Gary Chambers recruits his ex-army friend, Zack Gamble, and a Williams College geology teacher, Elaine Whittier, to hunt for diamonds on a summer cross-country trek.

Unaware of a host of other forces at work they are immediately caught up in a small-time bank robbery that sets a torrid pattern of misadventures.

Unexplained assaults, the mysterious appearance of Alyssa Hawthorne, a young, beautiful DeBeers geologist, and a siege of perilous encounters from Colorado to the Great Lakes region, all remain unexplained. Duplicity within their ranks seems to be the only logical explanation, but how? By whom?

Next the prospectors move on to a promising new site, one that’s in the proximity of the ongoing Missouri River flood control project at Pierre, SD. And that has its own issues; the relocation of the Sioux Indian Nation’s reservation, which adds more to the adversities. At the same time a South Dakota lobbyist and his constituents ratchet up pressure when they close the control gates and begin creating the new lake.

At the same time Hawthorne’s American DeBeers contact sees complications from Gary’s treasure hunting and hires a hit man to remove Gary, his team and Alyssa Hawthorne.

The hit man arrives. The Oahe Dam gates are closed. The lake begins to form. Then a surprising discovery, a promising but inaccessible diamond-studded cave; all converge when one of nature’s unique tricks adds another dangerous dimension to a wild climax.

Bitter Diamonds An Authors Dream Publishing, LLC P.O. Box 8217 Brownsville, TX 78526 ISBN: 978-0-9771091-8-0; 0-9771091-8-6 308 pages; $14.95

Charles Kittle Biography

Born and raised in Massachusetts, Charles graduated from the University of Massachusetts in 1957 with an engineering degree. Employment included Ford Motor Company, Union Carbide Corporation, Hill Engineering, an engineering company partnership and concluded as engineering manager at Crane & Co. Inc.

He retired in 1996. He is married and has five children. In 1984 he supervised the construction of an in-ground house in which he has resided ever since.

After retiring, Charles renewed a long dormant interest in writing and now writes diligently during New England’s cold winter months. He has one novel published, Northern Perceptions, (PublishAmerica), and one short story in Aim Magazine. He is an active member of The Berkshire Writer’s Room, a local writing organization.