The latest in author Rod Lewin’s Mitch Blaine and Beyer series, The Missing Mallard Mystery brings readers the duo’s most evil and dangerous adversaries, along with their biggest search target: the entire crew of a Grumman Mallard, a historic flying boat, and a magnificent collection of exquisite pearls with a street value of millions of dollars! As a one-time seaplane pilot working out of Sydney Harbor in Australia, and recent winner of the FAA’s prestigious Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award, Lewin is personally familiar with the special skills of both a seaman and an airman as well as the dangers inherent in both roles. In his current role as a storyteller of that life, he crafts novels that are love letters to aviation as well as travel and history and, always, that are full of un-put-downable action, adventure, and humor. His acclaimed autobiography, “Steel Spine, Iron Will,” chronicles the touching and inspirational true story of his recovery from paralysis after a near-fatal plane crash early in his career that has enthralled readers for over three decades. Rod has worked as a professional aviator for the past 40 years. Since the accident and total recovery, he has had dozens of thrilling experiences in his life, including flying seaplanes to the Great Barrier Reef, the vast, remote coast of Western Australia, the exotic US Virgin Islands, and Greece and the Greek Islands, as well as flying commercial aircraft in the U.S., including DC-3s, 727s, and 737s. In his first novel, “The Escalante Enigma,” Rod calls upon many of his own experiences to write a fascinating and thrilling story of high drama set in the mysterious back canyons of the Navajo Reservation in Utah.