Six for Gold »

John Ventura is an attorney and a nationally known authority and advocate on consumer law and financial issues. As a boy, he dreamed of becoming a Catholic priest so he could help others. To prepare for that career, he spent his high school years in a seminary. After graduation, John decided he could best pursue his dream by combining journalism with the law, so he earned a degree in both from the University of Houston.
Today, John has an interest in four law offices in the Rio Grande Valley, where he offers legal advice in the areas of bankruptcy and consumer law. His goal as an attorney and as an author is to provide individuals with the information and advice they need to make the laws work for them, not against them.
John has written 12 books on consumer and small-business legal and financial matters and is the author of "Law For Dummies" (Wiley). He has written for "Home Office Computing" and "Small Business Computing" magazines and has written a regular column for a Texas business journal. John also has hosted a weekly radio program on legal issues.
John has been a frequent network TV show guest on CNN, CNN-fn, CNBC, the Fox News Channel, and the Lifetime Network and has done numerous national and local radio programs. He has provided expert opinion for publications including "Money, Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine, Black Enterprise, Inc., Martha Stewart Living, The Wall Street Journal," and "Newsweek."

Mary Reed writes about financial and legal issues affecting consumers and small-business owners. She coauthored "Divorce For Dummies" (Wiley), "Good Advice for a Bad Economy" (Berkley), and an e-book entitled "Stop Debt Collectors Cold"(www.stopebtcollectorscold.com). She has ghostwritten 11 other books for consumers and small-business owners and has also written for "Good Housekeeping Magazine, Home Office Computing Magazine, Hispanic Business," as well as for several Texas newspapers.

The husband and wife team of Mary Reed and Eric Mayer had published several short John the Eunuch detections in mystery anthologies and in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine prior to 1999's highly acclaimed first full length novel, One for Sorrow.

At the very time John desperately needs to clear himself of accusations he murdered a senator in the Hippodrome, the Emperor Justinian sends him to discover why sheep in a remote Egyptian village are cutting their own throats.

Publishers Weekly

Set in plague-ridden sixth-century Constantinople, Reed and Mayer's captivating sixth John the Eunuch novel (after 2004's Five for Silver) opens dramatically as John, lord chamberlain to Emperor Justinian, flees "excubitors" (i.e., palace guards) in the Hippodrome. Justinian's not-so-nice wife, Theodora, wants John prosecuted for a senator's murder, but the emperor has other ideas and spirits him away to the oasis town of Mehenopolis, Egypt, to look into a strange case of suicidal sheep. John soon suspects a link with another investigation for the emperor involving a valuable religious artifact. Filled with quirky characters, including a bee seller and a magician, this fresh entry with its intriguing details of Egyptian culture reveals further depths to the most clever John and his family members. A helpful glossary rounds out the book. (Nov.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.