One to the 3rd Degree

In the post-9/11 world our lives have been changed forever by terrorism, both home grown and emanating from the Middle East. All peace loving nations dedicated to the Rights of Man are increasingly faced with this menace to their beliefs as well as way of life. Will those enlightened forces in the Western and Eastern cultures ever find a way to co-exist? Will their Judeo-Christian and Islamic faiths ever find more in common with one another than not? Will the struggle end in our life time? Or, will it result one day in Armageddon? For going on three years and during whirlwind journeys on three continents, Georgetown Professor Alexander Avalov has been entrapped by a series of terrorist plots giving rise to these kinds of questions. The first threatened the West’s major cities with chemical warfare; the second, aimed to assassinate the leader of the Free World. Now, he finds himself in the middle of yet another terrorist conspiracy that’s aimed at nothing short of bringing an end to the world as we know it. In that journey, Alex is yet again faced with whether our Fate dooms us to repeat our past mistakes. Whether Free Will can lead us to a more enlightened state. Or, whether there is some other power at work to influence both.

Yes, this “Free Will versus Destiny” question continues to be the backdrop for my political conspiracy trilogy in One to the 3rd Degree - The Shroud of Turin Conspiracy. This time, however, Alex finds himself up against the "A-Team" in ISIS-controlled Syria and Iraq. He soon discovers they are orchestrating a complex series of events that will lead him to harrowing urban battles in Rome and Turin, then, in the Middle East. By now, of course, Professor Avalov is a seasoned veteran of terrorist warfare. With the help of his well-connected Avalov family and Georgetown colleagues, he now has access to the best military, diplomatic and intelligence money can buy. Even the Roman Pope and the earlier prophecies of a ‘Lady in White’ are