Martyn Burke

Tiara Martyn Burke

Originally published by Harper Collins.

FRANK AND ZOOT are two battle-scarred romantics. Friends and adventurers who have distinguished themselves by flying
unpopular missions in various undeclared wars, they repeatedly smack into turbulence in their own lives. Frank's need to be in "the kingdom of the air" invariably triumphs over any desire for a quiet and routine life. And Zoot has never quite recovered from the breakup of his marriage to the beautiful Lela, who vanished mysteriously from his life over twenty years ago. He's tried to forget her - replace her with other women - but has failed miserably.

Now Zoot's entire life's mission is to find Lela, and Willard - the enigmatic man from Washington whom Frank and Zoot refer to
as the Prince of Darkness - has promised to reveal her whereabouts if he and Frank will retrieve a priceless object code-named "Tiara" from Baghdad before the Gulf War hits. So what's Tiara? Nuclear weaponry, gold bars, secret documents? Wrong. Tiara's a fiery young woman with absolutely no intention of leaving her clothing, video-tapes and parties behind because of an
inconvenient war.

In their many and varied adventures, Zoot and Frank have never encountered anything or anyone quite like Tiara. The struggle to
bring her to safety is at turns hilarious and poignant, a battle of strong wills and deep emotions, not to mention a little fracas with
some materialistic Iraqi soldiers.

Funny, sexy and studded with wry zingers on love, lust and the aches and pains of the soul, Tiara is a wild romp of a novel, a non-
stop adventure tale, zapped with real danger and deadpan humor.