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Tom Wagner #0.5
The Stone of Destiny
The Prequel of "The Sacred Weapon"
A long-lost treasure leads to the dark history of Europe's most powerful ruling dynasty.
A breathless hunt across Europe with a shocking conclusion: the thriller The Stone of Destiny plunges our hero into the dark history of the Habsburg Empire and leads him to a treasure lost for centuries. A conspiracy with its roots in the final days of World War I and reaching into the present: fact merges with fiction – as always, with lots of action, surprising twists and a healthy dose of humor.
If you enjoy reading thrilling books by Clive Cussler, Alex Lukeman, Preston & Child or David Leadbeater, if you can't get enough of adventure novels and thrillers about historical myths, ancient artifacts and sunken treasures, then the Tom Wagner adventure "The Stone of Destiny" is a must-read for you.
A long-lost treasure leads to the dark history of Europe's most powerful ruling dynasty.
A breathless hunt across Europe with a shocking conclusion: the thriller The Stone of Destiny plunges our hero into the dark history of the Habsburg Empire and leads him to a treasure lost for centuries. A conspiracy with its roots in the final days of World War I and reaching into the present: fact merges with fiction – as always, with lots of action, surprising twists and a healthy dose of humor.
If you enjoy reading thrilling books by Clive Cussler, Alex Lukeman, Preston & Child or David Leadbeater, if you can't get enough of adventure novels and thrillers about historical myths, ancient artifacts and sunken treasures, then the Tom Wagner adventure "The Stone of Destiny" is a must-read for you.
- GenresThriller
163 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 15, 2021
67 people are currently reading
84 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
January 19, 2023
I cannot believe that I had not heard of the author team of M.C. ROBERTS and R.F. MACLAY before I read this book. It is a prequel to their series featuring Austrian Antiterrorist (COBRA) operative Tom Wagner. The book is titled STONE OF DESTINY.
The primary settings are Vienna (I was there in 2016), Madeira (I was there in 2016) and Amsterdam (I will be there in 2023). The locales are well and truly described. From their website, it appears as if there are 10 books as of the date of this review. This volume was originally published in 2021 according to its statistics. It was written in order to provide some backstory for the rest of the books.
Once upon a time, there was a yellow diamond of 137 carats that had been owned by, at one time or another, the Medici family and the Hapsburg monarchs. When the Hapsburgs were deposed in 1918, as rulers of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Emperor Charles had the Crown Jewels removed from the Treasury in Vienna when he and his family moved to Madeira, a Portuguese colony. The island is located in the Atlantic Ocean off the Northwest coast of Africa. The diamond is what this story revolves around.
Tom Wagner is somewhat a rogue in the rank and file of COBRA. Fortunately, he had once saved the life of Chancellor Konstantin Lang (“CKL” to Tom) of Austria who now is Tom’s “sugar daddy”. Hellen de Mey has curated an exhibit in the Museum of Fine Arts in Vienna that features some of the history of the last of the Hapsburgs. At the grand opening of the exhibit, Professor Pieter Van der Loos, with whom Hellen had studied, shows up with the Stone of Destiny in his dying hands. De Mey and Wagner are directed by Lang and the Museum director to find out how Loos got the diamond and why he was killed.
Their investigation takes them first to Loos’ home and his office at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. They surprise another person who was ransacking the home. A motorboat chase through the canals of Amsterdam ensues. However, the culprit escapes. Tom and Hellen then go to Loos’ office where they run into the same thief. Again, he escapes.
The pair discover a clue in a photograph and head to Madeira where the Hapsburgs had fled after their being removed from power. A key is discovered in the villa where the Hapsburgs had lived in exile. It is now being renovated. After an exciting cable car chase, Hellen and Tom go back to Vienna and the Schonbrunn Palace where Austria and the European Union are about to repeal a law governing monarchies in Europe. The final piece of this mystery is resolved. However, the bad guys are not finished with their scheming.
The story continues with the beginning of the original first book. It starts with the fire at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Oh boy! More reading of these authors is in my near future.
If you are a fan of Dan Brown or Clive Cussler or other authors of this ilk, this book is for you. I hope that the rest of the series are as well written and fast paced (I finished the book in less than three days). VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
GO! BUY! READ!
The primary settings are Vienna (I was there in 2016), Madeira (I was there in 2016) and Amsterdam (I will be there in 2023). The locales are well and truly described. From their website, it appears as if there are 10 books as of the date of this review. This volume was originally published in 2021 according to its statistics. It was written in order to provide some backstory for the rest of the books.
Once upon a time, there was a yellow diamond of 137 carats that had been owned by, at one time or another, the Medici family and the Hapsburg monarchs. When the Hapsburgs were deposed in 1918, as rulers of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Emperor Charles had the Crown Jewels removed from the Treasury in Vienna when he and his family moved to Madeira, a Portuguese colony. The island is located in the Atlantic Ocean off the Northwest coast of Africa. The diamond is what this story revolves around.
Tom Wagner is somewhat a rogue in the rank and file of COBRA. Fortunately, he had once saved the life of Chancellor Konstantin Lang (“CKL” to Tom) of Austria who now is Tom’s “sugar daddy”. Hellen de Mey has curated an exhibit in the Museum of Fine Arts in Vienna that features some of the history of the last of the Hapsburgs. At the grand opening of the exhibit, Professor Pieter Van der Loos, with whom Hellen had studied, shows up with the Stone of Destiny in his dying hands. De Mey and Wagner are directed by Lang and the Museum director to find out how Loos got the diamond and why he was killed.
Their investigation takes them first to Loos’ home and his office at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. They surprise another person who was ransacking the home. A motorboat chase through the canals of Amsterdam ensues. However, the culprit escapes. Tom and Hellen then go to Loos’ office where they run into the same thief. Again, he escapes.
The pair discover a clue in a photograph and head to Madeira where the Hapsburgs had fled after their being removed from power. A key is discovered in the villa where the Hapsburgs had lived in exile. It is now being renovated. After an exciting cable car chase, Hellen and Tom go back to Vienna and the Schonbrunn Palace where Austria and the European Union are about to repeal a law governing monarchies in Europe. The final piece of this mystery is resolved. However, the bad guys are not finished with their scheming.
The story continues with the beginning of the original first book. It starts with the fire at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Oh boy! More reading of these authors is in my near future.
If you are a fan of Dan Brown or Clive Cussler or other authors of this ilk, this book is for you. I hope that the rest of the series are as well written and fast paced (I finished the book in less than three days). VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
GO! BUY! READ!
April 15, 2022
Indiana Jones meets James Bond 👍👍gute und leichte Lektüre. Sehr spannend und trotz vielen Geschichtsinfos gut zu verstehen. Top
Want to read
October 24, 2021I can not review a book that I can not “read”. I have not been able to locate a copy of the book anywhere that I have looked. There are many electronic versions out there (but they don’t make good additions to one’s book shelf). Please rectify this situation by offering hard copies in your advertisements for the book. Stands true of many books offered for sale. Would like the option of purchasing a paper book version (if available).
April 20, 2023
I couldn’t find the English version on this book called The Stone of Destiny, so I will leave my review here. Pleasant time filler, adventure and humour is aplenty in this novel. The very short chapters makes it zoom pretty fast. Will look forward to the rest of the series.
June 6, 2020
Actionkino im Buchformat
February 12, 2023
Bond 007 comes to mind, well Bond-ish, without the gadgets, the girls, the casinos, the jumping out of planes, apart from that exactly the same, so basically Bond, but without the excitement. More like planes, trains and automobiles, but there is a secret cabal, hell bent on world domination, so there is that. Like all these charismatic main protagonists, they’re all pretty much cast from the same mould. Handsome, tall, athletic, charming always gets the girls, you know like real life stuff. But there again we don’t read this type of stuff for the reality, we want to be swept up into the thrilling adventures of these characters. Anyway as far as the story goes, they looked for a diamond… and they found it!
October 18, 2025
new author for me
Novel was interesting, but confusing at times. I never understood the significance of the diamond apart from being part of the Crown Jewels.
I'm familiar with the time in history the diamond "disappeared", but still I couldn't paste the entire story link together.
I'm disappointed.
Novel was interesting, but confusing at times. I never understood the significance of the diamond apart from being part of the Crown Jewels.
I'm familiar with the time in history the diamond "disappeared", but still I couldn't paste the entire story link together.
I'm disappointed.
February 23, 2023
I enjoyed the premise of the story along with the setting. The large history dumps were very distracting. I question whether they were all absolutely necessary. I doubt that I will be reading any other books in this series.
October 24, 2022
This was an interesting read until it ended in the ultimate reader rip-off of a cliff-hanger ending.
November 14, 2022
This is similar to a dozen other plots, most done better than this. The dialogue is at grievously loaded with cliches. Shallow characters. Probably 3 stars is generous. Many spelling errors also.
July 2, 2023
I thought that this was an okay read. The pace is good and the historical context is okay, but this is a light read without any real depth to it. This serves its purpose as an origin story.
August 28, 2023
Tom Wagner your man of the moment in a fast paced tale of murder, manipulation, greed and control.
Only a taste of what's to come
Only a taste of what's to come
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews