Adept »

Robert Finn has lived in London most of his life and these days he divides his time between the UK and the US.

"An impressively ambitious debut that marries the crime novel with the occult thriller. . . . It's a British variant on The Da Vinci Code and The Rule of Four."-Andrew Taylor

"Cracking . . . fast paced, carefully plotted, hard-hitting, but with an edge of humour to keep it sharp . . . thoroughly to be recommended."-Manda Scott

It's a strange sort of robbery: On the surface, nothing is missing, and the only damage done is to the criminals. David Braun, star investigator for an exclusive insurance firm, is called on by his client-the sinister owner of the building-to find a priceless object that, to the outside world, was never meant to exist.

In turning to American academic Susan Milton, an expert from the London School of Antiquities, he finds a friend and ally to help him make sense of the situation and unpick the mystery. Together they discover the truth that the crime was intended to conceal. Behind it all, a ruthless thief, who is intent on acquiring a priceless antique-an antique with a bloody history its owners would prefer to keep hidden. Risking their lives, they expose a horrifying secret that's centuries old-but the discovery makes them the target of a ruthless killer the police find impossible to catch. With time running out, David and Susan race to uncover the killer's true objective even as he closes in on them . . .

Robert Finn is emerging as one of the breakthrough British authors of crime and mystery thrillers. Adept is his debut novel; Ex Machina, the sequel, is due out in autumn 2007. Finn lives and works in London.