The 6th novel in The Invisible Library series by Genevieve Cogman, and the sequel to The Mortal Word.
Irene and Kai have to team up with an unlikely band of misfits to pull off an amazing art heist, or risk the wrath of a dangerous villain in his secret island lair.
As Irene tries to manage a fraught Fae–dragon truce and her overbearing parents, she’s given a hot new mission. The world where she grew up is in danger and only one book can save it.
This is held by Mr. Nemo, secretive Fae villain and antique dealer, so Irene and Kai travel to his Caribbean retreat to strike a deal. But in return for the book, they must steal a painting from twenty-first-century Vienna. They’ll join a team of dragons, Fae gamblers and thieves, so their greatest challenge may be one another. And some will kill to protect this painting, which hides an extraordinary secret from a past age.
The Secret Chapter is followed by The Dark Archive.
The Secret Chapter contains examples of the following tropes:
- Badass Driver: Tina's archetype is that of a driver or pilot and she's shown to be remarkably skilled at operating any sort of vehicle she's in charge of.
- The Caper: The Secret Chapter is the Heist Episode of The Invisible Library series.
- Caper Rationalization: Irene justifies participating in Mr. Nemo's plot by reminding herself that her home world is at stake.
- Dimensional Traveler: Tina the Fae specializes in transportation and has the ability to carry other people across worlds with whatever vehicle she's using at the time.
- Dragon Lady: Lady Ciu, the elderly dragon in charge of protecting the painting the heroes are after, is an exceptionally skilled martial artist, has Asian heritage by virtue of her being a dragon, and is shown to command a terrifying respect from everyone involved in the alternate Vienna's underground crime network and the regional State Sec.
- Drives Like Crazy: Downplayed. Tina drives like traffic laws are optional and often ignores her passengers' panicked cries for help, but is otherwise quite skilled at her trade.
- Friend in the Black Market: Mr. Nemo is all but openly called a black marketeer.
- Island Base: Mr. Nemo's base of operations in the Caribbean.
- Loophole Abuse: Once the stakes of Mr. Nemo's mission become fully clear, Irene changes her requested prize from Mr. Nemo's collection from the book she needs to the painting the team stole in the caper - even though the contractually-binding deal between the two was exhaustively detailed, nobody thought to stop Mr. Nemo's team members from changing their requests. Mr. Nemo does his best to wriggle out of the deal, but the magically-binding nature of his given word forces him to follow through.
- Shark Pool: Mr. Nemo maintains one of these to aid in the disposal of undesirables.
- State Sec: The Combined European Nations Supernatural Observation and Response (CENSOR) group encountered at the alternate Vienna.
