by J. F. Penn
“Wait.” Jake stopped her, holding her arm away from the relics. “The ARKANE vault is full of such artifacts. Why are these any different?”
Morgan looked up, her thoughts with Ben. “You saw what Naomi became. If these can really raise an army of the dead, an army of those – things – then they must be destroyed. The dead should stay in the grave.”
Jake nodded, then dropped to his knees beside her. “And with the relics gone, then the Brotherhood of the Breath have nothing further to protect. They can fade into history along with the Inquisition that spawned them.” He picked up another piece of concrete. “I’ll help you.”
Together, they smashed the relics into powder, turning the bones into tiny fragments. The gentle rain washed the remains into the debris of the parade ground and down over the Agave Trail, fertilizing new life on the cursed island, as dawn rose over the city beyond.
Morgan and Jake’s ARKANE adventures continue with Tree of Life.
An ancient manuscript that leads to the Garden of Eden.
A seed that can restore the world to Nature … but only by destroying humanity in its wake.
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Day of the Vikings, an ARKANE thriller
A ritual murder on a remote island under the shifting skies of the aurora borealis.
A staff of power that can summon Ragnarok, the Viking apocalypse.
When Neo-Viking terrorists invade the British Museum in London to reclaim the staff of Skara Brae, ARKANE agent Dr. Morgan Sierra is trapped in the building along with hostages under mortal threat.
As the slaughter begins, Morgan works alongside psychic Blake Daniel to discern the past of the staff, dating back to islands invaded by the Vikings generations ago.
Can Morgan and Blake uncover the truth before Ragnarok is unleashed, consuming all in its wake?
Day of the Vikings is a fast-paced, supernatural thriller set in London and the islands of Orkney, Lindisfarne and Iona. Set in the present day, it resonates with the history and myth of the Vikings.
If you love an action-packed thriller, you can get Day of the Vikings for free now:
www.JFPenn.com/free
Day of the Vikings features Dr. Morgan Sierra from the ARKANE thrillers, and Blake Daniel from the London Mysteries, but it is also a stand-alone novella that can be read and enjoyed separately.
Author’s Note
As with all my novels, this story is based on my travels and the history and characters I find along the way. It turned out to be quite different to what I had originally planned. Sometimes, that’s just the way it happens! I like to write a story that is based on truth and then twist it into fiction and this time, even I was surprised by what I discovered in my research.
The seed of the idea was planted when I visited New Orleans in 2017. While wandering around the city, I discovered the copy of the Toledo Bible at the back of St Louis Cathedral and learned about the links to the Spanish Inquisition through the painting of Père Antoine in the Cabildo next door. I did a voodoo tour of the city and St Louis cemetery No. 1 and a story idea started to form. I’ve always loved the Valley of Dry Bones chapter in the book of Ezekiel and it seemed to fit with the zombies of voodoo – and from there, I started down the rabbit hole of research.
You can see a collection of images from my research at:
www.pinterest.com/jfpenn/valley-of-dry-bones
The history of the Spanish Empire
Many people know New Orleans has a French Quarter but the Spanish influence is not so well-known. As I looked into the history of the Empire, I discovered the link with Equatorial Guinea in West Africa, an area that also has links with voodoo. It seemed plausible that these traditions became entwined through the forced movement of people through the slave trade.
After researching how the Spanish Catholics colonized the New World, I learned how they had also settled in the Philippines and Peru and that many of the monks came from the same ecclesiastical colleges.
Spain
I went to Toledo in 2018 to see the original St Louis Bible, and while it doesn’t have a hamsa in it, the history of the Jewish community in the city is true.
The relic room in the old house is based on the Monastery of the Incarnation, which is actually in Madrid. We endured a tour in Spanish that focused primarily on some terrible artwork before finally being led into the relic room – the highlight of the tour. It is incredible, well-worth a visit if you are in the city and a little obsessed with bones, as I am!
Bruegel’s Triumph of Death was on display in the Prado when I visited in 2018, and we had some wonderful tapas at La Musa Latina in Palacio De Los Vargas along with some local Ribera.
When visiting Majorca a month later, our hotel happened to be right around the corner from the Basilica of San Francesc and the statue of Junípero Serra, the kind of synchronicity that I have come to expect on book research trips. If you keep an open mind while you travel, these things tend to happen! Since I had visited the Mission Dolores in San Francisco a year prior, and seen Serra’s relic, this enabled me to further tie the story together.
As ever, Morgan’s impressions are my own, and I fell in love with the old city of Palma. The cathedral really does have a Gaudí baldachin and a statue of a winged skeleton which I was thrilled to find in a chapel near the back if you happen to visit.
You can find my pictures from Madrid, Toledo and Palma, Majorca at:
www.jfpenn.com/spain2018
New Orleans and voodoo
Père Antoine was Grand Inquisitor at St Louis Cathedral. The painting mentioned in the Cabildo is the Portrait of Père Antoine (Padre Antonio de Sedella) at Age Seventy-Four, by Edmund Brewster, New Orleans, 1822. I’m not sure what the book is on the table, but it’s definitely too thin to be the entire Bible. Perhaps it is indeed the book of Ezekiel?
I did two fantastic trips into Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve: the first on an airboat where we had some up close experiences with alligators; the other by kayak through the backwaters of the bayou, which was just magical.
I met some wonderful people in New Orleans who showed me how much voodoo is entwined with Catholicism, so I hope my respect for tradition in clear in the story. The ceremony in the bayou is based on details in The Serpent and the Rainbow by Wade Davis, and also episode 7 of season 1 of Dark Tourist on Netflix which was about voodoo in Benin.
You can find my pictures from New Orleans and the bayou at:
www.JFPenn.com/nolapics
Technology and bio-technology
The digitalization of the Vatican Archives is an ongoing project. You can find all the details at: digi.vatlib.it
Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva is a real medical condition which causes fibrous tissue to ossify spontaneously or when damaged.
Human longevity is being funded by billionaires in Silicon Valley. Calico Labs is backed by Alphabet (Google’s parent company). Human Longevity Inc was founded by Craig Venter who was involved with sequencing the first human genome, and Peter Diamandis, founder of the X-Prize, whose stated goal is to live for 700 years. You can get a transfusion of young blood from Ambrosia Medical, who are opening their first clinic in New York at the end of 2018. The Methuselah Foundation has a goal of making 90 the new 50 by 2030.
There was a debate at the Vatican in May 2018 about the Morality of Immortality. Rabbi Dr. Edward Reichman gave a biblical perspective on aging,
noting that Methuselah lived to 969 years old.
When Morgan is thinking about death, she quotes from Dylan Thomas’s poem, Do not go gentle into that good night.
San Francisco
I visited San Francisco in 2017 and loved the Columbarium so much that it had to go in the book. I took some liberties with what it contains, but it is indeed kept in meticulous condition by Emmitt Watson, the cheerful African-American caretaker I met there. His office is filled with photos of visitors and he even has a comic about him, The Palace of Ashes, by Andy Warner.
The details of Mission Dolores are based on my visit there and it is true that Junípero Serra’s relics were dispersed based on donations. His canonization was contested by Native American groups but went ahead in September 2015. The journalist and historian, Carey McWilliams, described the Missions as ‘a series of picturesque charnel houses.’
Alcatraz does have a small morgue but the underground chamber is my own embellishment.
You can find my pictures from San Francisco at:
www.JFPenn.com/sfpics
I’ve also written an article about the strange places I found at:
www.JFPenn.com/unusual-san-francisco
Any mistakes in the research that are not intentional for fictional purposes are my own.
More Books by J.F.Penn
Thanks for joining Morgan, Jake and the ARKANE team. The adventures continue …
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Stone of Fire #1
Crypt of Bone #2
Ark of Blood #3
One Day In Budapest #4
Day of the Vikings #5
Gates of Hell #6
One Day in New York #7
Destroyer of Worlds #8
End of Days #9
Valley of Dry Bones #10
If you like crime thrillers with an edge of the supernatural, join Detective Jamie Brooke and museum researcher Blake Daniel, in the London Crime Thriller trilogy:
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Desecration #1
Delirium #2
Deviance #3
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If you enjoy fantasy action adventure, check out:
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Map of Shadows, Mapwalker #1
Map of Plagues, Mapwalker #2
Map of the Impossible, Mapwalker #3
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More books by J.F.Penn:
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Risen Gods
The Dark Queen
American Demon Hunters: Sacrifice
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A Thousand Fiendish Angels: Short stories based on Dante's Inferno
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More books coming soon.
You can sign up to be notified of new releases, giveaways and pre-release specials - plus, get a free book!
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www.JFPenn.com/free
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If you loved the book and have a moment to spare, I would really appreciate a short review on the page where you bought the book. Your help in spreading the word is gratefully appreciated and reviews make a huge difference to helping new readers find the series.
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Thank you!
About J.F.Penn
J.F.Penn is the Award-nominated, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the ARKANE supernatural thrillers, Brooke and Daniel Psychological Thrillers, the Mapwalker fantasy trilogy, as well as other standalone stories.
Her books weave together ancient artifacts, relics of power, international locations and adventure with an edge of the supernatural. Joanna lives in Bath, England and enjoys a nice G&T.
You can follow Joanna’s travels on Instagram @jfpennauthor and also on her podcast at BooksAndTravel.page.
Sign up for your free thriller, Day of the Vikings, and updates from behind the scenes, research, and giveaways at:
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Connect with Joanna:
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www.JFPenn.com
[email protected]
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www.Instagram.com/JFPennAuthor
For writers:
Joanna’s site, www.TheCreativePenn.com, helps people write, publish and market their books through articles, audio, video and online courses.
She writes non-fiction for authors under Joanna Penn and has an award-nominated podcast for writers, The Creative Penn Podcast.
Acknowledgments
To my readers – thank you for returning to another ARKANE adventure. I thought Morgan had retired for good after End of Days, but you encouraged me to bring her back, and there are more adventures to come!
Thanks to Jen Blood, my fantastic first reader and story editor, for her continued insights. Thanks to Wendy Janes for another great proofread.
Thanks to my beta readers: Laura and Dan Martone at TheMartones.com for expertise on New Orleans, Kristen Tate at TheBlueGarret.com for San Francisco notes, and to Samantha Keel at ScriptMedicBlog.com for helping me understand character motivation from a different point of view and for her expertise on injuries.
Thanks also to Bruce Beck who told me about the keys handed down through generations of Toledo Jews.
Thanks to Jane Dixon Smith at JDSmith-Design.com for the great cover design and print formatting.
Copyright Page
Copyright © Joanna (J.F.) Penn (2018). All rights reserved.
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www.JFPenn.com
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This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is fictionalized or coincidental.
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Published by Curl Up Press
www.CurlUpPress.com
For any inquiries regarding this book, please email:
[email protected]
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No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.