MARK OF THE DEVILMay 1945: Only hours before peace is declared, a German U-boat steals south en route to Buenos Aires with a secret more precious to the Third Reich than gold. Following detection by American destroyers, the U-boat seeks refuge from a devastating attack only to suddenly disappear. October 2001: From Florida's Northeast Coast and the unnerving underwater exploration of a sunken WW-II German U-boat's corpse-filled interior to the ancient city of Koblenz, Germany, former Navy Special Warfare officer and head of security for a congressionally funded archeological agency, Matt Berkeley searches for identification of the submarine, its mission and the long-hidden secret locked within its hull. Berkeley's pursuit of the truth leads him to the vaults of the German National Archives and a nightmare of gunfire and murder; to an elderly widow and her horrifying memories of the Auschwitz death camp; and to discovery of a single gold ingot bearing the "Mark of the Devil." Finally, to the submarine's most guarded secret, the revelation of which could disgrace forever the Catholic Church in the eyes of the world. Each mind-shattering event plunges Berkeley down a path littered with lies, betrayal, and death.
