J. R. Ortiz

Libertas Americana (Book 2 American Amaranth Anthology) J. R. Ortiz

In Libertas Americana, Book Two of the American Amaranth Anthology, brothers  are brought together by CIA Director Joseph Mitrano in a mission to Europe to stop a terror plot destined for the American homeland. Assisted by other CIA and US Naval Intelligence officers - and agents from France, Switzerland, Poland, and the Ukraine - the Stansfields take the reader on a high-risk odyssey along the Danube, Main, and Rhine rivers in a classic tale of "Good versus Evil".
 
As in Homer's idealized epic heroes - the mortal fears, strengths, and weaknesses of a diverse cast of champions are studied philosophically. The villain antagonists are also morally investigated in detail. The virtues espoused in American Amaranth are seen in the actions of the various individual proponents of liberty throughout the novel.
 
Each chapter in Libertas Americana is introduced by the "Ghost of Wisdom". The thoughts expressed are both delicate and provoking. They are made to cause the reader to sense both calm spirituality and brutal fear, distrust, and apprehension. The "Ghost" takes the reader to the extremes of human emotion. It is in these extremes of contemplation where you, like the characters in the novel, are torn between what should be and what often is. The thoughts reflect life's realities, whether we accept them or not. Perhaps, the "Ghost" is someone you knew and loved. We all have a "Ghost of Wisdom" inside of us.
 
The journey, on which you are about to embark, follows a cast of freedom fighters as they risk their lives to stop a human calamity. Their thoughts and emotions are dissected to better understand the concepts of honor, courage, hope, love, justice, and the spiritual need for liberty. It explores the human mind and all its complexities in the eternal struggle for freedom.
It exposes the sad losses of war. Love and hope, and all other virtuous human sentiments, suffer, but do not succumb to the despair of war.
It is a foreboding, cautionary tale.