H. L. Dennis was born in Brighton, England. She worked for 20 years as a Primary School Teacher, and was Head of English for six years before giving up teaching to write full time. She lives with her husband, daughter and the laziest dog in the world, in a house at the bottom of the Downs on the Sussex coast in Eastbourne.
‘Secret Breakers’ is her first series of published books and has already been translated into seven languages. She is busy working on a new series, the first book of which is scheduled for release in 2015.
SECRET BREAKERS: THE POWER OF THREE
Introducing an extraordinary series with real codes, real mysteries and real danger. A Da Vinci Code for kids …
Imagine the chance to solve the Voynich Manuscript – a puzzle that has truly defeated adults for centuries.
It’s an ancient manuscript no one has ever been able to decipher. And there are Rules that say it is forbidden to even try to solve it.
A secret hidden for centuries.
But Brodie Bray likes a challenge, and when she receives a coded message through the post her life changes for ever. She’s chosen for a secret team working to crack this most complicated code in the world to uncover the secret it hides.
But it’s a code that has driven people mad trying to solve it.
Together with her new friends, Brodie must break the rules to break the code, at every turn facing terrible danger. For someone is watching them – and will even kill to stop them.
In this original new series, three children tackle real unsolved mysteries and struggle with real unbroken codes to get to the hidden truth.
SECRET BREAKERS: ORPHAN OF THE FLAMES
The team of code-crackers face a new code that has never been solved. Brodie, Hunter and Tusia are back at Station X, the secret code-cracking station at Bletchley Park. And they are still wrestling with the great unanswered question: what secret lies behind the ancient, coded Voynich Manuscript? Their first adventure left them with a musical box that plays a tune by the composer, Elgar. Elgar loved codes.
At once they are off on a new search which takes them to the stories behind Elgar’s famous music and a coded letter he wrote to a young friend, Dorabella. The ‘Dorabella Cipher’ has never, ever been solved. Now our team of code-breakers are on a twisting trail via medieval book burnings in Florence, a mysterious boy known as the Orphan of the Flames, and a one-time famous prisoner in London’s Newgate Prison who wrote about King Arthur. Where is it all leading? And will they survive, when hot on their trail is a secret organisation that has always thwarted the search for Truth and is prepared to kill to stop them …
The second story in this highly original puzzle-solving series – a Da Vinci Code for kids. The reader races along with the Secret Breakers team to break the code.
SECRET BREAKERS: THE KNIGHTS OF NEUSTRIA
Team Veritas are back at Bletchley Park where a secret message hidden in a Shakespeare Portfolio pulls them into a new code-cracking adventure. Their investigations lead them to the writings of Sir Francis Bacon. Soon, they uncover the history of the Knights of Neustria, a brotherhood that goes back to the time of King Arthur charged with protecting a legendary secret.
But are they any closer to their goal – to unravel the secret behind the ancient coded Voynich Manuscript?
The stakes are getting higher as our young trio chase their quest from Cambridge to a terrifying struggle along the currents of the surging River Wye. Only one step behind them is the secret organisation who will stop at nothing to block them from discovering the truth.
SECRET BREAKERS: TOWER OF THE WINDS
The Knights of Neustria’s quest is clearer to Team Veritas now – but so is their understanding of the terrible enemy they are up against. People are going missing. No one at Station X is safe anymore. But there are still important truths to uncover.
Which secret organization is protecting the work of the Knights of Neustria and do they know who is buried in the unmarked Shepherd’s Tomb at Shugborough Hall? Will the story of the mysterious treasure ship ‘The Covadogna’ help the team of secret breakers discover more about the world described in the ancient coded Voynich Manuscript? And will every member of the team survive the race against time when the sinister Black Chamber chooses to leave them all a terrifying message?
SECRET BREAKERS: THE PIRATE'S SWORD
Team Veritas have been searching for the truth. But sometimes the truth is hard to handle. No longer safe in England, the team from Station X must escape to the United States of America where they embark on an epic treasure hunt. It starts in New York City where they track down a precious ring once owned by a Knight of Neustria. From there, on to Washington DC to look for clues in the largest library in the world – and then a trek across the Blue Ridge Mountains in search for treasure hidden in a long forgotten cavern.
The mystery of the coded Voynich Manuscript is getting closer … but so is the sinister Black Chamber who is following their every step. And for one of the team, it could be their last.
SECRET BREAKERS: CIRCLE OF FIRE
The time for answers has arrived. After the death of a much loved friend, Team Veritas has even more to fight for. At the University of Yale, in the underground vaults of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, the team finally get to see the real live Voynich Manuscript. Amongst stories of giants, betrayal and death, the language of the most mysterious manuscript in the world is finally understood. An ancient secret is broken.
And now Team Veritas know their final quest: to journey to the real Avalon – the island where truth and legend meet. But they do not travel alone. There are some who seek revenge. And there are others who demand an impossible sacrifice – only then can the words of the Firebird Code be completely understood. With danger around every corner, can the Secret Breakers finally unlock the truth?
Excellent course – really valuable!