The Stolen Chalicel
Read The Stolen Chalicel Online
Authors: Kitty Pilgrim
CNN VETERAN KITTY PILGRIM returns with her second novel featuring the beautiful young oceanographer Cordelia Stapleton and the dashing, urbane archaeologist John Sinclair.
Set in the international art world,
The Stolen Chalice
takes readers across the globe. Bombings, kidnappings, and Sinclair’s old love conspire against the couple as they search for valuable Egyptian art.
The black-tie gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art promises to be a star-studded evening. Cordelia Stapleton and John Sinclair have flown in from Alexandria, Egypt, to help celebrate ancient Greek, Roman, and Egyptian culture with New York’s elite. The influential crowd of artists, collectors, scientists, and New York society dine and dance at the museum’s historic Temple of Dendur, unaware that terrorists are planning to attack. Fortunately, museum security and police stop the terrorists, but the evening is a disaster.
The next morning, Cordelia and Sinclair learn that an art theft ring struck New York while they were at the museum. All over the city, pieces of Egyptian art have been stolen. Ted VerPlanck—a pillar of New York society whom Cordelia met the night before—discovers that his penthouse apartment was robbed and the legendary Sardonyx Cup, an ancient Egyptian chalice, is missing. Ted asks John Sinclair to help him recover his precious artifact.
Despite Cordelia’s objections, Sinclair calls on his old flame the Egyptologist Dr. Holly Graham to help find the chalice. They discover the stolen art is being sold on the black market to fund an international terrorist group. The group’s leader, a sinister Egyptian anarchist, and his aristocratic British partner, Lady Xandra Sommerset, are planning a biological-weapon attack to topple the major governments of the world.
Aided by British and American security forces, Sinclair sets out to find the missing art, which holds clues to where and when the attack will take place. Pieces of stolen art are scattered around the world. The action moves from a sprawling ranch in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, to a castle on Scotland’s rugged coastline, a beautiful two-hundred-foot yacht in the Mediterranean, the mysterious canals of Venice, the premier beach resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, and ultimately Cairo. Romance sizzles as Sinclair, Cordelia, and Holly Graham are caught in a love triangle, distracted by their emotions, and unknowingly moving closer to mortal danger.
Superstition and science meet head-on. And one question remains unanswered—does the Sardonyx Cup have special powers?
ADVANCE PRAISE FOR
THE STOLEN CHALICE
“The perfect summer read—a roller-coaster ride of suspense, adventure, action, and glamour, speeding the reader to the most romantic spots in the world, full of fascinating facts, ingenious plots, and satisfying conclusions.”
—NANCY THAYER, AUTHOR OF
SUMMER BREEZE
“A riveting novel of love, adventure, and international intrigue—deftly plotted.”
—DAWN TRIPP, AUTHOR OF
GAME OF SECRETS
PRAISE FOR
THE EXPLORER’S CODE
“Masterful . . . sure to appeal to fans of iris Johansen and Sandra Brown.”
—BOOKLIST
“Fast-paced with roller-coaster ups and downs.”
—NANCY GRACE, HEADLINE NEWS ANCHOR
“A rollicking good read . . . Guaranteed to leave you chilled, breathless, and demanding a sequel!”
—MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXYbjlJGFrk
CLICK FOR AN EXCLUSIVE BEHIND-THE-BOOK VIDEO
AWARD-WINNING CNN CORRESPONDENT AND ANCHOR KITTY PILGRIM
traveled to the farthest reaches of the world on assignment. Now, after twenty-four years as a broadcast journalist, Kitty has taken on an exciting new assignment, writing novels. Pilgrim is active in international affairs as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and is a full member of the historic Explorers Club, which is dedicated to field research and exploration. She lives in New York City and in Rhinecliff, New York.
Visit her website,
www.kittypilgrim.com
.
MEET THE AUTHORS, WATCH VIDEOS AND MORE AT
SimonandSchuster.com
• THE SOURCE FOR READING GROUPS •
JACKET DESIGN BY PHILIP E. PASCUZZO
JACKET PHOTOGRAPHS: BACKGROUND © JOE PETERSBURGER/NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC STOCK;
COUPLE © MAT THIAS CLAMER; AUTHOR PHOTO © CAROL SEITZ
AUTHOR HAIR/MAKEUP STYLIST KIM WAYMAN
COPYRIGHT © 2012 SIMON & SCHUSTER
ALSO BY KITTY PILGRIM
The Explorer’s Code
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2012 by Kitty Pilgrim
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First Scribner hardcover edition June 2012
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2012012957
ISBN 978-1-4391-9728-8
ISBN 978-1-4391-9740-0 (ebook)
To my mother, Nan
Contents
Chapter 1: East Seventy-Seventh Street, New York
Chapter 2: Long Island City, Queens, New York
Chapter 3: 1010 Fifth Avenue, New York
Chapter 4: 15 Desbrosses Street, Tribeca, New York
Chapter 5: Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn
Chapter 6: The Mark Hotel, East Seventy-Seventh Street, New York
Chapter 7: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Chapter 8: Carlyle Hotel, New York
Chapter 9: Metropolitan Museum of Art
Chapter 11: Metropolitan Museum of Art
Chapter 13: Metropolitan Museum of Art
Chapter 15: Metropolitan Museum of Art
Chapter 16: Madison Avenue and Eighty-Second Street, New York