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Kirk McGarvey #17
Blood Pact
David Hagberg's New York Times bestselling Kirk McGarvey series continues with a deadly mission to find a long-lost treasure map in Blood Pact.
A large portion of the fabulous treasure originally stolen by conquistadors of the eighteenth century was buried in the desert of southern New Mexico by Spanish monks. Jacob Ambli, a Catholic priest, was sent as a spy on a Spanish military mission to find seven caches left for the Church. He kept a diary showing the locations, but was murdered trying to get back to Rome, and the journal was lost.
Now, a century and a half later, the diary has come to light, and the Spanish government, Cuban intelligence agency, and the Catholic Church are racing to be the first to claim it. Kirk McGarvey is approached by a shadowy organization that wants to beat all of them to the book—the Voltaire Society, a mysterious group whose purpose is shrouded in the history of the United States.
The chase takes Mac from Washington to Malta and finally to Seville, where he comes up against a fifth foe—one of the most ruthless assassins he has ever confronted—who has made a blood pact with the agents of the devil to find the lost treasure no matter what the cost.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
A large portion of the fabulous treasure originally stolen by conquistadors of the eighteenth century was buried in the desert of southern New Mexico by Spanish monks. Jacob Ambli, a Catholic priest, was sent as a spy on a Spanish military mission to find seven caches left for the Church. He kept a diary showing the locations, but was murdered trying to get back to Rome, and the journal was lost.
Now, a century and a half later, the diary has come to light, and the Spanish government, Cuban intelligence agency, and the Catholic Church are racing to be the first to claim it. Kirk McGarvey is approached by a shadowy organization that wants to beat all of them to the book—the Voltaire Society, a mysterious group whose purpose is shrouded in the history of the United States.
The chase takes Mac from Washington to Malta and finally to Seville, where he comes up against a fifth foe—one of the most ruthless assassins he has ever confronted—who has made a blood pact with the agents of the devil to find the lost treasure no matter what the cost.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published March 25, 2014
16 people are currently reading
171 people want to read
About the author
David Hagberg
80 books137 followersaka David Bannerman, Sean Flannery, David James, Robert Pell, Eric Ramsey
David Hagberg is a former Air Force cryptographer who has traveled extensively in Europe, the Arctic, and the Caribbean and has spoken at CIA functions. He has published more than twenty novels of suspense, including the bestselling High Flight, Assassin, and Joshua's Hammer.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/davidh...
David Hagberg is a former Air Force cryptographer who has traveled extensively in Europe, the Arctic, and the Caribbean and has spoken at CIA functions. He has published more than twenty novels of suspense, including the bestselling High Flight, Assassin, and Joshua's Hammer.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/davidh...
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
October 21, 2017
The Kirk McGarvey series, like its main character, is getting tired. This one is a continuation of Castro's Daughter, the search for buried Spanish treasure in the southwestern U.S. Five different parties are after this mythical horde: the mysterious Voltaire Society, the Spanish government, the Catholic Church, the Cuban government, and an Arab prince. Kirk McGarvey is retired and teaching college kids in Florida, when a guy from Voltaire tries to enlist his help only to be blown to pieces by Spanish intelligence. With innocents killed, McGarvey decides to investigate, finding the offending parties next door, spying on him. After a violent clash, a Catholic Church killer eliminates the escapee and Kirk enlists Otto's help, when Maria Leon reappears. After Maria is almost killed, there is further slaughter in Washington DC before everyone heads to Spain to find a journal and a cipher code. Kind of preposterous.
July 26, 2016
Kirk McGarvey, former CIA assassin/spy, finds himself reluctantly on the trail of a diary from an 1850's Spanish Priest depicting the location of buried Spanish gold in what is now the US state of New Mexico. McGarvey is unconvinced the gold actually exists but is drawn into the hunt when two innocent college students are killed by a car bomb in front of him. Also hunting for the diary are hit teams from Spanish Intelligence, Cuban Intelligence, the Vatican, the Saudi Royal family and the mysterious Voltaire Society that might or might not have honorable motives. This is a good, fast paced, spy thriller with a prodigious body count that might lead you to ask: does the plot strain credulity - yep! Is it fun to read - absolutely!...........Ed
January 24, 2022
#17 in the Kirk McGarvey mystery series. One time CIA agent and agency head, McGarvey is now a philosophy professor at the University of Florida's New College Sarasota campus.
If you don't like a plethora of dead bodies as people are killed in cld blood one after the other, this isn't the book for you. Not sure if the body count in this one is typical of the others in this series.
The story starts in 1841 with the deaths of two Catholic priests and the stealing of the diary of one of them which locates the fabled 7 Cities of Cibola. Rather than cities, it is actually 7 caches of gold and silver secretly hidden by Spanish monks who siphoned off items from Spanish treasure shipments. There are 3 entities seeking this treasurer: the Voltaire Society, the Catholic and the Spanish government plus a fourth no one knows about and each is more than willing to kill for the information. Bodies pile up quickly primarily at the hands on two assassins who are are working for their particular groups. The Voltaire Society steals the diary in 1841 and has it stolen from them in the present and they want it back. They approach McGarvey to help recover it, but he refuses. However, he becomes involved anyway on a hunt takes him from Florida to Washington to Malta and finally Seville and finds himself facing one of the most ruthless assassins he has ever confronted.
If you don't like a plethora of dead bodies as people are killed in cld blood one after the other, this isn't the book for you. Not sure if the body count in this one is typical of the others in this series.
The story starts in 1841 with the deaths of two Catholic priests and the stealing of the diary of one of them which locates the fabled 7 Cities of Cibola. Rather than cities, it is actually 7 caches of gold and silver secretly hidden by Spanish monks who siphoned off items from Spanish treasure shipments. There are 3 entities seeking this treasurer: the Voltaire Society, the Catholic and the Spanish government plus a fourth no one knows about and each is more than willing to kill for the information. Bodies pile up quickly primarily at the hands on two assassins who are are working for their particular groups. The Voltaire Society steals the diary in 1841 and has it stolen from them in the present and they want it back. They approach McGarvey to help recover it, but he refuses. However, he becomes involved anyway on a hunt takes him from Florida to Washington to Malta and finally Seville and finds himself facing one of the most ruthless assassins he has ever confronted.
July 11, 2019
A large portion of the fabulous treasure originally stolen by conquistadors of the eighteenth century was buried in the desert of southern New Mexico by Spanish monks. Jacob Ambli, a Catholic priest, was sent as a spy on a Spanish military mission to find seven caches left for the Church. He kept a diary showing the locations, but was murdered trying to get back to Rome, and the journal was lost.
Now, a century and a half later, the diary has come to light, and the Spanish government, Cuban intelligence agency, and the Catholic Church are racing to be the first to claim it. Kirk McGarvey is approached by a shadowy organization that wants to beat all of them to the book—the Voltaire Society, a mysterious group whose purpose is shrouded in the history of the United States.
The chase takes Mac from Washington to Malta and finally to Seville, where he comes up against a fifth foe—one of the most ruthless assassins he has ever confronted—who has made a blood pact with the agents of the devil to find the lost treasure no matter what the cost.
Now, a century and a half later, the diary has come to light, and the Spanish government, Cuban intelligence agency, and the Catholic Church are racing to be the first to claim it. Kirk McGarvey is approached by a shadowy organization that wants to beat all of them to the book—the Voltaire Society, a mysterious group whose purpose is shrouded in the history of the United States.
The chase takes Mac from Washington to Malta and finally to Seville, where he comes up against a fifth foe—one of the most ruthless assassins he has ever confronted—who has made a blood pact with the agents of the devil to find the lost treasure no matter what the cost.
December 6, 2021
I enjoyed this book. It's the first one I've read in the Kirk McGarvey series. I choose this book browsing through my library because the title caught my attention, I read the description and it intrigued me. I found the book to be a fast paced, action packed, adventure, page turner. I'll want to go back to read from the beginning of the series, not because it's integral to the storyline, but because I want to see how the characters started out and how they developed (and continue to develop) over time.
April 20, 2020
Mac, Otto and company are pulled once again into a search for info on the gold from Castro's Daughter. The Catholic church, Voltaire society, Spain and Castro's daughter are all vying against Mac and a mystery factor
May 24, 2023
The second of an at least 2-parter that does not improve upon the 1st.
Despite all the action it feels like nothing is accomplished.
Very unsatisfying ending, which I found strange because Hagberg is the best ender in the business.
Doesn't seem like there's more to this story but we'll see.
Despite all the action it feels like nothing is accomplished.
Very unsatisfying ending, which I found strange because Hagberg is the best ender in the business.
Doesn't seem like there's more to this story but we'll see.
January 27, 2024
I felt this mystery, about a bunch of hidden treasure buried in New Mexico by the Spanish conquistadors was okay, but lacking overall. Lots of build-up, just to end suddenly, and without a lot of meaning.
September 16, 2017
Of all the Kirk McGarvey books in the series that I have read, this one was my least favorite. To me if read more like a Dan Brown novel than a CIA operative book
May 10, 2023
Been a while since I’d read anything from this series. It was an okay read. Surprise ending.
August 31, 2016
Blood Pact sort of follows up where Castro's Daughter left off. A basic question in each book is whether a treasure of gold was buried somewhere in the southwestern US back in the 1400/1500's and is still there OR whether this is just legend.
In Blood Pact 4 different groups are after this treasure: the Catholic Church, the Spanish government,
the Voltaire Society, and the Cuban government. Each group thinks Kirk McGarvey can help them find it. The complexity of all this can be seen in a quotation from pp. 246-247: "A French banker comes to McGarvey, the CNI kills him, McGarvey kills the CNI team -all but one-who is killed by a priest, who tries to kill Colonel Leon, and who........................................". Complicated? Not really, as David Hagberg does another masterful job of creating an intriguing plot with colorful characters and exciting, edge-of-your seat action.
In Blood Pact 4 different groups are after this treasure: the Catholic Church, the Spanish government,
the Voltaire Society, and the Cuban government. Each group thinks Kirk McGarvey can help them find it. The complexity of all this can be seen in a quotation from pp. 246-247: "A French banker comes to McGarvey, the CNI kills him, McGarvey kills the CNI team -all but one-who is killed by a priest, who tries to kill Colonel Leon, and who........................................". Complicated? Not really, as David Hagberg does another masterful job of creating an intriguing plot with colorful characters and exciting, edge-of-your seat action.
July 24, 2014
This was an ok Kirk McGarvey novel for me. It is not as bad as Abyss, but not as good Castro's Daughter. (Hagberg's last two McGarvy Novels) It had high and low points. On the low end, I thought the story was a little out there, even for a spy novel. On the high end, I thought there was a decently paced, and had a decent amount of action. It will be interesting to see if Hagberg continues to write Kirk McGavery books. To me it seems like the series might have run it's course. If you read all the other McGarvey novels, you will want to read this, if you haven't, there are probably better books out there.
February 18, 2014
Thanks to the publisher for allowing me to read an advanced copy of Blood Pact.
This is a great read. It is a historical thriller and McGarvey is at it again. This is a story about treasure hidden about a half century before the story begins. The treasure is tied to the Catholic church, the Spanish conquistadors, and the Voltaire Society. The plot is complete with assassins, secret society's, and Spanish military history. A very adventurous novel, and readers will be unhappy when the story is over.
This is a great read. It is a historical thriller and McGarvey is at it again. This is a story about treasure hidden about a half century before the story begins. The treasure is tied to the Catholic church, the Spanish conquistadors, and the Voltaire Society. The plot is complete with assassins, secret society's, and Spanish military history. A very adventurous novel, and readers will be unhappy when the story is over.
May 14, 2014
I like David Hagberg's Kirk McGarvey novels, but this one got to me because of the wanton killings described in this book. Two of the individuals who play important roles killed everyone they came in contact with, not matter how innocent they were. One killed by shooting and the other by breaking his victims necks. It got way overboard for me. I kept thinking, surely this one would get to live, but no mercy!!! A good story line as usual, but way too many people got killed and most were not justified.
June 5, 2014
Another Kirk McGarvey novel. Lots and lots of people killed. Two pro assassins. Much the killing makes no sense. And the ending abrupt, as is the killing of one assassin. But well paced, moves characters forward.
April 23, 2015
Even more horrible than the previous book. Fruitless treasure hunt which doesn't excite due to the fact we know it doesn't exist. Idiotic antagonists and even the protagonists took a level of stupidity in this horrific novel. Thankfully, in the next book, Hagberg goes back down to earth.
April 20, 2014
This was another solid book in the Kirk McGarvey series. I particularly liked the antiquarian angle to this book and the prior book in the series.
May 21, 2014
One of his better plots! Loved!
June 8, 2014
I found this book to be captivating up to the end. Kudo's!
September 10, 2016
3.5 Too many deaths with too little story.
November 8, 2014
First McGravey book I've read. A lot of killing. Ending was anti-climatic. Don't know if I'll read another.
Read
May 13, 2014The book was ok.............however, the story seemed to drag on and on.
February 14, 2016
very good
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews