Word Alive Press 2008 Free Publishing Contest Winner (Fiction). Cry of the Martyrs Trilogy: Book One The year is AD 249 and the Roman Empire stands on the brink of destruction. Barbarian hordes swarm the frontiers, desperate, to feed on the vast wealth of an empire paralyzed by rampant corruption, immorality, and a string of incompetent emperors. Out of this chaos emerges a new emperor, the "Divine Decius," who plans to save the empire by annihilating the people he believes are responsible for angering the gods-the Christians. Now the fate of the empire rests on the slim shoulders of a simple slave girl, Damarra Valensia, the obsession of two of the empire's most powerful men: Valerianus, Decius' depraved lieutenant and the architect of the Decian persecution of the Christians, whose lust for Damarra will not be denied; and Julius Valens, the handsome and respected senator, who wants only to win the beautiful Damarra's heart. As the battle between the two men escalates, Damarra becomes the pawn in a game that threatens to tear her life apart and bring the once mighty Roman Empire to its knees. Will she deny the Christ and live out her life with the man she loves? Or will she stand with her fellow believers and proudly proclaim the very words that demand a death sentence in her world: "Christianus sum ... I am a Christian"? Hardcover Trim Size: 5.5 x 8.5 Page Count: 428 About the Author: Shawn Pollett lives in Ontario's Near North Region on a 150-acre farm with his wife Donna and three children. He has worked at many different jobs over the years-farm hand, university professor, truck driver, and ambulance attendant, just to name a few-but his passion is for history and writing fiction. In 2002 he felt convicted to stop publishing secular fiction and concentrate on writing for Christ, so he took his fascination with the thirdcentury AD (he has a PhD in Ancient History from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland), combined it with his love of writing, and the result was Christianus Sum. Shawn has just completed his second novel, a spiritual warfare romance thriller entitled Angel.
