The deceptive, crooked path that led him to today began a few months back. Born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, nineteen-year old Fleming was a professional baseball pitcher with the Chicago White Sox. His successful first year in the minor leagues was waylaid when he received his draft notice. Through a series of misadventures, he ended up enlisting for four years in an elite unit called the A.S.A. or Army Security Agency; the army’s equivalent to the N.S.A. or the National Security Agency. Once in the army, Fleming learned that the recruiter had manipulated him with a host of untruths. Then, to his dismay, he learned that the army had lost his orders and he was placed in an infantry unit. Once in Vietnam, Platoon Sergeant, Levine questioned Fleming and dragged out of him the sad story of how he had enlisted for four years and ended up in an infantry unit. He became the butt of the platoon’s jokes and underwent vicious ribbing by the other platoon members. That day, the platoon was ordered back to their base camp: L.Z. English. Before leaving, they endured a mortar attack and then a ground probe. Fleming’s foxhole mate was critically wounded. Fleming did everything he could to save the man but his wounds were too severe and he died in Fleming’s arms. Repulsed by the ordeal, Fleming was left wondering if he could endure a whole year of this. Twelve-year old Van Phan Duc and his two friends twelve-year old Hoi Anh Vanh and Dan Tri Quang lived happily in their village until the day a N.V.A. invaded and forced them to join their struggle and fight the invading Americans. They were then assigned to a Viet Cong unit where they met Sergeant Chi, the man who would train them to be soldiers for the revolution and lead them into battle. Three American soldiers had been captured. Chi ordered the three boys to participate in brutally torturing the Americans. Dan embraced the torture and it turned him into a brutal fighting machine, much to Chi’s satisfaction. On the other hand, Hoi was repulsed by the events and a part of him died that day. He performed the torture but it wasn’t to Chi’s satisfaction. Van, a devout Buddhist, was also repulsed. He realized that life, as a soldier was three hundred and sixty degrees opposite of Buddha’s spiritual path. The 173rd’s area of operations was the Central Highlands. The 173rd’s home base was in and around the town of Bong Son, but they patrolled all over the province of Binh Dinh. For the next few months, Fleming and Van’s units met on numerous occasions. The first time they engaged each other in combat was in a simple ambush that lasted only two minutes. Both men were left repulsed by the carnage that could take place in only two minutes. Right after the ambush, Fleming’s company was deployed in a battalion-sized operation located in the Dak To mountain range. It was an area where numerous North Vietnamese soldiers infiltrated into South Vietnam from neighboring Cambodia and Laos. Fleming’s company was dropped into an area far from Dak To and the men were forced to march (hump) to their final destination. During the trek, they had to carve their way through impenetrable jungle and cross leach infested rivers to reach their destination, all the while suffering under Vietnam’s oppressive heat. Van’s Viet Cong unit was sent to the Dak To mountain range to do battle with Fleming and his company. Months passed with Van and Fleming’s units constantly meeting. Both men had similar personalities. Both men overcame their initial shock at war’s brutality and became highly competent soldiers who bravely fought the enemy. Both men were ultimately made into squad leaders. Both men continued to hate the war, yet were entrapped in the insanity that was war. They both recognized what war was—a brutally insane series of events where lives were lost and where dreams died.

    For Claire Anderson, this crosses the line. To make matters worse, they’re on the lam and can’t be returned to sender until In Between, the afterlife way station, can arrange transportation to pick them up. In the meantime, Claire tries to contain this motley crew, hoping to stave off an international incident. How do they manage to walk among us? Will Claire succeed in repatriating them? And at what cost? The Afterlife Coach is a humorous tale of second chances, self-awareness and, for those among us who make bad choices, demonstrates just how hard it is to die happily ever after.

    Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Chapters: Still Life With Woodpecker, Villa Incognito, Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates, Jitterbug Perfume, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, Skinny Legs and All, Another Roadside Attraction, Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas. Source: Wikipedia. Free updates online. Not illustrated. Excerpt: Still Life With Woodpecker (1980) is the third novel by Tom Robbins, concerning the love affair between an environmentalist princess and an outlaw. As with most of Robbins' books, it encompasses a broad range of topics, from aliens and redheads to consumerism, the building of bombs, romance, royalty, the moon, and a pack of Camels. The novel continuously addresses the question of how to make love stay. The story is sometimes called a post-modern fairy tale. The book begins in "the final quarter of the twentieth century," at a year never specified, presumably in the early 1980s. It revolves around a family of deposed European royalty living in a small house in the suburbs outside of Seattle, under the protection of the CIA. They consist of: the father, King Max, a former gambler and poker player whose prosthetic heart valve makes a loud scraping noise when he gets excited; the mother, Queen Tilli, an opera-lover with a strong foreign accent and a fondness for saying "Oh, oh, spaghetti-o"; Gulietta, the non-English-speaking maid (and, as it turns out, Max's half-sister) and the daughter, Leigh-Cheri, a redheaded vegetarian liberal princess and former cheerleader, having pulled out of classes after being asked to resign from the cheer squad after having a miscarriage while cheering at a football game. Leigh-Cheri proclaims herself celibate, withdraws from public life and cloisters herself in her room, only to emerge to ask her parents for permission to go to the Care Fest, a lib...More: http: //booksllc.net/?id=217300

    But he's finding it difficult. Following a chance meeting with a man whose daughter has gone missing and an offer of payment to find her, Harry begins a search. The consequences of which, take him back into London's criminal underworld and where he encounters the ruthlessness of Russian organised crime, the cunning of his former crime boss and the police, wanting to arrest him for murder.The search becomes one of survival as Harry deals retribution and justice in equal measure, yet torn between whether or not to break his vow to save the girl.Harry's journey is one of self-discovery and dark secrets while facing fears to exorcise the demons of the past - but how will his journey end?(contains some violence)

    Although they have been mentioned in the bible and traces of their existence are scattered throughout the globe, Peter Madeloy had always presumed that the myths of the possible existence of an ancient brotherhood, living on Earth for milennia, was nothing more than that, a myth. Until one day his father is brutally murdered and his mother is kidnapped. In exchange for his mother’s safe return, Peter must enter his father’s secret world, uncover the truth about his mother’s kidnappers and find the ancient artefact his father had dedicated his life to protecting. Peter enlists the help of his uncle, Daniel O'Brien, a professor of Philology and avid researcher of veiled organisations and his wife, Emily, a geneticist, to unravel a series of clues his father has left him. Together they embark on a journey that thrusts them into the centre of an ancient battle for supremacy that uncovers a truth that for them, will change the history and future of humanity simultaneously. With the enemy watching their every move Peter, Daniel and Emily must figure out his father's clues in time to save his mother and ultimately protect the world from the true secret that was unearthed from beneath King Solomon's Temple all those centuries ago.

    

    But dreaming is as close as she has ever come to the happiness she longs for. Devastated by childlessness and divorce, she is isolated and deeply depressed. Then a package arrives on that fateful birthday. Inside is a picture straight out of her dream, a package of... tea? And a letter signed with her name: Emma Rae Wright. Add to that a phone call from a lawyer in California, and Emma is catapulted into a journey across country and across decades. How does a confirmed recluse juggle attractive men, priceless Russian jewels, ageless relatives, angry fathers, and tea that has rather... curious properties? From her grungy Michigan apartment to sun-dappled redwood forests, from a dead-end job to a partnership in an exotic and unusual company, Emma's life gets tangled beyond recognition. Desperate to make sense of ever more baffling circumstances, Emma is forced to face her own inner demons as well as the extraordinary legacy left behind by a woman who disappeared without a trace over ninety years ago.

    Though with his parents deceased since he was a boy, and with no way of uncovering who they were, finding a sense of family is more than a daunting task-it seems impossible. Until he goes to Louisiana's Cajun country, with hopes of finding a man who perhaps knew them. After enduring blistering heat, torment from mosquitoes, venturing into eerie, backwater swamps, and fending off alligators, snakes, and a few sinister locals, Sam finds what he had sought all of his life. He's also given a second chance, one to leave behind a pained past that he would rather forget. But finding what he wants most means that he'll eventually have to lose it.

    After discovering they were born at the same clinic two decades earlier, she investigates further and uncovers a startling list. With the realization that more gender-fluid people are targeted for elimination, Taylor kicks her investigation into high gear. But the researchers who conducted the experiment aren’t about to let anything interfere with their plans. Soon Taylor is in deep trouble and needs the help of FBI Special Agent Bailey. As Bailey scrambles to track down leads, events spin out of control and she finds herself blocked at every step by powerful military forces. With the clock ticking on Phase 2 of the experiment, can Bailey and Taylor uncover the truth in time to save the other subjects?

    Night Shyamalan, starring Matt Dillon and premiering May 14th on FOX. Secret service agent Ethan Burke arrives in Wayward Pines, Idaho, with a clear mission: locate and recover two federal agents who went missing in the bucolic town one month earlier. But within minutes of his arrival, Ethan is involved in a violent accident. He comes to in a hospital, with no ID, no cell phone, and no briefcase. The medical staff seems friendly enough, but something feels…off. As the days pass, Ethan’s investigation into the disappearance of his colleagues turns up more questions than answers. Why can’t he get any phone calls through to his wife and son in the outside world? Why doesn’t anyone believe he is who he says he is? And what is the purpose of the electrified fences surrounding the town? Are they meant to keep the residents in? Or something else out? Each step closer to the truth takes Ethan further from the world he thought he knew, from the man he thought he was, until he must face a horrifying fact—he may never get out of Wayward Pines alive. 2013 International Thriller Award Nominee

    Claire feels her life is smeared with the stain of tragedy. She takes a short-term gig as a private investigator—a cold case that’s eluded detectives for ten years. The mass murder of a wealthy family seems impossible to solve, but Gabby brings more clues to light. Add to the mix a flirtatious client, travels to an exciting new city, and some quirky—albeit temporary—new sidekicks, and things get complicated. With every new development, Gabby prays that her “mucky streak” will end and the future will become clear. Yet every answer she uncovers leads her closer to danger—both for her life and for her heart. Foul Play (Book 8) Gabby St. Claire is crying “foul play” in every sense of the phrase. When the crime-scene cleaner agrees to go undercover at a local community theater, she discovers more than backstage bickering, atrocious acting, and rotten writing. The female lead is dead, and an old classmate who’s staked everything on the musical production’s success is about to go under. In her dual role of investigator and star of the show, Gabby finds the stakes rising faster than the opening-night curtain. She must face her past and make monumental decisions, not just about the play but also concerning her future relationships and career. Will Gabby find the killer before the curtain goes down—not only on the play, but also on life as she knows it? Broom and Gloom (Book 9) Gabby St. Claire is determined to get back in the saddle again. While in Oklahoma for a forensic conference, she meets her soon-to-be stepbrother, Trace Ryan, an up-and-coming country singer. A woman he was dating has disappeared, and he suspects a crazy fan may be behind it. Gabby agrees to investigate, as she tries to juggle her conference, navigate being alone in a new place, and locate a woman who may not want to be found. She discovers that sometimes taking life by the horns means staring danger in the face, no matter the consequences.

     That thing called LOVE can turn your entire world upside down and knock you on your ass in the blink of an eye. Alan has done the unthinkable and just might have burned any chance of reconciliation with his wife after leaving her stranded and flown home with his mistress. Regret the Day I Said Yes: Too Late For Sorry is a story about a group of couples who think they have found the answer to having a happy lifelong marriage. Bailee & York and Tiffany & Damon have been secretly swinging for years. As they see their friends' marriages on the brink of disaster they encourage them to give it a try to spice things up. While it all seems logical at first, time later reveals that every choice has a consequence; Good or bad, their actions can come back to haunt them. Can these marriages be saved? Can these friendships be rebuilt? Have you ever regretted the day you said yes? Sometimes it's too late for sorry.

    A gut-wrenching revelation. Loyalty, brotherhood, and honor will be tested to the breaking point. Austin Conrad is a study in contradictions. A decorated war hero turned jaded enforcer for a ruthless outlaw motorcycle club, the honor he once had is jolted back to the surface with a devastating discovery about the club he called home. Can this hardened criminal look the other way, or will honor drive a wedge between him and the brotherhood that embraced him? Blood Brothers is the gripping prequel to author Dusty Sharp’s acclaimed Austin Conrad series. Warning: contains violence, profanity and irreverence, in equal measure.

    Make way for Charlie Smithers.The time is the nineteenth century. The place, the Serengeti Plain, where one Charlie Smithers – faithful manservant to the arrogant bone-head, Lord Brampton (with five lines in Debrett, and a hopeless shot to boot) – becomes separated from his master during an unfortunate episode with an angry rhinoceros, thereby launching Charlie on an odyssey into Deepest Darkest Africa, and subsequently into the arms of the beautiful Loiyan…and that’s where the trouble really begins.Maasai warriors, xenophobic locals, or evil Arab slavers, the two forbidden lovers encounter everything that the unforgiving jungle can throw at them."A truly engaging read that will keep anyone’s attention from the hilarious beginning until the last word. I highly recommend this 5 star novel." ~ Chapters & Chats

    Now he walks among angels but is led by one; the mighty Warrior Angel, Uriel. This angel has watched over and protected him from birth, yet now they walk together. Along their journey a bonding relationship grows as the beauty of Heaven is unveiled, and the undisclosed mission of God is revealed.This novel has deeply and personally touched many readers. Numerous booklovers are saying: “It brought me comfort beyond anything I could imagine… words jump off the page… it reads like a movie… it made me think of Heaven like never before… the Holy Spirit appointed every word … thought-provoking … best book I’ve ever read other than the Bible … one can only pray that heaven will look like this ... touched all five of my senses… didn’t want it to end… can’t wait for the next book…”Throughout time, many religions have presented differing beliefs of the afterlife. Whatever they may be, we surely all have a final destination. Ask yourself: Is there a Heaven or Hell? When I die will I simply cease to exist and my body turns to dust? If I make it to Heaven, what will I do for eternity? Will I see and know my family & friends? What about angels and demons, are they real? Let the true events of the author’s life, mixed with his fictional imagination, carry you through the portals of the unknown!THE PORTAL SERIES:#1 “Scars of My Guardian Angel”#2 “Bloodline of the Scrolls”#3 “Revelation of the Scroll”