The Golden Isle By Frank G Slaughter

Back in the 40's, Slaughter, a medical doctor and surgeon who graduated from Duke University Magna Cum Laude at 18 and Johns Hopkins at 22, took up his pen and wrote at least 30 novels. They dealt with hospitals and doctors and nurses, socialized medicine and medical schools; interesting yarns about people and places real and imaginary.. He also wrote about the South and the Civil War, He wrote historical\biblical novels and adventure novels. The first book I read was "In a Dark Garden" about the Civil War, I found it in a "rec" room at Chanute Air Force Base where I was going to "Weather Man School". Over the years I read every one of his stories.
Golden Isle was published in 1947 by Doubleday; cost $3.00. I found it in an attic. A ships surgeon in shanghaied and blackmailed to serve at an African slave collection station and then aboard the slave ship that carries it's cargo to the Americas in the early 1700's.

Slaughter's novels always gave detailed descriptions of medical procedures and he was true to the "Bodice Ripper" genre of his times as his heroes found their lady loves.

Some other favorites:
"That None Should Die"
"Lorena"
"The Mapmaker"
"Devils Harvest"
Pilgrims in Paradise"
"The Curse of Jezebel"
I, very recently found one of his novels in a used book box; cost me a dollar but I am rereading "A Savage Place" and I will keep it on my bookshelf in case anyone wants to try him out.

The Charlemagne Pursuit By Steve Berry

Steve Berry’s hero, Cotton Malone, has seen the Treasure of the Templar Knights, the library of Alexandria, the tomb of Alexander the Great and the Amber Room of Russia; now he is in pursuit of an ancient culture that predates recorded history and supposedly was much more advanced in science, mathematics, architecture and civics than any other civilization and had some influence on early man as he developed. Berry has used actual history and myths to tell the story of the hunt for the these people, called the “Ahnenerbe”, which began in Antarctica. The Americans, the Germans, The French and the Russians have followed clues and writings from artifacts discovered in Antarctica and much earlier when Otto III opened Charlemagne’s tomb 1200 years ago and supposedly discovered a book of containing writing unknown to any people.
The Germans, under Hitler, decided that the old "superior" race must be German and they wanted to prove their “Arian Race” theory. The Americans were heavily involved in the Cold War and if this old race had technology that would give them an advantage they wanted the secrets. Everything the United States did was cloaked in secrecy and there was rivalry between the politicians and branches of the Pentagon.
Even for Berry, the story surrounding the history is a bit far fetched; lots of thrilling action a bit of gratuitous sex,clearly defined good guys and bad guys and lots of geography. Berry really does his research. Best part for me was learning more about Otto III and Charlemagne by going on the internet. Reading about the accomplishments of the old race “the first civilization” and how references to such a people is found in Egypt, and other early cultures is certainly food for thought.
Good Berry novel!

Stealing Athena By Karen Essex

Wonderfully researched, the story transverses the time of the Napoleonic Wars when a young heiress marries the British Ambassador to Constantinople and Greece two millenna earlier. The Ambassador, Lord Elgin, is determined to get permission to deconstruct the Parthenon and Athena’s Shrine, his beautiful and charming wife, Mary, helps him to obtain the firman . This will eventually cost him his fortune, his wife’s fortune and eventually his marriage. Two thousand years earlier, Apasia, a female philosopher and courtesan assists Pericles in defending the idea of building the exquisite monuments for the glory of Athens.
The descriptions of life in early Greece are fascinating; the powerful notion that the Greek Gods rule all aspects of life and that Athena was responsible for all good and directly punished all bad played a central part in the theme. Interestingly, the novel described a trial in Athens where Apasia is accused of insulting the gods, the manner in which she is accused and her limited defense because she was a woman. Mary Elgin is also tried in court for adultery and as an "unfit" mother.
The author, Karen Essex, has taken characters out of history and put them into a splendid tale of romance and adventure. This was an excellent read! Ms Essex’s other novels include very strong heroines.

The Testament By Eric Van Lustbader

Braverman Shaw—"Bravo" to his friends—always knew his father had secrets. But not until Dexter Shaw dies in a mysterious explosion does Bravo discover the enormity of his father’s hidden life as a high-ranking member of the Order of Gnostic Observatines, a sect founded by followers of St. Francis of Assisi and believed to have been wiped out centuries ago. For more than eight hundred years, the Order has preserved an ancient cache of documents, including a long-lost Testament attributed to Christ that could shake Christianity to its foundations. Dexter Shaw was the latest Keeper of the Testament—and Bravo is his chosen successor.

Before Dexter died, he hid the cache where only Bravo could find it. Now Bravo, an accomplished medieval scholar and cryptanalyst, must follow the esoteric clues his father left behind. His companion in this quest is Jenny Logan, a driven young woman with secrets of her own. Jenny is a Guardian, assigned by the Order to protect Bravo, or so she claims. Bravo soon learns that he can trust no one where the Testament is concerned, perhaps not even Jenny . . .

Another secret society, the Knights of St. Clement, originally founded and sponsored by the Papacy, has been after the Order’s precious cache since the time of the Crusades. The Knights, agents and assassins, will stop at nothing to obtain the treasure. Bravo has become both a target and a pawn in an ongoing war far larger and more deadly than any he could have imagined.
This was an exciting adventure.