Synopses & Reviews
In 1941 the precursor to the OSS and the CIA combined with British SAS to produce an elite fighting force whose mission was to carry out subversion against the fascist regimes of Europe - a subversion that continues to resonate in the contemporary world. The fascism then re-emerges in the Islamist extremism and heretical Christian occultism of today.
A warrior with the constitutional forbearance of a diamond and the intellectual agility of a Delphic oracle, Lieutenant Commander Grant Chisolm leads his exceptionally trained and equipped SEAL team into the heart of darkness. His quest to rescue hostages taken by the charismatic and cunning leader of a major insurgency in sub-Saharan Africa forces him to confront the irrationality of malevolent genius, bureaucratic quackery posing as government, and the link between a man's past indiscretions and present death and destruction.
Along the way he discovers that his own life is a mirror of ancestral ambitions that reveal themselves through unexpected teachers and events for which only spiritual exercises can wholly prepare him. His warrior quest is the stuff of legend and the crucible bequeathed by mysterious figures only to those who are worthy. Chisolm learns first hand that not only the sins, but also the blessings, of one's forbearers must be borne to discover the true purpose of his military training as well as his life.