On The Trail Of The Feathered Serpent

December 21, 2012: The fabled Feathered Serpent begins his relentless ascent out of the bowels of the earth, escaping thousands of years of torturous confinement. Controversial astrobiologist and archaeologist Caden Montez—who believes Teotihuacan is the best site on earth to find alien life forms, such as the Serpent—is on his trail. While exploring this so-called "City of the Gods"—a place so eerie it terrified even the most ferocious Aztecs—she discovers that the Serpent has broken free. Ancient Mayan priests prophesied that when the God-King returned, he would open the gates to the End Time. Together with an ancient 1000-year-old Mayan warrior—who has crossed the Gulf of Time to save humanity from extinction—the outrageous and beautiful Caden must stop him. Scientists, political leaders, and journalists who have long ridiculed Caden's theories have no one else to turn to. The Mayans' Fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse is on the move, and humanity's survival hangs in the balance. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Careening down a winding pass in Mexico to escape a truckload of goons wasn't how dinosaur hunter Raine Ashaway planned to meet Anson McCord, the archaeologist who'd written her regarding a possible fossil find. She'd expected the professor to be a fossil himself, but McCord's more Indiana Jones than the Mummy. And when he describes a lost Aztec city whose people worshipped a god resembling a never-before-seen species of triceratops, the news gets her blood pumping as much as his sexy Texan smile. Raine's ready to seek the city of the Feathered Serpent with McCord, but can she trust him to share the spoils? It may not matter--others will do anything to keep them from finding it

A young Spanish seminarian who the Mayas believe is their powerful god, Kukulcan, witnesses the coming of Cortes and the capture of the magnificent Aztec city, Tenochtitlan.

A 16-year-old and his companion travel by time machine to a Yucatan of more than a thousand years ago to search for the origins of the Maya god, Kukulcan.

This novel follows Reporter Peter Dewin as he tries to solve the mystery of a warning card with a drawing of a Feathered Serpent on it. Peter has been tasked with covering the story of actress Ella Creed who had been knocked outside of her home. She is given a warning card with an illustration of a Feathered Serpent on it. Peter soon discovers that millionaire, philanthropist, and African explorer Gregory Beale, boxing promoter Joe Farmer, and newly wealthy stockbroker Leicester Crewe all received a similar card. Who is threatening them? Will Peter Dewin, a reporter, solve the mystery of the feathered serpent?

Meticulously pieced together from personal experiences that come with years of travel, an extensive knowledge of the historic and scholarly works, and a deep appreciation of Latin American art and culture—both ancient and modern—critically-acclaimed biographer Neil Baldwin has created a mosaic of words and images retelling the myth of the Plumed Serpent (or Quetzalcóatl) as it has evolved through the millennia. He has also created an essential guidebook for the armchair traveller and passionate tourist alike. Only a few hours by air from the United States are the mysteries and hauntingly beautiful ruins of Mexico. Among the vines intertwined in the frail latticework of crumbling palaces, spiraling geometric motifs covering vast walls that sink beneath the jungle, and nearly vertical temple steps leading hundreds of feet to a dizzying view of sky and earth, images of Quetzalcóatl abound. The fanged, bug-eyed feathered serpent thrusts his malevolent, sneering head from the pyramid at Teotihuacán; he swims in a river of rock around the temple at Xochicalco; and at Chichén Itzá, serpent and jaguar dance on a trail of stone, their embrace spawning a monstrous snake with clawed forefeet. Depicted as part man, snake, and bird, the Plumed Serpent is the earliest known creation myth from Mesoamerica, the region spanning Mexico and most of Central America. He embodies good and evil, sky and earth, feast and famine—the duality of life itself. Steep, massive temples were built in his honor at Teotihuacán, the vast city of ruins near today’s Mexico City, and at Chichén Itzá in northern Yucatán, the intricate complex that includes the famed ballcourt. Moctezuma, the ruler of the Aztecs, mistook Hernán Cortéz and the invasion of the Spanish in 1519 for the return of Quetzalcóatl. The Catholic Church with its army of Franciscan monks adapted his legend to introduce the indigenous people to Catholicism. The myth enhanced Emiliano Zapata’s stature as a latter-day Quetzalcóatl during the Mexican Revolution. Diego Rivera and the modern muralists invoked his image to include indigenous themes in their state-sponsored art. And Quetzalcóatl inspired English author D. H. Lawrence to write a new “American novel.” These and many other tales are recounted in the words and images of Neil Baldwin’s Legends of the Plumed Serpent. Whether sharing a moment of reflection among the breathtaking ruins, delving into the historic role of Quetzalcóatl during the Spanish Conquest, or tracing the themes of revolution and rebirth in the art of Rivera, Orozco, and Siqueiros, Neil Baldwin’s enlightening prose captures the imagination. Accompanied by numerous illustrations—many photographs taken by the author, and others painstakingly researched and gathered over the past decade—Legends of the Plumed Serpent is a true labor of love.