The Key: A Novel

by Simon Toyne

Overview

A New Jersey reporter is caught up in an international conspiracy and must solve a centuries-old mystery to survive in this action-packed thriller sequel.
Journalist Liv Adamsen has escaped the highly-secretive Citadel in the ancient city of Ruin and now lies in isolation, staring at hospital walls as blank as her memory. Despite her inability to recall, she feels possessed by an unexplained sensation and plagued by whispers only she can hear: "KuShiKaam," the key.
To others the meaning is clear. For "the Ghost," a mercenary operating in Syria, Live may hold the key to history's most powerful secret. For the monks in the Citadel, her return to Turkey may be their only chance to survival. And for a powerful faction in the Vatican, her very existence threatens the success of a desperate plan.
Hunted from Turkey to New York to the deserts of the Middle East, Liv races to uncover a revelation dating from the creation of man in this electrifying follow-up to the international bestseller Sanctus.
Praise for The Key
"If you like your secrets deeply hidden and your action breakneck, then Toyne's sophomore thriller is just the ticket. . . . As in his debut, Toyne delivers a gripping, intricate story of religious and political intrigue that's sweeping yet somehow intimate and very personal. Wow." —Booklist (starred review) 
"Toyne cranks up the drama with the second entry in a conspiracy thriller series. . . . Well-written, fast-paced and delivered with an admirable economy of words, this book offers an edge-of-the-seat story filled with action and adventure, as well as a puzzle that the main characters must somehow put together before the world simply disappears. . . . Reading the initial book in the series first makes this taut thriller much more satisfying." —Kirkus Reviews

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062038357
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	08/18/2023
Series:	The Sancti Trilogy , #2
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	625
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Simon Toyne is the author of the internationally bestselling Sanctus trilogy (Sanctus, The Key and The Tower), The Searcher, The Boy Who Saw, and Dark Objects and has worked in British television for more than twenty years. As a writer, director and producer he's made several award-winning shows, one of which won a BAFTA. He lives in England with his wife and family, where he is permanently at work on his next novel.

What People are Saying About This

Brad Meltzer

“When you read Sanctus, you’ll see just how frightening, ruthless and relentlessly entertaining an order of monks can be. Haunting in the best way.”

Editorial Reviews

If you like your secrets deeply hidden and your action breakneck, then Toyne’s sophomore thriller is just the ticket. . . . As in his debut, Toyne delivers a gripping, intricate story of religious and political intrigue that’s sweeping yet somehow intimate and very personal. Wow.” — Booklist (starred review) on The Key

“[Sanctus] might turn out to be the next great cliffhanger conspiracy thriller.” — Fort Worth Star-Telegram on Sanctus

“Hard to think of it as a debut, better to think of it as the beginning of a massive new adventure, and a so-long to Dan Brown. . . .” — The Daily Mirror (UK) on Sanctus

“When you read Sanctus, you’ll see just how frightening, ruthless and relentlessly entertaining an order of monks can be. Haunting in the best way.” — Brad Meltzer, New York Times bestselling author of The Inner Circle

“Remarkable . . . Its ‘just one more page, one more chapter’ urgency keeps you reading into the night, and the final revelation of the Citadel’s secret is haunting.” — Library Journal (starred review) on Sanctus

“In British author Toyne’s stellar first in a projected trilogy, a thriller in the Dan Brown tradition . . . The truly mind-boggling revelation will leave astounded readers eager for the next installment.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review) on Sanctus

“Well-written, fast-paced and delivered with an admirable economy of words . . . an edge-of-the-seat story filled with action and adventure, as well as a puzzle that the main characters must somehow put together before the world simply disappears. . . . [A] taut thriller.” — Kirkus Reviews on The Key

From the Publisher

If you like your secrets deeply hidden and your action breakneck, then Toyne’s sophomore thriller is just the ticket. . . . As in his debut, Toyne delivers a gripping, intricate story of religious and political intrigue that’s sweeping yet somehow intimate and very personal. Wow.

Booklist (starred review) on The Key

[Sanctus] might turn out to be the next great cliffhanger conspiracy thriller.

Fort Worth Star-Telegram on Sanctus

Hard to think of it as a debut, better to think of it as the beginning of a massive new adventure, and a so-long to Dan Brown. . . .

The Daily Mirror (UK) on Sanctus

When you read Sanctus, you’ll see just how frightening, ruthless and relentlessly entertaining an order of monks can be. Haunting in the best way.

Brad Meltzer

If you like your secrets deeply hidden and your action breakneck, then Toyne’s sophomore thriller is just the ticket. . . . As in his debut, Toyne delivers a gripping, intricate story of religious and political intrigue that’s sweeping yet somehow intimate and very personal. Wow.

Booklist on The Key