Title: 13
Series: Tallent & Lowery
Author: Amy Lignor
Formats
Available In: Digital and Print
Publication
Date: 11/30/2012
Blurb: In 1902, in a dark room on the fifth floor of Carnegie Hall,
thirteen people came together to continue a tradition that had been set in
stone thousands of years before.
In 2012, Leah Tallent is Head of Research at the New York Public Library. Stoic and stable, brilliant and cynical, she has forever enjoyed her existence among the book stacks. But even with her unparalleled intellect, there was no way to know that on the historic steps between America's famous lions, she would become involved with a crazy man on a fanatical quest.
Gareth Lowery has spent his life searching for the ultimate artifact that he is certain exists. His life's pursuit has been to retrieve twelve keys hidden by men whose job it was to protect the single biggest secret ever kept. To find the keys he must enlist the help of an unwilling guide who, unfortunately, knows much more than he bargained for.
From the first page to the last word, this fantastic duo become immersed in a whirlwind treasure hunt with historical and passionate repercussions. From the strange and eerie Winchester House to the blustery darkness of Loch Ness, Gareth and Leah will quickly learn that the theory of duality is correct: For every bad there is a good and, for Heaven, there most assuredly exists...Hell.
In 2012, Leah Tallent is Head of Research at the New York Public Library. Stoic and stable, brilliant and cynical, she has forever enjoyed her existence among the book stacks. But even with her unparalleled intellect, there was no way to know that on the historic steps between America's famous lions, she would become involved with a crazy man on a fanatical quest.
Gareth Lowery has spent his life searching for the ultimate artifact that he is certain exists. His life's pursuit has been to retrieve twelve keys hidden by men whose job it was to protect the single biggest secret ever kept. To find the keys he must enlist the help of an unwilling guide who, unfortunately, knows much more than he bargained for.
From the first page to the last word, this fantastic duo become immersed in a whirlwind treasure hunt with historical and passionate repercussions. From the strange and eerie Winchester House to the blustery darkness of Loch Ness, Gareth and Leah will quickly learn that the theory of duality is correct: For every bad there is a good and, for Heaven, there most assuredly exists...Hell.
Excerpt:
Leah glanced at the staircase leading to
the main floor of the library. She could see Gareth out of the corner of her
eye. His head was bowed and his eyes were shut tight, as if he was
contemplating the jail cell that awaited him.
Talk about complete confusion. Leah should
run; she knew that. But the sixth sense she’d trusted all her life was telling
her to stay. Reaching across the table she picked up the heavy book. Checking
to make sure her “kidnapper” wasn’t making any new threats, Leah began thumbing
through the pages; dark and light sat side by side, and she attempted to decipher
clues from the past.
From Egyptian handwriting that reminded her
of a book she’d once read about the lost Library of Alexandria, to a strange
map with Latin text that looked like it came from the secret vaults of the
Vatican Library, Leah found herself sucked into every amazing page. There were
unbelievable signatures at the bottom of each sheet that she couldn’t wrap her
mind around: Plato, Socrates and, oddly enough, one that she could’ve sworn
read, Merlin. The librarian in her was exhilarated beyond belief.
Leah paused when the strangely familiar
words met her gaze. On the ‘good’ side of the book, there was a hand drawing of
Christ dying on the cross. But above it, instead of scripture, were the words
to the song, Rock of Ages.
“Without the book,” she began. “Without
these clues…how could you possibly have found the first six?”
“I thought I was going to jail,” came
Gareth’s sarcastic reply.
Leah tried not to smile at the man who now
sounded like a petulant teenager. Flipping through the ‘evil’ side of the book,
she quickly passed over the strange scenes of slithering serpents, and victims
with mouths open wide in silent screams. She’d rather not dwell on those; she
feared knowing too much about the worst possible side of humanity.
But when she came across the familiar
slanted handwriting, she stopped dead in her tracks. On the ‘dark’ page,
opposite the sketch of what she’d assumed was ancient Alexandria, was a
childlike drawing done in white chalk. The lines looked like rooftops; spires
and steeples rose up into the blackness. Scrawled on each triangular eave was
the number ‘13’ and, on the largest one, there as a chalk outline of a human
being. A bullet-hole had been drawn dead center in the person’s chest.
Leah blocked out the sirens that erupted
inside her brain, and read the words at the bottom of the page:
To me, a book is a message from the gods to
mankind…A. Crowley
Closing the cover of the strange book
that’d been buried for over a hundred years in the basement of her favorite
place, Leah turned to the defeated man sitting quietly beside her. For the
first time in her life Leah had no idea what she was doing. It was as if
Crowley, himself, was daring her to solve his riddle; taunting her with the
fact that she just wasn’t as smart as he had been.
She sighed heavily. Like her father, Leah
had to go further than the rest. She had to excel. It wasn’t a choice—it was a
necessity for her. Research, books, words…they were like a drug. She absolutely
had to know.
If her father had been sitting beside her,
Leah knew exactly what he’d say. He’d tell her that a gift had been dropped in
her lap—a chance to literally step away from the books, go into the unknown,
and solve a mystery that a true historical ‘devil’ had left behind.
Making a mental note to find a psychiatrist
for herself as soon as possible, Leah reached over and touched Gareth’s arm,
causing him to practically jump out of his skin. “You own a laptop?”
He grunted. “They have some at my
hotel…why?” His eyes came alive with hope.
The computer clicked and beeped inside
Leah’s brain, searching her own database for the answer to the first clue that
she knew was designed to take her into the darkness.
Standing up, she stretched her back and
grabbed her leather coat. Turning, Leah stared into the confused green eyes.
“Let’s go.”
Would love to win book #1. I NEED IT!!!!
ReplyDeleteTerry P.