J.F. PENN

A J.F. Penn Storyworld

ARKANE

Ancient mysteries. Modern danger. One woman between humanity and the abyss.

Explore the books Enter the world
The story

A secret agency beneath Trafalgar Square investigates the supernatural mysteries that religion left behind.

ARKANE is J.F. Penn's flagship: the Arcane Religious Knowledge And Numinous Experience Institute, hidden beneath Trafalgar Square, investigating the relics, prophecies and sacred places the world isn't ready to understand.

Morgan Sierra, ex-military psychologist, hunts the sacred and the dangerous with ARKANE agent Jake Timber across the world, from the Devil's Bible to the Ark of the Covenant to the Garden of Eden.

Every book is built on real places and real history, with an author's note separating fact from fiction.

The books
Stone of Fire cover

Stone of Fire

Book 1

 Crypt of Bone cover

Crypt of Bone

Book 2

 Ark of Blood cover

Ark of Blood

Book 3

 One Day in Budapest cover

One Day in Budapest

Book 4

 Day of the Vikings cover

Day of the Vikings

Book 5

 Gates of Hell cover

Gates of Hell

Book 6

 One Day in New York cover

One Day in New York

Book 7

 Destroyer of Worlds cover

Destroyer of Worlds

Book 8

 End of Days cover

End of Days

Book 9

 Valley of Dry Bones cover

Valley of Dry Bones

Book 10

 Tree of Life cover

Tree of Life

Book 11

 Tomb of Relics cover

Tomb of Relics

Book 12

 Soldiers of God cover

Soldiers of God

Short story

 Spear of Destiny cover

Spear of Destiny

Book 13
The real mysteries

The research behind the fiction

London

The real ARKANE places

Trafalgar Square, the crypt of St Martin-in-the-Fields, and Oxford's Pitt Rivers Museum: the institute hides beneath places you can visit.

Learn more → The author

Why people kill in the name of God

Jo's Oxford theology thesis, sparked by the Rabin assassination, asked exactly this. Crypt of Bone is that thesis, dramatised.

Learn more → The book

The Devil's Bible really is missing ten pages

The Codex Gigas, the bone church of Sedlec, and the Durer woodblocks of Karlsruhe.

Learn more → Science

The Shiva at CERN

A real gift from India's Department of Atomic Energy, and Oppenheimer's I am become Death, became Destroyer of Worlds.

Learn more → Travel

The bone crypts of Europe

Sedlec, Evora, Palermo and the Paris Catacombs: the series is a tour of the places where the dead keep watch.

Learn more → History

The Spear of Destiny

Hitler's obsession, Himmler's copy, and what is real at Wewelsburg.

Learn more → Legend

The Ark of the Covenant trails

Aksum's guardian monks, the Lemba drum, and Warren's real tunnels under the Temple Mount.

Learn more →
Eden

Was Eden ever on a map?

David Rohl's Iran thesis and the rivers of Genesis, followed to a volcano called Sahand.

Questions

Before you begin

Where should I start?
Start with Stone of Fire, book 1. Or try Day of the Vikings, the free novella, at jfpenn.com/free. Reading order is the numbered order, and every book resolves its story: no cliffhangers.
How dark are these books?
Fast thriller violence with some ritual and horror moments, and no explicit sex anywhere in the series. Each book page carries its own content note.
Is the series anti-religion?
No. Believers of every faith are heroes here; the villains are the ones who twist faith into a weapon. Jo read theology at Oxford, and it shows.
Which books are novellas?
Books 4, 5, 7 and 12 are deliberate single-sitting reads, and they are marked as novellas wherever you buy them.
Are the places real?
Nearly all of them. Every book ends with an author's note separating fact from fiction, and most of the locations are ones Jo has explored herself.
Is there a crossover with other J.F. Penn books?
Yes. Day of the Vikings pairs Morgan Sierra with Blake Daniel of the Dark London trilogy.
I think I have read some of these under other titles?
Two early books were re-released: Stone of Fire was previously Pentecost, and Crypt of Bone was previously Prophecy.
Screen rights

Ragnarok Rising — supernatural action feature

Based on Day of the Vikings (ARKANE Book 5)

When modern-day Vikings launch a brutal attack on the British Museum to retrieve an ancient runic staff, a skeptical military operative and a gifted museum researcher race to prevent an apocalyptic prophecy from being unleashed in the present day.

FormatSupernatural action feature
ToneRagnarok (Netflix) · American Gods · The Old Guard
RightsCompleted screenplay and pitch deck available
Rights enquiryFull screen slate →