The Key

The Key
Simon Toyne

Conspiracy thrillers don’t come any bigger or better than THE KEY – from the author of the bestselling thriller debut of 2011, SANCTUS: ‘Plenty of action, plenty of intrigue and wonderfully imaginative. The sort of novel to devour in one sitting' Kate Mosse.Hounded. Haunted. Hunted. She is the most important person in the world. She is The Key.In the ancient Turkish city of Ruin, American journalist Liv Adamsen lies in an isolation ward staring at walls as blank as her memory.She knows she entered the monumental Citadel at the heart of Ruin but can remember only darkness. Something strange is stirring within her, whispering that she is ‘the key’. But the key to what?For the Ghost, a mercenary operating in the Syrian Desert, Liv could unlock one of mankind’s most potent secrets. For the brotherhood in the Citadel – now cursed by a terrible plague – her return is the only way to ensure their survival. And for a powerful faction in Rome, she threatens the very future of the Catholic Church.Hunted across continents and caught up in events that defy explanation, Liv turns to the only person she trusts – a charity worker named Gabriel Mann. Together their paths lead to a shocking discovery – one that will tear them apart and change the world forever…

Copyright

HarperCollinsPublishers

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Published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2012

Copyright © Simon Toyne 2012

Simon Toyne asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Starmap image © the trustees of The British Museum. All rights reserved.

Map © John Gilkes 2011

Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2013

Cover photographs © Stephen Mulcahey/Arcangel Images (figure, ceiling); IIC/Axiom/Getty Images (shelving).

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.

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Source ISBN: 9780007391622

Ebook Edition ISBN: 9780007460885

Version: 2016-10-14

To Roxy

(you can read it when you’re eleven)

Contents

Cover (#u09c50944-f4ca-54ef-ac71-ea01e385353c)

Title Page (#ued68d77d-d199-52be-91d8-dd67f40097d9)

Copyright (#u5ac2e460-f960-52d6-899d-132107792cec)

Dedication (#uc921192a-f5ed-5eaa-94d7-76ef05dbb576)

The Key Map (#ub9cf8658-f53e-5e4b-8fcd-a2de05755db5)

Part I (#uf5bfc38c-6c54-581e-8c7f-9f8db9deb79b)

Chapter 1 (#u5fe4b841-a953-5539-b72d-c1d805bb05a6)

Chapter 2 (#u71041990-3c41-528a-b4d3-fbfcdd17c0fe)

Chapter 3 (#u765c61bf-aad0-548a-ab58-6a9c160d1dbc)

Chapter 4 (#u0129ba43-ad56-5160-94af-a645eaa1c31c)

Chapter 5 (#u89214d7b-f0d6-58a2-a06d-b69b8a3f9928)

Chapter 6 (#u4cd5192f-f01b-5b8f-9a22-3780321496e3)

Chapter 7 (#uffbece25-90d3-5645-8fab-b63b377ba6e2)

Chapter 8 (#u2835434a-fbf4-5a7f-961a-0316e1c798a1)

Chapter 9 (#ue24dd66d-8cb5-5597-b2d2-ad0b3ef1c265)

Chapter 10 (#ueca95999-067d-5df0-b27d-c01bec2e6986)

Chapter 11 (#u22c063bf-4ff5-529d-ad8b-93346a32273e)

Chapter 12 (#uae04fd6c-ec0d-5fac-b5f8-68be902bfaa7)

Chapter 13 (#u945b7319-7a6e-55be-96c1-d85c05f7f248)

Chapter 14 (#u336af5fe-b8bd-5c33-819b-5ec8bf6946aa)

Chapter 15 (#u318f3d2d-9159-5db7-9cf3-ea1f5cedb871)

Chapter 16 (#u6eaad2b2-dfce-57fe-9ac8-80d5f27f6a7f)

Chapter 17 (#ua3594fca-54a0-57f3-85e1-78a9c58181cc)

Chapter 18 (#u946e2bca-9779-595b-8c20-2f30194c5e1f)

Chapter 19 (#uafd9546c-925f-5568-9160-0983bd2e015d)

Chapter 20 (#uc31df9fd-0f06-537e-be70-697e8d7f5af2)

Chapter 21 (#u32515b95-a35d-552c-bd63-270e8deccf9a)