Editorial Reviews "This series is a MUST READ. " -United Indie Book Blog Synopsis Kissing handsome Harper Bay to avoid a confrontation with her past isn’t on Amber Cross’s to-do list, but sometimes a situation calls for desperate measures. She doesn’t expect the kiss to leave her breathless. Amber is the hottest thing walking but clearly not Harper’s type. He’s not looking for a platinum-blond manicurist from the city. After her surprising kiss leaves him panting, he changes his mind and decides to get to know her. Chemistry sizzles between them, but this gorgeous woman has a past that could get them both killed.
The history of art has produced few works as ambitious and as valuable as the Amber Room. Famous throughout Europe as "the eighth wonder of the world," its vast and intricately worked amber panels were sent in 1717 by Frederick I of Prussia as a gift to Peter the Great of Russia. Erected some years later, they quickly became a symbol of Russia's imperial might. For more than two hundred years the Amber Room remained in its Russian palace outside St. Petersburg (Leningrad), but when the Nazi army invaded Russia and swept towards Leningrad in 1941, the panels were wrenched from the walls, packed into crates, and disappeared from view, never to be seen again. Dozens of people have tried to trace the whereabouts of the Amber Room, and several of them have died in mysterious circumstances. Adrian Levy and Catherine Scott-Clark have gone further along the trail of this great lost treasure than anyone before them, and have unraveled the jumble of evidence surrounding its fate. Their search catapulted them across eastern Europe and into the menacing world of espionage and counterespionage that still surrounds Russia and the former Soviet bloc. In archives in St. Petersburg and Berlin, amid boxes of hitherto unseen diaries, letters, and classified reports, they have uncovered for the first time an astounding conspiracy to hide the truth. In a gripping climax that is a triumph of detection and narrative journalism, The Amber Room shows incontrovertibly what really happened to the most valuable lost artwork in the world, and why the truth has been withheld for so long.
The fossilized resin of ancient trees, amber preserves organic material--most commonly insects and other invertebrates--and with it the shape and surface detail that are usually obliterated or hopelessly distorted during the mineralization we associate with fossils. This fascinating substance offers a unique intersection of the fields of paleontology, botany, entomology, and mineralogy.
Editorial Reviews "This series is a MUST READ. " -United Indie Book Blog Synopsis Newly divorced from his greedy and deceptive first wife, Dallas McCray is convinced he wants a sweet country girl like his sister-in-law. So why is he lusting after the new veterinarian in town, striking New Jersey transplant Annie DeSimone? Also divorced, Annie yearns to leave her difficult past behind and start a new life in beautiful Colorado. Sparks fly between her and the handsome Dallas, and happiness finally seems within reach. But attraction and emotion aren’t always enough…especially when a man has vowed never to make the same mistake twice.
Describes treasure hunting as a profession, including the history of searching for buried and sunken treasure, the equipment and training required, and the dangers associated with the field.
During the dangerous days of World War II, Honey Deschamps is spending her days transcribing decrypted messages at Bletchley Park, when she starts to receive bizarrely coded packages. When everyone is keeping secrets, who can you trust? Bletchley Park, 1942: As World War II rages on, Honey Deschamps sits at her type-x machine, tediously transcribing decrypted signals from the German Army, doing her part to assist the British war effort. Halfway across the world, Hitler’s armies are marching into Leningrad, leaving a trail of destruction and pillaging the country’s most treasured artworks, including the famous Amber Room—the eighth wonder of the world. As reports begin filtering into Bletchley Park about the stolen loot, Honey receives a mysterious package, hand-delivered from a man that she has never seen before who claims that he works at the Park as well. The package is postmarked from Russia, and inside is a small piece of amber. It is just the first of several such packages, and when she examines them together she realizes that someone, relying on her abilities to unravel codes, is trying to tell her something. Honey can’t help but fear that the packages are a trap set by the authorities to test her loyalties—surely nothing so valuable could get through the mail during a time of war. And yet, something about the packages reminds her of stories that her brother used to tell her about her absent father, and when her brother is found brutally murdered on his way to visit Honey, she can’t help but assume that the events are connected. But at Bletchley Park, secrecy reigns supreme, and she has nowhere to turn for help . . .
Before Diedre McAlister's mother dies, she gives her daughter an old photograph and says: "Find yourself. Find your truth. Just don't expect it to be what you thought it would be." The truth will shake up Diedre's world, threaten lives, challenge her faith-and quite possibly save her life.
“A winner . . . combines the pace and style of Brown’s Da Vinci Code and the densely plotted espionage of Daniel Silva’s Gabriel Allon novels.”—The Florida Times-Union Atlanta judge Rachel Cutler loves her job and her kids, but her life takes a dark turn when her father dies under strange circumstances, leaving behind clues to a secret about one of the greatest treasures ever made by man. Forged of the exquisite gem, the Amber Room inexplicably disappeared sometime during World War II. Determined to solve its mysteries, Rachel takes off for Germany with her ex-husband, Paul, close behind. Before long, they’re in over their heads. Locked into a treacherous game with professional killers, Rachel and Paul find themselves on a collision course with the forces of greed, power, and history itself. BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Steve Berry’s The Columbus Affair. Praise for The Amber Room “Compelling . . . adventure-filled . . . a fast-moving, globe-hopping tale.”—San Francisco Chronicle “Magnificently engrossing . . . pure intrigue, pure fun.”—Clive Cussler “Thrilling . . . fast-paced, highly entertaining.”—Baton Rouge Advocate
