Cirrus@Austlit

'With a dangerous and unstable new US president in power, it's bad timing for the country's leading nuclear scientist to consider selling his research. Especially as there are plenty of eager buyers - Russia, Israel and ISIS are all desperately developing their own nuclear warheads and the results could be devastating.

'It's up to CIA agent Curtis O'Connor to uncover ISIS' deadly plans, but can he stop them in time? And with a corrupt Russian scientist, a femme-fatale double agent and a very unpredictable US president waiting in the wings, it seems just a matter of time '

(Source: publisher's blurb)

'In the shifting desert sands of Egypt, rumours abound of a lost papyrus that will reveal the true purpose of the Pyramids of Giza. Could these ancient monoliths be the source of a new kind of energy, one that comes at no cost to the planet? CIA agent Curtis O'Connor and archaeologist Aleta Weizman are determined to find out.

'Close by, a shadowy and powerful group known as Pharos meets in Alexandria, its membership a closely guarded secret. Its first order of business: to orchestrate chaos on international financial markets with a series of spectacular terrorist attacks on the world's fossil-fuel supplies.

'And in Cairo, amid the anarchy of Tahrir Square, thieves have broken into the famed Museum of Antiquities and stolen one of the world's priceless artifacts: the mask of Tutankhamun. Is the audacious theft linked to the Pharos Group?

'Nimbly weaving politics, history and science through a rip-roaring plot, from Afghanistan to Washington, Sydney to London, The Alexandria Connection is a spectacular and stylish ride.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'The end of the world awaits humankind if the Inca Prophecy cannot be found . . .

'An eerie clue to the Prophecy lies heavily guarded beneath the Vatican. Another is hidden near the famous Inca ruins at Machu Picchu. Archaeologist Aleta Weizman and rogue CIA agent Curtis O'Connor must unearth both clues if they are to decode the prophecy's meaning - before it's too late.

'But time is not on their side. The Iranians are building a nuclear bomb. Israel has an itchy trigger finger. Though the world has never been closer to destruction, a powerful few are doing all they can to ensure the Inca's fabled warning will never be heard. And the CIA is hunting Weizman and O'Connor down, hell bent on silencing them forever.

'With trademark style and sizzling pace, the bestselling author of The Maya Codex delivers his next action-packed international tour de force.' (Publisher's blurb)

'Deep in the Guatemalan jungle lies the Maya Codex, an ancient document containing a terrible warning for civilisation. Archaeologist Dr Aleta Weizman is desperately searching for the codex, but powerful forces in Washington and Rome will do anything to stop her. When CIA agent Curtis O'Connor joins Aleta in her dangerous quest, he also becomes a target.

'Both Weizman and O'Connor know that the earth will align with a massive black hole at the centre of the galaxy on the winter solstice, December 2012 - just as the Mayans predicted. Might a geographic pole shift be on the way? But if discovering the codex can avert this global catastrophe, why are some within the Vatican and the CIA determined it should never be found?

'The race is on for Weizman and O'Connor, and the very future of our planet is at stake. From the corridors of power in Nazi Germany to modern-day Washington, from the secret archives of the Vatican to the Temple of the Lost World pyramid in the jungles of Central America, The Maya Codex takes us on a heart-stopping journey to find the codex before it's too late.' (From the publisher's website.)

'The Pope's health is failing and the Cardinal Secretary of State, the ruthless Lorenzo Petroni, has the Keys to St Peter within his grasp. Three things threaten to destroy him: Cardinal Giovanni Donelli has started an investigation into the Vatican Bank; journalist Tom Schweiker is looking into Petroni's past; and, even more dangerously, the brilliant Dr Allegra Bassetti, one of the world's foremost authorities on archaeological DNA, is piecing together fragments of the Omega Scroll in war-torn Jerusalem. Donelli, Schweiker and Bassetti must fight for their lives in a deadly race for the scroll. The Vatican will stop at nothing in its quest to keep the prophecy hidden.At the CIA's headquarters in Langley, Virginia, Mike McKinnon is investigating a number of missing nuclear suitcase bombs and suspects they are connected to the warning in the Omega Scroll.In the Judaean Desert a few more grains of sand trickle from the wall of a cave. The countdown for civilisation has begun.' (Publication summary)