Peter Stekel is the author of Beneath Haunted Waters, The Tragic Tale of Two B-24s Lost in the Sierra Nevada Mountains During World War II. His previous history book is Final Flight, The Mystery of a WW II Plane Crash and the Frozen Airmen in the High Sierra. Beneath Haunted Waters is both a mystery, a biography, and a history tale all tied together. It's a story centered around the disappearance of two B-24 Liberator bombers and their crews December, 1943 during training over the Sierra Nevada mountains of California. Who isn't intrigued with stories about people lost in the mountains? That is Stekel's starting place. Readers will discover the surprising part of the story in later chapters when they learn about the startling number of aviation accidents and deaths that took place during the war right here at home. As for Final Flight, the story begins in October 2005 with two mountaineers climbing above Mendel Glacier in the High Sierra. Entombed in the ice the climbers find the mummified remains of a man in a WW II uniform. The "Frozen Airman" discovery created a media storm and a mystery that drew author Peter Stekel to investigate. What happened to the four-man crew who perished on a routine navigation training flight in 1942, 150 miles off-course from its reported destination? Stekel found bad weather, bad luck, and bad timing. Empty graves, botched records, and misguided recovery efforts. Then, in 2007, the unimaginable happened again. Stekel himself discovered a second body in the glacier. Another young man would finally be coming home. Through meticulous research, interviews, and mountaineering trips to the site, Stekel uncovered the story of these four young men. Final Flight explores their ill-fated trip and the misinformation surrounding it for more than 60 years. The book is a gripping account that's part mystery, part history, and part personal journey to uncover the truth of what happened on November 18, 1942. In the process Stekel narrates the young aviators' last days and takes us on their final flight. See www.BeneathHauntedWaters.com and www.FinalFlightTheBook.com for photos, video, and links to print media stories and author interviews on television and radio.
