Canada's natural resources - water, oil, mining and forestry are in jeopardy of almost certain takeover by foreign interests, and the very sovereignty of the nation is in imminent danger of collapse. Machiavelli's Desert takes the reader on a colorful voyage of mystery, intrigue and greed across Canada to Washington, Houston, Grand Cayman Island, the British Virgin Islands and to the island of Arnivan whose future is threatened because of a Canadian CANDU Reactor meltdown. In the British Columbia Interior we meet a man owing a debt to the federal prison system that is to be redeemed by, of all things, a vasectomy. In Ottawa Canadian Security Intelligence Service Officer Mari Volser searches for a motive to explain a Canadian scientist's mysterious death on the eve of revealing to a recently elected and naively idealistic Member of Parliament important instances of the government's neglect and complicity. In Houston a detective police sergeant investigates the disappearance of a brilliant, quirky microbiologist. A forty foot sloop named the Mariposa is spotted by a contract psychologist in Grand Cayman Island's Pig Sty Harbour and days later is seen again by the man at a marina in the Sunshine Coast - thousands of kilometers distant. The Prime Minister of Canada is offered a technological discovery that could be the country's salvation or its embarrassment. His decision making takes him to Tortola where the reader listens in to a conversation of a ramshackle Caribbean beach bar owner and the country's leader as they swap stories of moral metaphor and rhythm and blues history while Canada's sovereignty is increasingly challenged and its citizens face the loss of their national identity. Through the clamor and chaos of Canada's turmoil a political hero emerges and another dies. Machiavelli's Desert is a book of espionage, intrigue and controversy that tests the strength of values existing in international and national politics. When does a profound wrong become a moral right? The characters in Machiavelli's Desert play out life-threatening, life-taking danger among thieves, politicians and the court of the world that in the end suggests the test of strength is pushed to a point of apathetic resignation or a new world order. Machiavelli's Desert is a book that looks closely at a political systems designed primarily to achieve power for power's sake at the expense of moral integrity and the well-being of the common people–society. It is a book wrapped in the settings, characters, scenarios and adventure that allow for an entertaining read as well as a consideration of values beyond the individual ego. Machiavelli's Desert builds suspense carefully and strategically leading the reader to a surprising and unexpected conclusion.

Lawrence Uhlin's first novel Machiavelli's Desert reflects his interest in Canadian affairs of state and political espionage. A native Canadian, Lawrence was born in Toronto and grew up amidst the busy and vibrant development of that city. Prior to returning to school in 1972 as a mature student, he was variously employed in a variety of jobs from bartending to sales, lifeguarding to landscaping and a five year stint in the Royal Canadian Navy.He earned two degrees at the University of Toronto and while there, a creative writing course stimulated his interest in Canadian authors and their stories as well as inspiring a desire to write a novel that would reflect aspects of his ultimate career selection of behavioural psychology. That career choice has led Uhlin to a variety of pursuits including assessments for the federal prison system, private practice and ultimately a program leader for services to children with autism.Travel has always ignited Lawrence Uhlin's creative spark and the scenes of local and exotic settings reflect a passion for place and people, in the words of Lawrence Durrell - Spirit of Place, infuses and colours his writing as does his interest in the motivations of those who seek power; the good and the bad, the schemers and dreamers and the diversity of those we call Canadian.

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