Ben Hope was an elite soldier before his troubles forced him to quit the army. Now he's using his skills to rescue kidnapped children. But when Ben is approached by a millionaire businessman to trace an ancient lost manuscript whose secret could save a dying girl, he finds himself embarking on the strangest mission of his life. With fiendish codes to crack and dangerous enemies in hot pursuit, Ben teams up with Roberta Ryder, a beautiful American scientist. The trail leads them from Paris to the ancient Cathar strongholds of the Languedoc. There lies an astonishing secret which has been hidden through the ages.