Publisher's Synopsis
THE LAST MAN
In a desert wasteland, framed by the shimmering fastness of the Judean Hills, lie the ruins of the fortress called Masada. Overlooking the Dead Sea and the salt mines that were once Sodom and Gomorrah, the stone palaces of Herod brood a thousand feet above the desolate countryside, where the Jewish revolt against Rome of 70 A.D. ended in the self-immolation of 960 people. According to legend, the defenders of Masada, rather than be taken prisoner by the Roman Tenth Legion, killed themselves, their wives, and their children the night before the Romans took the fortress.
David Hall, an American nuclear engineer, arrives in Israel on a mission of truth. Believing that the defenders killed themselves to protect a great secret, Hall plans to explore the heavily guarded site and, he hopes, discover the real reasons behind the dramatic end of the Roman siege. Hall is shadowed by an Israeli archaeologist, Judith Ressner, an attractive but reserved professor with an agenda of her own. There is more than history hidden within the mountain, and Hall soon finds himself the target of ferocious Israeli security forces bent on defeating his quest, who will stop at nothing to protect Masada from intruders.
PACIFIC GLORY
Marsh Vincent, Mick McCarty, and Tommy Lewis were inseparable friends during their naval academy years, each man in love with the beautiful, unattainable Glory Hawthorne. Only Tommy wins her heart and marries Glory after graduation. Different skills set the three men on separate paths in the Navy, but they are all forever changed by the Pearl Harbor attack on December 7, 1941.
Glory, now Tommy's widow, is a tough Navy nurse still grieving her loss while trying to save lives at the Pearl Harbor naval hospital. Marsh, a surface ship officer, finds himself in the thick of terrifying sea combat from Guadalcanal, through the turning point at Midway, to a climactic showdown with the Japanese fleet at Leyte Gulf. Mick, a hotshot fighter pilot with a drinking problem and a chip on his shoulder, seeks redemption after a series of failures leaves him grounded and ashamed.
