A gripping high-concept thriller for fans of Dan Brown & Sam Bourne from the author of The Genesis Secret & The Marks of Cain. In the silent caves of deepest France young archaeologist Julia Kerrigan unearths an ancient skull with a hole bored through the forehead. After she reveals her discovery her colleague is killed in suspicious circumstances. Meanwhile in the jungles of south-east Asia photographer Jake Thurby is offered a curious assignment by a beautiful & determined Cambodian lawyer who is investigating finds at the mysterious 2000-year-old Plain of Jars. Finds which the authorities have gone to great lengths to keep secret. No one knows why. Back in England an aged professor has been brutally & elaborately murdered. The murder remains unsolved. As the archaeologist lawyer & photographer pursue their separate quests to discover the truth an underlying pattern begins to emerge which connects these far-flung events in the most terrifying & unimaginable way. & it soon becomes clear that those who seek to unlock the compelling puzzle will be risking very much more than their lives.