Between the Shadow and Lo


Lauren Sapala - 2017
    When the voice split away and talked to me all by itself I started calling her Lo…She’d watched me at my lowest points and saved up a thousand slights, a million minor offenses. She forgave nothing, and now she wanted revenge.” Leah is an alcoholic. She’s antisocial, self-destructive, and deeply damaged. She’s also battling a voice in her head she calls Lo, who wants to take over her body. Lo is everything Leah isn’t—beautiful, charming, confident, and ruthless in her desires.  She commandeers Leah’s will whenever Leah gets too drunk, and acts as her escort through the rainy Seattle underworld.As a misfit bibliophile, Leah’s conception of reality has never been rock solid, but as she spirals deeper into addiction the “real world” of bars, bikers, dealers, and addicts slowly dissolves into Lo’s dark vision. As Lo steadily tightens her hold, Leah prepares to make one last bid for survival, knowing her only chance is to transcend Lo’s terrifying drive toward death.An addiction memoir from Lauren Sapala, Between the Shadow and Lo is a new addition to the gritty and hilarious transgressive fiction tradition of Chuck Palahniuk, Charles Bukowski, and Joshua Mohr.

Secrets in the Sand


Carolyn Brown - 2021
    Not when they are deep within the heart like Angela Conrad's. Ten years ago, Clancy Morgan broke her heart and even though she's made a successful life for herself, she's never gotten over that pain. Angel didn't intend to ever go back home, but when the Alumni Association asked her to return to her hometown to play for the dance at their alumni gathering, she agreed.Clancy wasn't planning to attend, but he does, and he recognizes Angela immediately. He never expected to see her again, and definitely didn't expect to see her standing up there looking like a movie star and singing like a seasoned famous country artist. She's the Angel he walked away from and has been kicking himself ever since.He made a big mistake, but maybe he can mend it, if only she'll let him. She's not so easily inclined, but he gets to know her posse of protective girlfriends, and they cook up a scheme to help her get over him once and for all. Or, maybe she'll let him win her back.

The Scent of Metal


Sabrina Chase - 2013
    Computer scientist Lea Santorin can’t wait to figure out the alien technology. Instead, she wakes it up … and it continues its long-interrupted journey across the galaxy, taking Lea and Kepler with it..And something strange also wakes in Lea. She hears voices no one else can, and sees things the mission command prefers hidden. Why bring so many soldiers along with the scientists? Who concealed the structure, and when?Who waits at the final destination...and will they survive the meeting?

False Light


Eric Dezenhall - 2021
    After Fuse is asked to leave his paper pending a disciplinary investigation, he has plenty of time on his hands. So when his oldest friend approaches him for advice after the man’s daughter says she was sexually assaulted by her boss, a prominent media star, Fuse agrees to help. He gives his buddy the only options he feels are available: report the incident to the police and risk a huge “he said/she said” smear campaign against the girl, or plan something even better—revenge. As a journalist, Fuse has a colorful background investigating criminals, politicians, gangsters, drug lords, and all-around shysters—and knows plenty of shady sources—so he’s the perfect person to enact a complex (and ultimately, entertaining) plan to bring the popular media mogul down in the court of public opinion . . . and make him pay.

Silent Spring: Deadly Autumn of the Vietnam War


Patrick Hogan - 2019
    I began the process without much enthusiasm and quickly got side lined by my new civilian life. Little did I realize that I wouldn’t re-visit my disability claims again until almost forty years later, when I watched President Barack Obama give a speech on the horrors of the Vietnam War. I’m still not quite sure what happened that day, but after listening to the president, I committed myself to investigate the causal link between my tactical pesticide exposures and the myriad health problems plaguing my life and the lives of many other Vietnam veterans. My post-service medical problems began mildly enough but soon balloned and were followed by more serious health issues. Every time I would ask one of my doctors what was causing my illness, I would usually get the answer, “I don’t know, but---.” When I began my research in 2012, I would learn that Agent Orange, along with several other military pesticides, were all very capable of impacting every biological system in my body and could actually be linked to many wide-ranging ailments for which many of my doctors could only say they weren’t sure of the cause. Despite the uniqueness of Vietnam veterans and the incredibly diverse range of hazardous chemicals to which we were exposed, the DVA insists on assessing our illnesses by using civilian epidemiological studies, resulting in appallingly inadequate standards for evaluating our toxic exposures during the war. During my years of research, I have quite literally reviewed thousands of studies and documents. The vast majority of those records came to the same inescapable conclusions as I eventually did at the end of my investigation. Low-level exposures to just the various known chemicals discussed in my book will attack living organisms on an undetected hormonal, genetic, and cellular/molecular level, producing covert systemic damage and alterations to immune, cardiovascular, endocrine, respiratory, and neurological systems of any human unlucky enough to be put in their path. Exactly how that damage and those alterations manifest depends on the several exposure factors which I discus in the book. Regrettably, I couldn’t go back over the last half a century to get a do-over or to have the war conducted differently. I couldn’t force our legislative or military leaders to make better decisions. I couldn’t rewrite the unpleasant history of the Vietnam War, with all the numerous negative impacts that war had on me and every other soldier, marine, or sailor who served the United States in South Vietnam and in the blue waters of the surrounding ocean. The very best I could do, almost a half century after the war, was to write an account of our betrayal and describe our exposures to the toxic pesticides and abhorrent conditions of the Vietnam War. All in the sincere effort to correct the present so that what occurred in South Vietnam will never happen again to new generations of military personnel, their families and their children and quite possibility their grandchildren’s children. The mountain of evidence presented in my book points to one common sense conclusion: Exposure to the tactical pesticides used in the Vietnam War were extremely injurious to the health of military personnel, as well as, the health of anyone else exposed to them. Despite all the facts, the government still places the burden of proof on veterans instead of taking responsibility for the mess they made during the Vietnam War or in the words of Dr. Jeanne Stellman, the Vietnam War is, "the largest unstudied environmental disaster in the world."

A Highlander Walks into a Bar


Laura Trentham - 2019
    And the rules of love will never be the same…Isabel Buchanan is fiery, funny, and never at a loss for words. But she is struck speechless when her mother returns from a trip to Scotland with a six-foot-tall, very handsome souvenir. Izzy’s mother is so infatuated by the fellow that Izzy has to plan their annual Highland Games all by herself. Well, not completely by herself. The Highlander’s strapping young nephew has come looking for his uncle…Alasdair Blackmoor has never seen a place as friendly as this small Georgia town—or a girl as brilliant and beguiling as Izzy. Instead of saving his uncle, who seems to be having a lovely time, Alasdair decides he’d rather help Izzy with the Highland Games. Show her how to dance like a Highlander. Drink like a Highlander. And maybe, just maybe, fall in love with a Highlander. But when the games are over, where do they go from here?

Sleep Martyrs


C.A. Wittman - 2019
    But navigating around their controlling stepfather and their aloof new siblings becomes the least of their worries.There is a vague sense of menace in their state of the art lavish smart home with its cutting edge calm technology. And something is not quite right with the bright, cheerful kids at Santomon’s private school where the girls are enrolled. Undergrads from prestigious universities and ivy-league colleges are vying for the coveted internships within Santomon Village. The mega-corporation is the darling of the tech world and a philanthropic superstar when it comes to awarding educational scholarships to low-income families who require rehabilitative services for their teens at Santomon’s troubled youth program called Salinger House.But not everyone is singing Santomon praises. A growing number of parents whose children have returned home from the program are voicing concerns that at first seem vague, while a social activist group called The Disruptors has been investigating a cash-for-kids scandal in South Dakota that involves Santomon. For Tori, she can feel that something ominous, something evil is afoot, and as her mother begins to have doubts about her marriage and there is talk of divorce, Tori yearns to return to Inglewood and the simple life they had. But her sister, Laila ‘s not so sure leaving the village will be easy because what she has discovered is a treacherous web of lies unfathomable in their scope. What Laila wonders is if they can get away from Santomon before it’s too late.

Camino Beach


Amanda Callendrier - 2017
    Once a popular girl and valedictorian, she’s now pushing forty, divorced, and running a small bookstore in Nashville—not exactly an impressive life. But Sarah’s best friend, Kristen, won’t take no for an answer, and she won’t let them return to Briley High without Roxanne, the missing third in their senior-high trio.The beautiful and wild Roxanne—who listened to eighties rocker chicks, let anyone kiss her at parties, and dragged Sarah into plenty of trouble—disappeared just weeks before graduation. But Sarah’s not so sure she wants to track her down. She knows Roxanne’s departure was likely because of a betrayal—hers.Along with their pal Jack, Sarah and Kristen embark on a quest in a beat-up old El Camino, once the center of their spring-break dreams, in search of Roxanne. But the road ahead is full of surprises that will force the friends to confront their pasts and consider the paths they’ve chosen—and the ones still waiting to be explored.

Kalayla


Jeannie Nicholas - 2019
    We meet three families, one Irish, one Italian and one black, confronting the legacy of the past in 1999 Cambridge, MA.Kalayla: a feisty bi-racial, 11 year old loner whose world implodes when she discovers her parents belong in the Guinness Book of World Records for being “The World’s Biggest Liars” about her mother’s family. Maureen: Kalayla’s mother cocoons herself in art projects, deflecting the pain of her parent’s rejection. Her husband’s sudden death catapults her into life as a single mother raising a rebellious, incomprehensible daughter. Lena: their landlady, financially successful, seventy-two years old, wears only black, and lives in a fourth-floor walk-up apartment. Lena is tormented by memories of the dead--her twin sons and husband, and the living--two sons from whom she is estranged. Anyone who has experienced the angularities, rigid pockets and soft spots of family life can take hope from reading Kalayla which shows that pathways for change do exist--and if we choose to, we can find them.

Dockyard Dog


Lyle Garford - 2016
    Upon recovering he meets Captain Horatio Nelson, newly appointed to command of the Northern Leeward Islands squadron and the Royal Navy Dockyard at English Harbour in Antigua. Nelson's primary task is stamping out rampant American smuggling activity. But to succeed, Nelson needs information.Lieutenant Ross serves as a spy for Nelson against the smugglers, but they aren't his only foe. French and American spies supporting the smugglers are playing for far higher stakes, sowing the seeds of violent unrest. Lieutenant Ross is soon in the midst of desperate action and working with a beautiful slave woman to gain information as he struggles to stop to their plot.Dockyard Dog is the first novel in the Evan Ross series. Fans of Julian Stockwin, Dewey Lambdin, and Alexander Kent will enjoy reading this series.

The MacGregors Collection: Volume 2


Nora Roberts - 1999
    But she’s a welcoming committee that’s hard to ignore. Thin walls and thick defenses prove to be no match for her irresistible charm.The Winning HandTaking the biggest gamble of her life, Darcy Wallace slips her last three dollars into a slot machine—and hits the jackpot. But the real prize is casino manager Robert MacGregor. He’s not the marrying kind, but Darcy knows that true love is worth the risk…The MacGregor BridesThere is nothing Daniel MacGregor would rather see than his three eldest granddaughters—Laura, Gwendolyn, and Julia—married. But the three cousins have one-track minds, and love is taking a back seat to career success. Until Daniel handpicks three unsuspecting candidates for grooms—and throws them in their paths…The MacGregor GroomsFresh from the success of sending his granddaughters down the aisle, Daniel MacGregor turns his matchmaking sights on his stubbornly single grandsons: D.C., Duncan, and Ian. And though each man will put up a good fight, they’ll be no match for the women chosen by Daniel to tempt and tease them all the way to the altar. Rebellion & In from the ColdSet in 1745, Rebellion tells the story of Serena MacGregor, whose hatred of all things English extends to her brother’s friend Brigham Langston. He’ll prove himself worthy of the MacGregor’s respect, but piercing Serena’s pride will take all the passion he can muster. In from the Cold follows the MacGregors during the American Revolution. Injured minuteman Ian MacGregor flees into the wilderness, where he finds refuge for his body and soul with Irish spitfire Alanna Flynn.

A Bounty with Strings


Markus Matthews - 2019
    The thirty-three-year-old once used his elemental powers of Air and Lightning to protect the city from natural disasters, super villains, and criminals. Unfortunately, crime fighting didn’t pay the bills, so he hung up his spandex. Now known as bounty hunter Zack Stevens, he spends his time hunting monsters for money. While on the trail of a wanted Earth elemental, Zack finds he’s not the only one interested in the job. A Werepanther, a crazy vampire, a Mr. Hyde-type creature, and a blue-skinned alien attempt the bounty, and Zack helps clean up the mess, leaving him with a sense of responsibility for this odd crew who are now homeless and injured. Thanks to a multimillion-dollar contract on one of their group, the hunters become the hunted, and Zack and his new acquaintances strike up an alliance. He has always worked alone but must find a way to lead his ragtag crew if they are to survive attacks by the underworld they fight against. A Bounty with Strings leads readers on a fast-paced adventure starring an unlikely group of companions who must learn to trust each other even as they work to outwit those who would destroy them. Disclaimer - This book contains coarse language, sexual humor, violence and adult situations.

Sepultura


Guy Portman - 2018
    He would be coping just fine were it not for crass colleagues, banal bureaucracy and contemptible clothes. He is not going to take it lying down.Because beneath Dyson’s charming, Italian delicacy-consuming veneer lurks something sinister. As his personal and professional lives threaten to spiral out of control, will Dyson’s true nature be revealed?Compulsive and brimming with satirical wit, Sepultura is a caustic black comedy featuring an unforgettable sociopath.“My kind of black comedy. You’ll either love Dyson, or love to hate him” — Sandra Seymour, Author of Breed: Slayer“A satirical gem” — Reader“Sociopathic comedy at its best” — Adam Riley, Comedian

Northwoods Deep


Joel Arnold - 2010
    All are drawn to an old, dilapidated cabin. Inside lives an old man with awful urges, accompanied by a Rottweiler possessed by something...unnatural. But it's what resides beneath the cabin that they should really be worried about. Please join award-winning author Joel Arnold on a ride over the river and through the woods straight into terror in his newest novel, Northwoods Deep.

Youngblood


H. Peter Alesso - 2018
    But when he woke a century later, he was gasping for breath in a deserted underground bunker.The post-apocalyptic world he found was divided between the valley settlers who lived a subsistence existence and their mountain dwelling overlords who reaped all the benefits of a 22nd Century lifestyle.Seventeen-year-old orphan, Kira, was a kick-ass huntress who knew how to survive in this environment. So, when Youngblood was attacked by survivalists and left for dead, she saved him and together they raced to unravel humanity's darkest secrets and find a cure.After such global devastation--one thing was certain--only a man from another century could piece together the truth and discover the power to change the future and save the world.A wildly inventive adventure full of hairpin twists. A thrilling tale that weaves together fate, courage, and love.For Fans of The Postman and The Time Machine.