Scott Mariani

 
Synopsis

Where there’s Hope there’s trouble…

The Alchemist’s Secret introduces hero Ben Hope, a former elite SAS soldier tortured by a tragedy from his past, who now devotes his life to rescuing kidnapped children.

But when Ben is recruited to locate an ancient manuscript which could save a dying child, he embarks on the deadliest quest of his life.

The document is alleged to contain the formula for the elixir of life, discovered by the brilliant alchemist Fulcanelli decades before. But it soon becomes apparent that others are hunting this most precious of treasures – for far more evil ends. It seems that everyone – from the Nazis of the past to the shadowy modern organisation known as Gladius Domini – wants to uncover the secrets of immortality.

Teaming up with attractive American scientist Dr Roberta Ryder, Ben is led on a wild and dangerous trail from Paris to the ancient Cathar strongholds of the Languedoc, where an astonishing secret has lain hidden for centuries…

 
Synopsis

Who really murdered Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1790s Vienna?

Was he poisoned by a jealous rival composer? Was he killed for breaking the Freemasons’ code of silence? Or was a shadowy historical Order somehow involved in his death? Was the bizarre and brutal murder of pianist Oliver Llewellyn two centuries later somehow connected?

These are the questions facing troubled former SAS soldier Ben Hope in a breathless quest to find the killers of his friend Oliver. At the centre of the mystery lies an old letter, rediscovered after many years, which may or may not have been written by Mozart himself.

From the city of Oxford to Ravenna, Venice, Vienna and the snowy mountains of Slovenia, Ben and his old flame the world-famous opera singer Leigh Llewellyn must race across Europe to uncover the truth and stay one step ahead of a determined group of killers bent on erasing all trace of The Mozart Conspiracy…

 
Synopsis

Sometimes trouble just follows a man!

When ex-SAS operative Ben Hope decided to give up his life rescuing kidnap victims and return to the Theology studies he abandoned years before, he should have known that fate would decide differently. When his old professor begs him to find his missing daughter, the wild and wayward biblical archaeologist Zoë Bradbury, Ben soon finds himself saddled with his most dangerous mission yet.

What is the ancient biblical secret that Zoë uncovered? And who will stop at nothing to protect it?

As Ben’s quest leads him from the Greek Islands to the American Deep South and the holy city of Jerusalem, he comes to realise that it’s not just his and Zoë’s lives on the line, but those of millions. The stakes are unimaginably high as he finds himself racing to prevent a terrible disaster that could kick-start nothing less than the End Times foretold by the Book of Revelation…

 
Synopsis

An ancient fortune lies hidden for thousands of years. Until now…

Ex-SAS operative Ben Hope has settled down in rural France – until an unexpected phone call shatters his newly-found peace. Egyptologist Morgan Paxton has been brutally murdered in Cairo and Colonel Harry Paxton wants Ben to find his son’s killer.

Ben is unable to refuse the man who once saved his life – but is torn when Harry asks him to avenge Morgan’s death. To make matters worse, he finds himself attracted to Zara, Harry’s new bride.

But searching for Paxton’s killer plunges Ben into one double-cross after another. His mission leads him from Europe to the banks of the Nile, climaxing in a terrifying showdown in the Sudanese desert.

At the end of the trail lies the ultimate priceless treasure, concealed from destruction during the reign of the ‘Heretic’ Pharaoh Akhenaten – a find that guarantees such riches that some people will murder to attain it…

 
Synopsis

An international conspiracy that could change the course of history…

Ben Hope is enjoying life at Le Val, the facility in Northern France where he trains others in the dangerous art of hostage rescue – until a chance incident forces him to take on the role of bodyguard to the Swiss billionaire Maximilian Steiner.

The victim of a recent abduction attempt, Steiner believes that a neo-Nazi terror group are bent on seizing a prized document from his personal collection – one that could support claims that the Holocaust never happened.

But what initially seemed like a straightforward VIP protection job is turned upside-down by the appearance of a mystery woman from Ben’s past. Could he be right about her, or is he losing his edge?

On a quest across Europe, Ben finds himself embroiled in a deadly kidnap intrigue and a sinister project that has lain dormant since 1944. The stakes are global – and this time Ben is also fighting to protect the people closest to him…

 
Synopsis

Has Ben finally met his match …

While in Italy visiting an old army comrade, a chance encounter leads ex-SAS soldier Ben Hope into a prestigious art exhibition near Rome. But the gallery is soon attacked by ruthless killers prepared to do anything to obtain an obscure, rediscovered work by the artist Goya – and Ben is caught up in a violent hostage situation.

In the wake of the bloodbath, Ben is lauded as a hero . . . but not for long. Accused of a crime he didn’t commit, and with his life in tatters, he is suddenly a fugitive, hurled into a wild chase across Europe with the police and the determined, attractive law enforcement agent Darcey Kane hot on his heels. Vowing to hunt down the art gallery killers, Ben must puzzle out the clues: why did the villains target a relatively valueless sketch when they could have taken grand masters worth millions? Who are the real players behind the scenes?

Piece by piece, Ben uncovers an international conspiracy at the highest level. At its heart lies the secret of the lost ‘Dark Medusa’, and a tale of doomed romance and death dating back to the tumultuous events of the Russian Revolution. This time, Ben is fighting not only for justice, but for his own freedom . . . but has he finally met his match in Darcey Kane?

 
Synopsis

Ben Hope’s fate rests on a knife-edge!

Returning to the UK to try to sort out his stormy personal life, Ben runs into two old friends. Simeon and Michaela were once his fellow students at Oxford – now they are The Reverend and Mrs Arundel.

Ben senses that Simeon is deeply troubled and frightened, but before the truth can emerge about his secretive research project concerning a mysterious, ancient ‘sacred sword’, both he and Michaela are wiped out in a devastating road crash. Convinced that his friends’ deaths were no accident, Ben is propelled on a global quest from the UK to France, the Holy Land and America to unlock the enigma of the sacred sword. At every step, he is pursued by ruthless agents of the sinister organisation that will stop at nothing to acquire it.

In the course of his investigations, Ben will discover an incredible secret, not just about the history of Christianity but about his own past . . .

 
Synopsis

They took her from him. Now they’re going to pay.

A winter’s night in Donegal, Ireland is the wrong place at the wrong time for Brooke Marcel when a friend’s invitation leads her into a deadly kidnap.

But not every woman has a man like ex-SAS officer Ben Hope. On hearing of Brooke’s sudden disappearance, Ben heads for Ireland to investigate as only he can. What is the mysterious link between the kidnapping, the salvage of a sunken 16th-century Spanish warship and the secret activities of its wealthy discoverer? Racing against the clock, Ben’s furious search leads him from Ireland to the Spanish mountains and the rainforests of Peru. As the trail of wreckage and mayhem intensifies, he soon uncovers a web of intrigue, corruption and brutal murder.

But will he be too late to find Brooke alive?

 
Synopsis

The explosive, thrilling new Ben Hope adventure from the Top 10 Bestselling author.

A Brutal Murder
While secretly researching the bizarre discoveries of Serbian scientist Nikola Tesla many years earlier, physicist Claudine Pommier becomes the victim of a remorseless and cruel murderer who breaks into her Parisian apartment. Is he just a serial killer, or is there more to her death than the Paris cops believe?

A Scientist on the Run
Maverick American biologist Dr Roberta Ryder receives a mysterious letter from her friend Claudine and travels to Paris to see her, only to learn of her shocking death. Before she knows it, Roberta becomes the target of ruthless men with a deadly agenda that only the letter can unmask. She’s alone and vulnerable. But she knows someone – the only someone – who can help her.

A Plot to Kill Millions
Ben Hope, ex-SAS soldier and Roberta’s old flame, now trying to retire to a life of peace with his fiancée Brooke, suddenly finds his world turned upside-down by Roberta’s sudden arrival in England. She needs his help; he can’t turn her down. In a frantic race to Paris and around the globe, Ben and Roberta battle to solve the mystery of Claudine’s research, with the killers just half a step behind. In the process, they uncover a worldwide conspiracy that will claim the lives of millions of people . . . unless Ben can stop it.

 
Synopsis

The tenth Ben Hope novel.

A lost, aimless and hard-drinking Ben Hope has wandered back to his old haunt in Ireland. The ex-SAS soldier is searching for peace, but trouble soon appears when Kirsten Hall, a young journalist, is brutally murdered right in front of him. All he has to go on to find the killers is a handful of clues from Kirsten’s research – but how can the journals of Lady Stamford, the wife of an English lord during the time of the Irish Great Famine, have put Kirsten in mortal danger?

Ben’s quest for the truth leads him across the world and finally to Oklahoma, USA, where a deadly secret awaits. What connects the journals, a wealthy American politician and an intrigue surrounding the Irish famine?

What Ben uncovers is a shocking historical conspiracy linked to the deaths of some two million people: a veritable holocaust that time has all but forgotten. Those who are still profiting from the lies and corruption of the time, and who are ready to kill anyone to protect their secret, are about to pay . . .