Like John Wesley Powell's expedition down the Colorado River, where he discovered the Grand Canyon, or Lewis and Clark's search for a tributary to the Missouri River, where they found what is now known as Yellowstone National Park, it's not unusual for modern-day travelers to seek out, or stumble across, a rare and special setting that leaves them with everlasting memories. Like these famous explorers, regular people can roam the world and, on occasion, find themselves surrounded by an uncommon beauty and peacefulness. A gorgeous setting with spectacular jungle-laden hills, cascading streams...

On the morning of September 11, 2001, Patrick Ashtre was a happily married man with a lovely wife, three children, and a house in Arlington, Virginia. He was a good father and husband and, looking into the mirror each morning, he was happy with the reflected image-but all that was about to change. There are events that change people forever-a friend's premonition about the future that comes true, shaking the very fibers of our beliefs about the world around us, or a traumatic episode that casts us into a sea of despair where we question mankind's true nature. These events can cause us to...

Once a sought-after engineer and manager of complex construction sites across the country, Tommy Luck is now nothing more than an unemployed drunk. His life is simple-drink himself into a stupor each night and run each morning to minimize the effects of the daily hangovers. The only problem is that he's short on cash and would do just about anything for money. Approached by a mysterious man and offered a sizable fee to deliver a flash-drive to Bangkok, Tommy is suspicious. But, without a lot of options, he reluctantly accepts the seemingly simple task. What he doesn't realize is that he's...