In The Black Madonna, Davis Bunn takes readers on a wild adventure with antiquarian Storm Syrrell and treasure hunter Harry Bennett, introduced in previous novel Gold of Kings.

Storm, working on behalf of an anonymous client and strapped for cash, searches for the historic and allegedly powerful icon the Black Madonna. Bennett's separate search for art counterfeiters turns out to be linked to Storm's, as the pair-with help from friends-face bombings, kidnappings, gunfights and mountain treks, from Europe's palaces to the desert hideouts of powerful Arab tribes. Along the way they each find love and discover that it, ultimately, is behind the whole drama.

Christian themes are evident, though not overt, in this entertaining tale. Bunn, who divides his time between Oxford, England, and Florida, creates an adventure that offers a rollicking good time and insight into the antiquarian underworld of treasure and mystery.

The Black Madonna
Davis Bunn
Howard Books
softcover, pages, $14.99
978-1-416-55633-6
September 2010