NEW BOOK: CARTWHEEL - A SEQUEL TO DOUBLE EAGLE

Even after the success of my mystery-thriller, Double Eagle (Peachtree, 2009), I knew I would never write a sequel. Double Eagle follows two 13-year-old boys, Mike and Kyle, as they search for a hoard of Confederate 1861 gold $20 pieces in a Civil War fort in southern Alabama. At the end of the book, the boys part ways, each with one of the coins in his pocket. Although readers demanded a sequel, the improbability of repeating such a numismatic adventure kept me from a second book — until another irresistible premise crossed my desk.

I thank Daniel Carr for fueling my interest in the 1964-D Peace dollar. Until he minted his controversial fantasy version of the coin, I’d never unearthed its history. Once I learned that the Denver Mint had produced more than a quarter million 1964-D silver dollars and then melted them down again, however, I knew that I had to reunite Mike and Kyle.

Although the two central characters remain the same, Double Eagle and Cartwheel travel much different storylines. In Cartwheel, Mike and Kyle look for a coin that really did — and probably still does — exist, instead of a coin that I made up. I also raised the stakes for the two boys. Now, the boys have to find the coin to extract themselves from a disastrous situation. Finally, the book spans much greater geographical and historical territory — territory I naturally had to research in depth.

Research, in fact, has always been one of my favorite aspects of writing both fiction and nonfiction. To research Cartwheel, I traveled to the Denver Mint to get a personalized tour of the facility. I met with Dan Carr to see the amazing coin press he restored. I also corresponded with Michael Lanz, who actually helped mint the Peace dollars in May, 1965. All of this helped feed my own interests in numismatics — interests I’ve nurtured since poring through my parents’ beer stein full of Walking Liberty half dollars and Winged Liberty Head dimes as a child.

To read the complete article, see: Using the 1964-D Peace dollar to mint a new thriller novel (www.coinworld.com/Articles/ViewArticle/using-the-1964-d-peace-dollar-to-mint-a-new-t)

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