Books

Earth, 2212: The novel, third in the Against The Machine trilogy, yet free standing on its own, tells of a dystopian society in the midst of catastrophic climate change. Billions have died. The minority of people remaining inhabit the MEGs, former cities transformed by technology into huge protective domes. Outside is the MASS living by subsistence. All seems well for those in the CORPORATE. It is not. With worsening climate, the MASS increasingly restive and their AI Silicons becoming sentient, those at the top have concocted a final solution: to leave Earth for Alpha Centauri, destroying the planet in their wake. Four protagonists, each from separate segments of this world, come together to attempt to prevent the plan. By the end they have managed to alter the human/machine interface, so changing human evolution.

Intriguing and challenging, Conga Drums in Space and Time is a bilingual study (English & Spanish) that explores the unexpected relationship between music and three-dimensional space while providing a simple and accessible system of percussion notation that will have you banging salsa rhythms in a matter of minutes.

Carly navigates the sadistic machinations of her sociopathic captor while decay and turmoil tear away the last vestiges of civility. Colonel Sebridge relies on his hybrid pet Ramirez to sow unease amongst the small group of prisoners. Marik's disgust of Ramirez goes too far as he finds himself made an example of when Ramirez feeds on him to show the consequences of disobeying the Colonel's rules of conduct. As the infected grow more resilient and intelligent, Sebridge must abandon his stronghold when advanced mutants lay waste to the military base under his command. He secures the artifact in his flight from danger, dragging Carly and Ramirez along for the ride. Sebridge makes himself, and those around him targets for another devastating attack when he brings the artifact and the pseudo-artifact together in one location.

The artifact calls to all infected beings, promising its limitless power to any creature able to reach it. The pseudo-artifact, a quantum computer infused with knowledge gained by analyzing data from the artifact, becomes a nexus of chaotic potency yet to mature. Both objects will shift the course of reality for all time.

Cowboy faces an opponent he can't defeat. With no memory of the battle afterward, Cowboy finds himself alive thanks to his physiological enhancements. Cormac, an old friend from Cowboy's distant past, shows up in his life to teach Cowboy how to hunt and kill the Wyrtevore. Together they track the one that stole Cowboy's memory, finding themselves outside the gates of a veritable fortress holding the artifact and the pseudo-artifact.

Luke and Gavin fall prey to a sadistic gang of vigilantes who force them to fight scramblers to the death for sport. Taking a desperate gamble to escape with only their lives, Luke and his best friend encounter Jacob. Jacob leads a crew of glorified bandits, fancying themselves protectors of justice in a lawless world. Working their way out of Jacob's debt, the two hapless wanderers find refuge in the well-protected township of Hampton Flats. Things are going well for Luke and Gavin in their new home. They live content and find their purpose in joining the Search & Clear team. Tragedy strikes hard when on a routine S&C shift, their old captor shows up out of the blue. Luke suffers yet another devastating loss, wounding him to the core.

Genevieve and Chloe arrive at The Mountain. To her surprise, she finds an old colleague occupying her fortress of solitude with his daughter. An uneasy truce comes out of their initial conflict. When Conrad and his brother show up to claim The Mountain for themselves, Genevieve and Sal Bernardi's precarious agreement goes awry.

Read the tumultuous prologue to End Game in this fourth installment of Disrupted Equilibrium.

There's a huge problem; she's my best friend's little sister

I've known Desiree since she was five years old. And now that she's all grown up, parading her luscious body around me while her brother is out of town, I'm not so sure how much longer I can resist her. She drives me crazy, and the longer she's in my presence, I don't think I can control my hands or filthy mouth around her any longer.

I've wanted to make Desiree mine since I kissed her on her eighteenth birthday eight years ago. But her brother, Dante, and my best friend threatened that if I were ever to do that to her again, I'd be sorry, and said if I didn't wish to lose my lifelong friendship with him, I'd know what's good for me if I kept my hands and mouth to myself.

But I've got some dirty little secrets—ones I know Dante would kill me over if he ever found out what I've done and hidden from him over the years.

Now I need to figure out if losing a friendship with him is worth going after what I want. And since Desiree returned from college sporting a massive rock on her ring finger, I need to decide if going after her is worth it.

Las Vegas, 1982. Brady Wilks, a teenage transplant from the Midwest, navigates life in the dusty suburban outskirts of an aberrant 24-hour town built by the Mob. Outcast as a newcomer, Brady forges a brotherly bond with an older teenage neighbor, Mick, and his friend, Brett. But when Brett unexpectedly moves away, Mick invites a new kid into their pack, squeezing out the last remnants of their childhood in favor of a new world laced with cartel-supplied drugs and the deal of a lifetime.

Third Wheel is a powerful novel about belonging, betrayal, and breaking away from paths laid out by others, even when it means grasping at an uncertain future. It is the story of a boy trying to find his identity without the benefit of a role model by taking chances on random and fragile relationships forged in the predawn hours of a future boomtown.

Desolate and gritty, Third Wheel is a triumphant debut novel, and Brady Wilks is remarkable as a transformative protagonist. Four-time award-winning author Richard R. Becker once again shares his unique insight into the human condition.

First three books in the Chronicles of Arcon.
Planet Arcon is in trouble. Before their planet tears itself apart, The Arcons built three colony ships to take them across the stellar reaches of space… towards Earth their new home. But, only the ruling class and the most brilliant minds can come. The rest must take their chances with the lottery.
One family cheats.
The Arcons are coming…. Are you ready?

“This is a story of a young girl’s struggles that follow her into adulthood,” Large shares. “From early childhood, a life filled with trauma, family dysfunction, a mother with mental illness, sexual abuse, drug abuse, and rejection. In a world filled with hopelessness, she found the courage to open her heart. With grace, she had to overcome her demons to eventually run into the arms of her God.”

This is a self-help book for new mothers. The book explores 9 practices to help new moms transition into motherhood. The book focuses on the emotional and mental health of new moms. The Resilient New Mom is written by psychologist, Dr. Kathleen Tresness, who specializes in perinatal mental health.

14 year old Chuck hates everybody; would blow up Earth if he could. So, he steals a car and seeks someone, anyone, to kill. He drives over 6 children and the crossing supervisor, narrowly missing 84 year old Sylvia.

That night, there is a mysterious contact between them, which continues. Sylvia looks after Chuck’s little brother, Tommy. Her drawings help the police to arrest him, but at the memorial service for the victims, she says, “Hate begets hate, vengeance only leads to vengeance, violence feeds on itself. Only love can stop the endless cycle. Only love can turn hate into love.”

His very name is an abusive joke against him, so she insists on calling him Charlie. But can she steer him toward a good life?

Follow their journey together through many more crises, and good times too.

Screech! The terrifying sound of metal being twisted and torn. We jerk round, far too late, the monster has broken through the barrier. The blazing eyes of the beast blind us. I hear Dawn’s yell. “Look out, Sophie.” Her violent thrust throws me against the side wall and I fall. Even as I do there is a thud and I see my friend somersault through the air before crashing down to the ground, whimpering. I scream as the beast’s claw rakes my body. I try to reach out for Dawn but the beast comes back, its eyes now a fiery red. With another thud it runs over her and her moans die. I scream again as the monster crushes my leg. Darkness.

“They had it coming to them!”
No, they didn’t but have the murderous actions of the killer destroyed the young golfer’s career before it starts and left injuries that will stop her winning true love?
Sophie must overcome the loss of her leg while Rob struggles to cope with the aftermath of cancer.
This is their story of determination, love, and a lot of golf.

Colour. Synopsis of plot. Spoiler alert.
Ed works in a photographic shop in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, in 1970. For many months he’s been having a strong relationship with Gail on the phone, but he’s never met her or seen her. Not so much as a photo.
He’s reached the point that he believes himself in love with her and arranges to meet in person. She doesn’t seem too willing. No wonder! When he arrives at her home at last, he finds out she’s a Coloured. (A separate race in SA, not Black) He’s shattered, this is 1970, at the height of Apartheid. Such relationships were illegal.
After the initial shock, Ed finds he simply cannot ignore Gail, and that he has fallen in love with her to the point that he can’t live without her. He feels he could still take her out, an opinion Gail does not share, but she goes along with it. There are several dating attempts, but they all fail.
After the villain, Sgt. Van Greuning of the South African Police vice squad appears things get tense. 

A moonshining hermit

A budding reporter

A $25 million misdirection

The mob, undercover agents, and secret payloads make Broken Inn a dangerous place for a fresh reporter, a newspaper photographer, and a moonshining hermit.

Hailey witnesses a murder at the enigmatic Broken Inn, but when she learns that the hotel manager and her editor are pals, she investigates on her own. When a corrupt guard finds her snooping, she flees into a box canyon, where she is saved by a gin-brewing recluse named Relic. She reports the murder to a deputy, but for some reason, no arrests are made... She enlists help from Ash, the newspaper’s photographer, but they must flee for their lives into the back country with Relic and a four-legged stray with a nose for trouble. They discover mysterious metal drums hidden deep in an abandoned uranium mine, but can’t tell what’s inside. And just when they’re most desperate for help, they learn that not everyone is who they seem…

Can they uncover the secrets of Broken Inn, dodge the syndicate, and prevent an environmental disaster?

Buck Hole Hollow

Adley

Adley was a fiercely independent woman who liked to do things on her own terms. Davis was three years out of a bad marriage, where he found out his wife never really loved him. Neither of them was looking for a relationship. Davis fought his feelings for Adley with every chance he got, but doing that messed with his head worse than anything else. And, he had a business to run.

Davis

Davis had the cutest Appalachian accent to go along with smoldering good looks. It looked like you could swim in his deep blue eyes until they turned lighter with ice crystals around them -- usually when his ex-wife showed up.

Davis bought the property next to Adley's and they met while she was clearing the property lines. Neither wanted a relationship, but their hearts said otherwise.

This book is my parting gift, so to speak, to “voiceless” animals and future generations. It comprehensively reviews our gross mistreatment of animals across spheres - stray and pet companion animals, animals on factory farms, and wildlife. It is a small book with a short message: prevent animal cruelty.

But it also carries a more ominous lesson for younger and future generations. The immense suffering we inflict on animals results not only in an "incalculably great impoverishment of the human spirit," as Einstein put it but also a more catastrophic loss in the "free" ecosystem services we take for granted. The vision of a more prosperous future is illusory because it will backfire sooner than we think.

It is time to re-evaluate our lives and act – for animals, the planet, and us. I can only hope this book will help in some small measure. 

Sitting in Kansas Café, Judy Vernon witnesses a man have a heart attack. With his final breath, Frank Farrington gives her the look of someone wanting her to do something, but knowing he has no right to ask.
His presence lingers in the café, sitting across the table from Judy, and his pleading eyes appear in her mind when she is away from the café. Judy, a freelance journalist, is driven by Frank to investigate his life as she attempts to answer two questions:
Who was he?
What does he want from me?
As she learns about Frank, she becomes entwined in his life, being adopted by his family, accepting responsibility for his alcoholic former partner Billy, and befriending Frank’s morally dubious ex-wife, Miriam.
Her life is further complicated when bisexual loner Judy falls in love with both forensic accountant and businessman Myron Myerson and Frank’s brother’s wife, Alison Farrington.
Perhaps the most important question for Judy is whether doing what Frank wants her to do will enable her to return to her stable, carefully crafted routine life, or if her unlikely friendship with the deceased Frank has changed her life forever?

In an alternate universe, Earth was invaded by a race of aliens from a planet called Nykarus and the result was a war that lasted five years, until a distress signal was sent out two years after the war started and intercepted by an old enemy of the Ny’Karin race.
The Kygourins fought side by side with humans to defeat the invaders, sending them back to the Pledius star system. However, many humans were stored in cryo-chambers on board the Ny’Karin motherships. When the Ny’Karins arrived on their home world, they distributed the Humans they had to habitable planets to the nearby solar systems; their funereal fate sealed to serve as slaves. Unlike many humans that were scattered throughout the system, Chandra an Enforcer (a cyborg soldier) was not meant to be a part of the culling, through a strange twist of fate, she was taken to one of Eurleau’s moons, Dyna and auctioned off to a Madam of an elite brothel. Adara takes her to the city Mu and Chandra undergoes a transformation, enabling her to serve as a high-class prostitute. Several years pass and Soran, Emperor of Nykarus, has tracked down Chandra. He pays Adara Sunn a visit, demanding that she hands Chandra over to him. She reluctantly agrees however, a clandestine meeting with a bounty hunter named Xenos, has swayed her decision and she sells Chandra to him. Xenos and Chandra leave Southern Atlan and her Life at the brothel ends but her quest to find the truth about herself, begins. The implant in her head is just the beginning. Her journey will take her to lands she has never seen before and dangers she must face along the way.

Incident at Cross Point is a crossover Fantasy/Romance novel with a real-world, relatable story to tell. I had researched Irish Fae mythology online, as well as Wabanaki mythology, lore, and ceremonial procedures. Here is what some of my Beta readers have said about this story:

I LOVED the blending of Gaelic and native myths. I felt the relationships were real and believable. I am usually not a huge fan of the romance genre because they can seem very fake, and this was not. All in all it’s a really great cross-genre fantasy romance and I’d love to read more like it. As soon as you have print copies I’d love to buy a signed one.

Dawn Weast: Copy Editor/Author /Beta Reader

I need a signed copy of Incident at Cross Point. I love it. The story is fabulous. The fae characters are fantastical but you somehow bring them down to earth and tie them into their own indigenous roots and to the traditions of indigenous Europeans and Native Americans. Very challenging, but you are making it happen. I'm quite impressed with your work.

I so love the way you spin a tale!

Aliyah Keuthen: Journalist/Activist/Beta Reader

Wasn't sure about the genre, but once I started I couldn't put it down. An amazing melding of fantasy and romance. J has another winner here.

Tim Clark, retired USAF

Sárán, Elder Prince of the Fae:

Wounded in battle with Daighre, an Elven sorcerer mounted on a dragon-like beast, Sárán is ripped from the world of Tir na nÓg. He wakes in a world where battles are fought with machines and iron, that deadly substance, is everywhere. His survival depends on remaining undiscovered in the Maine woods by the world at large until he can find a way home.

Mariel, a Native American of Penobscot and Passamaquoddy descent:

She was a Marine who left the reservation and her tribal lore and traditions to serve in Iraq. Her tour was ended by a car bomb that nearly killed her and left her with a severe case of PTSD. She has retreated with her service dog, Jughead, to the cabin in the Maine wilderness, left to her by her grandfather, to escape memories and all that triggers her debilitating symptoms.

“Wild Bill” Carson:

Mariel’s neighbor is an eccentric alien hunter who occupies the only other camp on Douglas Pond and believes he’s on the trail of a genuine out-of-space alien.

Sárán’s inexplicable arrival at Cross Point, a location the Abenaki tribes believe is a sacred spiritual crossing point, launches Mariel’s existence into a tailspin. She must cope with an alien being who has abilities that seem magical and invasive. To her surprise, she learns he speaks Gaelic through experimenting with a translation program on her electronics. Through that technology, Sárán quickly learns to speak English. Together they try to determine how Sárán arrived at Cross Point and how he may return to his home. Bill’s nosiness and obsession with Mariel’s unexpected guest complicate their efforts to keep his presence from being discovered.

Sárán believes his only hope of returning home lies in a Native American ceremony to summon Gluskabe, a Penobscot and Passamaquoddy legend who travels between Earth and the eternal realms. Mariel has doubts, having pretty much abandoned her tribal beliefs, but she calls upon an old friend, Harlan Greenlaw, who is a Penobscot professor of anthropology as well as a medicine man, for his assistance. It is a race between success with the ceremony and Bill exposing Sárán’s presence to the Bureau of Paranormal Investigations at the Pentagon and to the rest of the world.