THE STOLEN CHALICE

The Stolen Chalice combines the glamour of the international art world and the intrigue of a terrorist plot as readers travel around the world with Cordelia Stapleton and John Sinclair in search of the rare Egyptian drinking vessel known as the Sardonyx Cup.

When the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York plans a black tie gala to celebrate Ancient Greek, Roman, and Egyptian Cultures everyone anticipates a star studded night to remember. Cordelia Stapleton and John Sinclair fly in from Alexandria Egypt to attend the event of the season. Little do they know the evening is being targeted for a terrorist attack. As guests dine and dance at the historic Temple of Dendur, gunmen open fire.

The next morning reveals that more has happened than just a terrorist assault; all over New York pieces of Egyptian art have been stolen from both private homes and public institutions. Ted VerPlanck – a pillar of NY society - discovers that his penthouse apartment has been robbed and he is missing his most cherished object - the incredibly rare, and legendary Sardonyx Cup. Ted calls on John Sinclair, who knows a lot about the international underground market for rare artifacts, to help locate the Cup. Despite Cordelia’s objections Sinclair suggests his old flame, the Egyptologist Dr Holly Graham, help in the search.

As John Sinclair and Cordelia Stapleton try to locate the Sardonyx Cup – they stumble across a terrorist cell intent on using the bubonic plague as their weapon. British intelligence convenes a secret meeting at the historic Scottish castle once owned by President Eisenhower, and the quest becomes less about the missing art, and more about thwarting a major bio-weapons attack. The action moves from Scotland to London to Venice to Egypt. The finale at the international summit in Sharm-el-Sheikh leaves readers wondering if John Sinclair will save the day, or if his fatal attraction to Dr Holly Graham will set him on a course for personal destruction.

Award winning CNN correspondent and anchor for CNN news Kitty Pilgrim traveled to the farthest reaches of the world on assignment. Now, after 24 years as a broadcast journalist, Kitty has taken on an exciting new assignment – writing novels. Pilgrim is the recipient of an Overseas Press Club Award, a Peabody Award, New York Society of Black Journalists Award, and is currently on the U.S. advisory board of Reporters Without Borders , is a full member of the historic Explorer’s Club. She is a single mother of two sons and lives in New York City and Rhinecliff, New York.