New Novel Coming in Fall 2019: The Preserve

I’m excited to announce a new novel: The Preserve. This one’s been a long time coming, after repeated false starts. It began as a far different story nearly fifteen years ago and existed in various guises as I revised and sought a good home for it in vain and eventually threw it back in the drawer, then self-published it later for a short time (under a different title) only to banish it to the drawer for what I once understood as eternity.

The Big Island of Hawaii setting and some basics of story remain, but most is all new, completely revamped by yours truly with more blood, sweat and tears than I thought I still had and a good beer to celebrate. A key step was realizing that the oft-tormented but somehow always surviving Wendell Lett from my novel Under False Flags (2014) needed to be there no matter what, which meant moving things from the present era to the 1948 US Territory of Hawaii. Wendell Lett never says die and neither did I!

In The Preserve, a WWII veteran turned deserter seeks a cure to his combat fatigue (PTSD) at a mysterious facility called the Preserve, but his handlers aim to turn him into a vile assassin for a deadly plot that runs all the way to General MacArthur. The Preserve is based on true events such as the Yamashita gold conspiracy, includes real-life characters like nefarious US intelligence operative Ed Lansdale, and offers a sobering take on the dark side of American hegemony in the postwar era. 

Coming Fall 2019 from Skyhorse Publishing / Simon & Schuster. Oh, and I really like that cover.

Here’s the book description from the publisher:

A Heart-Racing Military Thriller Ripped from the Pages of History
  
Who will reap the rewards of war?
  
Hawaii, 1948

Troubled WWII hero turned deserter Wendell Lett desperately seeks a cure to his severe combat trauma, and The Preserve seems to be his salvation. Run by Lansdale, a mysterious intelligence officer, and Lett’s ambitious wartime XO Charlie Selfer, the secretive training camp promises relief from the terrors in his mind. Together with Kanani Alana, a tough-minded Hawaiian also looking for a new start at The Preserve, Lett begins to feel hopeful.

All illusions are shattered, though, when Lett discovers The Preserve’s true intentions—to rebuild him into a cold-blooded assassin. The deadly conspiracy runs deep, all the way to General Douglas MacArthur, and his refusal to cooperate is met with merciless punishment. His only hope is Kanani and her dangerous escape plan that would grant freedom from The Preserve—if he can hide while surviving the harsh wilderness of the Big Island.

Based on true events, The Preserve is a fast-paced historical thriller that will leave you breathless.