Second Eden

Synopsis: Envy. Deceit. Murder. War. Can human nature ever change? Will mankind take a fateful evolutionary leap and become a new species? Or are we doomed by our genes to forever spin on what the Hindus term the Wheel of Life? In Second Eden, the crew of the space shuttle Discovery II, sent to retrieve the Mars probe Areopagus, make an indisputable UFO sighting. Back on Earth they're held incommunicado on orders from CIA Director Carl Snow. Soon they're all dead, victims of a mysterious fire. But the shuttle pilot's best friend, ex-fighter pilot, defense analyst and legendary Cracker Jack fanatic Peter MacKenzie, hears rumors that HAM radio operators picked up transmissions from the Discovery II mentioning UFOs. Suspecting a cover-up, he vows to find out why his friend had to die. Meanwhile, Professor Miles Lavisch discovers an enigmatic book locked inside a rock brought back by the Areopagus. Set to announce the shocking news at a Smithsonian Museum symposium, he is assassinated and the book disappears. Soon his daughter, Dr. Molly Lavisch, becomes a target too. Molly, a gene researcher who has a fetish for hotdogs and who clings stubbornly to her virginity without understanding why, meets Peter, who has never met a woman he hasn't conquered until now. Thrust together in an uneasy alliance, Peter and Molly desperately race to recover the book and trade it for their lives, as a secret CIA cadre and Saudi double agent and terrorist financier Bandar Bliss doggedly pursue them. But a chance translation of the ancient book reveals that the "Reconciliation Project," which will determine the fate of Earth and take the measure of every human soul, is well underway, fulfilling Judgment-Day prophesies from every major world religion in a way no one could have imagined.

Autobiography: CARLTON AUSTIN received his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Maryland. As a gene researcher, he studied how DNA controls cellular differentiation. Now a freelance writer and aerobatics instructor, he lives near Annapolis, Maryland, where he publishes Aerosphere.com, an online air & space magazine.