New Paragraph
A Potter's Tale
7th century AD; 1935
Archeologists unearth the massive tomb of Pakal, the greatest Mayan king, in the Palenque, Mexico. It's the discovery of the century, they think. They're wrong. Instead, deep in the pyramid that holds the seventh-century ruler, hides a primitive codex, predicting the collapse of the solar system. It's the discovery of the century, maybe of all time.
World War II
Deciphered by Alan Turing, the war's cryptographer-genius, the codex is jealously guarded by the Astronomers, a deadly offshoot of the Catholic Church. They've compromised or killed anyone with knowledge of the secret - presidents, for example.
Today
The codex pulls many into its orbit. Noah Scott, a physician-turned reporter, and his partner Kate investigate the murder of DiShannia, an extraordinarily bright teen recognized for her research on the demise of the Mayan civilization. The murder prompts Kate and Noah to pursue DiShannia's mentors across half the world: in Washington DC, in London's British Museum, in the Center for Nuclear research in Geneva, and Melbourne, Australia. Each step enlightens them, offers them clues. Frightens them.
Will the world end? The Potter knows the answer. Noah, Kate discover it. We learn it too - on the last page.
How did the novel come to be? Read Graham Rockingham's account in the the Hamilton Spectator."
The Mayan empire, spanning a millennium in the first centuries after Christ, rose to prominence in what is now Mexico and its neighboring countries. Palenque, where A Potter's Tale begins, figured prominently in the world of the Maya. Its king, Pacal the Great, ruled for decades, holding peace as a high ideal. He was mostly successful, until, under mysterious circumstances, the empire collapsed, its civilization abandoned.
The Last Immortal
The Background
One by one, members of a graduating class of Washington's Georgetown physicians, each of them a genius, are kidnapped one by one. Simultaneously, across the world, archeologists uncover secrets older than history itself. Strangely, the two stories are linked, leading to a global chase, and a dramatic resolution in exotic, mysterious Dubai.
Read the adventure of a lifetime - a long one
Join Noah Scott, the only Georgetown graduate to escape his kidnapping, Annie Van Stuyvesant, an eccentric archeologist, and Sebastian Kane, the world's wealthiest man, as they bring the two stories - strands of a bizarre DNA - together.
Help answer these questions
Why die?
What would you do to live forever?
It’s the end of a long shift for Noah.
Patient care, especially in a Brazilian primary care clinic, is endlessly demanding. This is Noah’s favorite time though —it’s quiet, the clinic empty, the charts calling to him. Suddenly, there’s a pounding on the door, an insistent late night patient and a desperate run to save a life. A run that plunges Noah into danger. He’s not alone. In the nation's capital and elsewhere, his classmates are at risk, involved in a dangerous game not of their making - becoming human guinea pigs. All in the name of immortality.
How did the game start? When did the game start?
More importantly, how will it end? And, how will it affect you and me?
Interested? Get your copy of the Last Immortal here
and, coming soon..
The Story of a Medical School in the Warsaw Ghetto
A note from Dave
This story, my third novel, commemorates the incredible courage and industry of the nearly half-million Jews who lived (and died for the most) part in the Warsaw Ghetto during WWII. Documents that marked their lives - love letters, photos, calendars, notes, essays and poems - were held in milk cans and other containers just like this one, collected by a group called the Oneg Shabat.
Held in these containers and the eye witness accounts of many, there emerges a true story - how a medical school was created under the noses of the Nazi regime, teaching as many as 500 students. An example of bravery and innovation, the school was conceived and led by Julius Zweibaum, a scientist, humanitarian and remarkable medical educator - and its founding dean.
How did I learn about the school in the first place? Years ago, in a Toronto family practice, one of my patients was a student at the school; her story has called me ever since.
Imagine...
Studying for an anatomy quiz while worrying if you'll have anything to eat, or if you or your parents might be shot at any minute. Imagine!
Coming soon
A novel based on the true life story of one man, Juliusz Zweibaum, his students, colleagues and citizens of Warsaw. How did the idea come to him? How did he fool the Nazis? Did he survive? Did his students survive?
Interested? Stay tuned
On January 27th each year, a streetcar makes its way around Warsaw. It is empty, except for thousands of ghosts, those killed in the Warsaw Ghetto in WW2. It is marked by a Star of David, the eternal symbol of an eternal people. January 27th is Holocaust Remembrance Day.