Frost of Heaven

Tashi is enigmatic and perplexing, raised as a queen and trained in the Tantric Arts to see every blade of grass in a field and every hint of desire in a man’s eyes. Peter is an American journalist out to solve long-buried riddles in his life. Together they share an exotic journey across Calcutta and the Himalayas, in search of a secret older than time.
Duncan MacKinzie was an RAF pilot who set out three decades before on a secret mission in the Himalayas, never to be seen again. Peter MacKinzie, the son he never knew, is now a thirty-year-old American investigative reporter.
Peter quits his job to unravel the mysteries surrounding his father’s disappearance. He travels to London, where he soon discovers that his father’s ill-fated mission is still shrouded in secrecy. The more he digs the more unanswered questions he uncovers. And somebody is determined to keep him in the dark, as Peter finds out when he is first kidnapped and then framed for murder. Staying one step ahead of the police and the thugs on his trail, Peter travels to Calcutta in pursuit of Tashi, a beautiful and mysterious woman who holds some of the answers. But when he confronts her, Tashi is less than willing to part with her carefully guarded secrets.
Peter unearths another piece of the puzzle when he steals a Calcutta museum map of an ancient tomb, hidden in the mountains of Tibet, which he learns his father was searching for. There lie the ultimate answers to his father’s disappearance—and to a mysterious power source that has been hidden for millennia. Peter must brave the bitterly cold and treacherous pathways of the Himalayas, while dodging attacks from his pursuers, as he follows in his father’s thirty-year-old footsteps.
“This absorbing debut thriller set in remote lands offers penetrating character studies along with colorful, nonstop action . . . Podrug deftly depicts his diverse locales from modern London and contemporary, ageless Calcutta to Tibet and Mongolia, providing rare texture for his plot of violence and danger.” Publishers Weekly
“Podrug is a talented writer with a knack for startling images and a real gift for capturing the seamy downside of cities . . . The author has a fine reporter’s eye . . . he’s captivating and dour in his descriptions of the Tibetan landscape or in a harrowing account of contemporary Calcutta.” Kirkus Reviews
An “old fashioned novel of romantic adventure in the trackless wastes of the Himalayas . . . a good Hitchcockian hero . . . plenty of action and intrigue . . . a lot of color, panoramic shots of locales ranging from Calcutta to Tibet . . . It’s intended to entertain and that’s what it does.” Locus Magazine
“A compelling thriller . . . “ Cardiff Western Mail (Britain)
“A savage thriller . . . recalls Raiders of the Lost Ark or Rider Haggard’s adventures.” Liverpool Daily Post (Britain)
“Fast and entertaining . . . an accomplished first novel.” Rocky Mountain News
“If this thriller doesn’t entertain you, you’re dead . . . spectacular debut . . . it’s fast, raw and compelling . . . and damn intriguing . . .” David Morrow, New York Times bestselling author
Best First Novel Award from the Unreal Worlds Fantasy, Science Fiction and Horror Awards.