Graduate students Jonathan and Michael Rickner, sons of eminent archeologist Sir William Rickner, are no strangers to historical secrets and archeological adventures. But when Michael is discovered dead in his Washington, D.C. apartment, Jon refuses to believe the official ruling of suicide. Digging deeper into his brother’s work, he discovers evidence that Michael was murdered to keep his dissertation research buried. Joined by Michael’s fiancée Mara Ellison, Jon travels to New York where he uncovers the threads of a deadly Depression-era conspiracy – one entangling the Hoover Administration, the Rockefellers, and the rise of Nazi Germany – and the elite cadre of assassins that still guard its unspeakable secret. Finding themselves in the crosshairs of the same men who killed Michael, Jon and Mara must navigate a complex web of historical cover-ups and modern-day subterfuge, outwitting and outrunning their all-powerful pursuers as they race through a labyrinthine treasure hunt through the monuments and museums of Manhattan to discover the last secret of John D. Rockefeller, Jr., before their enemies can bury the truth – and them – forever.

From the Ashes, is a historical conspiracy thriller set primarily in Washington D.C. and Manhattan. It is the first in a series of thrillers that will appeal to fans of Steve Berry, James Rollins, Dan Brown, and Robert Ludlum, the Indiana Jones and National Treasure franchises, historical mysteries, political thrillers, and adventure stories. Already a gripping tale full of twists and turns, buried national secrets and terrifying conspiracies, From the Ashes adds even more excitement with its layered characters with complex – and, at times, suspect – motives.

Jonathan Rickner – Jon for short – is the story’s protagonist, and it is his brother’s untimely death – and the unanswered questions and unfinished research that Michael leaves behind – that propels him into the action. Having grown up exploring the world with his archeologist parents, young Jon has seen more of the world and its mystery and wonder than most people will in twenty lifetimes. He has unearthed buried treasure, discovered legendary temples, and solved mysteries from the past, but almost always with his older brother and mentor, Michael. This time, not only is Jon without his brother in his quest to discover the long-buried truth – this time, Michael is the mystery.

Jon’s eyes lit upon another incongruity with his last visit. Michael’s backpack sat near the door – instead of on his shoulder or by his side. He hesitated, then picked up the backpack. It was of rugged, sturdy beige cloth, and had been put to the test on many an archaeological trek in sites around the globe. Michael’s constant companion for nearly a decade, the very sight of the bag triggered a flood of memories – a grass stain from Finland, a muddy smear from Indonesia, a spot of blood from an unfortunate run-in with an antiquities thief in Peru. Adventures that the brothers had shared together. Yet another thing that could never be the same again.

Jon slid his arm through one strap, then the other, taking a deep breath as he shrugged the straps into position over his shoulders. The whole thing felt…weird. It was almost as though Jon were defiling something important to his brother, taking his most often-used possession before his body was even in the ground – the funeral having been postponed until Jon and Michael’s father could be reached at his dig in a remote corner of the Brazilian Amazon. Yet at the same time, wearing the backpack felt good, as though Jon were taking on some sort of mantle that his brother had left behind – like by picking up and wearing something that was so closely associated with his brother, Michael was able to live on through him. As though Michael were passing on some sort of torch from beyond the grave. Or perhaps Jon was just being sentimental.

He paused in the hall at a picture of Mara and Michael in front of Cinderella’s Castle at Disney World. A wry grin crossed his lips. Memories of happier times that never again would be. As was the next picture: Michael and Jon himself smiling and laughing in the Andes as they indulged in their favorite pastime: exploring. Growing up with renowned British archeologist and historian Sir William Rickner and the brilliant American linguist Dr. Anna Calvert Rickner as their parents, traveling across the globe as a family in search of ancient mysteries, served to strengthen their passion for adventure and discovery, as well as cementing their bond with one another. But the great duo is no more, Jon thought, a somber look in his eyes, a heavy feeling in his chest. Everything he loved doing with his brother, everything they would never do again. His brother, his mentor, his inspiration, his best friend – gone. Forever. And forever was just too damn long.

Jon is joined in his quest to discover the truth behind Michael’s death by Mara Ellison, Michael’s fiancée. Though not sharing Jon’s experience with historical adventures, Mara proves to be an adept and determined companion, channeling her emotions over Michael’s death to productive ends in bringing his killers to justice.

Mara tensed and hesitated a moment before agreeing.

“Mara, if you don’t want to come with, that’s fine. But this is just something I have to do.”

She nodded. “I understand. It’s hard for me, it is. But I think it’s something I need to do too. For Michael. And for myself. And Lord knows you could probably use all the help you can get.”

He smiled. “That I could.” Then his expression sobered.

“But you do realize how dangerous this could potentially be, right?”

“Jon, my fiancé is dead because of this. Which makes me realize both how dangerous and how important it is. I’m in.”

It soon becomes clear that not only was Michael killed because of what he had discovered in conducting his dissertation research, but his discovery is even more earth-shattering than anyone could have imagined, a devastating conspiracy that, if unveiled, could violently change eighty years of world history. The Division, the mysterious organization that has been charged with protecting this deadly national secret since the advent of the Cold War, is headed by a fanatical director named Harrison Greer, a deviously brilliant man with a single-minded goal and a ticking clock of his own.

Yes, an idea was a dangerous thing, but, thankfully, Greer and the Division only had one particular idea to keep under wraps. One secret that had been successfully swept under the rug for nearly a century. And every time someone threatened to come too close to that idea, it was the Division’s job to eliminate that threat. Unfortunately, Greer realized, in their zeal to snuff out threats before they had a chance to dispense even a whiff of the unspeakable truth on the Internet, they may have destroyed their best hope in years at finishing off the mission that Walton Greer, first director of the Division, had started.

But then again, maybe not. Greer turned the next page in the folder of intel that Recon had put together for him. He smiled despite himself. Michael Rickner had been good. Very good. According to information Recon had pulled off his computer, Rickner had uncovered a lead Greer thought the Division had covered up years ago. But Rickner found a back door into the truth. Or the beginning of it, anyway. The first bread crumb that could ultimately lead Greer to what he so desperately sought. The culmination of his family’s legacy. The one thing he absolutely needed to finish before the cancer finally claimed his life.

Greer turned the page. He smiled again, this time with teeth showing. Things might turn out alright after all. The caution that Michael Rickner had shown would be exacerbated in his replacement. As would his drive to find the Dossiers. By all reports, the replacement had a similar thought process as Michael, and was, if it were possible, even more brilliant. All the replacement needed was the proper leads. And Greer would make sure that those leads – closely controlled, of course – were extended.

Until Greer finally took hold of the Dossiers and completed his final service to his country. Until his family’s legacy was completed and his grandfather’s betrayal by Roger Blumhurst avenged. And then, the replacement would join Michael Rickner in death. Buried, along with the truth, forever.

Greer enlists the help of his two top agents to help him put the final nail in the coffin of the secret and of Jon and Mara. Enrique Ramirez, one of the most fearsome and efficient killers the country has ever known, is unfailingly dedicated to both the Division’s mandate and to Greer himself.

When Enrique joined the United States Army in the build up to NATO’s invasion of Yugoslavia in 1999, he immediately stood out as a formidable soldier. Fearless and cunning, his instincts on the ground would often lead him to improvise changes to his missions – changes that always either granted surprisingly successful results or avoided the massive casualties that the ill-conceived original plan would have incurred. Even his senior squad members listened to his advice with an open mind, usually opting to follow the rookie soldier. But when one of his improvised missions took a turn for the worse, forcing him to separate from his squad and find his own way back through enemy lines to base camp, he got his first taste of operating solo. No squadmates’ backs to watch, no predefined mission parameters, a license to kill, and a lot of bad guys to use that license on. Not only did he make it back to base camp alive, but he also managed to kill seventeen of the enemy by himself: with only an M4, a pistol, one extra clip of rifle ammo, and a knife. The last four kills, apparently, had been made after he had run out of ammo, and judging by stories that circulated later on, the families of the deceased would have had no chance of holding open casket funerals.

He had risen quickly within the ranks, being put on special assignments, and eventually, due to his loner tendencies and his ability to make operational magic happen when given a long leash, he was assigned solo assassination missions: taking out high-profile or tactical targets as a splinter cell – for the United States neither condones nor partakes in assassinations of foreign leaders… officially, at least – backed up only by minimal reconnaissance and intelligence members with whom he rarely interacted, save for the occasional radio contact. He came to like it that way. Just him and his target. His guidance counselor back in high school would have said that he was channeling his anger at his dead father toward these surrogates, the enemy combatants he so efficiently dispatched, but Enrique didn’t buy into that. He was simply good at killing people who needed to be killed. Very, very good.

Wayne Wilkins, a clever new recruit to the Division with a unique skill-set that seems tailor-made to Greer’s ingeniously unorthodox plan, struggles with the ghosts of his past as he charts a path toward his future.

Wayne had mulled over the proposal long enough for Greer to send another message, following up on the first. On one hand, he had a lot of questions about this long-term mission, questions that would likely remain unanswered unless and until he officially accepted the assignment. It would mean moving back to the States, to his hometown, no less, the site of the happier days of his life. Where dreams were once born, and where they had died in a noxious cloud of asbestos and screams.

On the other hand, it was a change, a change in a method that very much was not doing anything to ease the pain, to heal the wound he had been trying to salve with the blood

of insurgents for the better part of a decade. Perhaps here he would find the answer to his big unanswerable whys, to finally being able to put his parents’ ghosts to rest, and his insatiable guilt along with them.

He had chosen the path less traveled, and almost immediately it had made a difference. The deaths of four good men, three of whom he had been as close to as he had been to anyone in recent years, were required in order to plausibly kill him for the official record. Even his superiors in the military didn’t know the true story behind what had happened that day. Price, Sedaris, and Jenkins. All dead. All because of him. And their screams, echoing up the valley to his benumbed ears, still rang loud in his dreams.

Truly, the old Wayne had died in Iraq, not inside the burning Humvee, but while watching it. And the new Wayne had arisen from the smoldering ashes of that horrific attack, much as the smoke and fire of the falling towers had forged the hardened soldier that he had become. Only time would tell, though, time and trials that were sure to come in the near future, what form this new Wayne would take, and what destiny he would choose. There were still far too many questions swarming in his head, like a kettle of vultures circling over the corpse of his former life, deciding what to do with the carrion, and how, and when. Questions about his mission, about his government, about humanity, about his parents’ legacy, about national security and terrorism, about himself, about his past, his present, and his future.

As though on cue, his cell phone beeped in his pocket, signaling a received text message. Reluctant to be drawn from his musings, he pulled his phone from his pocket and checked the message. Unknown number. Not good.

Report to HQ. 0900. Tomorrow.

Wayne stared at the message for a moment after he’d finished reading it, his lips pressed tightly together in resignation. He took a deep breath, deleted the text message as per protocol, repocketed his phone, and, with a final longing glance toward Ground Zero, turned his back on his parents’ unmarked gravesite, beginning the long walk back to his apartment to pack his day bag for the trip. The trip.

And so it begins, he thought as he trudged northward. But the question remained: how would it end?

Wayne was still figuring that one out.

As Jon and Mara follow Michael’s footsteps from Washington D.C. to New York City, they discover the existence of a set of documents that could prove key to bringing Michael’s killers to justice and to exposing a historical cover-up of monumental proportions. But with those documents having been long hidden away from the eyes of the world by one of the most powerful men in the early twentieth-century, their quest is far from easy or straightforward, nor are they alone in their quest for the long-lost documents.  Caught between the Division’s crosshairs on their backs and the ingenious plotting of a Depression-era magnate, the pair must work together and fight through their grief to race through some of the most famous sites in the most famous city on Earth, uncovering incredible clues hidden in plain sight, to discover the devastating truth that no one could have suspected and that the seemingly all-powerful Division will do anything to protect.