Name: 1934: Caught in the Crossroads
Author: A.R.Pyx

The Novel

1934: Caught in the Crossroads

Historical Thriller · Adventure · Archaeological Mystery

1934, Ljubljana. A quiet museum presentation explodes into chaos when Nazi operatives steal a 17th-century Ottoman ledger. The document reveals a "Hattin Treasure" among the possessions of the Ottoman vizier during the 1683 Siege of Vienna. It can only refer to a large piece of the True Cross, lost during the Crusades. What power it actually holds—political, religious, symbolic—no one knows for sure. But enough people want it badly enough to kill. Fitzwilliam van Tandig, a Great War veteran turned security manager, sent to represent the construction company that unearthed the artifacts. Lieselotte Bauer, a German scholar driven from academia by the Nazi purge, now working for the resistance. Milan Novak, an archaeologist about to realize his discovery is far more dangerous than he knew. And Elizabeth, Fitz's sister, who never misses a dramatic opportunity—and whose theatrical training proves unexpectedly useful. Thrown together by circumstance, they become the only people standing between the Nazis and a quest nearly eight centuries old.

The trail winds from Osijek to Vienna to Bucharest—from Ottoman records to flooded tunnels beneath a monastery island. The clues are carved in stone, hidden and encoded in the very layout of ancient buildings.

This is not a story about a lone hero stopping evil. These are ordinary people who didn't volunteer for this and won't walk away unchanged. Their success depends on cooperation, local knowledge, and trust. The very values authoritarianism seeks to destroy. It's about how the past gets weaponized, and what it takes to reclaim it.

Some roads lead to discovery. Others lead to no return.

Setting: Europe, 1934 Genre: Historical Thriller Status: Coming Soon

Read the novella for free →

The Cast

The men and women caught in the crossroads.

Fitz

Lotte

Liz

Milan

Get the Novella — Free

Hic Non Sunt Dracones

1897. A fading learned society. A legendary major with one last gambit. And a young writer who really didn't sign up for this.

It's my homage to the adventure novels I wore out as a child: Haggard, Verne, Doyle, Kipling. The ones where men with excellent mustaches marched into unmapped territory and came back with stories that made London lean forward in its chair. I love those books. But I also wanted to write something that carried their pleasures—the crackling dialogue, the larger-than-life characters, the sense that the world still holds secrets, but giving it a modern readability.

The novella follows Major Jason Havelock, who may or may not be a living legend; his ragtag crew of misfits; and a young writer who discovers that volunteering for an expedition sounds much safer in a book than in the real world. Their destination: a lost city in the Brazilian wilderness, first glimpsed in a 1753 manuscript and never seen since. Their complication: the city entrance lies at the heart of the Canudos rebellion, and the army is on its way to level the place.

What happens next resists easy telling. Accounts contradict. Memories fail. Sixty years later, the narrator is still not sure. Neither am I. That's the point.

Not a prequel. Not a sequel. Just a story. My own take on classical adventure, and an invitation to think about what comes next.

Available free to newsletter subscribers.

📖 The novella in ePub & PDF
✉️ Join On Adventure — stories behind the story, historical deep-dives, and updates on new releases
🎁 Exclusive content for subscribers only

No spam, ever. Unsubscribe anytime. Your email stays with me — I respect your privacy.

About the Author

A.R.Pyx

I write historical fiction for people who want their adventures grounded, their characters complicated, and their research invisible—until you start wondering what's real and start looking things up at 2 AM.

I'm fascinated by periods of transition: the 1890s and the 1930s—moments when old certainties crumble and ordinary people have to figure out what comes next. The people who lived through them weren't heroes in the storybook sense. They were just trying to get by, to protect what mattered, to answer a question that wouldn't let go.

I've worked in a range of roles that taught me how stories get told in different contexts. I now collaborate with archaeology departments, a background that sharpened my curiosity about how we represent the past in narrative. What gets included? What gets left out? And who gets to decide? 1934: Caught in the Crossroads is my first novel. It blurs the line where official record ends and fictional story begins. It stands completely alone, but it's also the first in a planned series—rooted in real places, real events, and the kind of characters who refuse to stay on the sidelines.