Ancient Mystery Fiction

It's the summer of AD 79, and Flavia Gemina the sea captain's daughter -along with her friends Jonathan the Jewish boy, Nubia the African slave-girl, and Lupus the homeless beggar-boy - set sail for the Bay of Naples, to stay with Flavia's uncle near Pompeii. They are soon absorbing in trying to solve a riddle that may lead to treasure. But then tragedy strikes - Mount Vesuvius erupts and the children are fleeing for their lives from one of the worst natural disasters ever recorded.

In The Greatest Celestial Deception, we take you on a profound journey into the heart of ancient mind-set and practices, revealing a breathtaking, hidden reality that will transform your life forever and in many ways. Far from offering simple interpretations, platitudes, and general principles, The Greatest Celestial Deception immerses you into the surprisingly archaic practices in the world of the ancients of various ages while using modern knowledge as a guide. While presenting you with all the incredible evidence to support this, you will discover for yourself that modernity has not put ...

Gabriel Radu isn’t your average detective... Residing in the quaint but quirky town of Denmark, Tennessee, the semi-immortal Gabriel is called upon from time to time to assist local law enforcement in solving unusual crimes that often end in murder. And by unusual, the crimes always involve something he's quite familiar with: magic. When Sheriff Billy McCain comes calling for help in solving the brutal slayings of a pair of homeless men whose corpses have been marked by a dark snake and scythe symbol, Gabriel accepts the challenge to help solve the case and bring the killer or killers to ...

Spencer Collins thinks his life at Harvard will be all about basketball and pre-med. The friends he’s made when he hits the storied ivy-clad campus from a very different life in urban Chicago are a happy bonus. But Spencer is about to be introduced to the most mysterious inner sanctum of the inner sanctum: to his surprise, he’s in the running to be “punched” for one of Harvard’s elite final clubs. As Spencer is considered for membership for the Delphic Club, he’s plunged not only into the secret world of male privilege, but also a century-old club mystery.

Alexandria, 47 BC. For three centuries, the House of Ptolemy has governed the Kingdom of Egypt. Cleopatra – seventh of her name – rules from Alexandria, that beacon of commerce and learning that stands between the burning sands of the desert and the dark waters of the Middle Sea. But her realm is beset by ethnic rivalries, aristocratic feuds and courtly intrigues. The world is watching the young Queen, waiting for a misstep. And now her most trusted servant – her Eye – has been murdered and a vast shipment of newly minted coin stolen.

The Romans invaded Britannia in AD 43 confident of victory. They swept through a divided and ill-equipped enemy, scattered across tough terrain. But one man was not prepared to surrender. Caratacus - quick-witted youngest son of a a tribal king - had been trained from birth to be a warrior of power and grit. Sent to be schooled by the Druids in his boyhood, his training meant that an already strong and cunning prince returned to his father's kingdom as a war machine.

They call themselves Alpha Adventures, a group of six extraordinary people who come together for one special purpose... to seek the impossible. Funded by a billionaire heiress, and each possessing a unique skill set, The Adventurers will stop at nothing to find the mythical, the fantastical, the lost, and the forgotten. Now on the trail of the legendary sunken city of Kitezh off the coast of Russia, and on the run from a London mobster with his own agenda—the team soon discovers evidence of an elaborate hoax... And proof of something out of this world. Or under it. After all, there’s ...

Ireland, AD 671. It is the beginning of the summer season and the Kingdom of Muman is preparing to celebrate the Great Fair of Cashel. It is an extravagant nine days of contests, food, and endless entertainment. Circumstances have led Fidelma and Eadulf far and wide across the kingdom, and they have been absent from the Great Fair for many years. But for once they haven't been called away from Cashel, and are eager to enjoy the festivities - that is, until the last wagon in a group traveling to the fair catches on fire.

The countdown has begun. The Tenth Protocol has been activated, and the evacuation of the surface is about to begin. Millions of lives will be saved, but billions more will be lost. As the old world crumbles, there are some on the surface who seek to save those doomed to die a gruesome death. But are they willing to sacrifice themselves to achieve it?

936 AD. Brittany is torn apart by war. Many nobles have sought refuge in King aethelstan's England, including Louis, prospective king of Francia. Einar and the Wolf Coats, disillusioned by events in Norway, are also at aethelstan's court. When Louis decides to take up his throne, aethelstan sees a way to make a crucial ally: a powerful noble whose support Louis needs. And aethelstan has just the men he needs to carry his message... and undertake a secret mission.The Wolf Coats' quest is fraught with danger and foreboding, for the world is changing.

On the eve of Marcus Cicero's inauguration as consul of Rome, the grisly death of a boy sends ripples of fear through a city already wracked by civil unrest, crime, and debauchery of every kind. Felled by a hammer, his throat slit and his organs removed, the young slave appears to have been offered as a human sacrifice, forbidden as an abomination in the Roman Republic. For Cicero, the ill forebodings of this hideous murder only increase his frustrations and the dangers he already faces as Rome's leader.

Theodosia Throckmorton has her hands full at the Museum of Legends and Antiquities in London. Her father may be head curator, but it is Theoand only Theowho is able to see all the black magic and ancient curses that still cling to the artifacts in the museum. Sneaking behind her fathers back, Theo uses old, nearly forgotten Egyptian magic to remove the curses and protect her father and the rest of the museum employees from the ancient, sinister forces that lurk in the museums dark hallways.

The shadows of the past come alive. After twenty years of silence, Dina returns, driven by an insatiable hunger for power and revenge. Her eyes are fixed on the legendary scarab, the key to an ancient power that can reduce the world to ashes. Lillian and Roy Sawyer are the only ones who know Dina's true intentions. But as the swinging sixties are in full swing, Dina's next move remains a mystery. Will they uncover her plans before it's too late, or will Dina finally triumph and plunge the world into a new era of darkness?

It is AD 60. The hard-won province of Britannia is a thorn in the side of the Roman Empire, its tribes swift to anger and relentless in their bloody harassment of the Roman military. Far from being a peaceful northern enclave, Britannia is a seething mass of bitter rebels and unlikely alliances against the common enemy. Corruption amongst greedy officials diverts resources from the locals who need them. For the military, it's a never-ending fight to maintain a fragile peace.

When Michael unexpectedly receives a recent picture of a long-lost love, a woman he thought was dead, he gives up everything to search for her and to find answers to questions that have plagued him through the years. Michael’s search takes him from St. Petersburg, Russia to an archeological dig site in Ukraine’s Carpathian mountains - a desolate area where medieval knights once roamed and horrifying secrets are buried - and at the same time, it creates a mystical connection to the riches and debauchery of the court of Nicholas and Alexandra and the “mad monk” Rasputin.

It is 1066 and the Saxon leadership lie dead at Senlac Hill. Only Aelfraed and his northern rebels hold out against the Norman war machine. Fighting treachery as well as Normans Aelfraed and his warriors bravely take the fight to the Normans. Forced to become outlaws they fight a rearguard action from the northern forests until William relentlessly hunts them down.

Stella, an archaeologist specializing in Anasazi culture, and David, a mysterious Navajo boy, are on the run from something terrifying. As they flee up into the snowy mountains of Colorado, they are carjacked by criminals. Caught in a blizzard, they must take refuge in what they believe is an abandoned cabin. It's at this cabin that they will face horrors beyond their imagination.

Rome, 58 AD. Aemilius Valerius is on the up and up. His reputation has been rehabilitated, he has established a fledgling career, and he has new friends in very powerful places. When one of those new friends, the poet Lucan, is attacked, Valerius is given an offer he can’t refuse: find the culprits before they strike again. But when every man in Lucan’s circle of poets and playwrights and artists is potentially a suspect, each one of them competing for the emperor’s favor, how is Valerius supposed to tell the difference between petty jealousy and murderous rage?

The Persian King Artaxerxes rules an empire stretching from the Aegean to Northern India. As many as 50 million people are his subjects. His rule is absolute. Yet battles can be won - or lost - with a single blow. Princes fall. And when the dust of civil war settles, the Spartans are left stranded in the heart of an enemy's empire, without support, without food, and without water. Far from home, surrounded by foes, it falls to the young soldier Xenophon to lead the survivors against Artaxerxes' legendary Persian warriors.

Ranofer struggles to thwart the plottings of his evil brother, Gebu, so he can become master goldsmith like their father. Young listeners will love this exciting tale of ancient Egyptian mystery and intrigue.