The Blood Lance Book

Kufstein, Austria, 1939—At the foot of a mountain known as The Wilder Kaiser lies the body of Otto Rahn, Himmler’s own archaeologist. Rahn’s pursuit of the legendary Blood Lance of the Cathars has set in motion a tragic chain of events reaching far beyond the holocaust. Switzerland 1997—Lord Robert Kenyon is a wealthy financier and a senior member of humanitarian order The Knights of the Holy Lance. While climbing the Eiger with his new bride, he is attacked and murdered and his wife Kate left for dead. New York City 2008—When billionaire Jack Farrell cuts loose after defrauding his own company, ex-CIA agent Thomas Malloy is assigned to track him down. The trail leads to Germany and the Order of the Holy Lance. With his friends, former art thieves Kate and Ethan Brand, Malloy set out to unlock the secrets of the order: Malloy seeks his man while Kate must find the truth about what happened on the slopes of the Eiger 11 years before—and exact her vengeance.

Publishers Weekly

British author Smith's so-so sequel to The Painted Messiah provides more of the backstory of a major character from the previous book, Lady Kate Kenyon. In 1997, 21-year-old Kate and her 37-year-old husband, Lord Robert, are honeymooning in the Swiss Alps. While attempting to climb the north face of the Eiger, the couple are attacked by two men, who push Robert off the mountain and almost do the same to Kate before she turns the tables on her assailants. Years later, Kate works with a former CIA agent, Thomas Malloy, to battle the Knights of the Holy Lance, conspirators somehow connected with the Blood Lance of the Cathars, a relic the Nazis also pursued. The truth behind the tragedy on the Eiger will shock few genre-savvy readers, who may also be bothered by some inexact detail (e.g., Malloy's fake State Department ID identifies him as a CPA, which is a professional certification, not a government title like senior auditor). (July)Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.