Prize winning author, Michael J. Merry has published a new book of seven short stories. As usual, they are woven from fact, fiction and personal experience, providing the reader with a diversified spectrum of tales encompassing seldom explored subjects. The title novella tells of a sixteen century Spanish expedition to Panamá, where Gil González Dávila proceeds north along the Pacific Coast an Indian guide persuades him to explore the Farralon river where a large native indigenous tribe was said to reside. Dávila’s group quarrel with the tribe and pillage their burial grounds, finding a magnificent gold head-dress and mask. In the running conflict back to the Galleon, the gold artifacts are lost and later recovered and re-buried in a secret location by the Indians. In 2017, a student researching documents at the General Archive of the Indies, in Seville, found a document containing the name of Gil González Dávila and the information is passed to a professional treasure hunter. The story goes on to explore sixteenth century tribal life in Coclé, Panama and then tells the tale of the search for the magnificent artifacts. ‘The Big Fellah’ is a tale of Ireland's greatest hero, Michael Collins, whose dedication leads to the country’s independence. You are introduced to “The Squad’ A group formed by Irish Nationalists to kill the British agents sent to infiltrate their organization and you will learn of Collin’s sad fate before he can fully see the results of his efforts. ‘Amazon’ relates the adventures of Billy Devon, an engineer, who goes to work for a riverboat company in Manaus where he is exposed to piracy on the river. ‘The Parish Priest’ discloses how a newly ordained curate fares when he takes over a Catholic parish where the council is up to no good. ‘Snap,’ an ancient children’s game, reveals how an SAS trooper recovers from serious wounds and his efforts to return to duty in the Regiment. ‘Comandante’ tells of a Latin American military commander facing a coup d’état and how it is dealt with. The author puts a sting in the tail of this story! Finally, in ‘Forester, Fleming, and Delderfield, a literary lecturer, giving presentations in Latin America, meets a banker whose hobby is British authors. A friendship forms and in exchange for his tutorage, the lecturer receives a strange inheritance. The stories all have a ring of truth to them, but separating that truth from fiction will be up to the reader! This is the sixth book published by the author.