In this sequel to the internationally acclaimed thriller, The Adamantine Heart, renowned scholar and special consultant to the FBI, Dr. William Russell Sheridan, shares with us one of the most difficult and challenging cases of his career. Death disturbs the tranquility of the pristine wilderness of the Boundary Waters, the great chain of lakes and islands separating Minnesota and Canada. A local fishing guide reels in a shocking catch from the depths of Lake Kabetogama. Authorities are unable to identify the anonymous body and have no choice but to close the case and log it as a suicide. Peace returns to the wilderness and life on the lake returns to normal. On a whim, the St. Louis County Sheriff asks his good friend, Professor Sheridan, if he is interested in reviewing the case. Despite his need to finish a new textbook describing his analytical methods for the FBI, Sheridan agrees. As luck would have it, the two elite German detectives with whom Sheridan worked to successfully solve the case of The Adamantine Heart, are visiting on vacation. The three detectives agree to investigate the case, but they discover that solving the riddle of a dead man no one seems to know or care about is a seemingly impossible task. They embark on a journey of discovery that will severely test Sheridan’s experience and his methods of crime detection and investigation. Using Sheridan’s method of semiotic analysis, the riddle of the man’s identity is puzzled together piece by painstaking piece. As a result, a deeper, more nefarious mystery emerges, one that has profound consequences for the national security of the United States and its anti-ballistic missile defense program. Fans of James Lee Burke, Frederick Forsyth, Donna Leon, and Martin Cruz Smith, are certain to enjoy Sheridan’s works! Dr. Sheridan’s next exciting novel derived from his declassified personal case files will be published as The Bavarian.
