In 1943, U.S. military surplus/reject Jeeps were being auctioned off at various bases, and young Marty Eden and his pal, Lamont Cranston (the latter known among his peers as "Shadow"), went to all extremes -- prevarication, chicanery, even thievery -- to acquire one. At any cost. The two soon l... more

In 1943, U.S. military surplus/reject Jeeps were being auctioned off at various bases, and young Marty Eden and his pal, Lamont Cranston (the latter known among his peers as "Shadow"), went to all extremes -- prevarication, chicanery, even thievery -- to acquire one. At any cost. The two soon learn that owning a $50 vehicle at the height of World War II is one thing -- securing highly-rationed gasoline is quite another. Posing as Norfolk Navy Base’s oft-absent commander's son and nephew, Marty and Shadow are befriended by a sympathetic shore patrolman who invites them aboard the aircraft carrier USS James Madison (about to go to sea), ostensibly to say good-bye to their “father” and “uncle”, while surreptitiously arranging for them to continue pilfering free gasoline from the base's motor pool. A series of nerve-wracking but hilarious circumstances prevent the two civilians from leaving the ship before sailing, and they later have to be sent home as "passengers" in a Navy fighter/bomber that inadvertently encounters an enemy submarine and becomes engaged in devastating combat. Subsequently, these events lead to an invitation from President and Mrs. Roosevelt to join them during the Thanksgiving holidays at Biltmore House in Asheville, NC as a media diversion to "smoke screen" an Allied pre-summit meeting. While in residence, the two unlikely heroes uncover -- with the help of Marty's mentor, the exotic, lovely, and perspicacious Anna Theresa Tortoretti --an elaborate plot by Nazi infiltrators to assassinate the President and his domestic and foreign entourage of world and military leaders, including British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and General Dwight Eisenhower. Anna Theresa is the prism through which the laser beam of Marty's talent and development is focused. She enters his life at the critical time when ambition and manhood are wallowing in the mud-wrestle of desire and ability, and their relationship dissolves the mucilage that binds the boy to the man. This intense, exciting, suspenseful and sui generis novel, with non-stop action, romance, drama and comedy, reads with the visual impact of a major movie. It is a tour de force populated with a paradigmatic assortment of peers, parents, and grandparents -- a dysfunctional family of blurred alcoholics, rednecks, politicians, social and intellectual misfits -- military officers and non-coms, plus larger-than-life personalities we all know (or think we do).