★★★★★ "All the elements of a good story are in "Valley of the queen." War, hidden treasure, ancient royalty, romance, and strong characters are combined to provide the reader with an excellent experience." Early in the tenth century in the area of present-day Vietnam, a legendary queen of the Champa (Shampa) people, Queen Dau Te Po, flees the conquering Dai-Viet army forcing her to escape west to a hidden,paradise-valley refuge. She leaves the remaining wealth of her kingdom hidden in a cave near a Cham temple. Queen Po and Champa people with their compelling devotion are the driving force behind this story. Even in the modern era of the story, everything that happens is a result of the mutual devotion of a queen and her people. During the Vietnam War Jack Largent is working as an Air Force photographer when he witnesses and photographs the aftermath of a devastating rocket attack just off the Phan Rang Air Base and near a Cham temple that kills a dozen Security Police airmen. By the 1980s, the indigenous Champa people numbering in the millions are scattered and mixed among the many nations of Southeast Asia. Their queen has been missing for a thousand years since the time of the legendary Queen Po and the fall of the Champa Kingdom. The Champa people have an ancient, embedded and compelling need to serve and obey their queen, which has left them unfulfilled for centuries. Jack's involvement becomes complicated when Catherine develops a relationship with his stellar photographic-assistant, Kelly, and he falls in love with a young Asian woman, Mai Sambath, a Vietnamese refugee, who performs production work for Catherine. Their romances are genuine but become more involved as they take up living together and their destinies intertwine. Mai professes her undying love to Jack but avoids any serious discussion of marriage because she feels there is something important she still has to do with her life. While working on Catherine's investigation of Colonel Minh, Mai discovers through an associate of his, Su Ling, that she is the long-lost queen and rightful heir to the Champa throne. ButMai is shocked by something else she discovers, and she asks Su Ling to help arrange for her to get together with Colonel Minh. In 1989, Catherine brings her investigation to Vietnam and the temple site. She brings with her Mai and Jack who are now fully involved in her investigative efforts. As a further proof that she is the rightful queen and heir to the Champa throne, Mai finds the long lost and hidden treasure of the Champa people near the Cham temple fulfilling another part of the legend surrounding Queen Po. But beyond that, Mai has her own secret plan she has kept hidden from Jack and is fully cooperative when Colonel Minhkidnaps her and takes her away to his remote, paradise-valley headquarters in Cambodia. Colonel Minh marries Mai and presents her to the Champa faithful as the return of the legendary Queen Dau Te Po. He calls on all of the Champa people to reunite with her at Siem Kulea, the traditional ancient Champa valley in northern Cambodia. He plans a revolution to take over southeast Asia and restore the Champa kingdom with him as the new king. What is Mai's secret and why does she willingly marry the vileColonel Minh? What does she do when Jack shows up trying to save her? Why was a body found buried along with the lost treasure in the cave,and what is the matchless object hidden within the four chests bearing the Champa treasure? These are only a few of the many intriguing questions presented as the Chicago friends come to the hidden paradise valley of Siem Kulea in Northern Cambodia and are confronted with a bizarre tenth-century culture, lifestyle, and traditions. Mortallyperilous situations and surprising twists lend to a story that reviewers report on Amazon as "a page-turner", "suspenseful", and "sexy".