THE PLOT
In only two weeks of matrimonial bliss, Allison Alexander Allan has been shot at, dumped from a helicopter into a volcano, kidnapped, drugged, imprisoned – well, you get the general idea. All in all, this is not your ordinary honeymoon.
And it isn’t over yet. Allison and her secret-agent husband, Bart, just settling into their cozy honeymoon cottage, are suddenly sucked into another web of mystery, murder and intrigue. This time it’s in San Francisco, where a rash of fires, robberies and vandalism has erupted, and diamond-studded bodies keep turning up in unexpected places. Rumor has it that all of this might have something to do with an upcoming exhibition of the world’s most prestigious – and valuable – diamonds.
When Bart is called to investigate and Allison goes along for the ride, she gets more than she bargained for. Still haunted by the slimy specter of an evil stalker she left for dead in Hawaii, she find terror around every corner. As her life hangs in the balance, she learns to rely on a higher power for protection.
THE STORY BEHIND
THE STORY
San Francisco used to be one of the most delightful cities in the world with a flavor all its own. A new Museum of Modern Art was just opening there, which gave me a great opportunity to stage my own grand opening ceremony. The research on all the famous (and infamous) diamonds of the world was fun and enlightening and I included much of the fascinating information in the book.
I wandered the streets of San Francisco, walking miles every day, stayed in the little hotel in the book, took a zillion pictures, and rode the trolley cars. The characters in Diamonds were fun to develop, and there is a secret to the clothes Electa wears. See if you can discover what it is.
I admit, I had killed off Scarlotti in Pearls. But he was such a great villain my writer’s critique group urged me to resurrect him, so he appears in this book to once again torment Allison.
The blow hole is a real thing – there are many such places in the world. A friend told me they used to do this very thing in Hawaii.
THE PLOT
The news hit Allison like a blow to the stomach. A helicopter carrying her kidnapped husband, Bart, had crashed into the side of a mountain. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Alexander . . .there were no survivors,” the secret service agent said.
Was it true? Could she be a widow after only weeks of marriage to the man she had loved for a lifetime? They had come to the high desert of New Mexico because international terrorists had threatened to kidnap three famous celebrities and hold them for ransom. But now Bart and her father had been abducted by those same evil anarchists, and their getaway had gone terribly wrong. Had it all ended in a fiery explosion against a desolate mountainside?
From the opening sentence of this riveting adventure, Allison’s gifts of intellect, communication and discernment are tested to their limits. She must over come almost insurmountable obstacles to discover the truth about Bart’s and her father’s disappearance . . .yet, if there is still a chance they might be alive, she must spare no effort to find them.
In the two months since they foiled a major diamond theft in San Francisco, Bart and Allison have been separated by their jobs: Bart in Europe recruiting additional agents for Anastasia, the anti-terrorist branch of Interpol, and Allison winding up her job as an interpreter at the United Nations in New York City.
Because Allison nearly lost her life on more than one occasion in San Francisco, and was lucky to escape with only a serious compound fracture of her arm, Bart is adamant that she’ll have no part in Anastasia’s dangerous business of stopping terrorists before they strike. Allison, on the other hand, is determined to work alongside her agent husband – just as her mother has worked side by side with her father in the elite organization.
Who could have foreseen, when this war of wills began, the unbelievable outcome of one woman’s determination?
THE STORY BEHIND
THE STORY
New Mexico has always been a “land of enchantment” in more ways than one. It is harshly beautiful, and the Native American people who live there have wonderful stories of miraculous and strange happenings. They say the spirits are very close.
On one of my research trips for this book, my daughter and granddaughter went with me. I flew into Albuquerque and they met me at the airport. We stayed in Rancho Encantado where the book would take place. It was supposed to have a haunted room, so I booked that room (we didn’t see any ghosts!) but I talked to the hostess, the waitresses, the maids and everyone I could find to get the history of the place and the "gossip." They described the little boy ghost and the strange things that happened, and I included them in the story.
