Book excerpt: Methuselah's Pillar moves at quantum speed as the action thriller combines worlds of germ warfare, espionage, myth and ancient history. A shepherd minding his flock thinks he's heard thunder. He's soon running for his life as rockets swoosh by. A missile explodes on a ravine hillside and opens a crevasse. He dives in for cover but falls into an ancient sanctuary where he finds a lost ancient artifact known as Methuselah's Pillar. According to legend, Methuselah had received the inscribed pillar from his seven times great grandfather, Adam, and then went on to become the oldest man who ever lived. Later, Moses possessed the pillar and delivered the Hebrews from the powerful Egyptian army with miracles. Did some of Moses' divine help come from another time and place? Does the pillar contain information, secrets, that today's scientists could find extremely helpful, or deadly, to humanity? American surveillance drones in Afghanistan discover something that demands closer investigation. Samantha Conway, a renowned archaeologist and expert in ancient writings, soon finds herself caught between the CIA and insurgents in a race to translate miraculous recipes of life and death as the last and most deadly of Moses' plagues returns.