Jacob's Rose

About the Book

     Operation Gemini is the name of a project undertaken by assistant deputy director Larry Walker of the CIA. Word reaches the Joint Chiefs of Staff that instability in the nation of Gabon could have ramifications of a global nature, especially in the realm of the world´s supply of weapon´s grade uranium. Due to political pressures from the Hill in Washington, most of the top brass agree that it would be best to let nature take its course, especially since that course appears to be rather favorable. Larry Walker, who has ambitions of his own, not to mention a long seething vendetta, painstakingly maps out a stratagem of his own to circumvent the will of his superiors. He´s had it planned for a long time, and has designed it to be foolproof. Disregarding orders, he puts it in motion on a time schedule too rapid for anyone to do anything about it.

     Alpha Team, the elite of the elite among Special Forces teams, is sent in to handle the disquieting situation in Africa. Duke, the team´s leader, is a rock-hard veteran of many such campaigns. A steeled veteran of the Vietnam War and a military hero, Duke brings his team of twelve well honed experts into the jungles of Gabon, under the shroud of night, with a mission to bring to an end the last shred of instability in the region. His team is the best of the best, and Duke is convinced that such is the reason they´ve been called off of one mission, and sent on this one. Walker knows that this was only a secondary consideration-the first being plans he´d made long ago.

     Pere is the simple, but affectionate title given to a man who has dedicated his entire life to lessening some of the suffering of the masses of humanity-a missionary priest in the service of the ideals and the God he holds so dear. Tragic circumstances in his own life have contributed to his being at the focus of this incident. His skills at oratory are legend. His closest friends number in the dozens; but his admirers and followers are legion, numbering in the hundreds of thousands-rendering him a dangerous weapon in the hands of those whose ambitions are less than altruistic. Pere has been at the focal point of many such tempests in third world countries, resulting in at least one call to appear before the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith in the Vatican itself. Living most of his adult life amid the poverty and squalor of third-world nations, Pere too, has become utterly disillusioned with the magnitude of man´s inhumanity to man, and his own perceptions of how beauty is in the heart and soul of the beholder.

     In the tiny Village of Dumbase a clash between two worlds is about to take place. It would be simplistic, and inaccurate, to state that it seemed a conflict of good vs. evil, for which would be good and which would be evil can only be a matter of opinion. Rest assured, however, that both good and evil are never far away, as are fame and dishonor, and life and death. At stake is a titanic struggle within the souls of the combatants, and the machinations that drive them. The one, at the urging of a secular authority, driven by patriotism and a sense of duty; the other driven by personal convictions and what he considers a "higher" authority.

      There is high action, suspense, intrigue, and drama when a rogue CIA operation, motivated by ambition and revenge, runs headlong into conflicts with international despotism, a civil war, the human spirit, and unabridged hatred. Jacob´s Rose is the story of one man´s search for destiny, and another man´s fate. It is about decisions that nobody would ever want to be placed in the position of having to make, and with situations one could only dread the very thought being placed within. As the cryptic and prophetic Sophie Glin recites at the bapti

About the Author

Don M. Shannon and William J. Heffner have been friends for more than a quarter of a century. Shannon is the author of two other books: “A Star for Waggoner,” and “Dares Go Last.” He is a teacher at Ecole Classique School in Metairie, Louisiana. William, “Billy” Heffner, is a former USAF recruiting officer who lives with his wife and children in Metairie. He is a physician recruiter for MSI Inc. and enjoys debate and discussion of hot political issues. Jacob’s Rose is a collaborative effort the two embarked upon nearly a decade ago. Many of its events have proven to be frighteningly prophetic.