Baden-Powell's Beads

Book excerpt: "'I've searched for you.' The patient struggled to get the words out. 'There are...more.' 'More what, Mr. Baroni?' Perspiration beaded on the old man's upper lip and his already pale complexion blanched. He pulled Freeman closer and gasped, 'I'm sorry. Find the others...'" In Memphis, Tennessee, Dr. David Freeman is given a strange wooden bead by a dying patient and soon finds himself pursued by a murderous band of Zulus, thought to be responsible for the gruesome murders of three elderly gentlemen in London, England. Homeland Security agents Patrick Dartson and Adnan Fazeph are assigned the case and discover Freeman's bead to be one of twenty-four passed along to the world's first Scoutmasters in 1919 by Lord Baden-Powell in England. The Zulus are not content to merely steal the talisman but feel it necessary to ritually behead the owner in order to restore the bead's power. Much of the beads' history and power remains a mystery-and the Zulus may not be alone in their pursuit. The agents devise a plot to capture the Zulus alive but can they succeed before Freeman and his girlfriend, Pam Blanchard, become their next victims? "Baden-Powell's Beads," the first book in the Beads series, is based on the true story of Zulu beads recovered in the Boer War. Paul Parsons uses historically accurate events and religious history to weave a gripping, fast-paced thriller that keeps readers enthralled until the very end.