The Heretic’s Treasure

The Heretic’s Treasure
Scott Mariani

AN EXHILARATING TREASURE-HUNT THRILLER FROM THE #1 BESTSELLING AUTHORAN ANCIENT FORTUNE LIES HIDDEN.LOST FOR THUSANDS OF YEARS, UNTIL NOW.An ancient fortune has lain hidden for thousands of years, one so powerful that men will kill to protect it. And only one man can unearth it…Ex-SAS operative Ben Hope is living a peaceful life in rural France – until a phone call from an old army comrade turns his world upside down. Eminent Egyptologist Morgan Paxton has been brutally murdered while working on the mysterious 'Akhenaten Project' in Cairo, and Colonel Harry Paxton wants Ben to find his son's killer.Ben is unable to refuse the request from the man who once saved his life – but when Harry asks him to avenge his son's death he's in dangerous territory. Made worse by the fact that he finds himself attracted to Zara Paxton, Harry's new bride.Carving through the seedy Cairo underworld, Ben soon realises that there was more to Paxton's research than meets the eye as he is plunged into one double-cross after another. His mission leads him from Italy and Paris via the coast of Scotland to the banks of the Nile, climaxing in a tense showdown in the war-torn Sudanese desert.At the end of the trail lies the ultimate treasure, hidden away by three rebel High Priests during the reign of the 'Heretic' Pharoah Akhenaten – a collection so valuable that some will stop at nothing to possess it…A super-charged, heart-racing thriller, perfect for fans of Dan Brown, Sam Bourne and Wilbur Smith.BEN HOPE is one of the most celebrated action adventure heroes in British fiction and Scott Mariani is the author of numerous bestsellers. Join the ever-growing legion of readers who get breathless with anticipation when the countdown to the new Ben Hope thriller begins …

SCOTT MARIANI

The Heretic’s Treasure

Copyright (#ulink_76b16192-5100-5207-96b3-94957ffd4eb2)

Published by Avon an imprint of

HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)

This ebook edition published by HarperCollins Publishers 2016

First published in paperback by HarperCollinsPublishers, 2009

Copyright © Scott Mariani 2009

Cover design © Henry Steadman 2016

Scott Mariani asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

HarperCollinsPublishers has made every reasonable effort to ensure that any picture content and written content in this ebook has been included or removed in accordance with the contractual and technological constraints in operation at the time of publication

Ebook Edition © May 2016 ISBN 9780007334575

Version: 2018-07-18

Dedication (#ulink_9a4a2282-945e-53b4-880f-d8b4b48d83f0)

This one is for Malu Pothi,

a very special Bengal tigress

You are in my heart and none other knows thee But your son ‘Akhenaten’. You have given him understanding of your designs and your power. The people of the world are in your hand…

From ‘Hymn to the Sun’

The Pharaoh Akhenaten

Contents

Cover (#ub8d2519f-a93b-5745-a74d-6702950ed74c)

Title Page (#u36f66fe8-3aa3-577d-b8e2-aef6370ebc0e)

Copyright (#u4f1634e2-48e6-5090-a0e8-0511e405ba88)

Dedication (#u9663fe28-6000-5835-9040-25423c993ce8)

Epigraph (#u9fa578fe-41d4-5882-a927-2e67fc60af61)

Chapter One (#uc334594c-3f10-5af1-8dee-9d44b4b60447)

Chapter Two (#ud1f847e1-a188-5f6a-9c4b-dbd7244dfb61)

Chapter Three (#uae201cab-d639-520c-9fa0-d6d48d8cc0a5)

Chapter Four (#u481d9a3c-bed9-535d-a4cb-c4f56e7dedce)

Chapter Five (#u7e014521-bc0d-5e2c-aa86-960d91167705)

Chapter Six (#u1eb2e1ab-7733-5076-b951-6f9c0a23b070)

Chapter Seven (#uc0e0bcc0-abd0-52b6-a9e4-e7d181d3bc32)

Chapter Eight (#u8a5ed6ea-cb15-5586-a656-0356de33bf82)

Chapter Nine (#uecd261f1-bda4-55c3-8a5e-55b466aa5c70)

Chapter Ten (#ufcfb2628-1aaa-5990-9fce-4403f3533846)

Chapter Eleven (#u072ab6a5-423a-591f-b6d8-b03e10ab9c40)

Chapter Twelve (#ub217b29f-ab5b-5b58-bc35-53351a6f043e)

Chapter Thirteen (#ua80caeaa-959d-5532-9738-bd93d9ca6c54)

Chapter Fourteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Fifteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Sixteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Seventeen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eighteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Nineteen (#litres_trial_promo)