Iota - Tapa dura

Jan Skala has been arrested and imprisoned by the Russian liberators of Prague, but he does not know why. Or does he?

During the Nazi occupation of the city, the journalist stayed above ground and continued to work for his father’s newspaper, which had fallen into the hands of the Gestapo. What must the Russians think of Jan? But more importantly, what does Jan think of himself?

The intriguing characters sharing his detention facility all have a backstory, but Jan cannot be sure if any of them is telling the truth. And what about Jan? Is he who he claims to be? Although the business of daily survival begins to trump every other concern, the men nevertheless struggle to understand their fate.

Iota is a poignant drama about what men believe and how they might act accordingly. The story takes place during a two-month period immediately following World War II, in a temporary Soviet detention facility near a devastated Berlin. It is a mystery-suspense story about what it means to be human and whether it is possible to retain one’s humanity in the face of evil.

T. M. Doran is an environmental engineer and an adjunct professor at Lawrence Technological University in Michigan. He is the author of two other novels, Terrapin (Ignatius Press, 2012) and Toward the Gleam (Ignatius Press, 2011), and a guest contributor to the Detroit Free Press and the Catholic World Report blog.