Stairway of the Gods

In this suspenseful novel set in the 1980s, Warren neatly introduces his engaging leads, Paul Webster and Joan Davis, by opening with their meeting on a houseboat in San Francisco and their subsequent courtship. Twenty-five years later, their lives resemble something out of an action movie, by which time many readers will already have identified with Paul and Joanie and will root for them to overcome various daunting challenges. Paul has finally abandoned advertising to do some serious writing, while Joanie’s work takes her to Manila to collect pieces for an exhibition of early Asian art. Her continued professional success leads her to become a museum director, but their relatively mundane life together gets thrown for a loop on a return trip to the Philippines. After Paul barely survives an earthquake, Joan stumbles on the riches that Japanese general Tomoyuki Yamashita was rumored to have concealed during WWII. What follows requires some suspension of disbelief, but the well-constructed characters compensate for some over-the-top developments. [em](BookLife) [/em]