Heat of Passion

Joe Crowne is a poor boy from Brooklyn with a burning ambition to write… to be a storyteller. 

Thanks to natural street smarts and ruthless ambition, Joe tears himself free from a world of gangsters, drug dealers, prostitutes, and pimps. In his sights is the unmatched glamour of Hollywood… the dolce vita of Europe… and all the glitter and self-indulgence that comes with success.  Yet as much as Joe wants fame, excess, and easy sex, he hungers for real love. 

The Storyteller is a ticket to the hidden fantasy world of beautiful people, to luxury and desire... it is the story of a brilliant young man whose every American dream came true.

Art investigator Madison Dupre knew the offer was too good to be true: $20,000 for a quick trip to Dubai, the fantastic Arabian Nights city on the Persian Gulf.  The call came from Sir Henri Lipton, a man who was supposed to be dead—and who she sincerely had hoped was burning in hell because he had ruined her career before his violent “demise.”  He told her only one tantalizing thing about the piece of art: “Let’s just say it’s a couple thousand years old and was buried with Christ.”  The fact the offer came from a man wanted on three continents for art looting was fair warning that there would be a catch. 

But with credit collectors and an avaricious landlord pounding at her door, Madison listened when the devil whispered magic words in her ear: $20,000– cash – upfront.  There was a catch, of course.  A number of them.  Sir Henri was up to his neck in conspiracies and needed someone to deflect the danger onto—not to mention frame for the most audacious art theft in history.  Dubai, a city that has been called Las Vegas on steroids, would just be the first stop for Madison on a quest that takes her to an ancient Mesopotamian city, the dark streets of exotic Istanbul, Venice at Carnival time, and a cathedral where the most sacred object of Christendom is stored.  Along the way, she finds romance in the arms of a Russian agent who she doesn’t trust—and can’t resist.