Unforgettable Journeys. Bestselling historical fiction by Jay Penner

323 BC.

Alexander the Great is dead. His generals are tearing the empire apart.

Captain Deon has no stake in their war. He has only a desperate bargain to save his wife and daughter from the gold mines of Nubia. When the dead king's enigmatic secretary offers him a forbidden mission to steal ancient scrolls from Alexander's own sarcophagus, the reward promises everything he needs.

But the mission is a lie.

The ancient papyri do not contain what he was told. They hold a secret so dangerous that every warlord in the crumbling empire would kill to possess it — a thousand-year-old mystery with the power to reshape the world.

Hunted across a collapsing empire, Deon's only ally is a mysterious woman as lethal with a blade as she is gifted with languages. Together they must outrun assassins, outmaneuver generals, and confront an impossible choice:

Save his family, or save a million lives from annihilation.

⭐ Start the pulse-pounding Whispers of Atlantis anthology.

~1550 B.C., Kingdoms of Egypt and Atalanni

In the Kingdom of Egypt across the Great Green Sea, a new young Pharaoh is taking the reigns to restore the glory of the empire by expelling the wretched Hyksos, the foreign rulers whose odious presence fouls the North. He sees the Atalanni as allies, and hopes that he can fight the Hyksos with their help.

But the gods of the Atalanni have other plans.

When the earth trembles and lava erupts from temple floors in the Atalanni capital, the powerful Oracle announces that the gods are displeased. The empire must expand its dominion, she says, or the Atalanni will face their wrath.

Sent away to fight the formidable Pharaoh, Atalanni General Teber will soon learn that nothing is as it seems as duty conflicts with morality, treachery hides behind a veil of piety, and hubris confronts cold reality.

And when the fires finally die, a stunning secret will be exposed and one great Kingdom will remain.

524 B.C., Thebes, Egypt

King of Kings, Shahanshah Cambyses, is livid. The insolent and influential priests of Ammon have refused to recognize the Persian emperor as Pharaoh. Now, a detachment of fifty-thousand men is on the march to the distant town to burn the revered temple of the Oracle and enslave its people.

As the vast column marches in the desolate landscape, leaders plot for greater things: glory and governorship, title of Pharaoh, riches, and influence.

But one man seeks something else.

Revenge.

And soon, many are about to learn that the swirling sand of the desert is not the only thing in their path to plunder and glory.

320 B.C., EGYPT

Ptolemy, Egypt's new satrap, is a worried man. A rebel threatens his rule, the Great River has failed to inundate, priests demand ever more coin in return for appeasing the gods, and the many warring generals in Europe and Asia cast their baleful eyes on his land.

When he receives stunning news of an army under the Great Sand Sea and might solve his desperate need for money to build and supply his own, Ptolemy thanks the many gods that have blessed him with the satrapy. But there is one problem—finding it in the vast expanse of a hostile desert requires him to seek someone he once tried to have murdered.

Now Deon, a former captain in Alexander's army, and Eurydice, a noble's polyglot daughter, are back on this tantalizing mission. And they are about to uncover something far more sinister than what they have been asked to find, because when kingdoms are at stake, loyalty, friendship, and family might mean nothing.

Ur, Sumer 2005 B.C.

Royal scribe Nemur is returning home after a failed mission to the governor of a neighboring province. He is looking forward to seeing his pregnant wife and resting for a few days before the weakened ruler sends him on a new arduous mission of seeking support for a kingdom under threat from aggressive roaming tribes and an increasingly hostile foreign power.

But the house is empty. His beloved wife is missing.

What begins as a desperate search for answers is about to plunge Nemur into a diabolical conspiracy, and the man who has spent his years with reed pens and clay tablets must now confront terrifying forces to not only secure justice for his wife but also to save his own life and the entire kingdom.

309 B.C. India

It has been nearly fifteen years since Alexander the Great's death, and his kingdom, from Macedonia to the borders of India, has been torn to pieces by his rapacious and ambitious generals. Seleucus Nicator reigns in Babylon, presiding over the eastern empire from Syria to the Indus River.

But no expanse of land is enough for the insatiable ego of a man who seeks glory by accomplishing what his deified King once could not—conquering the vast and wealthy India, where a powerful new emperor, guided by a cunning and brilliant mentor, poses a threat to Seleucus' ambitions.

Now, Deon, with his prodigious memory, and Eurydice, with her linguistic prowess, are back, assisting Seleucus in a diabolical new mission into the heart of the unknown. The two are about to plunge into a dangerous and unfamiliar world, where wit is as much a weapon as a sword, and where one miscalculation can lead not only to their terrible deaths but end the entire Seleucid empire.

Circa 1336 B.C., Egypt

Pharaoh Akhenaten is dying. His kingdom seethes, restless under his abandonment of the old gods. Crocodiles lurk in the murky waters of succession, hungry for the throne.

All this means little to Hapu the thief. A glorious score beckons—an unfinished tomb promising magnificent riches and a chance to forever free his family from their miserable existence. But when a botched heist leaves Hapu staring into the gaping maw of death, only a desperate gamble and an unlikely twist of fate can spare his life.

The reprieve comes at a price.

Thrust into the viper's nest of court, bewitched by a princess, and pursued by a shadowy murderer, Hapu must navigate a labyrinth of conspiracies to shield the Queen and her family from those who would see Egypt drowned in blood.

Failure means the death of all he loves and the end of the Kingdom as he knows it.

The First Three Books of the Whispers of Atlantis Anthology

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Enjoy the first three full-length exciting novels packed with intrigue, conflict, and adventure. A great way to binge-start the anthology!

Books in this Set:

• The Atlantis Papyrus
• The Wrath of God
• The Curse of Ammon

Dive into a world of historical mysteries, ancient secrets, and pulse-pounding adventures. Perfect for readers who love intricate historical thrillers that blend fact and fiction!

Aliens built the Pyramids. Atlantis was real. Caesar torched the world's greatest library.

You've seen the viral posts, the shocking memes, and the clickbait headlines. But in a world clogged with historical half-truths, what’s the real story?

In "Wait, what?", Jay tackles 14 of the most persistent and outrageous myths filling your social media feed. If you love history, this is for you!

With maps, quotes from ancient texts from writers like Herodotus and Plutarch, modern archeological evidence, and a healthy dose of humor, Penner masterfully separates historical fact from viral fiction.

Inside, dive into interesting questions:

Did Julius Caesar destroy the Library of Alexandria?

Was Queen Cleopatra Egyptian?

Did Spartacus’ men say ‘I am Spartacus’ to hide his identity from the Romans?

Did Alexander the Great conquer India?

Did an Indian Emperor marry a Greek princess?

Did Spartan warriors win every battle?

Did the Trojan War really occur (and was the Trojan Horse real)?

Was Ramesses the pharaoh who expelled Moses?

Was the famous Queen Nefertiti foreign born?

Did Atlantis really exist?

Were Hammurabi’s Code the first ever written laws?

Did the Aryan invasion destroy the Indus Valley Civilization?

Were the supernatural Anunnaki real?

Did an ancient civilization (or aliens) build the pyramids?

And a bonus: Each chapter ends with a terrible cartoon drawn by the author himself. He assures us no intelligence, artificial or otherwise, was involved in their creation!

Perfect for history buffs, trivia lovers, anyone from middle school and up and ready to fight back against historical misinformation with a grin. This is your easy-to-read guide to busting myths and understanding the ancient world as it truly was.

51 B.C., Alexandria, Egypt

Some wells have poisoned waters.

With her father sick and her sister dead by his hands, sixteen-year-old Cleopatra is poised to assume the heavy mantle of power and exercise the divine authority vested in her by the gods of Egypt.

But the gilded arches and marble columns hide a grim reality and the gathering of storm clouds. A surly Rome is banging on her doors for debt repayments, the kingdom is on the verge of a civil war, and the dying king's powerful advisors seek to discard her like a rag and control the kingdom through her brother.

Now, the young regent must confront her adversaries and walk the tightrope over an abyss of treachery and conflict, because one wrong move means ending three thousand years of Pharaonic rule and turning up as a corpse in the Alexandrian marshes.

47 B.C., Alexandria, Egypt

Rest is not for rulers.

Finally crowned as the undisputed Queen of Egypt with the help of Gaius Julius Caesar, twenty-two-year-old Cleopatra hopes to recover from the harrowing experiences of the last few years and the just concluded bloody Alexandrian war.

But rest is not for rulers.

A diabolical conspiracy, orchestrated by shadowy figures in her government, looks to dethrone her by bringing her presumed dead brother to life. A colorful Idumean Jew named Herod clings on to the land she wants. And a powerful Roman named Marcus Antonius has summoned her to answer charges regarding her allegiance.

Now, the young mother is about to discover that ascending to the throne is only a step into the dark worlds of imperial politics, personal desires, and unrelenting enemies.

31 B.C., Actium, Greece

War is here.

Caesar Octavianus has declared war on Antony and Cleopatra.

The gilded arches and silk cushions of the Alexandrian palaces are a world away from Actium, where mosquito-infested, disease-ridden camps are the way of life.

Resented by Roman generals, abandoned by allies, and facing hostile forces, Cleopatra must now do what she can to preserve her life, her kingdom, and the future of her children.

The saga of Cleopatra concludes in this exciting final book of the trilogy.

58 B.C., Alexandria, Egypt

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Furious with the king's extortionate attempts to repay his debts to Rome, the irate citizens have chased king Ptolemy from Alexandria and crowned his eldest daughter Berenice and wife Cleopatra Tryphaena as queens of Egypt.

Now, the king, with his young daughter Cleopatra, is in Rome, where he plots to return to Egypt and regain his throne. While he maneuvers the muddy waters of Roman politics, his young daughter struggles with life in the smelly city, nothing like Alexandria with its grand palaces. When a nasty Roman man named Marcus Crassus asks her whether her sister Berenice would abdicate in favor of her father if he returns, Cleopatra answers him like a twelve-year-old diplomat.

But Berenice has other plans, and when the prize is the throne of Egypt, blood relations that mattered less now matter nothing at all.

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Thrace, 83 B.C.

Spartacus, son of a Maedi chief, is about to lead a band of his men into the heart of an enemy tribe to steal the idol of their sacred god Sabazios. He hopes that this daring incursion will make him worthy in his father's eyes and the tribe that sees him more a philosopher than a warrior.

When this desecration brings savage retribution to his doorsteps, Spartacus does what no Maedi man would dream of doing, bringing dishonor to himself and his tribe. And now, the only way to douse the flames of shame and rage is by joining a Roman auxiliary that is preparing to destroy his enemy.

But the offended gods have different plans.

Fighting under a corrupt centurion, saddled with quarreling companions, and on a brutal march to wage war for a brilliant general with grand ambitions, Spartacus will learn what it means to be a skilled soldier, a warrior, and above all, a leader, even as he battles powerful forces that are about to put him on a bloody path to his fateful destiny.

Capua, 75-73 B.C.

Captured and sold off as a slave, Spartacus is now at Lentulus Vatia's training school in Capua, preparing for a gladiator's harsh and brutal life. The trainers tell him of glory in combat and the chance to earn freedom. They speak of redemption through bravery and adulation through exemplary performance. The men live in perpetual hope built on a house of false promises.

But the winds of gladiatorial sports are shifting, and the signs are ominous. The people demand more, and the powers are only too glad to oblige. The games are now more than a tribute or a show--they are a means to power--and becoming the principal form of cruel and vicious entertainment. And in this relentless evolution, the fighters are just the living dead to be bled on the sands of the arena, and their corpses dragged away.

Even as he masters the sport and survives the bloody fights, Spartacus must find ways to convince his fellow men that there is no honor in dying for someone else's amusement. But his actions are about to pit him against the twisted mind of a vicious master who plots to condemn Spartacus and his wife to a terrible end.

Italy, ~73-71 B.C.

The gladiatorial school of Vatia is in ruins, and the rebels now maraud the countryside as they plot the next move. Rome is livid at the news of slaves escaping but sees no reason to send its legions—after all, how long would these depraved animals survive, and what famed commander worth his name would take up the pursuit of lowly men?

But Gaius Claudius Glaber, a new praetor with a failed investment in Vatia's school and a vested interest in capturing the slaves for a rich profit, is gathering mercenaries to destroy Spartacus' rebel holdout on the great mountain Vesuvius.

What begins as an assault to quickly subdue inferior men with supposedly low military skill is about to turn into a nightmare for the Romans, and they will learn what it means to take on an army of the desperate, for whom death by the sword is preferable to servitude for life, led by a man who fears none and whose brilliance outshines Rome’s best. And when the dust settles and blood dries on the earth, history will be written, and the name of Spartacus will be etched on the granite of great stories.

New!

Insubrian cavalryman Ducarius has always kept to the margins—talented, bitter, and shackled by family shame. At twenty-five, his life is small, petty, and safe.

But when a stranger's gossip tears open the wounds of his family's fate, Ducarius is filled with rage. The disgrace that ruined his bloodline wasn't just Roman cruelty—it was betrayal, bought and sold by those Ducarius once called kin.

When word spreads of a foreign warlord carving through the Alps with fire and steel, Ducarius sees the hand of fate. Here is chaos enough to drown his enemies—and opportunity enough to claim the vengeance that has rotted in his heart for years.

Now his path will twist through blood-soaked battlefields, impossible alliances, and a love that could destroy him. By the time the mists rise on Lake Trasimene—and spears glimmer in the dawn—Ducarius must choose: how far will he go to right a wrong, and what will be left of a man once the debts of old betrayals are finally paid?

The Mist of Trasimene is a searing tapestry of betrayal, ambition, passion, and the dark cost of justice at history's edge.

Italy 218 BCE

Vengeance was supposed to be a balm, but for Insubrian cavalryman Ducarius, it tastes only of ash. Though he has carved a dark legend for himself through an unsurpassed act of violence, his mission for justice remains unfulfilled. The true architect of his family's ruin still breathes, safely beyond the reach of a sword's edge.

To strike at the head of the snake, Ducarius must trade the open battlefield for a shadow world of deceit. Wearing a mask among his enemies and walking a razor's edge between discovery and death, Ducarius navigates a labyrinth where a single slip could cost him not just his life, but the very soul he fights to redeem.

But the war does not pause for personal vendettas. On the sun-baked plains of Apulia, Hannibal Barca is crafting his next move. Drawn back to the fray by an oath he cannot break, Ducarius finds himself standing in the path of the coming storm.

Now his loyalty and skill will be tested against the might of eight legions. By the time the sun sets on the bloodied plains at Cannae—and the dust chokes the air—Ducarius will learn the terrible cost of broken promises and unfinished business.

Experience the terror of Cannae like never before.

📢 New Release!

Italy & Africa, 216–202 B.C.

The blood of Cannae has barely dried, but for Ducarius, the war has become personal. Hannibal's refusal to deliver justice for a slain brother-in-arms is a wound no battlefield glory can heal, and the consuming need for vengeance now wars with a love that has no place in an age of slaughter.

Driven north by betrayal and south by ambition, Ducarius will rise higher than he ever imagined and fall further than he thought possible. Old enemies lurk in his own village. New ones carry Carthaginian silver and sweeter lies. And across the sea, on the sun-scorched plains of Africa, a reckoning awaits that will decide the fate of empires.

But by the time the ash settles at Zama—and the flames die on a war that has consumed half the world—Ducarius will learn the terrible price of a life spent chasing vengeance, and whether anything he loves can survive it.

The Greatest Enemy trilogy reaches its powerful conclusion.

When popular Presidential nominee Senator James Caldwell is arrested on explosive charges, the nation erupts in uproar. But the evidence seems irrefutable—except to two operatives from SHADOW, a newly formed advanced-threats intelligence unit within the CIA.

For Mark Mackenzie, a special forces expert, and Ria Rao, a razor-sharp analyst, something doesn't add up. The evidence isn't just bulletproof; it's flawless. Too flawless.

When one tiny overlooked detail catches Ria's eye, it propels them into a deadly race from Turkey to Iraq's ancient sands, peeling back layers of a sinister conspiracy where unbridled political ambition meets diabolical technology.

This is no longer about one man's unjust arrest—or the danger to their own lives.

But about the future of the world itself.

Because for the men who are about to take the reins of power, winning the Presidency is just the beginning.

New!

A bomb. An ancient warning. A race against catastrophe.

A bomb rips through New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. The FBI rushes to blame a lone zealot. But Mark Mackenzie—ex–Special Forces—and Ria Rao—brilliant former FBI analyst—now elite operatives in the CIA’s covert SHADOW unit—know the truth is never that simple.

Each clue pulls them deeper into a sinister war, where a mysterious ancient artifact foretells acts of terror that become brutally real. As waves of bold, high-tech attacks paralyze the nation, Mark and Ria are locked in a relentless race against time.

The enemy is faceless. The endgame is unknown. And SHADOW is all that stands in the way of devastating chaos.

For fans of Brad Thor, David Baldacci, and Dan Brown—The Reclaimer is a pulse-pounding, intelligent thriller where ancient secrets collide with cutting-edge terror, and the fate of nations hangs in the balance.