The Tinderbox

Lou Diamond Phillips

THE TINDERBOX

This book is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. Any reproduction or unauthorized use of the material or artwork contained herein is prohibited without the express written permission of the authors.

Artwork provided by Yvonne Phillips

Cover design by Steve Beaulieu

Print and eBook formatting by Kevin G. Summers

Published by Aethon Books LLC. 2020.

All characters in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. All characters, character names, and the distinctive likenesses thereof are property Aethon Books and the author.

Contents

PROLOGUE

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

FIVE

SIX

SEVEN

EIGHT

NINE

TEN

ELEVEN

TWELVE

THIRTEEN

FOURTEEN

FIFTEEN

SIXTEEN

SEVENTEEN

EIGHTEEN

NINETEEN

TWENTY

TWENTY-ONE

TWENTY-TWO

TWENTY-THREE

TWENTY-FOUR

TWENTY-FIVE

TWENTY-SIX

TWENTY-SEVEN

TWENTY-EIGHT

TWENTY-NINE

THIRTY

EPILOGUE

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Lou Diamond Phillips is currently starring in the FOX series “Prodigal Son,” having recently starred on the acclaimed Netflix series, “Longmire,” based on the Walt Longmire mystery novels by Craig Johnson. Other recent credits include Amazon’s “Goliath,” SyFy’s “Stargate Universe,” CBS’ “Blue Bloods,” and recurring roles on Fox’s “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” and Netflix’s “The Ranch.” He received an Emmy nomination for “Outstanding Actor in a Short Form Drama or Comedy” for his roles in both Amazon’s “Conversations in LA” and History Channel’s “Crossroads of History.” Recent film credits include Warner Brothers’ “The 33,” “Created Equal” directed by Bill Duke, and Sundance Festival favorite “Filly Brown,” for which he was named Best Actor at the Imagen Awards.

As a director, Phillips recently helmed episodes of AMC’s hit series “Fear the Walking Dead,” “Longmire,” and ABC’s Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. As a writer, Phillips has co-written the screenplays for ‘Trespasses,’ and HBO’s ‘Dangerous Touch.’ He wrote the Miramax feature ‘Ambition.’ He recently produced his play ‘Burning Desire,’ a romantic comedy in two acts, which received it’s world premiere at The Seven Angels Theatre in Waterbury, Connecticut. Phillips was also asked by his good friend, novelist Craig Johnson, to write the forward to his collection of short stories ‘Wait For Signs.’

Originally born in the Philippines, Phillips was raised in Texas and is a graduate of University of Texas at Arlington with a BFA in Drama.

Drawing from a lifetime of work in the film industry, Lou used his screenwriting experience in order to write an original science fiction novel called The Tinderbox: Soldier of Indira. It is his first novel, inspired by a reading of the famed fairy tale of the same title by Hans Christian Andersen.