Alex Archer
Список книг автора Alex ArcherBathed In Blood
The quest for youth only leads to death…The Blood Countess–Elizabeth Bathory, a true monster of history–is one of the most infamous serial killers. Said to have murdered 650 young women for their blood, she believed bathing in it would preserve her vitality and beauty. It's a story that has always fascinated archaeologist and TV host Annja Creed. Something so fantastic could only be a story. So what is Annja to make of the girl she finds dying on the side of the road…from blood loss?There's something eerie in this small Slovakian town, where rumors of vampirism hang unspoken in the air. Yet, out of fear, the locals say nothing. Shut out by the police, Annja only digs deeper into the strange death, uncovering troubling scraps of evidence–and cover-ups. Her one lead is an enigmatic retired police officer who has been investigating the disappearance of more than twenty women. All of them young. All of them beautiful.The only way Annja can see to uncover the truth is by becoming the Blood Countess's next victim….
The Mortality Principle
When legend becomes deadly reality…In Prague researching the legend of the Golem, a fantastical «living» creature made of clay, archaeologist Annja Creed is faced with an even bigger mystery on her hands when someone begins murdering the homeless. And every day there's a fresh corpse.As the suspicion that Golem is behind the deaths circulates quietly on the streets of the city, Annja cannot resist unraveling the thread that binds science to superstition. According to Czech history, these aren't new attacks. They're part of a greater pattern of murders that have gone unacknowledged over centuries. And now Annja is the next target. Unless she can find the real monster behind the myth…before it finds her.
Mystic Warrior
Uncovering an ancient aristocracy and its hidden secretArchaeologist and TV show host Annja Creed trades in her dig tools and dirty excavations for the sunny climes of Hollywood. Serving as a prop consultant for a popular TV fantasy series, Annja's enjoying the lights, camera and much less action. Until a scrying crystal is stolen off the set…and it turns out to be something more than a prop.The crystal, in fact, is a priceless artifact from the period of the Crusades. But in the process of recovering it, Annja discovers something far more valuable: an ancient document that could lead to the lost treasure of the Merovingian kings. Rulers of France's oldest dynasty during the third century AD—predating even Charlemagne—the Merovingians were said to be mystic warriors, armed with the power of God.But Annja isn't the only one who knows about the document. And now she must face down a malevolent group that's far too familiar with Garin, one of her closest allies. Good thing she shares far more with these mystic warrriors than even she could possibly imagine.
Beneath Still Waters
A wrecked German bomber…key to the secrets of the Third Reich?All it took was one phone call and TV show host and archaeologist Annja Creed is in mortal danger. Her producer Doug Morrell has been abducted by a greedy treasure hunter who's seeking the lost raubgold, or looted gold of Nazi Germany. The terms are simple: retrieve the bounty and Doug lives. Fail, and he dies…Now Annja and her friends must find a missing German fighter plane that was shot down over the Alps in 1945. According to legend, the aircraft not only holds a shipment of gold the Nazis had stolen, but also carried the last letters of the führer himself. Letters that point to a more startling treasure buried underwater halfway around the world. But Annja isn't interested in treasure, or even unearthing historic relics. Annja has one agenda: get Doug out alive…even if it means drawing her sword from its otherworldly sheath. Even if it means death.Because once greed drives a man to violence, nothing will stop him…
Death Mask
The face of evil.And the face of greed…The video showed a nearly naked man bloodied and beaten. Even as archaeologist and TV presenter Annja Creed watched, the clock on his suicide vest ticked down, and precious seconds were lost. But this was no stranger. Garin was her friend. Their fates had been bound by the secrets of Joan of Arc's sword. And Annja had less than twenty-four hours to save his life….The price for Garin's life was the lost mask of Torquemada, rumored to have been cast by the Grand Inquisitor himself, five hundred years ago during the Spanish Inquisition. Abandoned crypts, lost palaces and a cruel and ancient brotherhood: all clues to the mask's complicated and deadly mystery that Annja, and her mentor, Roux–using all of their considerable resources and cunning–must solve before Garin runs out of time. Annja Creed is facing her greatest trial. And not even the holy sword of Joan of Arc can spare her from the final judgment.
Day Of Atonement
A reckoning that will destroy them all…Trials, persecutions, false accusations, the Inquisition–for archaeologist and TV host Annja Creed, the current episode they're taping for her show is a fascinating one. But while Annja is filming the last segment in France, a vicious «accident» nearly kills her. It looks to be unintentional…until a man calling himself Cauchon claims responsibility.The name Cauchon strikes a chord in the exceptionally–some might say unnaturally–long memory of Annja's friend and mentor Roux. Discovering the old man's secret years ago, Cauchon wanted to blackmail Roux before fate put the matter to rest. Or so Roux thought. Now this powerful fanatic has turned from seeking out the divine to meting out «justice.» Vengeance. And he will single-handedly resurrect the violence of the Inquisition to ensure that Annja and her friend are judged and found guilty. With so much at stake, Annja may soon find that friendship can be fatal.
Secret Of The Slaves
When archaeologist Annja Creed is hired to find the lost city of Promise in Brazil, she is more than intrigued. Legends abound of a magical place where slaves were rumored to have discovered the secret to eternal youth and life.But strangers are not welcome in Promise.Annja soon learns that the residents have gone to extreme lengths to guard their precious secret. Making her way from the steamy port of Belém to the brutal slums of Northeast Brazil, Annja faces unexpected peril, from poisoned arrows to Amazonian anacondas. As she navigates through a land where spirituality collides with the material world, Annja must distinguish between what is real and what is imagined for fear of making a wrong move. Because anyone or anything could be her enemy.And she's getting too close…
The Bone Conjurer
In the time of the Crusades, the Knights Templars were holy warriors who seemed to be blessed by God himself. But over the years, the order dissolved into mysteries both sacred and profane–creating an object whose power bends to the true nature of its owner….But until she held it in her hands, archaeologist Annja Creed hadn't heard of the Skull of Sidon nor the twisted tale of its origins. Even now, she's still not convinced. Yet someone wants it badly enough to hire a man who wields power beyond her imagining. Power enough to prevent Annja from protecting the mysterious skull. And power enough to kill.
The Matador's Crown
An invitation too irresistible to refuse from the Museum of Cadiz leads archaeologist Annja Creed to the sun-drenched southern coast of Andalucia, Spain. In a region rich in Moorish and Roman ruins, she leaps at the chance to join a dig across the Bay of Cadiz, where she unearths a bronze bull statue that makes the entire trip worth every minute.Until the day after her discovery, when she sees the same artifact beside the body of a dead Spaniard, killed by the estocada, the final sword thrust used by bullfighters to bring down the bull.Whoever killed the man left clear signs of having taken something. And yet the bronze bull remained. What was so valuable the murderer chose it over a priceless artifact? How had her find come into this dead man's hands? With few leads and a growing body count, Annja's investigation takes her through a colorful world of flamenco and bullfighting to a renowned matador and an illegal–and deadly–collection of Visigoth votive crowns.
False Horizon
A small Nepali man melts into shadows. A cutthroat crime lord is looking for a miraculous cure. And a map to an impossible dream and a mythic paradise is pointing the way.Archaeologist Annja Creed is in Katmandu, awash in its scents, sounds and liveliness. But this is no sightseeing trip. An old friend is in possession of a map that leads to a place that lies outside our world. But the map is known to one other–a vicious man who has Annja and her companions right where he wants them. Her hand forced, Annja sets out in search of the fabled Shangri-La–an expedition of danger and subversion.And her journey will end only with triumph…or tragedy.