Art restorer and legendary spy Gabriel Allon has slipped quietly into London to attend a reception at the Courtauld Gallery celebrating the return of a stolen self-portrait by Vincent van Gogh. But when an old friend from the Devon and Cornwall Police seeks his help with a baffling murder investigation, he finds himself pursuing a powerful and dangerous new adversary. The victim is Charlotte Blake, a celebrated professor of art history from Oxford who spends her weekends in the same seaside village where Gabriel once lived under an assumed identity. Her murder appears to be the work of a diabolical serial killer who has been terrorizing the Cornish countryside. But there are a number of telltale inconsistencies, including a missing mobile phone. And then there is the mysterious three-letter cypher she left behind on a notepad in her study. Gabriel soon discovers that Professor Blake was searching for a looted Picasso worth more than a $100 million, and he takes up the chase for the painting as only he can--with six Impressionist canvases forged by his own hand and an unlikely team of operatives that includes a world-famous violinist, a beautiful master thief, and a lethal contract killer turned British spy.

"Author Ian Ludlow writes great adventures, but after helping Chinese movie star Wang Mei defect to the United States, he becomes the accidental hero of a real-life espionage thriller. Now he's stuck with the actress - and suffering a nasty case of writer's block - when he stumbles into a secret Russian plot using "fake news" to outrage Americans into believing a terrifying lie. The only weapon Ian has against the global conspiracy, and the assassins who are closing in on him, is his vivid imagination. If his story isn't a killer thriller, he's dead."--Publisher description

"Alex still has unfinished business with this sinister group made up of brainwashed children, not least trying to reunite MI6 chief Mrs Jones with her long lost son and daughter. The adventure takes us deep into the life-changing world of augmented reality, where even Alex will struggle to succeed against the technology. With daring chase scenes, a brilliant immersive gaming sequence, and a nail-biting final showdown, this new adventure brings the world's best-loved teen superspy his biggest challenge yet."--Goodreads.com.