Valley of the Queen

The Champa people are descended from a time before recorded history. They were last together as a nation one thousand years ago when they were overrun by the invading Viets and scattered around Southeast Asia. Legend has it they buried a fabulous treasure, the remaining wealth of the Champa Kingdom as they fled.

       We are introduced to the main character, Mai Sambath as she begins her career in Chicago. She is a former child refugee from Vietnam who is aware that she is somehow different from everyone else and firmly believes there is something important she is destined to do with her life. Jack is a photographer in Chicago. He and Mai fall in love from the moment they first meet. They live happily together in Chicago as each enjoys great success in their chosen careers. But all that changes in an instant and Jack could never have imagined the extraordinary and life-changing journey ahead for them. Among other unexpected surprises, they are confronted with the possibility that she is the lost queen of the Champa people who is sought after by an evil despot who seeks to rule Southeast Asia.

"If your wife, Mai, is really the heir to the old kingdom," continued Vega, "the people may very well rally to her, and that would make her very valuable to Minh. In fact, Jack, that would at this time make her the most important woman in Southeast Asia, wanted by Colonel Minh, the Champa people, and the Vietnamese, all for very different reasons."

What will Mai do when she discovers this despot is actually the one who killed her parents and left her an orphan? How are Mai and Jack involved in the possible discovery of the Champa treasure? What will Jack do to save her when one day he finds Mai missing? These are only a few of the many wonderful twists and turns in this page-turning narrative.