Inspired by many an adventure novel, globe trotting films, and a mural I saw while visiting Paris in 2010, The Staff of Moses was the first novel I completed. I’ve since revised it several times and, as of 2022, I am releasing it for free on my website. If you’d like to read the novel […]
Summer was in full swing in Washington D.C. The air was hot, humid, and heavy with the reek of automobile exhaust from the thousands of vehicles that sat in gridlocked traffic around and throughout the city. Oliver strode down K Street with his hands in the pockets of his jeans, a camera slung around his […]
Oliver recognized the tone in Diana’s voice. It was the same emotion that overtook him every time he discovered a true relic in some ancient tomb or long abandoned temple. No matter how hard he had to work to find the place, how far he had to crawl through mud, how many armed rivals he […]
Long ago, before the lake dried up and left the island temple standing atop a high plateau, the exterior walls of the temple had extended down into the waters of the lake. Now, those tightly cut blocks of stone bore the same red stains as the rocks upon which they stood, as if the lapping […]
Oliver swerved the wheel to the right and gunned the accelerator to dodge around a boulder jutting out of the sand. The sun had risen high enough that it no longer burned bright in his rearview mirror, but it would still be several hours before the desert air whipping through his hair grew unbearably hot. […]
Oliver woke the next morning with the rich scent of coffee filling his nostrils. He opened his eyes in the dim light of the common room and rolled over, being careful to not fall off the sofa. Every muscle in his left side flared to a fiery wakefulness, reminding him of yesterday’s events. His eyes […]
Oliver felt a hand on his shoulder shaking him awake. A voice he recognized, but couldn’t name, was shouting at him in Arabic, “Awake! We have arrived.” Oliver opened his eyes. The van had stopped in front of a two story mud brick building with a rusted tin roof. He saw more brick buildings in […]
Oliver allowed himself to take a deep breath. He did not understand what had just happened, or how he was expected to bring an end to an ancient evil, but he figured that it had something to do with stopping the mercenaries. The old woman released his hand and began walking back towards the cliff […]
The party spotted Oliver. The three men pushed aside their robes to reveal automatic rifles, which they shouldered and pointed at Oliver. They began shouting in Arabic for him to drop his gun and lay down on the ground. Behind them, a young woman wrapped her arms around the older woman she had been escorting […]
Oliver and Diana managed to identify seventeen possible locations for the temple. The tablet was running a mapping application containing high resolution satellite imagery of the entire country, which could be overlaid with a detailed topographical map to verify the contours of the desert. Diana estimated that the “three day journey” could be anywhere between […]