A 500-year-old secret. A legendary manuscript. A thief caught in a deadly game of power, betrayal, and survival.When master thief Lucien Moreau steals the fabled Seraphim Codex-a Renaissance manuscript encrypted with centuries of blackmail, blood, and betrayal-he believes he's pulling off the heist of a lifetime. But instead of a payday, he becomes the prime suspect in a brutal murder and the target of a global conspiracy orchestrated by Victorine de la Croix, a cold-blooded aristocrat with ambitions as ancient as the Codex itself.Now hunted by assassins, disavowed intelligence agents, and a brutal enforcer known only as Kade, Lucien is forced to ally with Sofia Ricci, a brilliant cryptographer with her own haunted past. Together, they must decode the Codex before its secrets ignite a geopolitical firestorm-and before Victorine's web of deception tightens around them for good.From the ashes of a Venetian monastery to high-security vaults in Paris and back-alley dead drops in Lisbon, The Art of Deception is a high-octane neo-noir espionage thriller packed with relentless pacing, cinematic intrigue, and morally gray operatives who walk the knife's edge between loyalty and betrayal.Perfect for fans of Jason Bourne, The Da Vinci Code, and Killing Eve.