The Lost Relic By Scott Mariani

In The Lost Relic by Scott Mariani, high-octane hero Ben Hope returns in another rip roaring adventure filled with thrills, conspiracy, drama, lots of dead bodies and a delicate thread of romance.

The Lost Relic by Scott Mariani

Ben heads to Italy to see an old military comrade, hoping to hire him to take over his “kidnap and ransom” training business in France. Feeling downcast and distracted due to his perception that his relationship with the beautiful Dr Brooke Marcel is cooling, Ben nearly runs over a young boy named Gianii Strada– and unwittingly walks into a mayhem and a web of deceit. Happy just to see her son safe, Gianni Strada’s mother invites Ben to attend the nearby celebratory opening of a new exhibition wing at the Academia Giordani fine art school. The centre is filled with some of the world’s greatest and most expensive paintings loaned from galleries across the world.

Russian gangster boss Grigori Shikov has his eyes on one seemingly unimpressive Goya sketch and puts his sadistic son Anatoly in charge of the heist. In the heist, Anatoly and his gang end up slaughtering 37 people, including Gianni Strada and his mother.

Ben escapes but will not rest until he has discovered the truth about the brutal raid and the elusive Goya sketch. When a top Italian politician is murdered, Ben is accused of the murder and forced to go on the run with the Russian gang, the Italian police and tough operator Commander Darcey Kane of the British Serious Organised Crime Agency all seeking to hunt him down. He must get to the heart of the conspiracy before his enemies get to him.

When you read Ben Hope novels, you know that his tenacity will pull him through no matter how dire the circumstances he lands himself in.  How he gets out of deadly situations may seem like mission impossible. You have to suspend your disbelief!