Product Description

The end of the world starts now ...Ancient wisdom predicts the end of the world with uncanny precision. But it also provided the key to staving off apocalypse: a flawless sapphire of incomparable beauty carved into the perfect likeness of a human skull. Hidden for four centuries, a crystal skull of exquisite beauty has just been found by Stella Cody, who also inherits its legacy of dark secrets, intrigue, and murder. Facing an increasingly implacable enemy, Stella and her lover, Kit, struggle to crack the code that hides the Skull's intended resting place. Their search takes them from the intellectual rigour of Cambridge University to the untamed wildness of England's prehistoric stone circles. But time is against them, and they have days - hours - left to uncover the secret that may yet save the world.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #37561 in Books
• Published on: 2008-04-21
• Original language: English
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 512 pages

Daily Mail, 22 February 2008
'Scott has done her research and her novel is so engaging, even plausible, that you, too, will be panting with the desperate excitement of it all.'

From the Back Cover
21.12.12
The date is set.
Time is running out.

Hidden for four centuries, a crystal skull of exquisite beauty has just been found by Stella Cody, who also inherits its legacy of dark secrets, intrigue and murder.

Facing an increasingly implacable enemy, Stella and her lover, Kit, struggle to crack the code that hides the skull’s intended resting place.

Their search takes them from the intellectual rigour of Cambridge University to the untamed wildness of England’s prehistoric stone circles.

But time is against them, and they have only days – hours – left to uncover the secret that may yet save the world.

About the Author
Manda Scott first came across the phenomenon of the crystal skulls while studying shamanic dreaming in the early 1980s. Since then she has met with teachers and healers from tribal nations across the world. She has learned that the ancient Maya were astoundingly accurate astronomers, and believes that we should take their prediction that the world will end on 21 December 2012 very seriously indeed. A veterinary surgeon by training, she has also written the bestselling Boudica quartet of novels which are available as Bantam paperbacks.

Customer Reviews

I'm sure Indiana Jones does it better....
At face value this book should be a good adventure/thriller. Along the lines of find treasure, avoid killers, use treasure to save the world (a little bit Indiana Jones). It does start out like this. Husband and wife team Kit and Stella are searching Yorkshire caves for the legend that is the crystal skull - after finding the secret clues in Cedric Owens' diaries. All good so far, Stella finds the skull but shock horror there is someone with them in the cave who will stop at nothing to steal the treasure.
Interweaved with Stella's story is that of Cedric, keeper of the skull during the 1600s. His role is to protect the skull and find where its world saving end will be based. I have to admit that Cedric's adventures in Spain and the New World wore more gripping than Stella's self absorbed tale. However it is the armageddon averting ending that ended the book which was probably the main let down, if you blinked while reading the end you'll miss it - in fact I probably did because by then I'd just lost all interest in what was going on.
This book had all the potential and the writing style wasn't that bad so I just don't know what went wrong. Perhaps its the fact that there are 12 skulls and you just expect more things to happen. Obviously read it if you're a fan of the author as you probably will like it, but if you're looking for a good thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat reading into the darkness then I'm afraid this isn't it.

Bland and tedious
This book promised so much, but sadly failed to deliver. The characters had very little depth, and the ending when it came was little more than a whimper, rather than the glorious finale it could've been. There was so much potential available: the twelve other skulls, which were hardly explored at all; and the apocalypse, which was all set up nicely for December 21st, 2012, but which seemed to lack any sort of urgency once the day finally arrived. Sadly, like the rest of the book, it was all very anti-climactic.

Best avoided!!
Why oh why didn't I read the reviews for this BEFORE buying the book? This book is abysmal! The characters are one-dimensional and stir no interest from the reader. I very rarely despise a book so much - there is almost always something good to say but unfortunately here this isn't the case. The reader is treated like an idiot: the plot is jaded and formulaic and the story completely lacks any kind of depth or mystery.

The synopsis as described by Amazon is accurate but the book is very poorly written and I hate saying it but the author really lacks the kind of vigor required to tell this kind of story in gripping compelling way. If you are still contemplating buying this book, please please try and find an excerpt online or visit a bookshop so that you can read a few pages and see for yourself just how awful this really is.