The Wide Plains of Troy

The Wide Plains of Troy is a modern retelling of the Iliad, where men and women wage war against each other, the truth and life itself.

The novel is set in the inconspicuous town of Foxton, Massachusetts, in the ninth week of a war against a dread scourge called The Affliction.

Fierce political adversaries fight over truth and life itself-with some saying The Affliction must be fought and others saying it is nothing but a hoax. The question for them-and for our time- is: Will truth trump hatred?

Two families are central to the struggle-the Prames and the Mycenas-divided irreparably when Franco Prame somehow steals Helena, the most beautiful woman in the world, away from her husband, Manny Mycena.

Ineffectual Manny does nothing, so his forceful brother Auggie Mycena takes up the fight, while Franco's equally forceful brother, Huck, defends the Prames.

Then a 98-year-old man dies after drinking water out of a garden hose. His age would seem the likely cause, except for the fact that his tongue turned bright green. His wife dies the next day. Then others start to die. The town is in chaos. Politics obscure the battle.

A key ally to the Mycenas is Actor Myrmidon, a man who has never been sick a day in his life. Actor assumes command of the Mycena cause, until Auggie, a despicable man who keeps women prisoners in his house, sees one of his victims escape and sets out to replace her by stealing Bree, the long-lost and tragic love of Actor's life.

Actor goes into a rage and withdraws from the battle. All seems lost-when Actor's best friend, Pat Amici, takes Actor's place and charges into the fray.

Everything builds to a climax on the Saturday of the Ninth Week of The Affliction.

All of it quite literally goes up in smoke-revealing the cause of The Affliction and bringing down terrible and tragic revenge and retribution.

Rage. Love. Lust. Treachery. Death.

And throw in a Muse for good measure!