NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERIncludes exclusive bonus materialFormer Justice Department operative Cotton Malone has received an anonymous note carrying an unfamiliar Web address. Logging on, he's shocked to see Cassiopeia Vitt, a woman who's saved his life more than once, being tortured at the hands of a mysterious man who has a single demand: Bring me the artifact she's asked you to keep safe. The only problem is, Malone doesn't have a clue what the man is talking about, since Cassiopeia has left nothing with him. So begins Malone's most harrowing adventure to date—one that offers up astounding historical revelations, pits him against a ruthless ancient brotherhood, and sends him from Denmark to Belgium to Vietnam then on to one of the greatest archaeological sites in the world: the tomb of China's First Emperor, guarded by an underground army of terra-cotta warriors, which has inexplicably remained sealed for more than two thousand years—its mysteries about to be revealed.DON'T MISS A SNEAK PEEK OF STEVE BERRY'S NEW NOVEL, THE JEFFERSON KEY,IN THE BACK OF THE BOOK.
ALSO BY STEVE BERRY
NOVELS
E-BOOKS
“The Balkan Escape”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
To the folks at Random House: Gina Centrello, Libby McGuire, Cindy Murray, Kim Hovey, Katie O’Callaghan, Beck Stvan, Carole Lowenstein, Rachel Kind, and all those in promotions and sales. Once again, thanks.
To Mark Tavani, thanks for being a persistent editor.
To Pam Ahearn I offer a ninth bow of gratitude and my continued appreciation.
To Simon Lipskar, I deeply appreciate your wisdom and guidance.
A few special mentions: Charlie Smith, who performed some much-appreciated reconnoitering in China; Grant Blackwood, a superb thriller writer who saved me from falling in Denver; Els Wouters, who provided, on short notice, vital on-site research in Antwerp; Esther Levine for opening doors at the terra-cotta warrior exhibit; Bob and Jane Stine, who stimulated my imagination over lunch and connected me with “Julia” Xiaohui Zhu; James Rollins for once again helping save the day; Michele and Joe Finder, who offered some sage advice; Meryl Moss and her wonderful staff; Melisse Shapiro, who is more helpful than she could ever realize; and Esther Garver and Jessica Johns who keep History Matters and Steve Berry Enterprises running.
I also want to say thank you to every one of my readers around the world. I appreciate your loyal support, insightful comments, infectious enthusiasm, and, yes, even your criticisms. You are what keeps me writing every day.
And there’s Elizabeth—critic, cheerleader, editor, wife, muse. The whole package.
Finally, this book is dedicated to Fran Downing, Frank Green, Lenore Hart, David Poyer, Nancy Pridgen, Clyde Rogers, and Daiva Woodworth. Together, they showed me how to teach myself to be a writer.
Whether I succeeded is still a matter of debate.
One thing, though, is clear.
Without their influence, nothing ever would have been printed.
—CONFUCIUS
—CHINESE PROVERB
—HAN FEI TZU,
TIMELINE OF RELEVANT
EVENTS OF CHINESE HISTORY
1765–1027 BCE
Shang Dynasty (earliest known)
770–481 BCE
Spring and Autumn Period
551–479 BCE
Confucius lives
535 BCE
Origin of the eunuch system
481–221 BCE
Warring States Period and emergence of Legalism
200 BCE
Chinese first drill for oil
221 BCE
Qin Shi unifies the warring states into China and becomes First Emperor
210 BCE
Qin Shi dies; terra-cotta army is completed and interred with First Emperor in Imperial tomb mound
146 BCE – 67 CE
Eunuch system expands into a political force
89 BCE
Sima Qian completes
202 CE –1912 CE
Dynastic rule of China flourishes
1912 CE
Last emperor is forced from throne; dynastic rule ends; eunuch system is abolished; Republic of China is formed
1949 CE
Communist Revolution; People’s Republic of China is formed
1974 CE
Terracotta army is rediscovered
1976 CE
Mao Zedong dies
PROLOGUE
NORTHERN AREAS, PAKISTAN
FRIDAY, MAY 18
8:10 AM
A BULLET ZIPPED PAST COTTON MALONE. HE DOVE TO THE rocky ground and sought what cover the sparse poplars offered. Cassiopeia Vitt did the same and they belly-crawled across sharp gravel, finding a boulder large enough to provide the two of them protection.
More shots came their way.
“This is getting serious,” Cassiopeia said.
“You think?”
Their trek had, so far, been uneventful. The greatest congregation of towering peaks on the planet surrounded them. The roof of the world, two thousand miles from Beijing, in the extreme southwestern corner of China’s Xinjiang Autonomous Region—or the Northern Areas of Pakistan, depending on whom you asked—smack up against a hotly disputed border.
Which explained the soldiers.
“They’re not Chinese,” she said. “I caught a glimpse. Definitely Pakistanis.”
