Published in hardcover 1st October 2026.
From the cover of the book:
A murdered billionaire. A vanished relic. A conspiracy older than the pyramids.
When Alex MacLure takes the job of curator of a private collection, little does he know that the billionaire owner has a mysterious stone. Or that things will rapidly spiral out of control. Competing parties want the stones and will do anything to obtain them.
Special Agent Charlie Rebb is called upon to prove MacLure's innocence as he is drawn into a web of murder, deceit and conspiracy.
Does MacLure hold the key to exposing the stones' power? If if he does, what will it mean for humanity?
***********
California, USA. Egyptologist, Alex MacLure, arrives at the home of billionaire collector of antiquities, Simon Blanchard, to take on the role of curator of his private museum. Awed and somewhat unsettled by the collection, and its advanced AI security system, Alex sets to work on a new translation task. Little does Alex know that Blanchard also has a coveted artifact in his collection that is about to get him branded a thief and a murderer.
Meanwhile, FBI Special Agent Charlie Rebb travels to Iceland to consult on the murder of a former agent. She is convinced this is linked with the case of the serial killer, The Surgeon, which got her pulled into a dangerous situation in Egypt by Alex. What she does not expect is that she will be dragged into another conspiracy involving Alex... and be called upon to extricate him from murder charges a second time.
Murray goes all out in this third, action-packed instalment of the Egyptian Stones series, bringing everything together in a culmination of the Keeper of Secrets themes from the earlier books, that lead to a set of ancient stones with a terrifying purpose.
Alex's thirst for knowledge carries him to the luxurious complex of Blanchard, where a translation task actually means a lot more that he bargained for. For Blanchard needs him to unlock the secrets of an other-worldly black stone marked with arcane symbols, which emits a radioactive signal. Unfortunately, Alex becomes the pawn in the games of others when he is fitted up for killing Blanchard and taking the stone for himself. All evidence points to his guilt, but Charlie Rebb knows he is no killer, and that the stone has been stolen by someone else - if only she can convince her bosses, deal with the interference of her smarmy ex-husband, and expose a perfidious AI entity.
Alex and Charlie's parts of the story barrel along in very exciting order, with some welcome familiar faces putting in an appearance, including Alex's hacker brother, Andrew, and Charlie's working partner Peter Zhang, Alex falls unwillingly into the company of all manner of interested parties, such as an Egyptian brotherhood (hello again, Champions of the Holy Site), a potential love interest in fellow academic Dr Marie Dubois, a discredited conspiracy-obsessed journalist, misguided French Freemasons, and another billionaire who has lost the plot... all of whom have agendas of their own. In parallel, Charlie has a lot on her plate tracking down clues, while trying to convince the authorities that Alex is not who they think he is, and that something very bad is going to happen if they do not start taking her seriously.
This has everything you could possibly want in an intelligent thriller, especially if you have read the earlier books, The Heretic Cypher and The Mark of Eternity, which I recommend. The Dan Brown meets Michael Crichton vibes are strong, with very enjoyable echoes of both Stargate and Indiana Jones, and the plot thrums with ancient rituals, assassinations, conspiracy theories, mad billionaires, AI shenanigans, end of the world chills, and secret societies at crossed purposes - mixed with a gripping noir FBI investigation element that carries its weight just as much as the more mystical ones do. And, oh my, the climax of this third book is truly an unexpected delight... roll on book four, because I need to know what happens next!
As an aside, I am thrilled to see that the fabulous Charlie is set to get her own spin-off series. Hurray! Keep your eyes peeling for Identity, A Charlie Rebb Thriller, coming 29th January 2027. I cannot wait to read it, Murray!
Available to buy now in hardcover, paperback and ebook formats.
Thank you to Murray Bailey for sending me a review copy of this book, and for inviting me to join this blog tour.
About the author:
Murray Bailey Is the author of the Ash Carter thrillers, inspired by his father's experience in the Royal Military Police in Singapore in the early 1950s. From the prequel series, based in Cyprus and Israel, The Prisoner of Acre won the 2025 Page Turner Award. A post-Singapore series is based in the Philippines. The Heretic Cypher is the first book of a trilogy featuring a young Robert Langdon-type character decrypting secret messages written by an ancient Egyptian.
Murray is well travelled, having worked in the US, South America and a number of European countries throughout his career as a management consultant. However he also managed to find the time to edit books, contribute to articles and act as a part-time magazine editor.
Murray was born in Manchester and now lives on the south coast of England with his family and two dogs, Teddy and Muffin.
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