They are the most valuable coins on earth . . .Only a handful still exist, each one worth millions . . .Now they have vanished from an impenetrablefortress . . . and the killings have begun.Somehow, impossibly, someone has invaded Fort Knox and stolen five of the world's last remaining Double Eagles -- the $20 gold coin ordered destroyed by President Roosevelt during the Great Depression. Now, one has resurfaced during an autopsy in France -- in the stomach of a murdered priest.Disgraced FBI agent Jennifer Browne needs to recover the priceless coins to resuscitate her stalled career -- and her investigation is pointing her toward Tom Kirk, a brilliant international art thief who wants to get out of the game. But Kirk's only chance for freedom -- and survival -- is to find the missing coins, joining Browne, an unlikely ally, on a breakneck race across the globe and into the lethal heart of a shocking conspiracy of greed and power . . . and death.From Publishers WeeklyMaking his thriller debut after a career as a London entrepreneur, Twining consciously deals in clichés: 007-ish bad guys, contrived plot mechanisms and Perils of Pauline–style hairsbreadth escapes. He has a nice feel for them. Tom Kirk is a rogue ex-CIA operative who, after a profitable career as an international jewel thief, is attempting to go legit; Jennifer Browne is a foxy FBI special agent trying to work her way back into the good graces of the service after accidentally killing a fellow agent. When a 1933 $20 Double Eagle gold coin turns up in the belly of a dead ex-priest–turned-fence—the rest of the run had officially been listed as destroyed—Jennifer discovers that five other "unofficial" specimens are missing from Fort Knox. Meanwhile, Kirk's final heist, of a priceless Fabergé egg, is catching up with him, and the FBI dispatches Jennifer to London with the gold coin to offer Kirk a deal of immunity if he will help recover the missing coins. The mismatched pair manage to have the remaining coin stolen from them; its trail then leads from London to Paris, Amsterdam and Istanbul. Despite a highly theatrical and overly protracted finale, this is an auspicious beginning for a fledgling series. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From BooklistTwining, a first-time novelist, lunges into the thriller genre with this globe-trotting adventure about five very small and very valuable objects. The Double Eagle is a gold coin recalled by the U.S. government during the Depression. All extant examples were melted down--all, that is, except five, which wound up in Fort Knox. Now the coins, with a value of $40 million, are missing. Jennifer Browne, a disgraced FBI agent looking to jump-start her career, teams up with Tim Kirk, a former CIA agent now making his living as an international jewel thief. Predictably, Jennifer discovers that the coins are at the heart of a nasty conspiracy. What the novel lacks in originality (readers familiar with the genre will not have much trouble anticipating the plot twists), it makes up for in gusto. Twining writes with enthusiasm, giving us meaty characters and a story that fairly stampedes along. Another Tim Kirk novel is in the works; let's hope the author comes up with a more original plot next time. David PittCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Mafia, a secret society and the world's greatest treasures all converge in James Twining's all new jaw-dropping thriller featuring reformed art thief Tom Kirk. It begins with a young man hanging from the Ponte Sant' Angelo Rome, his pockets weighed down with lead whilst the current of the river below slowly tightens the noose around his neck. Meanwhile, in Las Vegas, retired art thief Tom Kirk is asked by an old friend to investigate a case involving the theft of a long lost Caravaggio painting. When tragedy strikes Tom is left holding a blood-soaked body. Back in Rome police Lieutenant Allegra Damico has been called to the Parthenon where a second body has been found, but this time the body is surrounded by mannequins. When a third body is found crucified upside down in the middle of the ancient forum Allegra realises there is a sinister link between the murders. Someone is staging famous Caravaggio paintings. Suspecting the detective leading the case is corrupt Allegra begins her own investigation. Spurred on by grief and the desire to avenge the murder of his friend, Tom follows a trail to Rome where he finds Allegra piecing together a similar mystery. Before long they both find themselves submerged in a vast criminal conspiracy involving the police, politicians, the church and a secret society born of a pact between two Mafia families decades before.