Arc of Silver

By Rosemary E Carr

A secret lost for centuries ...

A chase to preserve the past ...

A ghost with an eye on the future ... 

 

When a manuscript dating from the plague of 1348 that contains the formula for an antibacterial medicine is stolen, researcher Zach Fletcher is thrown into the world of murder and industrial espionage in his work for ALCHEMY, an aid organisation that promotes the sharing of medicine and investigates the magical world of medicines of the past.

Discover how the past and present collide in this fast-paced, supernatural short thriller.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rosemary Carr
• Release date: Jul 8, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201306557

Rosemary E Carr

Rosemary Carr was born deep in the heart of England but moved to London after she graduated. Her first degree is in economics and politics but her second is in creative writing and art history. She is a writer of thrillers and contemporary literary fiction.

Book preview

Chapter 1

Zach Fletcher strode across the piazza in front of the modern, red brick building that is The British Library, skirted passed the queue of people waiting to have their bags searched and emerged into the high open space of the entrance atrium. One of the security officers on duty spotted him and saw what he always saw – a tall man in his mid-thirties wearing jeans and a navy reefer jacket with short yet still ruffled dark hair and keen blue eyes – and let him pass.

The morning sun shone down through the skylights and accumulated on the stone floor around Zach’s feet — a last reminder of the day outside before he entered the artificially lit, atmosphere-protected viewing gallery. From the espresso bar to his side came the tempting aroma of coffee, but today he didn’t have time to stop for his usual shot of caffeine; he had an appointment for which he couldn’t be late.

Ahead of him, in a towering glass column that rose through the different levels of the building stood The King’s Library

which housed the eighteenth-century collection of sixty-five thousand books and fifteen thousand pamphlets belonging to King George III, including treasures such as The Gutenberg Bible and Shakespeare’s first folio. Leather-bound works on history, military strategy, science, and the arts were shelved, their gold-embossed spines of red, green, and cream facing outwards in tier upon tier of black bookshelves. It was one of these precious manuscripts – an early work from the fourteenth century – that he was here to see.

In his pocket, his phone chimed. A text to call the head of the privately funded aid organisation which he worked for – ALCHEMY.

Zach pursed his lips.

This manuscript must be important.

‘How’s it going?’ Hans asked when he picked up Zach’s call.

His tone was light, but Zach wasn’t fooled – Hans was new to the organisation and keen to score an early success.

‘Problem?’ Zach asked.

‘Not as such. Just a warning that we may not be the only ones interested in this manuscript.’

‘Are you expecting trouble?’

‘Not at this