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Paula Wynne

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The Grotto's Secret: A Historical Conspiracy Mystery Thriller (Torcal Trilogy Book 1) Kindle Edition

by Paula Wynne (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

902

Book 1 of 3: Torcal Trilogy

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Winner of THE PEOPLE'S BOOK PRIZE ~ Best Fiction 2017!

A Historical Conspiracy Thriller for fans of Glenn Cooper, Kate Mosse and James Rollins

A healing herb kept secret for centuries. A TV show host who stands to lose everything.

Castile de Granada, 1492: Risking her life, Spanish author Ana-María de Carbonela vowed to keep an unknown yet powerful healing herb’s location hidden. It remained a secret …

Until now.

TV show host Kelby Wade is forced into the search when her niece is targeted by the relentless assassin who killed her brother. She is pursued on a perilous quest, from a grotto in rural Andalusia to a bizarre hospital in Surrey, to uncover the mystery found between crumbling sheets of parchment in the ruins of a rural Spanish farm.

In a race against a conspiracy who want the herb’s power, she struggles to piece together the puzzle and follow the trail her brother left to trace the mysterious plant before the deadly conspirators locate it.

It’s only a matter of time before the ancient secret gets exposed ...

Read the reviews!

If you love an action-packed conspiracy thriller, download a sample to see for yourself! Or grab free sample chapters at Paula Wynne’s website.

And then follow the story into the next book ... The Sacred Symbol.

The Sacred Symbol Readers Recommend:

The Sacred Symbol, which has been recommended by reviewers for fans of CJ Sansom and SJ Parris and Dan Brown.

Book 1 of 3

Torcal Trilogy
Print length

379 pages
Language

English
Sticky notes

On Kindle Scribe
Publication date

April 1, 2016
Reading age

16 - 18 years
File size

2720 KB
Page Flip

Enabled
Word Wise

Enabled
Enhanced typesetting

Enabled
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Total Price: $7.97

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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

As an award-winning entrepreneur and author of the Writers'Resource Series, Paula Wynne has appeared on TV several times, including the BBC Show, Escape to the Continent, which showed her and herhusband's quest to live in Spain so Paula could become a full timewriter.

The Grotto's Secret is a fast-paced thriller that lacestogether historical and modern global settings with a supernatural hint. Described by readers as a 'must' for fans of Glenn Cooper, Kate Mosseand James Rollins.

Paula is currently writing more conspiracythrillers with historical mystery twists. She brings her love forthrillers and history, along with the beauty of countries like Spaininto her books.

Paula occasionally gives away books and otherbonus material for readers, so join her news to find out more:eepurl.com/byjPVT

Find out more about Paula at paulawynne.com

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01DQXNPIQ
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Prado Press; 1st edition (April 1, 2016)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 1, 2016
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 2720 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 379 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #620,998 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #1,689 in Historical Thrillers (Kindle Store)
- #1,998 in Conspiracy Thrillers (Kindle Store)
- #4,749 in Historical Mysteries (Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews:
902

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About the author

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Paula Wynne

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Paula Wynne is the award-winning author of The Grotto's Secret which won The People's Book Prize in 2017. She has appeared on TV several times, including the BBC Show, Escape to the Continent, which showed her and her husband's quest to buy a second home in Spain so Paula could become a full time writer. They now live between Newbury, Berkshire and Malaga, Spain where Paula spends her time writing.

The Torcal Trilogy series is described by readers as a 'must' for fans of Kate Mosse and Dan Brown. Paula's first World War II Thriller is said to be "her best book so far" by reviewers.

Paula is currently writing more conspiracy thrillers with historical mystery twists. She brings her love for thrillers and history, along with the beauty of European countries into her books.

Paula runs regular book giveaways, so join her news or find out more about Paula at https://www.paulawynne.com.

Customer reviews

3.9 out of 5

902 global ratings

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Betsy

Be prepared for a journey instead of just an adventure. Wonderful read!!!!

Reviewed in the United States on July 31, 2016

Verified Purchase

The Grotto’s Secret is my first adventure with books by Paula Wynne. What a pleasant surprise! I thoroughly enjoyed the side-by-side stories of Maria and Kelby, one during the Spanish Inquisition and the other today. The joinder of the two stories is the “magic” herb named rizado. In Maria’s story, of course, it is the original discovery and use of the herb in the healing arts, with the eventual efforts by find it, the people who use it, the fear of it, and the attempted destruction of all. In Kelby’s story, it is the pursuit of and the two pathways available if actually found - either use for the good of mankind or the destruction of for the continuance of current medications, research, and, of course, the massive funds generated as a result of both. Not to spoil the story, both adventures continue through discovery, use, tragedy, flight, and then on to a very satisfying conclusion. I had a bit of difficulty at the very beginning since the technique of switching can be a bit confusing at the very beginning and the characters and their relationships were very complicated, but it didn’t take long to realize the genius of this type of presentation. The story is long, but this is not a detriment since we are actually reading two stories at once. This is actually a plus for me since I love the longer stories which you can actually get deep into and spend lots of time with the characters and their adventures. Other reviewers have described the situations, dangers, and, of course, the characters - good, likeable, not so likeable, greedy, and very, very evil - so I don’t feel I need to describe them here other than to state that the situations are exciting, perilous, sad, and, for brief moments, a bit romantic. The characters are very complex and you come to either really, really like them, or really, really dislike them. As noted above, I loved this story. I can’t wait for the next two to follow. This book is highly recommended.

I did receive a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review, but I loved it so much I purchased it.

One person found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Thanks for listening!

Reviewed in the United States on June 17, 2017

Verified Purchase

This is my second Kindle. I had a problem ,when I loaded a new read a few weeks ago . I like to start at the beginning of the book tile page ,bout the author, etc. The book always starts at the first chapter, The page s kept turning back and then it would not go back to the beginning so I didn't read the book, then it arrived in German! That still has not been refunded. I was on vacation when this happened ,so I bought a book to read. I like reading on a kindle no paper ,the back light ,it lies flat ,and you don't have hold it . I am getting ready to buy a new book on Kindle hope it goes well Thanks Valerie Gruetzke

One person found this helpful

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Fee Roberts

I think this story would have been better if we would have learned about the past first

Reviewed in the United States on May 13, 2017

Verified Purchase

The Grotto's Secret by Paula Wynne is two stories that intertwine throughout the book. First, we meet TV show host Kelby Wade. She has been introduced to Dr. Roy Robson, and his sister, who believe that Kelby's brother was murdered over his knowledge of a miracle herb, which the pharmaceutical companies want their hands on. Needing this herb to save her niece, she and Dr. Roy Robson set out to find the herb.

Then we meet Ana-Maria de Carbonela. It is the year 1492. She and her mother know how to use the herb, but they are in danger from doing so.

This story was alright, though I didn't care for the going back and forth between the past and the present. I think this story would have been better if we would have learned about the past first, then introduced to the present. I also didn't care for knowing the identity of the bad guy right off the bat. It kind of put a damper on the whole mystery thing the author was going for.

8 people found this helpful

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Uma Iyer Van Roosenbeek

History, mystery, thrills and suspense - a great combo and an outstanding read! Read it to find out!

Reviewed in the United States on August 17, 2016

Verified Purchase

Kelly Wade, a reality TV star, CEO and a high profile woman gets pulled into something that is way too eerie and strange because of her brother’s death which she refuses to believe was a suicide. She is totally devoted to the brother's daughter, her niece Annie though she is at loggerheads with the brother’s wife, Stacey. She is approached by two strangers, a brother Roy and sister Marina, who tell her that she will find answers to her brother’s death if and when she follows the path that they are talking about. This path is the same one that was tread by the female ancestor of the sister. This ancestor Ana Maria was a literate person in the 1400s, a big rarity, in addition to being a healer with erudite parents, the father encouraging her to read and write and the mother is a healer herself! The story alternates between the past and present and beautifully connects the two. Kelly discovers that her brother was healed by the herb, brought it back and gave it to the pharmaceutical company to analyze the herb. The ancestor Maria writes a book about her mother’s healing career and also writes about a miraculous healing herb called Rizado which is so well hidden that no one has been able to find it. Big pharmaceutical companies, other unscrupulous characters and everyone who knows about the herb is scrambling to find it even prepared to kill to achieve their objective.
Against this background, a remarkable story is woven involving Kelly, Roy who is also a doctor and Annie, the little girl. Annie seems to be receiving messages from Maria and provides important clues to Kelly which is used by Kelly and Roy to pursue their investigation. The book takes the readers over a roller coaster of adventures along with Kelly and Rob to find the herb, to find the brother’s killer and safely return back. Plenty of twists and turns during this journey make the book very difficult to put down!
A fantastic book that makes the reader long for the next two installments!!!

4 people found this helpful

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G Smith

Good book

Reviewed in the United States on July 31, 2016

Verified Purchase

Kelby who works on a TV show becomes embroiled in a mystery about an ancient herb. It is a secret for which she thinks her brother may have been killed. Now it seems like someone is stalking her. The story alternates with scenes from the past in the year 1492 when Ana-Marie and her mother discover the healing powers the herb rizado. This story was interesting but seemed to get off to slow start. I could have done with a little less violence.
* I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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Top reviews from other countries

Mr C

I don't do book reviews

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 26, 2022

Verified Purchase

I don't do book reviews like you keep seeing, as I find that some give too much of the plot away and I personally hate that, as it makes the book not worth reading. I much prefer to take the authors back cover write up as a review as it can either intrigue you enough to read the book of provide you enough information to make you decide that the book is not for you.

My review rules are: The more stars, the more I liked it.
If there are too many typos or errors the less stars I give
If the storyline or plot is poor or contains too many errors, the characters are too weak, the ending lacking something, then the less stars I give.
Simple, uncomplicated and to the point without giving anything away.
Some of the books I read have been given to me by the author as a pre-release copy and this does not bias my reviews in any way.

Kindle Customer

A must read

Reviewed in Canada on January 11, 2018

Verified Purchase

I enjoyed the storyline of this book, a little bit mystical, a little bit historical fiction, a thriller, all wrapped up in one. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys any of those kind of books

Mandy Walkden-Brown

A totally riveting thriller.

Reviewed in Australia on September 17, 2016

Verified Purchase

I thoroughly enjoyed the two intertwined stories, past and present, five hundred plus years apart. Meticulous research by the author really evoked the historic atmosphere beautifully.

Action, conspiracy and a shady group intent on doing wrong. Throw in a psychotic stalker, an evil henchman and a couple of kick-ass female main characters, one of whom is trying desperately to protect her niece, the other, her mother, and it's a recipe for a very satisfying read. There's even a glimmer of romance.

Definitely a book to add to your must-read list. Highly recommended.

mim

Many twists

Reviewed in Australia on March 18, 2017

Verified Purchase

The story is fast paced and at times rivetting. There were a co uple of slips mainly towards the end but on the whole very enjpyable.

Books R Best

GREAT RESEARCH

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 11, 2016

Verified Purchase

I enjoyed this book, particularly once it for into its stride. I particularly liked the flashbacks to an earlier period and the parallel stories from the Spain of Isabella to the present day. What a shame rizado doesn’t exist! The book flowed easily although I would have liked to connect more with the heroine Kelby. I got irritated with her at one point as she pauses to read a book – OK it was a special book – but she was in fear of her life at that moment. I also got a bit confused with the various ‘baddies’ and wasn’t sure who wanted the herb for what purpose, there were so many of them. I feel the author did a lot of research to make the historical sequences authentic and for reason I will add the extra star I would have deducted from the story itself.

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The Grotto's Secret: A Historical Conspiracy Mystery Thriller (Torcal Trilogy Book 1) Kindle Edition

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About the author

Paula Wynne

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