Arrested and put in a young offender's institute for using his precocious code-solving skills to steal money, things are looking bleak for Jonah Wish. Then, in the dead of night, a gang of four teenagers break him out. They work for Nathaniel Coldhardt, debonair master criminal and leader of a team of highly trained teen-thieves. Kids with amazing skills but no one who will miss them. Jonah, a genius at cryptology, is their newest recruit. His talents are perfect for the next assignment Coldhardt has in mind - his most daring yet. But before Jonah can turn his thoughts to deciphering the complex Egyption symbols and the treasures - or secrets - they hide, he has to decide if this is what he wants for himself. Coldhardt may have chosen him, but will he choose Coldhardt? And does he have any choice...

 

 

This book is the winner of numerous awards

There are 352 pages in this book.

It is aimed at Young Adult readers. The term Young Adult (YA) is used for books which have the following characteristics: (1) aimed at ages 12-18 years, US grades 7-12, UK school years 8-15, (2) around 50-75k words long, (3) main character is aged 12-18 years, (4) topics include self-reflection, internal conflict vs external, analyzing life and its meaning, (5) point of view is often in the first person, and (6) swearing, violence, romance and sexuality are allowed.

This book was published in 2007 by Bloomsbury Publishing PLC .

In addition to writing novels, Stephen Cole has also worked as a scriptwriter and an editor. He lives in Buckinghamshire.