In El-Sombre-Shadow of the Mast, (sequel to El Sombre-Shadow of the Saguaro) the author has attempted to use, as background, the Porforio Diaz regime in the early 1800s in Mexico. Some of the characters in this fictional account are actual historical personages, but the dialogues are completely fictional and not intended to reflect any strengths or weaknesses in the character of these individuals, personally. However, in this fictional account they are used in abstract to portray the usual conflict of democracy and dictatorship, the predator and the prey, the oppressed and the oppressor, with the fate of the innocent hanging in the balance. This conflict of the ages will continue until the second appearance of "The King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords," but in the meantime, when the cause is just, and the time critical, God will always have his valiant "man of the hour" to help mankind cope with the occasion- such a man as El Sombre! Except for the Biblical truths contained herein, the opinions expressed in the book are not those of the author, but the opinions of a shadowy and mysterious figure known as El Sombre, code name: Shadow-man, who worked in that era under the auspices of a private enterprise known as High Command Liaison, which in turn, either accepted or rejected assignments, at its own discretion, from a world-wide organization known as High Command, which would later become known as the League of Nations, and would Evolve into what we know today as the United Nations.
About the Author: Dave, a graduate of Ouachita Baptist University, Class of 1951-53, is married to his wife of 49 years, Effie Crump-Moody. Dave, a military graduate of the OBU ROTC program, was assigned to USARPAC, 25th Infantry (Tropical Lightning) Division in 1954, and later as an infantry line officer, was assigned to Coronado Naval Base near San Diego, for training in "Embarcation and Loading," in preparation for transfer of the 35th Infantry "The Cacti" Regiment to the Korean War Zone. While in Coronado, he had opportunities to cross over the border into Tijuana, Mexico, to get a first-hand look at the hardship, poverty, and suffering of the ordinary citizens in the setting of the tougher elements of the Mexican border environment. This experience, in part, formed the background setting for his second novel, El Sombre-Shadow of the Mast.