Targeted for abduction, forty-year-old Peen Rogers’ morning routine is turned upside down, forcing him to evade international criminals hunting a mysterious art treasure.
Peen bands together with quick-witted Tora Armstrong, a history doctoral student who’s desperately searching for Peen’s uncle, Professor Edmund Rogers.
Thwarting their efforts are Damon Kant, a ruthless man who will kill anyone that blocks his pursuit of the panels, and FBI Agent Michael Jorden, who seeks Peen in connection with murder.
To find Professor Rogers, Peen and Tora must elude their pursuers and solve one of the greatest art mysteries of all time: the disappearance of the Amber Panels, a world wonder created in the 1700s that vanished during World War II. But, can they do it in time?
READER REVIEWS:
“David Eilers has written an exciting fast paced yet well balanced thriller. The compelling story spans both gritty and beautiful locations while making a jump from war-torn Europe to the supposedly peaceful American Northwest, all the while exposing the characters’ personalities in ways that add proper depth to the story. Likable but not perfect heroes, and sinister yet understandable villains. And somehow Dave weaves in jeep or two. I can recommend this book without reservation; however, it opens fast and keeps moving, so you may want to plan for reading it straight through. This book will also make great movie material. (In a way, it reminds me of Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest.)” – Guy Kathe
“I just finished your book and I loved it. Your book sure had a lot of adventure and chases in it!!! I found it hard to put down. I loved the history part too. Of course I had to google the amber panels to see what they looked like and to read about them. Your explanation of their history and the war was spot on.” – Virginia Reck
“You know, I think this book is on par with most any well known author I’ve ever read, in fact it’s much better than a lot of the Clive Cussler books. His stories are great but the banter between his characters sometimes is pretty unrealistic.” – Bob Christy
“Amber panels……..never would have picked up such a book in a bookstore…..skimmed thru it backwards and said…this is going to be boring. Not my cup of tea. Then.. I got bored and needed to read something…so I started in. Holy historical novel, batman, you have a HIT. Could NOT put it down. Another home run. Better than your last, which was great. I loved how you got jeeps involved.” – Bill Foshay
ABOUT THE REAL PANELS:
The panels were originally commissioned by King Frederick I in Prussia in 1701 as a way to improve the burgeoning country’s status among other European nations and attract visitors. The plan was to slice thin pieces of amber, carve them into pieces, and assemble them onto large panels that could be affixed to walls of a castle room in Konigsberg, Prussia. The King hoped the resulting candle-lit glow would be unlike anything, anywhere.
King Frederick died before the panels were finished. His son, wanting nothing to do with them, traded the panels to Peter the Great of Russia, who, like Frederick I, planned to complete the panels as a symbol of prestige to boost Russia’s status among other nations.
Peter the Great also died before the panels were finished, but his daughter, Empress Elizabeth, had them completed and installed at the Summer Palace in Tsarskoe Selo, Russia. There they became a world wonder. As hoped, they attracted important visitors from all over Europe.
In 1941, the Nazis stormed into Russia as part of Operation Barbarossa, captured the panels, and returned them to Konigsberg, Germany (Prussia had been absorbed into Germany by that time). They remained in Konigsberg until the end of the war in 1945. When the Soviets took Konigsberg, which they renamed Kaliningrad after World War II, they looked for the panels, but never found them. The panels remain missing to this day, along with millions of other European artworks either lost or stolen during that time.