Flame Characters

Thomas Sebastian Scott.  Retired intelligence agent living near Berkeley Springs, specializing in cyber-security.  Known to friends as Scott, but born Franklin Lambert.

Jorge Luis Rodriguez.  NYPD Detective Specialist, highly professional and ambitious, disturbed by his troubled home life.

Terry Hightower.  No-nonsense Deputy Sheriff of Morgan County whose shrewd insights are often masked by his booming voice and affected country manner.

Hamilton Fish.  Ill-tempered, high-rolling New York options trader who arrives in Berkeley Springs with an attitude and a beautiful woman.

Felicity Phillips. Stunning redhead, talented artist, secretive about her past and her life in Berkeley Springs.

Father Sean McManus.  Beloved priest known for his humor and appetite, close friend of Thomas Scott who in his youth was a fellow seminarian.

Dmitri Volkov.  Russian nuclear scientist, kidnapped by Iranian agents to assist in their nuclear weapons program.

Chief Peppers.  Chief of the Martinsburg Police Department, eager to solve the alleged cocaine smuggling, but dismissive of assistance from a New York detective.

Judge Clemens Atwater.  Highly respected native West Virginian, returned home to dispense justice after law school in New York.

The Honorable Spencer Cobb.  Semi-retired defense attorney residing in Berkeley Springs, known for never losing a case and never passing up a drink.

Ray.  Retired schoolteacher who enjoys his mornings at the Blue White Grill in Martinsburg swapping stories with his lifelong friend Roy.

Roy.  Grade school buddy of Ray, who spent time in prison for burglary, often mistaken for Ray.

Beatrice Giustiniani.  Girlfriend of Hamilton Fish, dresses like a fashion model, enjoys playing the part of a dumb blonde.

Bruno Giustiniani.  New York jeweler, father of Beatrice, suspected of connections with the Mafia.

Billy Birdsong.  Roy’s nephew, accomplished local artist who returned home to break his drug habit after living in New York.

Carolyn White.  Young waitress at the Blue White Grill, recently laid off from her teaching position in Shepherdstown.

Dean Jordan Swift.  Chairman of the Shepherd University Faculty Senate, known to students as Nifty Swifty.

Professor Walter Rothenberg.  Vienna born, Emeritus professor at NYU with whom Hamilton Fish studied philosophy as an undergraduate.

Sharmien.  Pakistani nurse who cared for Thomas Scott (known then as Franklin Lambert) in a Pakistani hospital after his vehicle rolled down a ravine.

Vladimir Petrov. Troubled computer genius born to first-generation Russian émigrés.  Assumes various identities including Ivan, Grigori Romanov, and Andrew W. Mellon.

John “Jack” Klosowski.  Chief of the NYPD Investigative Forensics Lab, Jorge’s boss and close friend of Thomas Scott.  Known to friends as “The Ripper.”

Mike Armstrong.  Blind masseur at the Roman Baths of Berkeley Springs State Park.

Colonel Abdul Siddiqui.  Instructor at the Pakistani Command and Staff College in Quetta, friend of Scott since their meeting at the Army War College in Carlisle.

Ben Venuto.  Unseen and unknown except for his name on a rental mailbox in Hedgesville.

Elisabetta.  Former wife of Thomas Scott, now running a New York art gallery with her live-in partner Monica.

Angela Berenstein.  Shepherd University professor accused of violating the university’s code of conduct.

Mrs. Banerjee.  Realtor in Murree, Pakistani Hill Station close to Islamabad, who unwittingly assists Scott in his search for a particular home.

Mark Turing.  Head of the Cyber-Security Directorate at Fort Meade, supports Scott’s trip to Pakistan against his better judgment.

Dr. Uphouse.  Frail, mid-eighties Country Coroner whose best years as a family physician are behind him.

Bud Zimmerman.  Acerbic stationmaster at the Martinsburg Railway Station, who later turns up as the apparent occupant of the old Ziegler house.

A.Q. Khan. Scientist behind Pakistan’s nuclear program, known for assisting rogue states in nuclear weapons technology.

Eugene Kaspersky. Russian who heads Kaspersky labs, famous worldwide for developing and marketing anti-virus software.