Holographic Suite Case

INSPIRATION: Ultra-high tech briefcases, camera cases, to include the President of the United States' "Football," assorted Strategic Air Command and Chief of Naval Operations command and control communications and navigation wireless and military command satellite-linked hand-carried devices. Also, oddly enough, I wanted a bulkier, more 21st century oriented device that looked human and not alien.

ASSIGNMENT FROM STEVE ALTEN: This was another Steve Alten assignment for a book called "The Shell Game." The briefcase is a holographic projector showing the supervolcanic magma upwelling above the magma chamber all directly underneath Yellowstone National Park.

THE RENDER: I created several illustrations heavily worked on by Steve for his book. Published here are my originals as delivered electronically.

MEDIA: Ballpoint Bic pens, markers, Prisma pencils, India ink, Dr. Martin colored inks, F&W colored inks, Pentel pens, white comic artist's ink, and assorted office supplies rummaged from my overtime at work.

BOOK: Steve Alten's "The Shell Game."

FROM PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY: Even die-hard conspiracy theorists will be dubious about the sinister government-led plots that form the shaky foundation of this political thriller. Alten, best-known for his gory novels featuring giant prehistoric sharks ("Meg; The Trench"), goes well beyond the already far-fetched idea that the Bush administration let the devastating 9/11 attacks happen to further the neoconservative agenda of reshaping the Middle East.

In 2012, with centrist conservative David McKuin in the White House, the federal government plots to detonate a nuclear bomb in a U.S. city and blame Iran as a cover to take out that country's radical leadership. Standing in the plotters' way is Ace Futrell, an energy expert whose murdered wife was possibly targeted by U.S. intelligence.

FROM STEVE ALTEN.COM: The events of September 11th, 2001…the invasion of Iraq…the threat of radical Islam… an impending showdown with Iran. What do these situations have in common? the world's oil is running out. The SHELL GAME is far more than a thriller, it is a MUST-READ cautionary tale that exposes the next “9/11 event” a deception that will lead to a retaliatory chemical weapons strike on Iran and the terrorist elements the regime supports.

Though the novel is written as fiction, it is filled with all-too-real details provided by insiders in the oil industry, military, and Middle Eastern affairs that extrapolates real events from the past and present that could lead us down a path of self-destruction…unless we stop the insanity now!

The story opens in 2007 when two CIA spooks meet with an American Colonel in military intelligence. The war is going badly, and President Bush, who steadfastly refuses to back down, remains unchallenged at home as Democrats and Republicans continue to toss verbal grenades – positioning themselves for the 2008 elections.

Meanwhile, Iran’s pursuit of nuclear energy will yield enriched uranium within five years — uranium that can be used to manufacture suitcase nukes.