Rosa Mystica of Neretva

A letter arrives from southern France for Hercule, a mercenary turned franciscan, living a quiet yet full life in the city state of Ragusa on the Dalmatian coast. He has hardly thought of her after so many years, but the past has come to remind him of those years from long ago. His previous life was anything but quiet, intertwined with Katherine, an apothecary and now Abbess from Montpellier. Her letter brings an eagerness for him to return. How long has it been? His beloved Katherine is dying and she has a secret to tell him. Will she survive long enough to tell him? Will she be able to handle the ramifications if Hercule doesn't find out her secret?

Hercule's past is coming back to haunt him? His memories have returned in gentle waves. A time of long ago, a time of dreams and adventures, and a time of loss and heartbreak. Love, war, blood, and death. A wagon of gold. Janissaries on a mission to apprehend the gold - even killing to get the treasure. And they have, on orders from the Sultan. The Ottoman empire is waiting for its tribute from the West. The question is, who will get the gold first?

It is a race against time as Hercule, his friend and confidant Hasan, and Katherine must reach for the safety of the walled fortification of Ragusa before the Turks can steal the gold. In his debut novel, John Peric brings to life a simple love story between two unsuspecting lives brought together by the powers that be in the mountains of Bosnia and Hercegovina, a land that lay between the two major empires of both Europe and the Ottomans. A time for survival, battle, and love.