A cipher from the closing days of the Civil War becomes the first clue in a threat that has spent 160 years learning how to survive. In Echoes of Fortune: Knights of the Golden Circle, David R Leng brings Professor Jack Sullivan into a conspiracy where buried history is only the beginning. The trail stretches from Washington archives and New Orleans back alleys to Mexico and Arkansas, while weapons trafficking, a cyberattack, and political ambition turn an old secret into an immediate danger. The question driving the story is especially unsettling: what happens when a group no longer needs to seize power because it has learned how to make people hand it over?
Historical Thriller, Conspiracy Thriller, Political Thriller, Action Thriller
Date Published: August 18, 2026
A standalone thriller. New readers can start right here.
When Professor Jack Sullivan is asked to decode a cipher from the war's final days, he expects a historical curiosity. Instead, he uncovers a thread Jefferson Davis died protecting, a secret never meant to resurface.
Jack, his fiancée Emma Wilson, and former SEAL Steve Johnson are pulled into a hunt more dangerous than any battlefield. From Washington's archives to the back alleys of New Orleans, from the coast of Mexico to the shadowed ridges of Arkansas, every trail leads deeper into the world of the Knights of the Golden Circle, a brotherhood long believed defunct.
But the Knights didn't disappear. They became patient.
For 160 years they studied what force could never win. They embedded themselves in the institutions Americans trust, and waited for the moment when they wouldn't need to seize power. They would be invited to take it.
Now their heirs have risen. A cartel is running weapons north while a cyberattack probes the power grid, and a senator climbs toward power on the fear both create. Jack begins to realize he was never hunting the treasure. He was being led to it.
Joined by Homeland cyber analyst Priya Patel and hunted by enemies he cannot see, Jack has four days to break a design older than anyone imagined before the trap closes around everyone he loves.
"The high-stakes, of-the-moment, infiltrated-America suspense simply does not let up."
— BookLife by Publishers Weekly
Some secrets don't stay buried. They grow roots.
Great for fans of Steve Berry and Clive Cussler.
Praise for Echoes of Fortune: Knights of the Golden Circle
"One part Jack Reacher, one part Indiana Jones... an impressively entertaining action thriller."
— Kirkus Reviews ("GET IT")
"Leng lets history press against the present, sometimes like a warning and sometimes like a buried fuse." — Literary Titan
The conspiracy at the center of Echoes of Fortune: Knights of the Golden Circle is built around patience rather than a single buried secret. The Knights have supposedly spent generations embedding themselves inside trusted institutions, which allows the Civil War cipher that begins Jack Sullivan's investigation to connect naturally with cyber warfare, weapons trafficking, and political maneuvering in the present. That combination gives the historical puzzle consequences far beyond finding treasure. Jack also has only four days to understand what he has uncovered, so decoding the past and stopping the current threat become parts of the same race.
The strongest fit is for thriller readers who like clues hidden in history but want the consequences to unfold in the present. The Civil War cipher and Knights of the Golden Circle mystery provide the historical framework, while the cartel operation, cyberattack, political power struggle, and four-day deadline push the story firmly into contemporary suspense. The changing locations—from Washington and New Orleans to Mexico and Arkansas—also suit those who prefer conspiracy stories with a broad geographic canvas. And because the tour material identifies this as a standalone thriller, Jack Sullivan's earlier adventures are not required reading before beginning this one.
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The most distinctive idea in Echoes of Fortune: Knights of the Golden Circle is not simply that an old conspiracy survived—it is that survival gave it time to change tactics. Jack begins with a Civil War cipher and ends up confronting a design that reaches into technology, politics, and the institutions people depend upon. That makes the historical mystery more than background decoration; everything buried in the past has a purpose in the present. With the book positioned as a standalone entry, this is also an accessible place to encounter Jack, Emma, Steve, and the larger Echoes of Fortune world.
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