This is the third book in Paul Adam's fast and furious Max Cassidy thriller series.Teenage escapologist, Max Cassidy, knows for sure that his mother did not kill his father, his father is not even dead . . . But somebody seems very determined to prevent Max from discovering the truth - in fact, somebody wants him dead.In this, the final instalment of the thrilling Max Cassidy series, Max travels across the world; from London to San Fransisco to Russia in his quest to be reunited with his family.

Paganini -- showman, womanizer, dazzling virtuoso -- is one of the most charismatic characters in the history of classical music. His violin, il Cannone (the Cannon), is now kept in Genoa, Italy, where it is played only once every two years in a sold-out concert by the winner of an international competition.This year, though, a Parisian art dealer is found dead in his hotel room the day after the concert. In his wallet is a scrap of sheet music, torn from a page that belongs to the competition's winner. But how did the dead man get hold of it? And why?Detective Antonio Guastafeste asks violin maker Gianni Castiglione to help him navigate the curious world of classical musicians, their priceless instruments, and the unsavory dealers who prey upon them. Together, Antonio and Gianni must unravel another mystery that has gone unanswered for over a century, one that may hold the answer to the modern-day murder. Filled with remarkable history and...

Max Cassidy can escape from anythingOnly fourteen years old, Max is the world's foremost escape artist. Chained, handcuffed, locked in an airtight water tank, there's nothing he can't get himself out of. He learned the art from his father—a man who just two years ago was murdered, and Max's mother went to jail for the crime.Now a mysterious man has shown up backstage after one of Max's shows, telling Max that not only is his mother innocent, but his father is still alive. He can provide only one clue: a slip of paper with eight digits written on it. It is this clue that will lead Max from his home in London to the exotic and deadly Central American country of Santo Domingo and the impenetrable fortress on the sinister Isla de Sombra.Max Cassidy can escape from anything—but given the chance to finally know the truth about what has torn his family apart, escape from Shadow Island is the last thing on his mind.

Who would want to kill Tomaso Rainaldi, an elderly, unassuming violin-maker in the quiet Italian city of Cremona? For his friend and fellow violin-maker Gianni Castiglione, the murder is as mysterious as it is shocking. Rainaldi had few possessions, no enemies and little money. No one - least of all the police - can fathom a motive for murdering him. All he really had was an obsessive love of violins and an encyclopedic knowledge of them. But what if he knew more than anyone else - not just about famous violins, but about missing violins? Ones of the caliber of the fabled Messiah, Stradivari's most sublime creation, the Mona Lisa of the music world. A violin now in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford - and worth millionsâ?¦ Aided by his friend, policeman Antonio Guastafeste, Gianni starts to investigate the dead man's affairs. Affairs that reveal an appointment in Venice with the eccentric and exceedingly rich violin-collector Enrico Forlani, and a...

The second exciting title in the Max Cassidy action-adventure series.'Be careful, Max . . . They will try to destroy you, as they are trying to destroy me . . .'His father is missing presumed dead and his mother is serving a twenty-year sentence for his murder, but teenage escapologist Max Cassidy is certain everybody is wrong -- about both things . . . And now, his quest to find the truth has become very dangerous . . .Max learns that his dad was part of a secret global organisation, the Cedar Alliance. Desperate to find him alive, he seeks help from the other members of the group. But they are scattered across the world -- and then they start disappearing one by one . . .Escapology is dangerous but not nearly as dangerous as real life . . .