FITHIAN PRESS

Rise, Desert Man: A tale of international intrigue and vengeance A foiled hijacking snowballs into an international incident that reopens old wounds both tribal and personal in the fast-paced high-concept thriller Rise, Desert Man by Ron Strauss. Rise, Desert Man opens on the busy concourse of Rome's Leonardo da Vinci Airport, as a band of armed Arab terrorists bent on destroying the peace process attacks the El-Al counter. Undercover Israeli agents respond, and a bloodbath ensues. Dozens of passengers as well as hijackers are killed, but the hijacking is prevented. Italian military police capture some of the hijackers, but some escape, including their leader, Nayeff, the world's most wanted assassin, who also commanded the 1972 Munich Olympics attack. As it turns out, the father of one of the athletes killed at Munich is now the Prime Minister of Israel, Moshe Ben Kadar, making vengeance a personal as well as political necessity. Among the innocents killed at Da Vinci Airport are the daughter and grandson of Israel's most revered and feared undercover Israeli-Arab operative, Colonel Pasha Ed-Al, a friend and longtime comrade-in-arms of Ben Kadar, who gives Pasha immediate command of an extraterritorial commando unit. But the Prime Minister's widowed daughter-in-law, the beautiful Shoshona, releases her secret love for Pasha, for she fears losing him to his intense desire for personal vengeance. The next day, Nayeff's gang kidnaps American General Ambrose Cutcliff, the secret commander of American nuclear forces in Europe, to trade for their men held by the Italians. Cutcliff, it turns out, is also the lifelong friend of U.S. President Charles Brandon, who is now also involved in the affair. The CIA locates Nayeff's hideout near Sorrento, and mercenaries are employed for a stealth incursion into Italy. Thus the stage is set for an international covert operation involving the American, Israeli, and Italian governments, each of which has its own agenda. World peace hangs in the balance as Shoshona, motivated by love, attempts to shepherd the warriors to peace at the eleventh hour. Is there no way for a desert man to rise above the tangle of history that has plagued the Middle East since time began? The novel's surprising finale answers the question.

About the Author
Ron Strauss was born and raised in Philadelphia, PA and attended primary and secondary schools there. He played varsity football at Abraham Lincoln High School. Upon graduation in 1958, he attended Temple University and the University of Miami, receiving a Bachelor of Arts with a major in Political Science from the latter in 1962, and a Juris Doctor degree in 1965.

Ron has practiced law in Miami for more than thirty-five years, primarily in the trial field (civil and criminal). He's an AV rated attorney (Martindale-Hubbell). In 1991, his then law partner, Shelby Highsmith, was appointed to the federal bench, where he currently presides. He's a partner in the law firm of Strauss, Schomber and Williams PA (Coconut Grove). He also is a Florida Supreme Court certified mediator.

As a young lawyer Ron Strauss was employed by the noted Miami Beach criminal defense attorney, Harvey St. Jean. He participated in several highly publicized criminal trials, including the Murph the Surf Trial; Star of India Ransom Trial; and the Candace Mossler Murder Trial. He's worked nationally known attorneys, including Percy Forman (Texas). Strauss has had a wide variety of clients--from indigents to the rich and famous--including singer-actor Kenny Rogers, singer and race car driver Enzo Stuarti, former pro football player Mercury Morris, and comedian Gallagher. His civil cases have also produced verdicts in the million dollar range, and he's successfully represented clients in civil rights litigation and medical malpractice litigation in both federal and state courts.

Ron Strauss has two children. His first wife and the mother of the children died of cancer when they were young, and Ron became Mr. Mom. Kim is thirty and lives in New York City where she is an account executive at Young and Rubicam, an international advertising agency. Kim also designed the dusk jacket for Rise Desert Man. She's a graduate of Tufts University and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, as well as the Maryland Institute of Fine Arts, where she received her Masters of Fine Arts degree. Guy is a drummer in the rock band Tender Idols. They're currently on tour promoting their new CD, Step On Over.

Ron remarried about six years ago, and he lives in Coconut Grove, Florida with his wife, Doreen, and her daughter Liana. Rise, Desert Man is his first novel, but he's in the process of writing his second, Mind Shaft, a murder mystery that takes place in present day Miami.