Mix in a dash of Dan Brown's DaVinci Code, a splash of James Patterson's Private and a whole lot of originality from two very talented co-authors and what do you get? A page-turner of history-linked chills, thrills and intrigue that will keep you engrossed from beginning to end. In fact, I highly recommend the entire "Brit in the FBI" series (this one, I believe, is the fifth).
Primary characters and friends with benefits Nicholas Drummond and Michaela Caine are on the special Covert Eyes FBI team - one that plays well with the FBI's British counterpart (Nicholas is the first British agent to join the FBI). They've been called in amid what is thought to be assassinations of a couple of business and political bigwigs in London, with the hope that the team can sort things out and, needless to say, catch the culprit(s). As readers learn early on, the killings may be linked to the Castle of Vlad Dracul III in 1448 and a mysterious Voynich Manuscript that involves cryptophasia (a.k.a., a language of twins); the occasional chapter flips to days of old to trace the manuscript's footprint throughout its elusive history.
The trail extends far and wide but seems to be tied to Roman Ardelean, the uber-wealthy owner of a cybersecurity firm that provides software to governments and businesses worldwide. Not insignificantly, he's also a descendant of Vlad the Impaler (often believed to be Dracula), and his twin brother, computer genius Radu, suffers from a particularly nasty and incurable form of hemophilia. The brothers are convinced that pages in the Voynich Manuscript - pages that have just turned up at a London historical museum after having been mysteriously "discovered" by Romanian expert Dr. Isabella Marin - spell out what Radu needs for a complete recovery.
In between are real and threatened attacks by a cadre of seriously high-tech drones and seemingly low-tech but deadly falcons; whether or not they're all connected to the Ardeleans and the manuscript will put to the test the considerable computer skills of Nicholas and his team-member friend Adam in what might be called a battle of the programmers. Non-techies needn't worry, though; everything is explain well enough that even an aging grandmother like me can understand it (well, enough that it all made sense, at least).
Many thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read an advance copy in exchange for an honest review - which is that this is a very exciting, well-written story you don't want to miss. Another winner!
The Sixth Day by Catherine Coulter and J.T. Ellison (Gallery Books, April 2018); 528 pp.
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