A Gathering of Diamonds

Ravaged by PTSD caused by his combat tour of Vietnam, Tom Logan is bedridden. He’s lost everything, his friends, wife, and job to his depression and recurrent nightmares. When his brother goes missing in the wilds of Arkansas, he summons the strength to go looking for him. What he finds along the way far exceeds his worst nightmare, and his wildest dream.

In the village of Turkey Gap, in the foothills of the Ouachita Mountains, Tom meets John Stewart and his granddaughter Mary Ann. The young woman guides him into the mountains to search for clues. They are faced with other problems: Tom's recurrent nightmares, a hell-raising biker gang, a local millionaire industrialist polluting the countryside and illegally strip-cutting National Forest land, and two serial killers that live in the mountains and kill for pleasure.

Their quest leads them on mules down a narrow trail into a deeply incised valley covered by clouds from persistent hydrothermal activity. They discover a virtual fantasy world where butterflies are as big as kites, and diamonds and other gemstones litter the ground. They also find a thriving community populated by people from another historical time and place.