Extreme


Joan Gelfand - 2020
    When Hope joins FearToShred, a Silicon Valley extreme gaming startup, Hope's mission is to groom the scrappy company for prime time. Enter Doug Wiser, her very married ex. While the two work in tandem, nefarious forces are at work behind the scenes. Adding to the excitement of this thriller are the stars and heroes of surfing and skateboarding. With a keen eye on women in tech, business ethics and dangerous stunts, "Extreme" will leave you breathless.Winner of the Cervena Barva and Chaffin Fiction Awards, Joan's work has appeared in The Huffington Post, Vanity Fair, Rattle, Pank! The Meridien Anthology of Contemporary Poetry, The Los Angeles Review of Books, Chicken Soup for the Soul and over 200 literary journals, blogs and magazines.A member of the National Book Critics Circle, Joan has worked for California Poets in the Schools, Poetry Out Loud, Chiat/Day Advertising and other Bay Area companies. She currently coaches writers and teaches in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The Well House II: The Revenge


M.S. Matassa - 2016
    Now, in the summer of 2015, the future looks great for Ben and Anne. Their son Taylor is married to his longtime love, Jenny, and they are expecting their first grandchild. Their daughter, Molly, now almost seventeen, is a beautiful, intelligent teenager.Life has never been better for the Carson family. But that is about to change. The disturbing dreams are back and Ben is terrified. The ultimate evil force has not forgotten what Ben took from him and he is back in human form seeking revenge with the help of a handsome young man who befriends Molly and infiltrates the Carson family. This sequel to The Well House takes the reader on another incredible journey through the depths of the underworld to the gates of hell. Familiar characters return to help Ben on his journey together with a wizard, a shape shifter and a Basque priest.Ben, together with his wife Anne, his dog and his friends encounter terrifying creatures on their arduous journey to defeat evil and save the family. The Well House II: The Revenge is part drama and part fantasy and continues the exciting, unique and thoughtful story of a man's fight against the ultimate evil. Will Ben be victorious again or will he and his family be destroyed?

A Woman to Blame


Vincent Panettiere - 2014
    To the police, it's a simple case of murder-suicide. But Mike Hegan, veteran police detective, refuses to believe the official story. Instead of retiring like they want him to, he embarks upon a search for the truth, and finds himself on a Caribbean island where scores are settled—and lives are lost.Fans of James Patterson and other crime fiction writers will find a new hero in Mike Hegan—a detective who defies convention to make sure that justice is served.

From Brexit to Brazil via Hong Kong, China, Russia and the USA: A collection of contemporary political, social and lifestyle essays


John Richard Spencer - 2019
    John Spencer comments on this in a provocative manner and ponders possible solutions. Many world leaders would be extremely displeased by his observations and opinions. China’s ruthless expansionism, evidenced by the suppression of democracy in Hong Kong and its bullying threats to Taiwan, is one of many issues discussed. John has closely followed events and trends in our world for many years. The issues that bother many people have intensely concerned him and he wishes to promote further discussion in the search for available solutions. The trend to elect populist leaders without due regard to the consequences is one of his lines of inquiry. Others include the ever-increasing disappearance of freedom, the increasing human overpopulation, along with its aging, and the looming environmental disaster.

Samantha's Revenge


Andrew R. Williams - 2020
    It floated alongside the air-car. This time, time instead of sending him mental message, the face spoke out aloud and the whole air-car vibrated with its intensity. "If you are foolish enough to renege on your contract, you will be severely punished. For your sake, I hope you wouldn't do such a thing." When Tarmy made no attempt to respond, the face turned and pressed itself against the millipede-free window. A moment later, Tarmy felt the fat slug entering his mind, the sign that the face was attempting to use its powers to obtain his response by other means. But as the slug dug deeper, Samantha's cover stories began springing out of the corners of his mind. Instead of obtaining Tarmy's agreement, all that the face saw was a burning army transporter surrounded by bodies. Undeterred, the face continued its assault. Samantha had anticipated that Tarmy might come up against an adept, so the mental images of death and destruction flowed unchecked. After failing to break Tarmy's defences, the face removed the slug and tried reason. "You can't win, Mr Tarleton, so why don't you do yourself a favour and cooperate? It will be better for you in the long run. Now, where is the miniature pulse drive engine?" Tarmy realised why the millipedes hadn't been allowed to attack. It was obvious that the Great Ones were hoping to retrieve the engine. When Tarmy didn't respond, the face said, "I am prepared to overlook your desertion if you agree to tell us where the engine is and also honour your contract by showing us how to convert the engine into a bomb."

Unparalleled


D.S. Smith - 2018
    His pregnant wife is missing, but his only living relative, his brother, is incapable of substantiating his claim. Lost in a world of confusion that is spiralling out of his control, Stuart finds temporary salvation in a psychiatrist assigned to his case. Meanwhile, peculiar events across the world lead a team of Oxford scientists to develop top secret technology that will change the future of humanity. Betrayed by double agents, the race to control this technology endangers the lives of all involved, which unwittingly includes Stuart and his psychiatrist. This enthralling journey takes Stuart to the edge of sanity, culminating in an unparalleled climax of kidnapping, betrayal and murder.

Quantum Roots


Kyle Keyes - 2012
    Author Kyle Keyes uses characters from two previous novels, to promote a theory that particle energy formats with a quantum root system, that can bypass time and space. Keyes believes that such fiction could turn to fact as we move into the age of quantum mechanics. Adventure fans everywhere should delight in this fast paced action story, that brings yesterday's gun play back to settle cyber-age injustice. Synopsis: Jesse Joe Jacks was born sometime during the snow blizzard of 1923. The Lower Elk County, game warden died from a lightning strike on July 23, 1959, while wearing a sheriff's star. Olan Chapman came to life in August of 1974 and found a computer career with a center city, electronics firm. Chapman drinks heavy and is haunted by flashbacks of an older sister, lost to an unsolved case of gang rape and murder. Jacks loved nature and lived to protect wildlife. He stood tall and fought to uphold justice. Jacks was also a crack shot with a firearm - any firearm. Chapman attends the theatre, plays piano and at one time led a march against the National Rifle Association. Both men have the same fingerprints, much to the chagrin of Lt General Alexis Grumman who heads the federal department for para-normal activities. Working with special agent, Jeremy Wade, Grumman breaks open the case when Chapman's fingerprints also match those of the vigilante.

Layman's Handbook, A journey to SELF


Aidan Mc Nally - 2019
    Layman's Handbook to life as I see it of course. Self-help being primarily how to help one's self.Life can be strange and unusual for all of us. Is there something unique about any of us that can bring us to a place where no one else can understand? Is this just a feeling?Through some of my deepest and darkest moments in life I have been placed in situations where I felt there was no way out. Digging deeper inside of myself I found some simple techniques to clear my mind and allow an emotional freedom take precedent over my life. Layman's Handbook, shares with you some scenarios and techniques for a simpler life, a life that requires you to become content and dare I say it even Happy.I hope one day we can chat and discuss how our lives can become better using a few simple steps.

Dodging Satan: My Irish/Italian, Sometimes Awesome, But Mostly Creepy, Childhood


Kathleen Zamboni McCormick - 2015
    Michael’s Catholic school outside Boston in the 60s and 70s, takes refuge in her wacky misunderstandings of Bible Stories and Catholic beliefs to avoid the problems of her Irish/Italian family life. Her musings on sadistic nuns, domestic violence, emerging sexuality, and God the Father’s romantic life will delight readers. Bridget creates glorious supernatural worlds—with exorcisms, bird relics, Virgin Martyrs, time travel, Biblical plagues, even the ‘holy’ in holy water—to cope with a family where leather handbags and even garlic can cause explosions. An avid Bible reader who innocently believes everything the nuns tell her, Bridget’s saints, martyrs, and boney Christs become alive and audible within her. While the nuns chide her sinful ‘mathematical pride’ and slow eating habits, God answers her prayers instantly by day, but the devil visits nightly in the dark. Scenes run the gamut from laugh-out-loud Catholic brainwashing of children, to heart-wrenching abuse, to riveting teenage excursions toward sex. Young Bridget tries to make sense of a world of raging men and domestically subjugated women and carve a future for herself, wrestling with how God and men treat women. Her Italian female relatives—glamorous Santa Anna, black-and-blue Aunt Maria, sophisticated Eleanor with a New York ‘Fellini pageboy’—offer sensual alternatives to the repression of her immediate family. She prays fervently that “despite God’s bizarre treatment of married women... some [girls] might still discover ways to have a great time without being a nun.” Dodging Satan is the flip-side of l'Histoire d'une Âme by Saint Thérèse of Lisieux authored by a twentieth century American girl chomping on a blue-gum cigar while she talks to a confidant about God and sex.

The Arbitrator


Max Nowaz - 2019
    Max Nowaz’s science fiction novel, The Arbitrator, follows the story of 153 year-old Jim Brown, a former highly successful administrator who is now rotting in jail, for tax fraud. However, in reality, he is there for taking revenge and killing several people on the planet Levita, after meeting the beautiful Narissa... In prison, he has acquired a drug habit, which is killing him slowly and his only chance of survival is a very expensive renewal process, which will make him young again and cure his drug habit. After ten years in jail, he is suddenly given a reprieve and offered a chance to redeem himself. He is sent as the ‘Arbitrator’ to ‘Pirrus’ in another solar system, to try and stop a rebellion and bring matters under control. Will he complete the mission successfully to earn enough funds for his regeneration? Only time will tell. Just when he thinks he has accomplished his task, he meets Gina, the daughter of a rebel, and finds out that there is a plot by foreign powers to invade the planet... The plot thickens when Brown also discovers that there is a mole in his organisation who is undermining his efforts to succeed. How will Brown react to the devastating news? This book will appeal to fans of innovative science fiction and people who enjoyed the stories in The Avatar and The Blade Runner.

The Ancestor


Lee Matthew Goldberg - 2020
    He sees another man hunting nearby, astounded that they look exactly alike. After following this other man home, he witnesses a wife and child that brings forth a rush of memories of his own wife and child, except he's certain they do not exist in modern times-but from his life in the late 1800s. After recalling his name is Wyatt, he worms his way into his doppelganger Travis Barlow's life. Memories become unearthed the more time he spends, making him believe that he'd been frozen after coming to Alaska during the Gold Rush and that Travis is his great-great grandson. Wyatt is certain gold still exists in the area and finding it with Travis will ingratiate himself to the family, especially with Travis's wife Callie, once Wyatt falls in love. This turns into a dangerous obsession affecting the Barlows and everyone in their small town, since Wyatt can't be tamed until he also discovers the meaning of why he was able to be preserved on ice for over a century.A meditation on love lost and unfulfilled dreams, The Ancestor is a thrilling page-turner in present day Alaska and a historical adventure about the perilous Gold Rush expeditions where prospectors left behind their lives for the promise of hope and a better future. The question remains whether it was all worth the sacrifice….

All Dreamers Go to America


Ana Ingham - 2009
    Niko Salazar, a carpenter from Malta, is frustrated with his life. He makes an impetuous and life-changing decision-travel to America to find the love of his life, Ms. Parker, an American psychologist who recently visited his village. But Niko's wanderlust and heart-lust take him on a serendipitous and hilarious journey. This Mediterranean dreamer finds Saratoga, New York, Ms. Parker's hometown, a snow-ridden wonderland. Not to mention the fact that Ms. Parker is not returning any of his phone calls. Niko will go through some extraordinary experiences and meet a collection of charismatic characters while searching for his love-a Iroquois woman, a retired Vietnam vet, and an idealistic filmmaker-all dreamers searching for their own destiny. Will Niko find his Ms. Parker or will his dream of love and America be transformed into an unimaginable possibility? Ingham's novel is a delicious and mischievous romp with characters that come to life. Her sharp, observant voice makes a subtle, social and amusing commentary on the complexities of life, love, and the never-ending pursuit of happiness.

Annabel Horton And The Black Witch of Pau (Book Two)


Olivia Hardy Ray - 2019
    His discovery brings Annabel and her family to the turn of nineteenth-century England hoping to rescue Michele from the Black Witch’s cage. What they discover is that the Black Witch has been forced into an insidious pact with the devil and the devil, with malicious intent, is luring them all into a web of death. Can they escape his grasp?

ROCKLEDGE: INTRODUCING CADE CHASE


John M. Vermillion - 2021
    This is the opener of a planned Cade Chase series. It is a crime thriller set in the fictional Rockledge, an impoverished town in the center of Appalachia, more precisely in extreme southwest Virginia.The main character, Cade Chase, recently retired from the military. He has given insufficient thought to life afterward. He accedes to the urgings of a longtime friend and former JAG officer, to come to the town of Rockledge. He leaves Florida and heads to Rockledge uncertain that this move is wise.On his first morning in Rockledge he runs across a hillbilly octogenarian named Dale Carter, who tells him finding a place to live will be tough. So Carter invites him to have a look at a home, one of three, he owns on a mountainside "out in the valley." The home he shows Cade is one of the grandest Cade has ever seen. Carter tells Cade the house is his if he wants it. Seems joining the military was the defining event of Dale's life. Without the military's 'gifts' he wouldn't have amassed the wealth he possesses. But he stipulates one condition: help protect him and his wife against what appears to be a dangerous crew of squatters camping in the woods on or near his property.Cade is instantly fond of Dale, and agrees to help him. This agreement sets the story in motion. There's plenty of action from that point onward. Yes, it's a thrilling story involving crime, but more important, it's a story of the evils of autocratic behavior by political elites. Cade is determined to bring the evildoers down. He quickly learns that extreme southwest Virginia has been a whipping boy for sixty years or more. Cade and a cadre of like-minded people strive to end the trampling of this region of the state. You may find it on Amazon and Kindle books. If searching under my name, you need to search under John M. Vermillion, including the middle initial.Thank you.jmv

All of Me


Kevine Walcott - 2019
    From relationships and mother earth to intimacy, what it means to belong to a country and everything else in between, Walcott weaves together a beautiful tapestry of humanity.As a property professional by trade, Kevine Walcott frequently comes in contact with the sheer breadth of humanity's cross-section. It's a series of collective experiences that have inspired her to turn to poetry, and capture her life, those she meets and the things that please and disgruntle her.In 'All of Me', Walcott's latest book, no subject's stone is left unturned in an attempt to capture the universe, its people and their emotions through a fascinating collection of verses.From the author of Institutionalised, a selection of nostalgic poems about nature, love, sex and patriotism."This is definitely a volume with something for everyone," explains the author. "No matter where you live, what your background is or what you're striving for in life, you'll find yourself within the pages. My goalwas to retain the unique hallmarks of poetry I've become known for, while allowing every reader to individualise the poems and extract true, vivid meaning."Continuing, "It's also a great volume for those who haven't yet spent much time exploring poetry, as the verses are so wide-ranging and can be adapted and defined according to anyone's unique personal situation. Pick up a copy - you'll be amazed at what you might find!"