Herald Square


Jefferson Flanders - 2012
    When Dennis Collins arrives at Madison Square Garden for the Friday night fights, he is on top of the world. His career as the man-about-town columnist of the New York Sentinel is on the upswing; his beloved Brooklyn Dodgers are contending for the pennant; and a lover who had jilted him years ago has unexpectedly agreed to drinks and dinner at the Stork Club. Collins is sure that his luck has turned for the better.But at the Garden his closest childhood friend, Morris Rose, approaches him for help. Rose asks Collins to safeguard microfilmed documents that he says will prove his innocence in a State Department loyalty investigation. Out of friendship, Collins reluctantly agrees to hold the microfilm for a week.When Rose disappears from the scene, and FBI agents begin asking hard questions, Collins must solve a puzzle that somehow involves his friend, a shadowy former OSS officer, and a beautiful refugee, Karina, with a troubled past.When Collins discovers that both American and Soviet operatives desperately want the documents he is holding, he is drawn into a twilight struggle between intelligence agencies that will challenge his loyalties and test his courage.Rich with historical detail, Herald Square tells a story of intrigue and deception, of ordinary people propelled into a dangerous, clandestine world where duplicity reigns and any misstep can have dire consequences.

In the Shadow of Angels


Fanny Lee Savage - 2014
    This unforgettable tale follows Charlotte Duval, whose life is altered forever one fateful night, leaving her willing to do anything to keep an awful secret...One hot summer day, only weeks before her thirtieth birthday, Charlotte's quiet life is interrupted when her past shows up on her door step, forcing her to face her worst nightmares. She spent five years in hiding, working hard to forget her past and the lies that tore her family apart.Suddenly, Charlotte finds herself swept away to an ominous chateau in France, by the one person she tried to forget. Henri, her first love, has been doing research that has brought about unwanted attention, leaving Charlotte in danger and with more questions than answers. She is forced to wait, living with the chateau's residents, while the mystery of Henri's research unfolds around her.Charlotte soon finds her hosts know more about her past than she’d like and carry secrets of their own. Aydin, the power behind security that has been assigned to Charlotte, is a quiet and menacing force, one she discovers, she can't stop thinking of, leaving her budding romance with Henri in jeopardy.While in France, Charlotte discovers a dark world she never knew existed. A world shrouded in shadow, threatening to consume her.

The Last Shuttle


Tom Glover - 2011
    Only one man could prevent the accident. An ex-NASA scientist reluctantly joins the crew of re-commissioned space shuttle Discovery on a daring rescue mission to recover the satellite. Orbiting Earth, they are about to experience something out of this world.

The Confessions of Socrates


R.L. Prendergast - 2017
    In a month he will die of hemlock poisoning. At night, by the light of a tiny oil lamp, on rolls of paper smuggled in by loyal friends, he tells his three sons the story of his life.He writes vividly about the people and events that shaped him as a person. The mother who encouraged his questions. Teachers who promoted the Greek ideals of courage and glory. Bloody battles. Lifelong friends lost and enemies made. Being proclaimed the world’s wisest man.Fearing his sons may follow in his ill-fated path, Socrates honestly reveals his thoughts and feelings, his successes and his failures, and his search for the answer to the ultimate question—how can I be happy?

Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance


Alison EspachAlison Espach
    It's full of family trips to the beach and long afternoons at the local pool with her older sister Kathy, which they mostly use as an excuse to ogle Billy Barnes, who works the concession stand there. A rising senior and local basketball star, Billy has been an unending source of intrigue for both girls since he jumped off the school roof in fifth grade, and their fascination with him is one of the few things the increasingly different sisters have in common. By summer’s end Billy and Kathy are an item—an unthinkable stroke of luck that ends in an even more unthinkable tragedy.Set over the course of fifteen years, Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance is narrated by Sally as she addresses Kathy before, during, and after her death. We watch as Kathy’s absence creates a gaping hole that only Billy—now firmly off-limits to Sally—understands and might possibly begin to fill. Charting years of their shared history and missed connections, Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance is both a breathtaking love story between two broken people who are unexplainably, inconveniently drawn to each other, and a wry, sharply observant coming-of-age story that looks at the ways the people we love the most continue to shape our lives long after they’re gone.

Discretion


David Balzarini - 2013
    Natalie’s father, a local politician, uses the opportunity to further his career by starting a media storm, causing panic in the area. Colin and his father, a retired NBA star, come under the microscope as the sheriff investigates. All anyone expects to find is a dead body. Colin’s friends support him, but with no answers to Natalie’s whereabouts and time running out, Colin makes a wreak-less move to find her–he seeks help from a mysterious source, leading him to the truth behind Natalie’s disappearance. Colin has to make the hardest choice of his life: commit a crime or lose her forever.Fifteen years later, Colin lives the good life with a high-profile career and a trophy wife in the waiting. When three new serial murders bring the FBI to the cold Natalie Merian case, Colin must answer questions about what happened at Lake Apache. He will reckon with the past. And his sins.

The Going Back Portal


Connie Lacy - 2019
    So when her grandmother claims a Cherokee Indian woman is living on a neighboring farm, she dismisses it as early Alzheimer's. Because, obviously, there is no farm nearby. Not in the present anyway. But when she follows Nana's lead, Kathryn is transported back in time to the year 1840 where she finds a young Cherokee woman left behind when her family marched west on the Trail of Tears. Forest Water is ensnared in a perilous struggle to keep her ancestral lands against a violent white man who claims the farm, and then claims her as well. Desperate to help her new friend, Kathryn becomes entangled in a battle between good and evil with much higher stakes than she imagines.Each of these young women falls in love with a man from her own time, but there are threats, both seen and unseen, that could cost them their lives.

In Search of Love


Piyushi Dhir - 2014
    Nursing a broken heart, she decides to visit her parents in Ahmedabad for a short reprieve. Even as she struggles to resign herself to a marriage ‘arranged’ by her parents, she runs into their neighbour’s attractive son.Parth is more than happy to spend time in his own company, in the comforts of his ‘resort’. His plan to take some time off before he plunges head long into his career lands him in front of a lovely girl. The pain in her eyes belies her warm smile and he finds himself irresistibly drawn to her. Yet he knows that this cannot end well, for any intimacy with her is forbidden.Fate plays a cruel trick with Ayesha when it ends her search for love in a cul-de-sac, a point of no return. Ayesha is distraught when she realizes that the one person she has finally fallen in love with, is not hers to be had. They part ways with memories that will return to haunt them and questions that will remain unanswered, until another tryst, seven years later on the other side of the world.

Vampire


Amy Mah - 2012
    They face the stresses of school, deciding whom to date, and the biggie of sex, just to name a few. Imagine all of those things ten times worse, and you might get an idea of what it's like being a living, breathing teenage vampire.

Breakout


Kevin Scott Olson - 2015
    If the American's true identity and mission are revealed, he will never leave Mexico alive.Michael Quinn, ex-Navy SEAL turned CIA special operative, is given the assignment: rescue the imprisoned American before the soldier receives a life sentence from the Mexican government...or a death sentence from the Mexican drug cartels.

The Renegade Queen


Eva Flynn - 2015
    Disgusted by war, he sought a new world. She was the first women to run for President, campaigning before women could vote.He was the Hero of Vicksburg, disillusioned with the government after witnessing the devastating carnage of the Civil War.Their social revolution attracted the unwanted who were left out of the new wealth: the freed slaves, the new immigrants, and women.Who were they?This is the true story of Victoria Woodhull and the love of her life, James Blood. Adored by the poor, hated by the powerful, forced into hiding during their lifetimes and erased from history after death, the legend of their love lives on. It’s 1869 and Victoria has a choice to make. She can stay in an abusive marriage and continue to work as a psychic, or she can take the offer of support from handsome Civil War general James Blood and set about to turn society upside down. Victoria chooses revolution.But revolutions are expensive, and Victoria needs money. James introduces Victoria to one of the wealthiest man in America”"Commodore Vanderbilt. Along with her loose and scandalous sister, Tennessee, Victoria manipulates Vanderbilt and together they conspire to crash the stock market”"and profit from it. Victoria then parlays her fortune into the first female-owned brokerage firm. When her idol Susan B. Anthony publishes scandalous rumors about Victoria’s past, Victoria enters into a fierce rivalry with Susan to control the women’s movement. James supports Victoria's efforts despite his deep fears that she may lose more than the battle. She might lose part of herself.Victoria starts her own newspaper, testifies to Congress, and even announces her candidacy for President. But when Victoria adopts James's radical ideas and free love beliefs, she ignites new, bruising, battles with Susan B. Anthony and the powerful Reverend Henry Beecher. These skirmishes turn into an all-out war, with Victoria facing prejudice, prosecution, and imprisonment. Ultimately, Victoria and James face the hardest choice of all: the choice between their country and their love.

Karma and the Art of Butter Chicken


Monica Bhide - 2016
    His attempts to achieve this monumental goal are constantly thwarted. And when his former girlfriend returns from Europe with a handsome fiancé in tow, his life becomes even more complicated. A sliver of hope appears in the form of a local TV cooking competition. Winning would offer the solution to all his problems: money for his mission and the chance to impress the girl he loves. But to win this competition, Eshaan first must face a secret that has the potential to destroy his life and his dreams. Can a young life that has been defined by a crisis ever really thrive? Will Eshaan’s pain-filled spirit ever hear the songs of salvation that the Universe sings for him, or will his demons ultimately win? Celebrated food writer Monica Bhide dishes up a page-turning story of sacrifice, determination, and an honest exploration of the human spirit. Set in contemporary India and seasoned with gentle love, dramatic loss, enchanting poetic verse, and exotic food, Karma and the Art of Butter Chicken will take you to a place where past and present keep uneasy yet delicious company. The cover photograph is by the talented and award-winning photographer, Simi Jois.

The Devil's Prayer


Luke Gracias - 2016
    In Australia, Siobhan Russo recognises that nun as her mother, Denise Russo, who disappeared six years ago. In search of answers, Siobhan travels to the isolated convent where her mother once lived. Here she discovers Denise’s final confession, a book that details a heinous betrayal that left her crippled and mute, and Denise’s subsequent deal with the Devil to take revenge. In the desperate bargain Denise made with the Prince of Darkness, she wagered Siobhan’s soul. As Siobhan discovers the fate of her soul, she learns that hidden within the pages of her mother’s confession is part of The Devil’s Prayer, an ancient text with the power to unleash apocalyptic horrors. And now her mother’s enemies know Siobhan has it. Can Siobhan escape an order of extremist monks determined to get the Prayer back? Can she save the world from its own destruction? Explicit Content Warning: "The Devil’s Prayer" is a historical horror thriller that contains brutality, rape, sex, drug abuse and murder. Readers may find its content offensive and confronting. You can view the video teaser for the book on https://vimeo.com/156061258.

The Keeper of Edelyndia


Benjamin J. Denen - 2014
    He is welcomed in by a simple family after saving their ten-year-old daughter, Lyra. When the Keepers, the enforcing arm of the Church, launch an unprecedented raid on their village in Havanshae Valley, Orron is faced with taking up arms to fight for those he loves. In doing so, he must confront the reality of who he truly is and the purpose for his very existence.Draedon, a Legion Commander of the Keepers, struggles with his duty as an officer and his role as a father. Standing up for what he believes in feels like the right thing to do, but what if it endangers the life of his beloved daughter? He must choose between the life he has always known and the life for which he has bee

Finders Keepers: The Definitive Edition


Russ Colchamiro - 2010
    When a jar containing the Universe's DNA falls from Eternity, bumbling backpackers Jason and Theo find their loyalties--and sanity!--put to the test. Unaware that a motley crew from another realm is chasing them across the globe to retrieve that radioactive vessel, these intrepid new friends are forced to contend with passion, responsibility, and their own mortality--and the fate of the Solar System, which hangs in the balance. Traversing Europe, New Zealand, and the backbone of Eternity, Finders Keepers: The Definitive Edition ultimately asks one simple question: Is the life you're living the life you actually want . . . or does the Universe have more to offer than you can possibly imagine?IMPORTANT NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: The Definitive Edition of Finders Keepers has undergone significant changes from the original version. Consider the original as the Raw & Uncensored version (rated 'R')--which is no longer available-- while this new updated and revised Definitive Edition is 'PG-13'. Goodreads will not allow the two version to be listed separately, so please keep in mind that older reviews do not necessarily reflect the updated narrative, characters, language, and tone of the Definitive Edition.For more on why I wrote the Definitive Edition, and how it differs from the original, check out my blog here: https://russcolchamiro.com/2018/11/bo...