Red Lion

Red Lion is a story of mystery and international intrigue. The novel spans the era from the Great Depression to the culmination of the Cold War and presupposes a different scenario of events leading to the dissolution of the Soviet Union - a scenario more technologically decisive and perilous than the historical circumstances that actually brought down the Iron Curtain. The theme of the novel is woven through two persons who lead mutually exclusive lives, but as the story evolves, develop an unexpected and intertwined relationship. Timothy Hudson is a foundling left on the steps of a Baltimore, Maryland church rectory on New Year's Eve, 1924. As a teenageer, he is the subject of a mysterious disappearance, which is only explained many years after the fact. Rob Kimbee is a newly appointed U.S. Secretary of Defense, circa 1980, who has been thrust into the task of developing a powerful, but controversial, high energy laser weapons system. The clandestine nature of the project brings personal and political problems to Rob, which are exacerbated by covert Soviet attempts to uncover the nature of the highly classified project. Although Red Lion is fictional, the eventual success of directed energy research could result in a huge shift in the technological balance of power and precipitate an era of political turmoil similar to that noted in the book.