Book picks similar to
The Tall Boy by Jess Gregg


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Trial: An Action-Packed Legal Drama


William Harrington - 2018
     Richly plotted, Harrington’s novel is alive with a large cast of memorable characters and real, powerful issues, including destroyed careers, political upheaval, racial clashes, and a major scandal. At the centre we have a Lieutenant of Detectives with the job of bringing a murderer to justice, but he's torn between duty and his hatred of capital punishment. We follow the lives of those centrally and pivotally concerned in the case—the murderer and the murderer’s wife, lawyers and journalists, gubernatorial candidates and prostitutes—through the events leading up to the trial, the trial itself, and its grim aftermath. Praise for Trial: ‘Mr. Harrington blends all his disparate themes skilfully, holding the reader’s attention riveted and constructing his story tightly.’ — Publishers’ Weekly. William Harrington (1931-2000) was born in Ohio and studied law at Ohio State University. An attorney for nearly 20 years, he became a full-time writer in 1980. Harrington published almost thirty novels during his career, including The English Lady (1982) and a series of six novels featuring fictional TV detective Columbo.

Faded Mirrors: A Memphis Love Story


B. Love - 2020
    With heartbreak and rejection being too heavy of a cocktail to continuously digest, she turns to drug use in order to dull her reality. Unfortunately, her spiral leads to homelessness and a need for rescue. Desperate for cash, she finesses her way into an underground casino. Taken in by the action, it’s clear this is a place she doesn’t belong. However, a meeting with a powerful man causes her to lose her potential marks and gain a path to healing that just may let her heart tag along. Smoke is suave and charismatic, and he knows his business. As the owner of an underground casino, his eyes and ears are always open. Dollars don’t get played or paid without him knowing about it. Faces become familiar after first glance. When a woman, less made up and more run down, enters his establishment, Smoke instantly recognizes her as out of place. Yet, there’s something about her that draws him in. He wants to care for her... help her reclaim her light. If only the task was that simple. Will Smoke and Mira find themselves in the mirrors of each other? Or will the truth of circumstances fade the promises of the future?

Eisenhower's Spy


Noel Hynd - 2020
     “(Hynd is)…a few notches above the Ludlums and Clancys of the world." - Booklist. 'Eisenhower’s Spy' is Noel Hynd’s tough hard-hitting sequel to 'Truman’s Spy'. It is a major new work of action and espionage from the author of 'Flowers From Berlin' and 'Return to Berlin.' It is the summer of 1958. President Dwight D. Eisenhower personally enlists F.B.I. Special Agent Thomas Buchanan (the central character of Hynd’s 'Truman’s Spy') for a top secret assignment independent of the FBI and CIA. The President asks Buchanan to oversee the investigation of a perplexing murder in broad daylight in Manhattan. The best detectives in New York City cannot pull the case together. Or maybe they don’t want to. Was the homicide a random slaying, a gangland ‘hit,’ a drug deal gone wrong or a political assassination? And the further question: why is this homicide, which might otherwise be a state or city investigation, the focus of such close White House attention? Within days of starting his investigation, Buchanan finds himself, his life, his career and the woman he loves in jeopardy. He navigates a lethal web of Russian spies, local hoodlums, political provocateurs from the left and the right, the CIA, rival agents in the FBI, surly New York cops and Caribbean revolutionaries. The case is a nightmare, as are its ramifications. Equally perilous are the gritty gang-controlled urban streets where Buchanan must go to seek answers. Buchanan soon finds himself working with an unpredictable New York City police lieutenant named Paul Maguire. A beautiful but suspicious young woman named Laura Brookfield filters in and out of the case. Day to day, Laura either aids them or sabotages them. And yet, she may be the key to Buchanan's investigation. The story twists and turns from New York to Washington to Havana and back again. The case comes in and out of focus like a mirage on a broiling summer afternoon. Buchanan moves from the drug dens of upper Manhattan to the mob nightclubs of midtown to the edgy coffee houses of Greenwich Village. He visits the hot jazz joints of the West Fifties and the corrupt police precincts of the pre-Serpico era. Questions are many. Answers are few. Buchanan must make his own good luck. Meanwhile, the President is waiting for a report. To some, America of the 1950’s was a bright, optimistic and prosperous place. But in 'Eisenhower’s Spy' a deeper reality smolders beneath the surface. The decade had begun with two wars: a bloody conflict in Korea that stalemated in 1953 and a global cold war that would intensify through the decade. Berlin, Budapest and Taiwan were flashpoints of conflict and potential sparks for another world war. Americans passed the decade in fear of Soviet subversion from within or a sudden Soviet nuclear attack from afar. Worse, revolutionary ferment was as close as ninety miles south of Florida as Fidel Castro’s revolutionary army crept increasingly closer to mobbed-up Havana. 'Eisenhower’s Spy' is a spy story that buzzes with the energy of numerous intrigues, love affairs, memorable characters, remorseless criminality and quirks of fate set across a dark set of years in the middle of the Twentieth Century. 'Eisenhower’s Spy' will underscore the critics’ lofty assessment of Noel Hynd’s unique way with a tough hard-hitting spy novel: a full cast of memorable people, romance, uncompromising historical accuracy and heart pounding suspense. The millions of readers of Noel Hynd’s previous novels will not be disappointed.

Gemini


Denetria Gibson - 2014
    Although they work on opposite sides of the law; their lives are perfect. Until a case which involves Patricia leads her down a road that she thought she would never see again..in the mind of a Gemini.

Outlasting the Trail: The Story of a Woman's Journey West


Mary Barmeyer O'Brien - 2005
    Trading in her home for canvas roof and wheels, Mary, her husband, and their three children set out on the arduous trek westward to California.Shortly into their travels west, it became painfully obvious that Doctor Powers was simply not up to the task of making sure his family "outlasted the trail." Mary had to step in and become the head of the household with its canvas roof and wheels--leaving behind her ideals of femininity along with her beloved possessions.In Outlasting the Trail author Mary Barymeyer O'Brien uses the letters Mary Rockwood Powers wrote to her mother and sister back home as a stepping off point to further illuminate this remarkable woman's story. Based on the dramatic struggle a real family, this novel brings to life a fascinating slice of American history.

Ma, Jackser's Dyin Alone


Martha Long - 2013
    But in the hospital she sees a frightened, lonely old man and realises with a shock that he seems to regret his earlier actions.During her vigil, she is joined by Charlie, her beloved little brother, then the ma and some of her other siblings. All of them have suffered greatly and it is clear that no one connected to Jackser has escaped unscathed.But as she sits with him during his dying days, other memories of Jackser come back to Martha - fleeting moments of concern and kindness, and a sense of closeness as he recalled his own tormented past in one of Ireland's industrial schools. It is a vicious cycle of cruelty and loss that has played out, from which only her own tenacity and wit has provided an escape.Poignant, ribald, poetic and defiant, with its resolution of many unanswered questions about her life this is Martha at her best.

Blessed Life: My Surprising Journey of Joy, Tears, and Tales from Harlem to Hollywood


Kim Fields - 2017
    

One Teacher in 10: LGBT Educators Share Their Stories


Kevin Jennings - 1994
    He lives in New York City.

Dog Days: A Year with Olive and Mabel


Andrew Cotter - 2021
    With normal work cancelled or scaled back for so long, it has been a time to take stock and share experiences – both the everyday and the decidedly odd. Here Andrew takes a sharply observed and often hilarious walk through the strangest of days for all of us, reflecting on how precious our time really is, especially the time we have with our dogs.Beautiful, comical, endlessly optimistic and eternally hungry Olive, Mabel (and Andrew) have padded around from the Cheltenham Literary Festival to 60 Minutes Australia, from their living room studio with ABC News Breakfast to an appearance on Good Morning America, and from obscurity to excited whispers of “Is that really Olive & Mabel?” wherever they go. Not to mention the lucrative merchandise and advertising deals that were turned down by the dozen, and the odd phone call from Hollywood.Through it all, Olive and Mabel have always done exactly what they do best, being themselves and being there for Andrew – and for all of us who have loved watching their brilliant videos and following their progress online. If you’re a fan of Olive, Mabel and Andrew, this funny, touching and extraordinary account of a year like no other is an unmissable treat.

Saving Alex: When I Was Fifteen I Told My Mormon Parents I Was Gay, and That's When My Nightmare Began


Alex Cooper - 2016
    At church and at home, Alex was taught that God had a plan for everyone. But something was gnawing at her that made her feel different. These feelings exploded when she met Yvette, a girl who made Alex feel alive in a new way, and with whom Alex would quickly fall in love.Alex knew she was holding a secret that could shatter her family, her church community, and her life. Yet when this secret couldn’t be hidden any longer, she told her parents that she was gay, and the nightmare began. She was driven from her home in Southern California to Utah, where, against her will, her parents handed her over to fellow Mormons who promised to save Alex from her homosexuality.For eight harrowing months, Alex was held captive in an unlicensed “residential treatment program” modeled on the many “therapeutic” boot camps scattered across Utah. Alex was physically and verbally abused, and many days she was forced to stand facing a wall wearing a heavy backpack full of rocks. Her captors used faith to punish and terrorize her. With the help of a dedicated legal team in Salt Lake City, Alex eventually escaped and made legal history in Utah by winning the right to live under the law’s protection as an openly gay teenager.Alex is not alone; the headlines continue to splash stories about gay conversion therapy and rehabilitation centers that promise to “save” teenagers from their sexuality. Saving Alex is a courageous memoir that tells Alex’s story in the hopes that it will bring awareness and justice to this important issue. A bold, inspiring story of one girl’s fight for freedom, acceptance, and truth.

Rust in Peace: The Inside Story of the Megadeth Masterpiece


Dave Mustaine - 2020
    Fresh off their performance at the record-breaking Monsters of Rock festival, and with knockout new albums from Slayer, Anthrax, and Metallica dominating the charts, the pressure to produce a standout statement record was higher than ever. In Rust in Peace: The Inside Story of the Megadeth Masterpiece, the band's leadvocalist and guitarist, Dave Mustaine, gives readers a never-before-seen glimpse into the artistry andinsanity that went into making the band'smost iconic record. He recounts the arduoustask of hiring the band and supportingcast, of managing egos and extra curricularsduring the album's ensuing success,and succumbing to the pressures of fameand fortune-which eventually forced theband to break up. And yet, Megadeth's demise was just the beginning; the birth pangs of the record were nothing compared to what came next. Alcohol, drugs, sex, money, power, property, prestige, the lies fed to the band by the industry--and the lies they told each other-threatened to eat away at the band's bond like rust, devouring it until only the music survived.

The Unreal Life of Sergey Nabokov


Paul Russell - 2010
    Toklas. But it is the honesty and vulnerability of Sergey, our young gay narrator, that hook the reader: his stuttering childhood in the shadow of his brilliant brother, his opium-fueled evenings with his sometime lover Cocteau, his troubled love life on the margins of the Ballets Russes and its legendary cast, and his isolation in war torn Berlin where he will ultimately be arrested, sent to a camp and die in 1945. A meticulously researched novel, in which you will meet an extraordinary cast of characters including Picasso, Diaghilev, Stravinsky, Magnus Hirschfield ("Tante Magnesia"), Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas, Cocteau, and of course the master himself, Vladimir Nabokov, this is ultimately the story of a beautiful and vulnerable homosexual boy growing into an enlightened and courageous man.

The Thief's Journal


Jean Genet - 1949
    Writing in the intensely lyrical prose style that is his trademark, the man, Jean Cocteau, dubbed France's "Black Prince of Letters" here reconstructs his early adult years - time he spent as a petty criminal and vagabond, traveling through Spain and Antwerp, occasionally border hopping across to the rest of Europe, always trying to stay one step ahead of the authorities.

After Kathy Acker: A Biography


Chris Kraus - 2017
    and cultural icon.The late Kathy Acker's legend and writings are wrapped in mythologies, many of them created by her. Twenty years after her untimely death at age 50, Acker's legend has faded, but her writing has become clearer.A few years ago, the writer Chris Kraus, author of I Love Dick, found that her own experiences were becoming more and more like Kathy's. She began writing about Acker 'through the distance, but with this incredible frisson of feeling that often I could write "I" instead of "she."'This is 'literary friction': The first fully authorised biography of the avant-garde writer Kathy Acker, by the woman who arrived on the scene straight after her, who shared some of her boyfriends and friends, and her artistic ambitionsUsing exhaustive archival research and ongoing conversations with mutual colleagues and friends, Kraus traces the woman behind the notorious novels, and places her at the centre of a kaleidoscopic artistic world.

Trapped in a Bubble: The shocking true story of child abuse, gay bullying and depression (Child Abuse True Stories)


Jack Collins - 2013
    From that house. That street. That place. And his parents. As a troubled teenager - struggling with his sexuality after years of bullying and abuse, including being spat on, beaten, having dog faeces forced into his mouth, and sexual assault - he left home and moved to another city, put together a new life and became a different person, while keeping the 'dead spots' hidden from everyone - sporadic bouts of depression that could wipe out days at a time. But years later, in the aftermath of a disturbing reminder of the past, he begins to unravel, which leads to a move abroad followed by a return to his childhood home. Moving back into that claustrophobic house full of unwanted memories - with his manipulative, controlling mother, and too many reminders of his toxic father - wasn't supposed to be for long, but as the past catches up with him, he heads towards a breakdown and finds himself trapped once again.