The Traitor's Blade by Kevin Sands (fiction books to read .TXT) 📕

main window so fire couldn’t spread through it.

Today, the only place remaining from this adventure is the Banqueting House. It’s still there, the final remnant of a line of famous kings, and you can go and visit it (and rent it out for an event, if you like). You can even still see Rubens’s magnificent paintings on the ceiling. Good thing Christopher didn’t tear them down.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

It’s my privilege to have so many talented folks helping put these books together. I’d like to say thank you to the following:

To Liesa Abrams and Suri Rosen, both of whom offered insights that made this story immeasurably better.

To Valerie Garfield, Jon Anderson, Christina Solazzo, Julie Doebler, Karin Paprocki, Hilary Zarycky, Brian Luster, Daphne Tagg, Christina Pecorale, Michelle Leo, Lauren Carr, Caitlin Sweeny, Anna Jarzab, Victor Iannone, Gary Urda, Emily Hutton, Stephanie Voros, Anna Parsons, and Kara Sargent at Aladdin.

To Kevin Hanson, Felicia Quon, Arden Hagedorn, Laura MacDonald, Shara Alexa, and Rita Silva at Simon & Schuster Canada.

To Dan Lazar, Cecilia de la Campa, Torie Doherty-Munro, and James Munro at Writers House.

To the publishers around the world who have embraced the Blackthorn Key series.

And, as always, to you, dear reader: Thank you for joining Christopher on this adventure. One more to go…

More from this Series

The Blackthorn Key

Book 1

Mark of the Plague

Book 2

The Assassin's Curse

Book 3

Call of the Wraith

Book 4

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Since escaping from university with a pair of degrees in theoretical physics, KEVIN SANDS has worked as a researcher, a business consultant, and a teacher. He lives in Ontario, Canada. He is the author of the award-winning and bestselling Blackthorn Key series.

Aladdin

Simon & Schuster, New York

Visit us at simonandschuster.com/kids

www.SimonandSchuster.com/Authors/Kevin-Sands

Also by Kevin Sands

The Blackthorn Key

Mark of the Plague

The Assassin’s Curse

Call of the Wraith

This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division

1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020

www.SimonandSchuster.com

First Aladdin hardcover edition May 2021

Text copyright © 2021 by Kevin Sands

Interior illustrations on pages 56, 58, 65, 101, 196, 204, 212, 256, 374 copyright © 2021 by Jim Madsen

Sir Erkenwald’s tomb image on page 180 courtesy of Hathi Trust Digital Library (public domain)

Whitehall 1860 map image on pages 55 and 283 courtesy of Wikimedia Commons (public domain)

Jacket illustration and interior illustrations on pages 167–171 copyright © 2021 by James Fraser

All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

ALADDIN and related logo are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Simon & Schuster Special Sales at 1-866-506-1949 or [email protected].

The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event. For more information or to book an event contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at www.simonspeakers.com.

Series design by Karin Paprocki

Jacket designed by Karin Paprocki

Interior designed by Hilary Zarycky

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Sands, Kevin, author.

Title: The traitor’s blade / by Kevin Sands.

Description: First Aladdin hardcover edition. | New York : Aladdin, 2021. | Series: The blackthorn key | Summary: In 1666, after four months away, friends Christopher Rowe, Tom, and Sally return to London triumphantly but, guided by coded riddles, face a conspiracy that threatens Christopher, as well as the king himself.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020040952 (print) | LCCN 2020040953 (eBook)

ISBN 9781534484566 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781534484580 (eBook)

Subjects: CYAC: Adventure and adventurers—Fiction. | Ciphers—Fiction. | Apprentices—Fiction. | Friendship—Fiction. | Secret societies—Fiction. | London—History—17th century—Fiction. | Great Britain—History—Charles II, 1660–1685—Fiction.

Classification: LCC PZ7.1.S26 Tr 2021 (print) | LCC PZ7.1.S26 (eBook) | DDC [Fic]—dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020040952

LC eBook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020040953