It's great that the second novel in my adventure series, The PlanetCare Discoveries, was released in January 2009. The title is "The Jewels of Stonehenge". Though the setting of the expedition is Norway, unearthing a buried Viking ship, a set of bizarre jewels is discovered in one of the burial chests. It turns out they are part of a larger set of gems, 31 in total, that originated in the Stonehenge Monument when it was first completed. However, the jewels possess such a diabolical power when linked in sequence, that the original builders (whoever they were...we'll probably never know)scattered them across Europe. Now, a malevolent group of jewel thieves is reassembling them, killing any who gets in their way, and members of the PlanetCare research team are drawn into the intrigue. A perfect replica of the original Stonehenge has been constructed at a hidden location atop a fjord mountain, and as summer solstice approaches the protagonists must stop the killers from creating a death ray with the jewels of Stonehenge.
It'a a lot of fantasy sci-fi I know, but a fun action-adventure yarn, and it gave me a chance to do some research on Norway, Stonehenge and the tourmaline gems. My geology major really helped with that.
I'm truly fortunate that Orchard House Press, my publisher, has confidence in the series. The first book, "Season of the Plant", came out in September 2007 and enjoyed some success. But with two published and a third under composition, OHP will have a good action series for their many publications.
About Me
- Frederick J. Masterman
- I'm a retired Episcopal priest living in Tucson, Arizona for the past two and a half years. My wife Rebecca is also an author, as well as forensic editor for a scientific publishing house. Our dogs Casper and Raven fill out the household, since our children are grown and gone. Although I had a wonderful career as priest, and still function part-time, my first college degree was in geology and paleontology. I've never lost interest in those fields, and have managed to keep up with them. Astronomy also has fascinated me since I was a kid, and provides a lot of satisfaction here in the desert air of Arizona. The science is a great base for my books, and one of these days I might put together a book on the positive interface of science and relgion. For me, they have complemented and strengthened each other!