Blackthorn Key

London, 1665. Fourteen-year-old Christopher Rowe is apprenticed to master apothecary Benedict Blackthorn. In Blackthorn's shop, Christopher learns the delicate secrets of transforming simple ingredients into powerful medicines, potions and weapons. His beloved master guides him with a firm, steady hand - instilling him with confidence and independence that prove increasingly vital as Christopher learns of a mysterious cult preying on the most learned men in London.

Following a series of murders, an apothecary’s apprentice must solve puzzles and decipher codes in pursuit of a secret that could destroy the world in this “spectacular debut” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review). “Tell no one what I’ve given you.” Until he got that cryptic warning...

Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable, audiobook edition of Mark of the Plague by Kevin Sands, read by Ray Panthaki. BOILS, BLOOD AND A BURNING FEVER - THE BLACK DEATH HAS RETURNED TO LONDON . . . As the dreaded sickness spreads through the city, striking down rich and poor alike, an...

Christopher Rowe is back and there are more puzzles, riddles, and secrets to uncover in this follow-up to the Indie Next pick The Blackthorn Key, which was called a “spectacular debut” by Kirkus Reviews in a starred review. The Black Death has returned to London, spreading disease and fear...

Christopher Rowe is back and there are more puzzles, riddles, and secrets to uncover in this third novel of the award-winning Blackthorn Key series. Wherever Christopher Rowe goes, adventure—and murder—follows. Even a chance to meet King Charles ends in a brush with an assassin. All that’s...

Christopher Rowe is back and there are more puzzles, riddles, and secrets to uncover in this fourth novel of the award-winning Blackthorn Key series. Christopher Rowe has no idea who he is. After being shipwrecked in Devonshire, he wakes up alone, his memories gone. Villagers tell him he was...

Christopher’s homecoming takes a sinister turn when a murderous conspiracy is uncovered in this fifth novel of the award-winning Blackthorn Key series. Christopher, Tom, and Sally are back in London at last. Everyone is relieved at their return—the plague has ended, and the king, pleased...

Christopher finally uncovers the Raven’s identity in this sixth novel of the award-winning Blackthorn Key series. The stakes are higher than ever when the Raven sets Christopher up for a horrible crime, leading him to be locked away in London’s most notorious prison. This terrible act is the...