Rome Collier has been writing stories or one sort of another for most of his life. After a journalistic career that took him from Hilton Head Island to the Middle East, Rome, whose real name is Walter Putnam, has published four other novels: the science fiction mind-bender The Planet of Games, followed by The Planet of Dreams; C.S.A: The Centennial, an alternative history; and The Second Coming, religious philosophy. This is the Greenville, S.C., native’s first venture into the mystery/thriller genre. Rome lives in Thunderbolt, Ga., with his wife, Geni, and their dog Brandy.