Forgotten Books: The Source of Fear -- Bill S. Ballinger

Is this a terrible cover, or what? It wasn't the cover itself that caught my attention, however. It was the blurb. A lost city? A fantastic treasure? I'm there. As for the two men with a beautiful woman, there's no sex in the book, and there's no rivalry for the woman, who certainly never dresses like the one in the photo. The man never dresses like that, either.

John Macon has recently retired from one of those super-secret government agencies that no one can talk about. He has $25,000, and he's looking for a way to invest it. He falls in with a disreputable Indiana Jones type named Butcher. Butcher is a guy who takes the Bible literally, and he convinces Macon that they can find the city of Sodom just by following biblical clues. Macon is gradually convinced, and off they go to Israel, where, as usual in these stories, things don't go exactly as planned. Pretty soon Macon, Butcher, and the beautiful woman are on the run from some very bad people. Or maybe on the walk. There's not a lot of running in the desert.

While they're trying to escape, as often happens, they make a discovery. It's a good one, but I'm not telling what it is. After that, things get a little woo-woo, which in a book like this isn't necessarily a bad thing. I got a kick out of it, particularly the final revelation. Those of you who like this kind of thing might want to check it out.