Birds of Darkness

Rape is a violent act. Fittingly this is a violent story behind it; a story set in a violent land: Alaska, North of the Arctic Circle.

Rape, a silent and vicious act, is one, in our human society that very often, definitely too often, goes unpunished, unrequited, ignored by the military, by world courts of law and religious leaders in all denominations. Rape has been considered a man's prerogative, a man's right if you will for centuries. Perhaps not on the books, but in the unseen worlds and silent deeds between the lines, beneath the dark robes of judges and darker thoughts of many self-emasculated politicians, who verbally deplore pornography, yet keep it encrypted in corners of their laptops - tied up in the old lace between their legs. To these insecure beings, sex (a beautiful act in itself) is dirty.

BIRDS OF DARKNESS, a work of fiction, is based on fact. Captain Adriana O'Donavan, an ex air force officer and ace fighter pilot decorated in the second Gulf War, is gang raped by five fellow officers. Unconscious, she is driven into the blistering mid-eastern desert and, naked, left to die in the sand and sun. Found by natives, her mutilated, sunburned body is dropped at a military medical facility. Revived, she is determined to bring the guilty before a military court.

Laying her accusations before her commanding officer, Captain O'Donavan is told that she is lucky to be alive and, for her sake and the sake of the reputation of the US Military, to just shut up about the whole episode. Adriana forces the issue. As a result, she is stripped of her rank and forced to retire. The lady refuses to give in. As a civilian she quietly sets up a flying service headquartered in Fairbanks, Alaska and take the law into her own hands. In those hands, justice prevails.

About the Author: Ben attended the U of Alaska and homesteaded in College Alaska on China Ridge. He worked for the forest service and for Wien Alaska Airlines in Umiat on the Colville River. He was a guide for the Arctic Research Lab on the north slopes of the Brooks Range. He presently lives and writes in La Veta, Colorado. Ben has worked in the film industry as an actor, art director and/or construction coordinator on such films as Dances With Wolves, Man On Fire, Crazy Heart, Fool For Love, Medicine Man and many others. Ben has five novels published, as well as many poems and stories. Following Birds of Darkness, he is looking forward to the publication of New England Cold Supper.

Publisher's website: http://sbpra.com/BenZeller/