Lorenzo's Daggers

Combine one troubled boy with his concerned prep school teacher. Stir in a pinch of quantum physics, add Italian Renaissance political intrigue, and serve piping hot with Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Machiavelli, the Medici’s, and a Borgia Pope on the side. That is the perfect recipe for a time travel adventure crackling with historical detail.

A windswept, snowy day has shut down all movement on or off Block Island. It is the final day of classes before the winter break at the prestigious Block Island Academy High School. Assistant Principal Prester Charles John is lecturing his class on the Italian Renaissance. During the lecture, while a set of twin daggers once belonging to Lorenzo de Medici are being displayed, an angry young student, Kirk Renzo, grabs one of the daggers and runs away. His footprints lead through pristine snow to a 500-year-old tree. Prester gives chase, but at the tree the footprints end. The boy and the dagger have vanished.

Suspicion over the boy’s disappearance falls hard upon Prester John. Ostracized by his friends and colleagues, Prester’s life is turned upside down until he meets a physicist with an unusual theory. The physicist theorizes that the boy, Kirk, has slipped into a parallel universe and been transported to 15th Century Italy. Indeed, Kirk has finally found his niche, his knowledge of the modern world serving to propel him to the level of Prince in Renaissance Florence. But there are unseen dangers around every turn with political rivalries boiling over. Thus begins an adventure sending Prester John back in time where he will encounter numerous Renaissance notables as he searches for his lost student.

Lorenzo’s Daggers is a delightfully entertaining story of time travel between modern-day New England and 15th century Italy. Author Ron McGaw keeps the pages turning quickly with endearing characters, taut prose, and a riveting storyline that stands alone for its novelty and intrigue. But Lorenzo’s Daggers is more than just good fiction. It is also a deft portrayal of Renaissance Florence—a city of prolific genius that produced some of the most creative minds of Western Civilization. Through the travels and travails of protagonist Prester John, readers can well imagine the life and times of the Renaissance giants of Western art, science, political theory, architecture, and philosophy. Lorenzo’s Daggers—a worthy read!

Brigadier General Lance Betros (retired)
Former Head - Department of History, West Point

RON McGAW graduated from San Jose State University with a degree in Theatre Arts, and from the University of San Francisco School of Law. He worked on Park Avenue in Manhattan as an attorney, and served a ten-year term as a New York State Judge. In 2003, he and his wife adopted two children from Kazakhstan. He now lives with his wife and children in Poughkeepsie, New York, where he runs his own successful legal practice. Lorenzo's Daggers is his first novel.