Murder comes to
Norfolk Island, but is the killer after Alexandra Archer’s Tahitian black pearl
or a lost illustration of the rare Green Parrot?
The Thorntons, along with a
small team of people, mount an expedition to Norfolk Island, a small island in
the South Pacific, to study the Green Parrot and set up research programmes to
help protect it and other endangered birds.
As a birthday surprise,
Alexandra’s father tells her she is to be the official photographer for the
expedition. Her father gives her a black pearl brooch that Alexandra’s
great-grandfather had bought off a merchant in Hong Kong in the 1850s. The
pearls are Tahitian black pearls.
Before they depart
Melbourne, they learn that Norfolk Island has had its first murder. It sends
ripples of unease through Alexandra. She hoped she could escape murder on this
small island paradise.
Alexandra is astonished to
learn that the main inhabitants of Norfolk Island are descendants of the Bounty
mutineers and their Tahitian wives. Once on the island, she wonders if this is
why her Tahitian black pearl brooch causes such interest.
A chain of events is set in
motion, commencing with a threat on the life of one of their expedition
members, followed by intrigue surrounding bird smuggling and a lost
illustration of the Green Parrot. Then two of their team are murdered.
Alexandra is determined to find the answers
and nearly loses her life in the process.
Ellen Read is the author of The Dragon Sleeps,
The Inca’s Curse and The Amber Trap—historical murder mystery romance
novels.
Ellen was born in Queensland, Australia.
She loves to read fiction, non-fiction, and poetry.
She particularly loves history and stories of ancient myths and legends.
Authors such as Edgar Allan Poe, Agatha Christie, and Victoria Holt, the latter
of whom wrote gothic mystery/romances, have influenced her own work.
Other interests include photography, painting,
music and musical theatre, and dance. Ellen was a ballroom dancing teacher for
many years and has also worked in Performing Arts administration.
A Templar cryptogram has confounded scholars for centuries.
Is it a ticking cipher bomb just hours away from detonating
a global war?
Rookie State Department lawyer Jaqueline Quartermane was
never much good at puzzles. But now, assigned to investigate a ritual murder of
an American in Ethiopia, she and a shady stolen-art hunter must solve the
world's oldest palindrome—the infamous SATOR Square—to thwart a religious
conspiracy that reaches back to the Age of Discovery and an arcane monastic
order of Portuguese sea explorers.
Separated by half a millennium, two espionage plots
dovetail in this breakneck thriller, driven by history's most elusive
mystery....
... the shocking secret that Christopher Columbus took to
the grave.
Praise:
"If you love Steve Berry, Dan Brown or Umberto Eco,
you may have a new author favorite in Glen Craney." -- BESTTHRILLERS.COM
"An exciting journey across time, with more twists and
turns than a strawberry Twizzler." -- QUARTERDECK MAGAZINE
A graduate of Indiana University
School of Law and Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, Glen
Craney practiced trial law before joining the Washington, D.C. press corps to
write about national politics and the Iran-contra trial for Congressional
Quarterly magazine. In 1996, the Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and
Sciences awarded him the Nicholl Fellowship prize for best new screenwriting.
His debut historical novel, The Fire and the Light, was named Best New
Fiction by the National Indie Excellence Awards. He is a three-time
Finalist/Honorable Mention winner of Foreword Magazine’s Book-of-the-Year, a Chaucer Award winner, and a Military
Writers Society of America Gold Medalist. His books have taken readers to
Occitania during the Albigensian Crusade, the Scotland of Robert Bruce,
Portugal during the Age of Discovery, the trenches of France during World War
I, the battlefields of the American Civil War, and the American Hoovervilles of
the Great Depression. He has served as president of the Southern California
Chapter of the Historical Novel Society.
The world’s largest oil
painting. A 400-year-old murder. A disembodied whisper: “Amore mio.” My love.
Nick and Julia O’Connor’s
dream trip to Venice collapses when a haunting voice reaches out to Nick from
Tintoretto’s Paradise, a monumental depiction of Heaven. Convinced his
delusions are the result of a concussion, Julia insists her husband see a
doctor, though Nick is adamant the voice was real.
Blacking out in the museum,
Nick flashes back to a life as a 16th century Venetian peasant swordsman. He
recalls precisely who the voice belongs to: Isabella Scalfini, a married
aristocrat he was tasked to seduce but with whom he instead found true love. A
love stolen from them hundreds of years prior.
She implores Nick to liberate
her from a powerful order of religious vigilantes who judge and sentence souls
to the canvas for eternity. Releasing Isabella also means unleashing thousands
of other imprisoned souls, all of which the order claims are evil.
As
infatuation with a possible hallucination clouds his commitment to a
present-day wife, Nick’s past self takes over. Wracked with guilt, he can no
longer allow Isabella to remain tormented, despite the consequences. He must
right an age-old wrong – destroy the painting and free his soul mate. But the
order will eradicate anyone who threatens their ethereal prison and their
control over Venice.
Well,
it was more like a plane fender-bender, but still. I’ve traveled a great bit
(forty countries, forty U.S. States, five continents) and have had some incredible
trips, but this crash wasn’t even the culmination of the worst trip of my life.
I
was returning from a business trip to New Delhi, on which I contracted
dysentery. I had a connecting flight in Newark before finally returning to my
home in Los Angeles and while we were on the tarmac waiting to take off,
another plane hit us! Thankfully we weren’t in the air and nobody was hurt, but
the damage was severe enough that both planes were grounded.
Six
hours later, we finally took off in new planes. Still ill, I returned home to
find my girlfriend at the time had broken up with me and rats had moved into my
apartment. Not the greatest of trips, but it makes for a cool story!
Another
American student and I learned we could stretch our dollar even further in
Romania, where vodka and cigarettes were even cheaper. So, along with a
Hungarian friend, the three of us decided to hitchhike to Romania.
After
multiple rides, including being dropped off in the middle of nowhere and
sleeping in the back of a nightclub, we finally made it to within a few miles
of the border. The only problem? Nobody wanted to take these obviously American
kids across. Finally, we were picked up by the cops, who, it turned out, just
wanted to see U.S. passports. We ended up taking the bus back and spending much
more than we ever expected to save, but it sure was a great adventure.
I’ve been in three movies.
At
one point in my writing career, I was a screenwriter in Los Angeles. Being
involved in the movies, you meet a lot of people and I was invited to be an
extra on multiple occasions. I opted for three, all fantastic experiences.
These were Point Doom, starring Ice-T (with whom I had a scene), Richard Grieco
and Angie Everhart; Varsity Blues, with James Van Der Beek, Jon Voight, and a
then-unknown Paul Walker; and Collateral, starring Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx.
I was
a club dancer in Collateral in a major action scene. Tom Cruise shoots five
people and the place goes berserk. Prior to the shooting, Tom Cruise needed to
navigate the dancers. Due to the intricacies of the scene, director Michael
Mann needed to shoot it about ten times. And each time Tom had to bump into me
as he traversed the dance floor. (BTW, he’s a super nice guy and bought
everybody (at least a hundred people) dinner.)
I used to work for the Japanese government.
Prior
to following my dream as a writer, I was an International Relations major with
minors in Japanese and Political Science, on track to take the foreign service
exam. My first job out of college was with the Japan External Trade
Organization, a branch of the Japanese government’s version of the U.S.
Department of Commerce. This was in New York (where I’m from). My job was to
help American businesses from seventeen states in doing business with Japan.
I dabbled as an artist and musician.
As
an artist, my medium was a mixed media collage. Specifically, I worked with
money—actual money—creating images with U.S. currency. As a musician, I play
guitar and sing. I’ve been in two bands and played live about fifty times.
¸.•*´¨)✯ ¸.•*¨) ✮ ( ¸.•´✶
To
learn more about The Prisoner of Paradise or to find purchase locations, visit the author's Website
In addition to being a novelist, Rob
Samborn is a screenwriter, entrepreneur, and avid traveler. He’s been to forty
countries, lived in five of them, and studied nine languages. As a restless
spirit who can’t remember the last time he was bored, Rob is on a quest to
explore the intricacies of our world and try his hand at a multitude of crafts;
he’s also an accomplished artist and musician, as well as a budding furniture
maker. A native New Yorker who lived in Los Angeles for twenty years, he now
makes his home in Denver with his wife, daughter, and dog.
They sent three hundred warriors to kill one man. It wasn’t enough.
Mercia lies broken but not beaten, her alliance with Wessex in tatters.
Coelwulf, a fierce and bloody warrior, hears whispers that Mercia has
been betrayed from his home in the west. He fears no man, especially not the
Vikings sent to hunt him down.
To discover the truth of the rumours he hears, Coelwulf must travel to
the heart of Mercia, and what he finds there will determine the fate of Mercia,
as well as his own.
Trigger
Warnings:
Excessive
foul language, gruesome injury, and battle detail
MJ Porter is the author of many historical novels set
predominantly in Seventh to Eleventh-Century England, and in Viking Age
Denmark. Raised in the shadow of a building that was believed to house the
bones of long-dead Kings of Mercia, meant that the author's writing
destiny was set. MJ Porter has also written two twentieth-century mysteries.
Whispered by the wise and the learned. Talked of in hushed
tones around luminous firesides. Engraved by awestruck scribes in the
scriptoria of the chronicles. Against all the odds, great King Alfred defeated
a vastly superior Danish army outside Chippenham. This victory, the sages
prophesied, would guarantee peace throughout the land. Or so they thought.
Two years later, Rigr the Bastard, vengeful and seeking to
claim his birthright, was defeated in the wilds of East Anglia. His
blood-smeared berserker warriors vanquished; no quarter asked for - no quarter
given.
Now, a further two years later, the Vikings return. Noble
Prince Sven instigates a seaborne invasion, fueled partly by blind rage when he
discovers that his brother, Prince Erik, has sworn fealty to the Anglo-Saxon
king. His own brother: a traitor and a fool.
Erik’s love, Lady Gwyneth, attempts to stop the invasion
before it starts by uniting the two estranged brothers, but her scheming only
succeeds in making matters worse. Indeed, her interference guarantees the death
of thousands of warriors in the freezing, tumultuous North Sea.
So when the horns of Sven’s monumental fleet of warships are
heard off the fogbound coast of Britannia, King Alfred - outnumbered,
outshipped, and weary of the fray - must rouse his jaded Saxon warriors and
lead them to sea to repel his most formidable enemy yet. A host motivated by
the spilled blood of the fallen, the spirit of black vengeance, and the
delights of a warrior’s reward in Valhalla is the most fearsome opponent of
all.
Alfred. Sven. Erik. Gwyneth. Amidst the ferrous
reverberation of a battle royale - one or all must die, and the fate of a
nation hangs in the balance one final time.
1513. A secret Twelfth Night wedding is about to take place
on Saint Michael’s Mount, at the furthermost point of Tudor Cornwall. Far from
the glittering Christmas court at Greenwich. Heads will surely roll if Henry
VIII discovers the deception!
But there is an unexpected twist to the tale when uninvited
guests appear at the Castle. The King is hellbent on a so-called holy war with
France, against the advice of his Lord Treasurer, Thomas Howard. Putting him at
odds with his normally affable Scottish brother-in-law, James IV of Scotland.
On the other hand, the King’s almoner, Thomas Wolsey, (who
has become a thorn in Thomas’s side) is very much in favour of the war as he
contentedly watches his star rising at the Tudor court.
Across the Narrow Sea, Louis XII of France is trying to
renew the ‘Auld Alliance’ with Scotland. Tristan and Nicolas remain at
loggerheads over pretty Ysabeau, the flirtatious young wife of their ageing
neighbour. Valentine is still making mischief as she sees fit, particularly for
Tristan.
Cecily is perfectly content in her beloved Zennor Castle in
Cornwall. But none of them know what Dame Fortune has in store for them. Will
she allow them to follow their own paths...or does she have other ideas? Laughter
and tears galore! All this and much more in further adventures at The House of
the Red Duke…
Rome. The jewel of the civilized world is no longer what it
was. Strength has failed the Senate. Her legions are in disarray, and the
Empire has fallen into Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus Nero’s hands. His reign
begins under a cloud of scrutiny, for he is the depraved Emperor Caligula’s
nephew. Nero is determined to overcome that stigma and carve a name of his own.
One worthy of Rome’s illustrious history.
Politics and treachery threaten to end Nero’s reign before
it begins, forcing him to turn to unexpected sources for friendship and help.
Many of the Praetorian Guard have watched over Nero since he was a small child,
and it is in Traian that the young Emperor places his trust, despite the
inherent threat of reducing his mother’s influence. Traian is the father he
never had and the one man who does not judge him.
When Traian secretly marries the hostage Vena, it sets in
motion a collision of values as Traian comes to odds with his former charge.
The whirlwind that follows will shake the very foundations of the greatest
Empire the world has ever known, and survival is far from guaranteed.
Rome. The jewel of the civilized world is no longer what it was. Strength has failed the Senate. Her legions are in disarray, and the Empire has fallen into Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus Nero’s hands. His reign begins under a cloud of scrutiny, for he is the depraved Emperor Caligula’s nephew. Nero is determined to overcome that stigma and carve a name of his own. One worthy of Rome’s illustrious history.Politics and treachery threaten to end Nero’s reign before it begins, forcing him to turn to unexpected sources for friendship and help.
Emperor Nero - Monster or Victim?
The Biographers
The ancient historians Tacitus, Suetonius, and Cassius Dio, are responsible for the historical accounts of Nero’s reign that have survived to this day. It is important to note that none of the works were written during Nero’s lifetime. Emperor Nero died in AD 68. Suetonius was born in AD 70, Tacitus in AD 56, and Cassius Dio in AD 155. Their partiality to the facts is suspect, relying on hearsay. It is important to remember history is written by the victors and is not always accurate.
Tacitus
Family History
To understand Emperor Nero’s mindset or genetic predisposition, as some may claim, we must immerse ourselves into the political arena of the Roman Empire, where the wrong choice could result in ruin or death.
Emperor Tiberius’s heir, the future Emperor Caligula, spent most of his youth on the Isle of Capri. He witnessed first-hand continuous plotting, paranoia, assassination attempts, and sexual deviancy while trying to stay alive as his uncle silenced his opponents, including Caligula’s mother and brothers.
When Emperor Caligula came to the throne, he ordered his sisters to return to the Imperial Court, which included Agrippina, mother of Emperor Nero. After recovering from an illness that changed Caligula’s personality, Agrippina and her sister plotted against their brother, but the attempt failed. Agrippina was exiled to the Pontine Islands while her son was sent to Calabria to live with his paternal aunt.
Upon the death of Emperor Caligula, Claudius became Emperor. He recalled Agrippina and Nero to the Imperial Court. The mother and son reunion greatly impacted the young Nero. He observed the power struggle between his mother and Messalina, the wife of Claudius, as their ambitions clashed, each wanting the throne for their son.
Agrippina’s obsession never faltered. She survived the assassin’s hand, manipulated powerful men, including her Uncle Claudius, whom she eventually married. Once Nero was named heir to Caesar’s throne, Claudius died unexpectedly after eating poisonous mushrooms. Shortly thereafter, Claudius’s son, Britannicus, died after suffering a seizure. Nero’s rule was now secure.
Julius Caesar, Augustus, Tiberius and Caligula
Childhood
Imagine a four-year-old child being torn from his mother and sent away to a holding 350 miles south of Rome. What thoughts must have run through young Nero’s mind when he found himself alone, surrounded by strangers who probably kept their distance, fearing reprisal from Caligula?
During that formative year, Nero lived among the slaves, playing with the children, helping in the fields, crying himself to sleep, lonely and afraid.
In all probability, the slaves pitied the child, ignored by his relatives, and treated him as one of their own.
Nero’s adjustment to his new station in life unraveled with his return to the Imperial Court. For a second time, the child’s stability was uprooted. Instinctively, he clung to his mother, not knowing his part in a dangerous game being played.
Did Agrippina instil fear into his impressible mind, telling her son only she could save him, causing his dependency?
Nero and Agrippina
The Imperial Court
Nero’s education befitted his rank. He loved the arts and enjoyed writing poetry, playing instruments, and singing songs. Wearing costumes while acting in Grecian plays endeared him to his tutors, and the people admired his athletic prowess.
However, during this time, Nero lost his innocence, learning the machinations of government, and the lengths to keep power, greed overshadowing equality, the privileged few ignoring the rule of law.
Did he suspect his mother’s part in the demise of Messalina? Who had alerted Claudius about his wife’s licentious affairs? Did Agrippina manage to lace the mushrooms with poison after the food had been tasted? What part did she play in Britannicus’s death, if any?
Nero watched the events play out silently while absorbing the seeds of power. This aphrodisiac would evolve, becoming insatiable, following a familiar path as his uncles before him.
Nero before becoming Emperor
Emperor
The first five years of Emperor Nero’s reign showed a young man caring for his people. He lowered taxes and gave more authority to the Senate. He created programs for the Arts and made changes to the slave laws. Later in his reign, he provided Fire Relief when most of Rome lay in ruins.
Unfortunately for Agrippina, her son grew up, and with maturity came annoyance at her meddling. His mother was an adept politician with excellent ruling skills. When she refused to pass the torch, friction followed.
There were many arguments between mother and son as Nero spread his wings. But Agrippina met her match with Nero’s current wife, Poppaea. This power struggle could only have one outcome, and Agrippina would not be victorious.
Did Nero arrange for the execution of his mother? In all probability, Poppaea was involved from the beginning. Agrippina survived many assassination attempts, but her days were numbered. When she did not drown after her boat sank, soldiers were sent to finish the job. She either died by her own hand or by a guard’s sword.
This unfortunate decision plagued Nero for the rest of his life. Rumors spread that Agrippina’s ghost haunted the emperor’s dreams. His sanity remained in question.
Poppaea felt threatened by Nero’s former wife, Octavia, who he divorced after charging her with adultery. But Poppaea would not rest until she had Octavia’s head on a platter. Once exiled, Nero ordered his guards to execute the daughter of Claudius and bring Poppaea her head.
And gossipmongers repeated bone-chilling tales of Octavia’s ghost joining Agrippina’s apparition in Nero’s bed-chamber, causing him to cower beneath a pillow.
The people blamed their emperor for the Great Fire, accusing him of setting the flame freeing land to build his Golden House. Did Poppaea suggest that her husband accuse the Christian sect of starting the fire? A perfect ploy to keep the emperor in the people’s good graces. And the idea worked. Culpability shifted, condemning the followers of Christ to death.
Remorse of Emperor Nero after the murder of his mother
Popular Misperceptions:
Kicking a pregnant wife to death
Although Nero had violent outbursts, there were no witnesses to the alleged attack on his pregnant wife, Poppaea. In all probability, she died in childbirth.
Death of Britannicus
Modern historians have disputed the ancient text that Nero had poisoned his stepbrother, threatening his succession. Scientists have also challenged this claim. It has been argued that since Britannicus suffered from epilepsy, the condition caused his death by obstructing his airway.
Nero fiddled while Rome burned
Fiddles did not appear until the Middle Ages. Furthermore, Nero was away at his villa in Antium (modern-day Anzio) when the fire started at a merchant’s stall near the Circus Maximus. When word reached the emperor, he rushed back to Rome, fighting the blaze and providing temporary housing for the displaced citizens.
The Verdict
People are a product of their environment. The mores of the first century are very different from the twenty-first century. Although the brutality of the time cannot be condoned, the reality of the times explains why.
Nero was not born a monster, yet the genetic predisposition argument says otherwise, especially since similar traits were evident with his uncles, Tiberius and Caligula.
Nero had been in love with a slave whom he wanted to marry, wishing to live out their days in Greece before Agrippina sent her away. Without his love’s wise counsel, Nero followed his mother’s advice, choosing power and wealth no matter the cost.
He had been sensitive to the plight of the poor and the treatment of slaves. Even at his death, the citizens of Rome loved their Emperor they had compared to Adonis. Perhaps, Nero was not completely lost?
Somewhere the good-natured boy turned into a suspicious man after realizing the dangers of wearing Caesar’s crown. Self-survival meant eradicating one’s enemies. That was the world Nero lived in. Should he have attempted to change the system? Would he have stayed in power if he had tried?
Fresco from Neros Golden House
I mourn for the ruler that might have been.
Traian Aelius Protacius
Forgiving Nero
Mary Ann Bernal
# # #
About the Author
Mary Ann Bernal attended Mercy College, Dobbs Ferry, NY, where she received a degree in Business Administration. Her literary aspirations were ultimately realized when the first book of The Briton and the Dane novels was published in 2009. In addition to writing historical fiction, Mary Ann has also authored a collection of contemporary short stories in the Scribbler Tales series and a science fiction/fantasy novel entitled Planetary Wars Rise of an Empire. Her recent work includes Crusader’s Path, a redemption story set against the backdrop of the First Crusade, and Forgiving Nero, a novel of Ancient Rome. Since Operation Desert Storm, Mary Ann has been a passionate supporter of the United States military, having been involved with letter-writing campaigns and other support programs. She appeared on The Morning Blend television show hosted by KMTV, the CBS television affiliate in Omaha, and was interviewed by the Omaha World-Herald for her volunteer work. She has been a featured author on various reader blogs and promotional sites. Mary Ann currently resides in Elkhorn, Nebraska. Find out more at her website http://www.maryannbernal.com/ and find her on Twitter @BritonandDane
