The Sacred Symbol is the second book in the Torcal Trilogy and follows the award-winning The Grotto’s Secret.July 1492, Palos de la Frontera, SpainDisguised as a man, Ana-María de Carbonela is on the run from the queen’s soldiers who tortured and killed her mother. She overhears Columbus’ sailors preparing a mutiny, but before she can warn him, and convince him to write a journal detailing his … before she can warn him, and convince him to write a journal detailing his privileges from Queen Isabella, she is captured.
When her Jewish tutor is caught and punished for rescuing her, she has a terrible decision to make: Save him … but risk the death penalty for dressing as a man.
Meanwhile, in present time, Giovanni Armellini is on a hunt for one of the world’s most precious and priceless artefacts: Columbus’ original Book of Privileges. A codex hidden inside will forever change the rumours about the famous admiral. Giovanni will go to deadly lengths to claim it.
In rural Andalucía Nina Monterossa finds her world is turned upside down after her father dies of a sudden heart attack, their farm manager is killed in a barn fire and her sister held to ransom for Columbus’ original Book of Privileges.
Nina locates an expert on works by Columbus and rushes to Genoa to ask for help in finding the mysterious book. But Nina has walked into a trap. Now she must escape and find her sister.
The race is on. From Genoa to a remote island off Scotland, she must find the original Book of Privileges in time to save her sister. In doing so, will she discover the secrets Columbus kept hidden from the world?
Readers with Advanced Reader Copies had this to say:
“I was hooked from the first chapter of The Sacred Symbol. A page-turner right to the end. Another masterpiece from Paula Wynne!” ~ Richard Butler
“I have just started The Sacred Symbol and I’m enchanted! I didn’t want to stop reading.” ~ DeeAnn Murphy
“Recommended for fans of Dan Brown, a brilliant read” ~ Sue Brown
“Reminiscent of Dan Brown, the Sacred Symbol combines history, mystery, and thriller to capture you from the first chapter and eagerly keep you turning pages.” ~ Jane Geiger
“An excellent book intertwining the past and present. It has been responsible for two sleepless nights as I raced to finish it. On a par with the novels of CJ Sansom and SJ Parris. I look forward to future books.” ~ Peter Warr
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This book will appeal to readers who enjoy symbol mysteries (The Davinci Code etc.), crime thrillers and historical stories, and perhaps romances, although as there is quite of violence, perhaps not all romance fans!
The story has two threads which are very cleverly interwoven, a present day murder mystery which includes following up clues to find a historical document and an adventure set in 1492, which explains the origins of the document.
There has obviously been a huge amount of research carried out by Paula Wynne into the historical basis of the story, and there is a lot of genuine history woven into the story.
The plot is extremely well written and the characters are all believable and three dimensional.
This is a great book and a worthy successor to the first book in the series, ‘The Grotto’s Secret’. Although it is the second book in the series, it can quite easily be read as a stand-alone book.
This was a great read! It was every bit as good as the first book of this trilogy, The Grotto’s Secret. It works as a standalone too. If you like historical fiction based on fact along with present day mysteries then Ms. Wynne is the author for you. She weaves the old and the new together beautifully and keeps you on the edge of your seat for the whole ride. Can’t wait to read the next book!
Historical fiction at its best, in this story from the times of Christopher Columbus.
This delightful book is a mystery wrapped around Christopher Columbus and his endeavors to gain financial support for his famous 1492 voyage from Portugal’s King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. It is a time of great religious intolerance, with Jews forced to convert or flee, and a quick condemnation of any thought to hold views different from the mainstream Catholic religion of the times. Into this time, we find ourselves falling into the story from the viewpoint of a young woman whose mother was a victim of the religious intolerance of the times, due to her healing endeavors and midwifery. She must escape before she, too, suffers the same fate. Thus, her journey begins, with the goal of serving as a clerk to Columbus as he leaves Portugal. She hopes to find escape to safer lands, supporting herself by writing along the way.
Then, the story moves to modern times, where the threads from book 1 are picked up, and woven into this new story. She handled the juxtaposition of the past with the present very well, switching timeframes appropriately to maintain interest all the way through to the end. As it is 3:30 AM as I finish this book, I literally could not put it down.
The storyline from the first book continues into this book, but is not the focus of this second book. This gives continuity between the two books, but does not make the second book seem as if it is just the continuation of the first book. It is much more interesting than I had anticipated because it is a fresh story. Further, this book can stand alone without having read book 1 previously. In fact, it would entice the reader to go back and pick up that book to learn what preceded this book. What is the sacred symbol? You must read the book to find out!
I received this advance copy of this book. My review is voluntary, and uncompensated.
New, interesting characters and a story packed with intrigue, this was a great read.
I waited patiently for this, the follow-up book to The Grotto’s Secret to appear and it was well worth the wait.
One always worries that a second book of a trilogy may not be as intense, articulate or suspenseful as the first, but there are no such worries with The Sacred Symbol. A book I didn’t want to, and couldn’t, put down.
Very atmospheric, its descriptions allow one to easily slip into the characters’ lives with absolutely no effort. The plot was compelling, the twists enjoyable and the characters well drawn. Looking forward to the next book in the continuing Torcal story, The Luna Legacy, which I’m about to open.
A different kind of Mystery. Even with this been friction it makes you want to dig deeper into some of the historical facts of that time period
At the beginning of the book I felt a bit confused and wished that I had read The Grotto’s Secret first.
Having a habit of not reading chapter headings I found that with this book once I paid attention to the chapter heading to place me in the correct time period I had a much easier time following the story line. I found the story fascinating and plan to read the first book in this series to get to know some of the previous events that happened. Of course looking also forward to continue when the third books becomes available.
The Sacred Symbol, book 2 of the Torcal Trilogy. Even better than The Grotto’s secret! Although initially, it was a bit difficult to follow the characters, I enjoyed the book, Fast paced with many (many predictable) twists and turns. she creates memorable characters that you get wrapped up & invested in. As much as her characters this is a complicated story that’s rich in historical detail. If you like Kate Mosse’ Languedoc series you’ll love this. (RIP Marley January 20, 2014 – July 24, 2018).
Reminiscent of Dan Brown, the Sacred Symbol combines history, mystery, and thriller to capture you from the first chapter and eagerly keep you turning pages.
They storyline is intriguing, the characters well-developed, and the writing flows well with rich detail. This was a book I couldn’t put down, and I eagerly look forward to the next book.
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review, and I also bought a copy of the book.
This book is well-written, the story line is well thought-out and the characters are fully developed. The story is so well-told that you can imagine yourself being right there as part of the action. The delivery mode of alternating between the historical background and the present day tie-in is very effective in keeping the details of each fresh and showing connections to entice the reader to continue turning the page. It has character and story references to the first book in the trilogy (The Grotto’s Secret), which was a fantastic story on its’ own. This is a very entertaining story and I hated to put it down for any reason. It is a great stand-alone story. I will be reading the third book (The Luna Legacy) when it is written, to find out the connections to the first two. If you like historical thrillers, this is the trilogy you have to read!!
Intriguing story! I really enjoyed how well written the characters and the plot line was. The author gives depth to his characters and scenes are so descriptive and atmospheric that you easily slip into the story and can’t put it down! Highly recommended!
Paula Wynne’s The Sacred Symbol is actually two stories in one. Starting in the late 15th century the story surrounds Christopher Columbus as he prepares for his journey to discover the new world. A young woman wants to write journals about Columbus’ voyages. She overhears some men plotting to destroy him. Somehow she must find Columbus and warn him and convince him he needs her help to document his journey. In the second story, the recent death of a Spanish family’s aunt leaves them still grieving. But just as the family patriarch prepares to tell them long-held family secrets he collapses from a heart attack. But is it really an accidental natural death? Or part of a bigger conspiracy? Very interesting and intriguing read.