Dear Reader,

Welcome to my BOOKS page!

For more than twenty years, I have been writing colorful, swashbuckling Adventure/Quest novels that are now bestsellers in forty languages in more than eighty countries.

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IF YOU LIKE MY BOOKS, and you want to discover more, I invite you to click on the link entitled:

“If you liked this book…” There, you’ll find a bevy of wonderful books in three groups:

-The Forerunners – What was The Eight compared to, when it was first published, 20 years ago? Read about this potpourri, ranging from books by writers Alexandre Dumas to Umberto Eco, from works like Alice in Wonderland to Indiana Jones!

-The Successors — What works have since been compared with my books? Check out this dazzling array of books by writers from Perez-Reverte, A.S. Byatt, and Dan Brown — to J.K. Rowling!

-Books I’ve Blurbed – What books do I enjoy reading myself? I’m often asked. Visit the list of books that I’ve written quotes for — with a copy of the text of each of my quotes (”blurbs”) as well as a link to each of the authors’ web sites — including, among others, Steve Berry, Stephenie Meyer, Elizabeth Kostova, David Liss, Gayle Lynds — and more!

IF YOU HAVE NEVER READ MY BOOKS, here’s a quick snapshot of each one. More on individual book pages:

THE EIGHT (1988) is the story of the quest for a fabulous, gold-and-silver, bejeweled chess set that once belonged to Charlemagne. It has been buried for a thousand years. At the dawn of the French Revolution, when soldiers are looting the abbeys and monasteries, the set is dug up from an abbey in the Pyrenees and scattered around the world. This begins a 200-year-long chase across the globe– from the 1790s of the Revolution to the 1970s of the OPEC embargo — with 64 characters, (32 historic and 32 modern) all seeking the pieces in a giant chess game that forms the plot.
The Eight was an instant bestseller in 12 languages (Now in more than forty languages), has received numerous awards, and in a national poll of the noted Spanish journal, El Pais, it was voted one of the top ten books of all time!

THE FIRE (2008) (sequel to The Eight) is launched thirty years after the events of The Eight, when the Black Queen shockingly resurfaces in Russia. The children of the previous characters know nothing of the quest of their parents, but are drawn into it nonetheless — and “The Game” is afoot again. In 1822: at the dawn of the war of Greek Independence, Haidee, daughter of the powerful ruler, Ali Pascha, smuggles the most valuable piece of the chess set out of Albania under the very noses of the attacking Turks. In 2003: former child chess prodigy, Alexandra Solarin, returns home to Washington DC at the dawn of the Iraq War, the exact moment of our entry into Baghdad, only to discover the connection between the “chessboard” of modern DC and the key to the ancient city of Baghdad: the very spot where, twelve hundred years earlier, the magical chess set of Charlemagne was created.
The Fire reaped rave reviews, spending more than 6 months on bestseller lists around the world, including France, Spain, Holland, New York, Denver, Seattle, San Francisco, DC.

THE MAGIC CIRCLE (1998) moves back and forth, from the rise of the Roman Empire to the fall of the Berlin Wall. Beginning in 32 AD, during the last week in the life of Jesus, events are taking place all over the world, in anticipation of the “countdown” to the beginning of a new Aeon — the turning point of a 2000-year astronomical cycle: What kind of trouble is Pontius Pilate threatened with in Judea? What are the Roman emperors worried about, on the Isle of Capri? What are the Druids up to in Celtic Brigantium? Then — in 1989, at the threshold of another new Aeon — nuclear expert Ariel Behn suddenly learns that her favorite cousin, Sam, an encryption expert, has been assassinated, leaving her heir to a cache of ancient manuscripts dating to before the time of Jesus. These documents contain the key to secrets that tyrants have sought for two millennia, secrets that will alter the future of the world.
The Magic Circle is an award-winning bestseller, now in 40 languages, and was displayed for several months in the windows of the famous cafe, Les Deux Magots, in Paris–where a pivotal scene in the book takes place!

A CALCULATED RISK (1992) has often been credited as the first true “insider” computer caper novel, with a plot that proves the adage “Information is Power.” Verity Banks — angered that her bosses refuse to beef up bank security — decides to knock over the world’s largest bank, along with the international money transfer systems, and (with a little challenge from a friend) the world’s stock exchanges, to boot! A tale of corruption, greed, and duplicity within the corporate financial arena, this breathtaking ride through world money markets set the pace for today’s financial thriller.
A Calculated Risk had a fabulous reception — not only in the literary section, but in the financial media and in university business courses. Recently, during the financial meltdown of 2009, perhaps as an “exemplary tale,” it has suddenly reappeared on many independent bestseller lists!

I hope you will read and enjoy all of the above books –both my own, and those of the other authors!