Madison Dupre

The knock on the door of struggling art expert Madison Dupre's low rent New York apartment is that of a Thai café deliveryman-but instead of succulent noodles, he has a rare work of art from the incredible Angkor Wat in the jungles of Cambodia. Angkor Wat, a wonder of the ancient world, is considered by many antiquity experts to be even more majestic than the monuments of the Egyptian pharaohs. Left unprotected, the vast complex has been a treasure trove for thieves who mercilessly cut off pieces, mutilating thousand-year-old sculptures with chainsaws. Madison knows there is no possibility that this artifact could have been acquired legally. That knock on her door sends her to one of the most dangerous places on the planet: Phnom Penh, the sex-sin-drug capital of the Far East. Stepping into a cauldron of murder and antiquity-looting that takes her from New York to Cambodia, Hong Kong to Thailand, Madison keeps one step ahead of temple robbers who kill as easily as they steal. She finds comfort in the arms of a soldier of fortune; tangles with a Russian model and her stud "bodyguard," who introduce her to the New Eroticism; and gets entangled with a Cambodian prince whose sex moves not even the worldly Madison had tried. But, how much is Madison willing to sacrifice in order to protect her priceless, irreplaceable antiquities...?

Art investigator Madison Dupre knows a fake when she sees it. When the mysterious Dr. Kaseem offers to pay her a handsome sum to "ransom" a scarab stolen from the tomb of King Tut, her gut tells her to walk away. Since she still needs to pay the rent, Madison throws caution to wind and prepares to search for the Heart of Egypt. Before she can pack a suitcase, she finds herself framed for murder and on the run. Her leads take her to Stonehenge, England, where a Druid sex cult worships a "goddess of love," a woman with enough personal wealth to buy a host of admirers. Madison finds an admirer of her own in Rafi al-Din, an Egyptian antiquities investigator she knows she can't trust, but who arouses her passions. Drawn to Egypt in search of the scarab, Madison is trapped in the land of the Pharaohs when her passport is seized at the airport. She knows she is being played by Kaseem, who believes the Heart has the power to galvanize the masses to support his secret cause. From the famed Khan marketplace, to the Valley of the Kings and the incredible colossi at Abu Simbel, Madison treads a careful path among tomb robbers, assassins, and political fanatics. She must dodge curses both ancient and modern to stay alive.

Art investigator Madison Dupre knew the offer was too good to be true: $20,000 for a quick trip to Dubai, the fantastic Arabian Nights city on the Persian Gulf. The call came from Sir Henri Lipton, a man who was supposed to be dead-and who she sincerely had hoped was burning in hell because he had ruined her career before his violent "demise." He told her only one tantalizing thing about the piece of art: "Let's just say it's a couple thousand years old and was buried with Christ." The fact the offer came from a man wanted on three continents for art looting was fair warning that there would be a catch. But with credit collectors and an avaricious landlord pounding at her door, Madison listened when the devil whispered magic words in her ear: $20,000– cash – upfront. There was a catch, of course. A number of them. Sir Henri was up to his neck in conspiracies and needed someone to deflect the danger onto-not to mention frame for the most audacious art theft in history. Dubai, a city that has been called Las Vegas on steroids, would just be the first stop for Madison on a quest that takes her to an ancient Mesopotamian city, the dark streets of exotic Istanbul, Venice at Carnival time, and a cathedral where the most sacred object of Christendom is stored. Along the way, she finds romance in the arms of a Russian agent who she doesn't trust-and can't resist. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.