The Rose and the Serpent : WestBow Press : 9781512799583 : 1512799580 : 25 Sep 2017 : "Readers, prepare to be captivated!" (Dr. Nelson Price, Pastor Emeritus, Roswell Street Baptist Church, Marietta, Georgia) "You can't put this book down." (Corbin Wyant, Retired Publisher, Naples Daily News) After a painful five-year separation, Jude and Cory joyfully reconcile but, as in earlier years, are pitted against the brilliant and evil Abe Badoane. More intelligent than Hannibal Lecter and even more scheming, Badoane plots again to destroy the lovers. Beleaguered by their own psychic devastation and past traumas, they battle both Abe's chicanery and the carnal stooges--like macho strongman Duke Manningham--whom Abe manipulates to do his bidding. Though intelligent and spiritual, Jude and Cory face impossible odds, which they learn, through their fire-tested faith, can only be defeated sovereignly. Two sub-plots inform the fast-paced storyline: the events in Jude and Cory's lives mirror the