Stone Collection

Felicity discovers the "Atlantis stone" whilst scuba diving on the south-east coast of Australia in a treacherous area known as "the ship's graveyard." Her diving is part of her research into the fabled "mahogany ship," a wreck sighted on the beach by early white Australians. She meets Benjamin as a result of her love of diving. He is an indigenous Australian, but past traumas have caused him to disown his aboriginal heritage. Benjamin is now struggling to find his identity in the Western world, and has retreated to his workshop where he ekes out a living as a wood-turner. An attempt on his life propels him into Felicity's world of historic mysteries . . . and a quest that takes them to the ancient city of Cagliari in Sardinia. An anthropologist dying of cancer and an ex-Special Forces soldier with post-traumatic stress join them in an adventure that centers on a medieval treaty, a lust for gold, and an audacious plot to rewrite world history.

A young girl comes to live in the slums of New Delhi. It is a place of danger where street gangs rule. Through the initiative of a blind beggar, she is taken to work in the home of a rich businessman and his dysfunctional son. There, she observes a world of education and privilege-a world that is out of her reach. But danger still stalks her. A kidnap attempt forces her to flee to her childhood home in the tropical backwaters of Kerala-a land of wooden boats, fishing, and elephants. But she cannot hide forever. She must band together with her old friends from Delhi, a medical student and a nun, to unravel the significance of the pendant given to her by the blind beggar-the peacock stone. Why does the stone bring death, and how is it linked to one of the biggest jewel thefts in history?

Sebastian, a young farm hand living in the Australian mallee, is being watched covertly by Val, a fugitive hiding in the forests on the banks of the River Murray. Val has an official document that confirms his death fourteen years ago. There is no official document that confirms his particular skill: assassin. Pip divides her life between her musical studies at the Adelaide Conservatorium and her work as a barista. Her ordered life is shattered when bullets fired through the window of her home reduce her cello to matchwood. The violence appears all the more bewildering given that she lives with her father David, a mild-mannered Anglican cleric. A web of violence draws all four of them together. Everything in Sebastian's life begins to change when he is given the gift of a fabulous opal-The Fire Stone. It begins a journey that takes all of them across the Pacific to the islands of Vanuatu, where the final drama is played out. The four of them must band together, in order to defeat an organization that lives for violence, intimidation, and murder.

Elliot is hiding in his world of boats from a past that has wounded him. He is anti-authoritarian, lacking direction and broke. Emma is terrified of life outside the studious, ordered world of Oxford. But circumstances propel her into the dangerous world of international subterfuge. Kai is a Chinese triad gang leader, who is all too familiar with violence. However, he is now questioning his life, and seeking redemption. The three of them meet in Hong Kong, a place where money is king, corruption is rife, and the secret societies of the triads are flourishing. Somehow they need to band together to outwit the murderous intent of powerful corporations, and Hong Kong's ruthless triad societies. Perfect for those who enjoy Ernest Dempsey, David Leadbeater, and Graham Greene. This novel will draw you in and refuse to let you go.

Chris Norman's dreams of being a commercial pilot are shattered when he crashes his plane in central Australia. His life hangs in the balance-a balance that is swayed by the intervention of an Aboriginal bushman bent on his own murderous mission. The bushman leaves Chris with a mysterious and incongruous legacy, a Celtic cross made of stone. Partly blinded and in deep grief at no longer being able to fly, Chris finds his way to the Hebridean islands off the west coast of Scotland, where he seeks to unravel the secrets of the Celtic stone. A blind Hebridean woman, shunned by many in her local community, becomes Chris's reluctant ally, along with a seven-year-old boy who is as wild as the storm-tossed seas that surround the islands. It becomes apparent that the violence of the island's history has carried on into the present. Chris needs to recover from his grief, discover his identity . . . and right an injustice in Scottish history that has shamed an island community.

Chelsea is part of an international team of archaeologists who are making the most of a tenuous cease-fire in the Syrian civil war to excavate and conserve the historic remains of the ancient kingdom of Ebla. The dramatic discovery of a new library of clay tablets inscribed with cuneiform writing brings to the surface international tensions between Syria and Israel. Will the revelations in the ancient tablets be hijacked by vested interests? Chelsea finds herself caught in the middle of an international tug-of-war. Tensions increase when a small boy finds some tablets inscribed with two types of cuneiform writing that will enable archaeologists to translate the rest of the tablets. The boy and the tablets become the target of international intrigue. Chelsea must enlist the help of Tony, a shadowy character with military training. But Tony is seeking a new life, one that will allow him to deal with his own demons. She must also call on the help of her colleague in the British Museum, Beanie, an IT genius. Chelsea must keep those she loves alive in an international squabble over who can lay claim to being the rightful owners of the tablets-and manage the greatest archaeological discovery of the century.