Professor Thaddeus Richards, an engineering physicist at Princeton University, discovers the world is governed by a powerful and mysterious consortium. The Principatus (Latin for ascendency) is a secret society whose members influence every seat of authority, from the halls of government to the maneuverings of Wall Street. It all begins when one of the Professor’s research subjects, an autistic savant, links via a whirlwind of predictions, the menacing actions of an international terrorist. This leads the Professor on a perilous adventure, converging at the highest levels of world power. Along the way, a prominent news commentator, Melissa Chandler, gets caught up in the investigation and accompanies him. As the danger grows, so does their attraction for one another.

As the story unwinds, the Professor’s research on the interrelation between quantum physics and human awareness leads to a captivating possibility. Throughout history, a handful of celebrated persons – explorers, conquerors, inventors, artists, poets, and scientists – have been gifted with qualities of unique perception and intellect, allowing them to shape the societies in which they’ve taken part. Such individuals exist today, as they have in the past. Despite the far-reaching hands of global superpowers and the ever-watchful eye of technology, could the opportunity arise for a lone prodigy to come forth to unabatedly control governments and dictate world policies? Could one’s inborn capacities be the sole catalyst required for such ascension?

This 78,000-word novel is written to be quick and entertaining, with short chapters and many unexpected twists to keep the reader’s interest spurred. It is a unique combination of action and adventure that seeks to attract a contemporary audience.

I am an established textbook author (Pearson – Fundamentals of HVACR, editions 1 through 4). Although successful in that genre, my passion for writing has driven me in a new direction. To ensure quality, I enlisted a copy editor for my work, David Ploskonka a senior product developer at McGraw-Hill Education.