Beneath the Paint

Martin Roberts has spent his life restoring old masterpieces, but nothing prepares him for the night he discovers a secret hidden under the varnish of a quiet seascape. A thin glowing line. Strange marks beneath the glaze. A pattern that looks less like art and more like a map that someone buried on purpose.

The deeper Martin digs, the more the painting resists silence. Symbols appear under ultraviolet light. Soundings hide inside blue pigment. A coastline emerges where no coastline should exist. Every new test brings him closer to a truth someone went to great lengths to hide. And someone powerful is watching the moment he finds it.

As pressure grows inside the museum walls, Martin turns to Mary Lepksy, an expert who sees patterns with a clarity that unsettles others. Together they piece the fragments into a shape that points halfway across the world, toward an island that does not exist on any public chart.

What begins as quiet conservation work becomes a dangerous journey across the Pacific. Storms gather around them. A private yacht follows their trail. And the hidden island rises from the water like a secret the world forgot to remember.

Layers of paint. Layers of lies. A discovery meant for no one.
Martin and Mary must decide how far they are willing to go to uncover the truth buried beneath the paint.

Some maps are drawn for those brave enough to follow them.
Some secrets wait under the surface of the world.