Lucas Murdoch isn't what he seems to be: a successful New York City salesman, retired at the age of 53, and searching for his roots in the quiet New England town of Pennington. But Lucas is a man with an obsession that governs everything he says and does. With subtle skill, he inserts himself into the lives of the townspeople, coldly analyzing the weaknesses of everyone he meets: Henry Smythe, a seminary drop-out who sees himself as the town's religious leader; Leo Sage, a loner with a mysterious past; Fay Geneen, a librarian who has learned to live without love; Sarge Schreiner, a policeman who had to leave the force; and Emily Schuyler Grant, the wealthy dowager who rules the town and her teen-aged granddaughter, Jeanette, with an iron hand. By the time he leaves Pennington, Lucas has forever changed their lives-and his. After a public relations career spanning more than thirty-five years, Melvyn Chase retired from corporate life. Although he continued to work as a consultant, he also began to write fiction. In 2005, Sunstone Press published his first collection of short stories, "The Terminal Project and Other Voyages of Discovery." He says that "The Wingthorn Rose," his first novel, presented him with a stimulating new set of creative challenges-so stimulating that he is currently working on his second novel. Chase was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. He earned a B.A. in English Literature at Brooklyn College and an M.A. at New York University. He and his wife, a retired editor and publicist, live in suburban Connecticut.