Nazi conspiracies, European assasinations, and a lost Israeli submarine

Two friends and colleagues have new books out this month exploring mysteries, real and imagined.

Adam LeBor, an old friend from my days in Hungary, has a political thriller out, The Budapest Protocol, in which the European present collides with a conspiracy from its Nazi past. Given recent events in Eastern Europe, the plot doesn't seem quite as far-fetched as it should: read Adam's chilling piece in last Tuesday's Times of London.

Here in Maine, fellow oceanophile David Jourdan just released Never Forgotten, an account of his quest to find the lost Israeli submarine Dakar, whose final resting place had eluded 26 official search missions. Jourdan -- a Cape Porpoise resident and former US submarine officer -- is no stranger to underwater searches. He led the company that found the Japanese carrier Kaga (sunk at the Battle of Midway), the gold-laden Japanese submarine I-52, and the efforts to track down Amelia Earhart's plane.

Bob Ballard, the guy who discovered the Titanic's resting place, says Dakar's "sinking led to all sorts of conspiracy theories, so it was great to finally learn the truth!”