The Seal's Lair

The Seal's Lair is a fast-paced historical fiction tale that is set in motion when a corpse is discovered on a beautiful La Jolla, California beach. The body is the link that binds together disparate characters, who come from multiple locations, to include far off Australia. Occurring primarily in 1969, it has relevance for today with its themes of terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, hate crime, identity theft, flawed law enforcement, and fake news. Nothing really is actually what it appears to be. This is evident when Margaret Starmont, a widow of distinction, is called from her Manhattan home to identify the body, supposedly her son, Jordan. No, Jordan is still alive, living a counterculture life in Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco! After this startling fact, Margaret becomes beholden to a cerebral San Diego Police homicide detective, Damon Broadbent, who is out to solve the case of a lifetime. This is more than a misidentified body because it is compounded by a lurking Nazi fugitive in possession of the unthinkable.

Friedrich Vogel was one of four Nazi scientists on board German U-Boat 234 when it surrendered at a US Navy base on May 8, 1945. He escapes with a satchel full of American dollars and a diabolical weapon-a canister of uranium. Fast forward to twenty-four years later, living with impunity under the alias of David Percival, he is a successful avocado grower among the rolling hills of Fallbrook in northwest San Diego County. It is time to strike! To achieve his goal of extending Nazi hatred, he recruits a paramilitary force, composed of disenchanted US Marines and Navy servicemen, one of whom is a navy seal. The latter's on-base quarters will be the operational den of iniquity-The Seal's Lair. Percival is now the object of a manhunt by both the FBI and Broadbent's police force, who are at odds to nab him.

Two other central characters of the story are found in Perth, Australia: Josh Hannigan and Sela Danby. Hannigan is also a fugitive who comes to the Land Down Under with a stolen identity: Rex Murtaugh. He has a chance encounter with Danby, who is the lynchpin that connects her to Jordan Starmont, who is secretly working for the FBI and to the evil machinations of David Percival. To explode the uranium, Percival needs a detonator. This device brings Hannigan, Danby, and Ian Bright, Percival's looney love child, to southern California for the climatic conclusion on San Diego Bay. Filled with twists, turns, unforeseen events, and incredible coincidences, The Seal's Lair will keep the reader guessing and glued to its pages with a thrilling flow, accented by romantic sparks that fly between four of the book's principals.