William Morrow
Narrator: Simon Vance
Release Date: February 24, 2026
Title Links:
Amazon-US | Amazon-UK | Barnes & Noble | Kobo
The Author: James Rollins is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of international thrillers. His writing has been translated into more than forty languages and has sold more than 20 million books. The New York Times says, “Rollins is what you might wind up with if you tossed Michael Crichton and Dan Brown into a particle accelerator together.” NPR calls his work, “Adventurous and enormously engrossing.” Rollins unveils unseen worlds, scientific breakthroughs, and historical secrets matched with stunning suspense. As a veterinarian, he had a practice in Sacramento for over a decade and still volunteers at local shelters. Nowadays, Rollins shares his home up in the Sierra Nevada Mountains with two furry companions, Echo and Charlie. He also enjoys scuba diving, spelunking, kayaking, and hiking. Of course, he loves to travel and experience new places around the world, which often inspire his next globe-trotting adventure.
©2026 V Williams
Best Mystery, Thriller & Suspense 
Winner for Readers’ Favorite Horror (2022)
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