Most of the historical background in this novel is based firmly on actual facts. The three rebel priests who conspired to steal the condemned treasures from under Akhenaten’s nose are entirely fictitious-though I believe that, given what the wayward pharaoh was up to and the degree of hatred and resentment he stirred up, it’s not wildly beyond the mark to suggest that such a ‘heist’ might have been planned or even taken place. After all, so little is known about that time-scholars are even unable to agree on the exact dates of Akhenaten’s reign. With amazing new discoveries being made each year, who knows what secrets the desert sands may yield up in the future?
I hope you enjoyed reading The Heretics Treasure. Ben Hope will return again!
Scott Mariani
Acknowledgements
As ever, I’m indebted to the team of people who have helped make this book possible:
A big thank you to ‘D’, the real Ben Hope, and all at Prometheus Medical for advice and information. I’m also grateful to Elizabeth O’Connell at the British Museum for kind help in translating hieroglyphics.
To Broo and Robin of the Wade & Doherty Literary Agency: thanks again for your wisdom and support (and champagne, too!). And last but by no means least, I’d like to specially acknowledge all the team at Avon, whose energy, dedication and enthusiasm are an ongoing inspiration.
About the Author
Scott Mariani grew up in St Andrews, Scotland. He studied Modern Languages at Oxford and went on to work as a translator, a professional musician, a pistol shooting instructor and a freelance journalist before becoming a full-time writer. After spending several years in Italy and France, Scott discovered his secluded writer’s haven in the wilds of west Wales, an 1830s country house complete with rambling woodland and a secret passage. When he isn’t writing, Scott enjoys jazz, movies, classic motorcycles and astronomy. The Ben Hope novels have sold across the world.
To find out more about Scott Mariani go to www.scottmariani.com
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By the same author:
The Alchemist’s Secret
The Mozart Conspiracy
The Doomsday Prophecy
Copyright
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
AVON
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Copyright © Scott Mariani 2009
Scott Mariani asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN-13: 978-1-84756-082-7
Set in Minion by Palimpsest Book Production Limited Grangemouth, Stirlingshire
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub Edition © 2009 ISBN: 9780007334575
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