Praetorian Book

In this mesmerizing novel of intrigue the author of The Assassini and The Wind Chill Factor takes us into a chilling world of desire, betrayal, and obsession to weave the story of individual destinies drawn violently into the vortex of history. London, 1940, an age of darkness and terror. Hitler's armies are marching across Europe and North Africa, crushing all in their path, and the fate of the British Empire - of Western civilization - hangs in the balance. Prime Minister Winston Churchill has set into motion a daring plan: a raid code-named Praetorian that will send a team of handpicked commandos into the desert to assassinate German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. It is a mission doomed to failure. And for two men - and the woman they both love - the debacle will exact a bitter and terrible toll. The friendship between Max Hood, hero of the empire who rode alongside T. E. Lawrence in Arabia, and the young American correspondent Rodger Godwin was forged in the 1920s in Paris - city of Hemingway, hot jazz, and free love. It was there that they both met a girl alluring beyond her years, Priscilla DewBrittain - Cilla - who by 1940 would be a star of the British screen, Max Hood's wife, and the secret love of Godwin's life. Now Hood has been chosen to command the attack on Rommel's headquarters, and Godwin has been offered an exclusive on the story. At Churchill's personal request, the American accepts an active role in the assassination of the Desert Fox. But the Nazis lie in ambush. The plan has been betrayed. Consumed by his desire for Cilla and his guilt over the outcome of Operation Praetorian, Godwin vows to track down the traitor and kill him. His search for revenge is driven by obsession, one that draws him into a labyrinth of political intrigue and private passions. Gradually Godwin begins to discover how little he really knew: the truth about Hood, about Cilla, about himself... about the secrets shared between one man and another and between a man and a wo

The author of the New York Times bestseller The Assassini creates a masterful suspense tale of romantic obsession and betrayal in World War II. American correspondent Rodger Godwin is asked by Churchill to cover a British commando raid to kill Field Marshal Rommel. But when all but Godwin are killed, he is suspected of treason.