Book picks similar to
A Noble Truth by Jonathan LaPoma


alcohol
coming-of-age
fiction
transgressive-literature

In Search of Vindication


Ethan Westfield - 2020
    Deputy Marshal in Kansas for a great deal of his life. As soon as his brother Tommy stops answering his letters, he gets extremely alarmed and decides to take matters into his own hands. When he puts a plan in place to travel to Texas, little does he know that a shattering surprise awaits him there; his brother has been found dead, next to the body of one of the most powerful ranchers in town. Will Lee manage to unravel the truth behind these enigmatic and shocking deaths?While Lee is still aghast, the local sheriff declares Tommy's death a suicide, and also accuses him of attempting robbery and murder. On the spur of the moment, the case is considered closed, which makes Lee highly suspicious. Feeling that they drag Tommy's name through the mud, he decides to defy the law and seek vindication. Will he succeed in this lonesome yet risky mission? How will he solve this demanding riddle and clear his brother's name?Lee's hazardous quest begins, having Susan Marsh and Ki'Somma, a young Cherokee medicine man, on his side. Doubts, lies, deceits, serious injuries as well as many other roadblocks will derange their endless undertaking. Will they manage to join forces triumphantly and complete this challenging mission? Or will Tommy always be remembered as a ruthless criminal?

The Crocketts': Western Saga Two


Robert Vaughan - 2020
    

Waiting For The Bee Stings


Calvin Wade - 2015
    She arrives at the funeral of an old friend, Chrissie, who has died suddenly. Happily married, with two school age children, Mia is unaware that this will be the day that changes everything and her life will switch on to an entirely new path. 'Waiting For The Bee Stings' is a story about the lives of four friends who met at Newcastle University in the mid-1990s. It is a tale of love, friendship, passion and betrayal. This is the third fictional novel by Calvin Wade, following his debut, 'Forever Is Over' which rose to Amazon's Top20 ebooks in the United Kingdom and the critically acclaimed second novel, 'Kiss My Name'.

Burying Father Tim


Tom Robertson - 2008
    Narrated by a doctor who returns to his old neighborhood for the first time in nearly forty years to attend the funeral of his boyhood parish priest, the story blends hilarious accounts of childhood escapades with the timelessly poignant theme of loss. Reminiscences resonate as the story unfolds, evoking laughter in one moment and tugging on heartstrings the next. Whether you attended Catholic school or merely know someone who did, there is a lot of all of us in the story of Father Tim.

Mail Order Bride's Baby And Her Idealistic Lumberjack (A Western Historical Romance Book) (Evergreen Frontier)


Florence Linnington - 2021
    

Mail Order Bride: A Borrowed Baby and An Orphaned Bride


Emma Morgan - 2018
    Now, though, she must leave behind all she knows to begin a life as a mail order bride. But when fate leaves her an infant to care for on the dangerous journey, she finds herself in an adventure she never dreamed of in her lonely room. And loving a man she was never meant to love. Stagecoach driver Salvatore Gadara has promised to deliver Emily and the helpless infant safely to their destination. But swollen rivers, broken wagons and bitter snowstorms delay his mission, and he realizes his simple job has grown into a mission of love. Now Salvatore must deliver the woman and child he has grown to care for into the arms of another man—that is, if they even make it to their final destination. But sometimes, love takes a path of its own …

Destiny Rules... (Pure Destiny #3)


P.G. Van - 2018
    Sameera is the happiest woman in the world with everything she could ever ask for, but she still has one unanswered question. She needed to know why Rajaram abandoned his life and family. What could be more important than love? Follow Nick and Sameera's story as they embark on a journey to find the answers and realize their love is their Destiny. NOTE: This is NOT a standalone story. Destiny Rules.. is book 3 of The Pure Destiny series. Part 1 - Destiny Decides.. Part 2 - Destiny Embraces..

The Orphan’s Christmas


Molly Britton - 2019
    Soon after, Abby and her mother find themselves out on the streets in the bitter cold. But the heartache has only begun, and each Christmas brings cruel twists of fate that change Abby's life forever. The factory job Abby thought would save her sends her running for her life. When she can run no more and collapses on the street, she is taken in by Lucas, a man she wants to trust but can't. She accepts the job he offers, buying time until she can escape. But freedom costs Abby many things, and her heart cannot stop thinking of Lucas. As Abby accepts her hopeless plight in life, Christmas approaches, a time of deep sadness for Abby. But an unexpected meeting brings hope to Abby, if only briefly. Can Abby find happiness amidst all the sorrow in her life? What has become of Lucas, the only man who showed kindness to her?

Hunt-U.S. Marshal Vol 30: Career Decisions


W.L. Cox - 2016
    One of Hunt’s oldest friends dies, and Hunt travels to Kansas City for the funeral. U.S. Marshal Bekins attends the funeral and offers Hunt a job, and doesn’t want to take no for an answer. Hunt’s two new men return from Chicago, and for the first time in many months, Hunt’s team is back to 100%. One of Hunt’s ranch hands is found shot, and five hundred head of beef are missing. Hunt’s first concern is for his severely wounded employee. Hunt leads his men on a journey to find his missing cattle and bring the people to justice that did this to his hired hand and livestock. Hunt takes his wife, Beth, to Chicago and travels to Washington D.C. where they meet with President Andrew Johnson. Hunt is offered an appointment that he doesn’t want to accept. However, Beth insists that he takes the appointment. Hunt’s career will take a dramatic change should he accept the appointment and he isn’t sure this is the job for him.

The Paradise Gig (Key West Capers Book 15)


Laurence Shames - 2020
    FICTION: Poolside at their motel, the Fab Four fell into conversation with a snappy-dressing local named Bert the Shirt, who listened as the band worked out a harmony to the most beautiful song he’d ever heard--and wouldn’t hear again for over half a century. FACT: That night, the Beatles played an unannounced free concert in the motel bar. Everyone was welcome. Local musicians showed up with guitars and keyboards, and had the once-in-a-lifetime experience of jamming with the Beatles till 4 am. This legendary event has forever after been known to Key West locals as THE PARADISE GIG.FICTION: Next day, hung over and exhausted, the Beatles left for the airport, having somehow lost a stained and battered notebook that held a priceless stash of unrecorded songs. NOW CUT TO THE PRESENT: A beautiful woman is doing a yoga headstand on a Key West beach when she’s abducted by a pair of thugs. An aspiring young singer is offered a recording deal that seems a bit too good to be true. Bad things happen to a couple of one-hit wonders…And old Bert hears a new song that is hauntingly familiar, but that he can’t quite place.Could it possibly be the same song he’d heard at poolside so many years before? Could it be that all the present mayhem circles back through the decades to THE PARADISE GIG? Could the precious, even sacred, Beatles notebook possibly turn up after all these years? Could Bert be the hero who would rediscover that stash of unheard songs for music lovers everywhere—and save a young singer’s life in the process? With Nacho, his intrepid Chihuahua, at his side, and with no one but bumbling detective Pete Amsterdam for an ally, the undaunted Bert the Shirt sets out through the Florida haze to piece it all together, learning along the way how much the world has changed—and how much it has not. In equal parts suspenseful and nostalgic, funny and romantic, this time-bending caper celebrates the power of music and the many tricks of memory, the joys of youth and the comforts of age, and the free and funky spirit of Key West.

The Chameleon (Clay Brentwood Book 6)


Jared McVay - 2018
    The town hall in Waco, Texas was alive with activity. Nearly every citizen, except for the sheriff, the bartenders and the men who preferred whiskey to politics, turned out to hear Senator Rodney P. Morgan discuss his plans for building a university of higher learning just outside of town. This was a big-ticket item for the people of Waco and they had high hopes for the new school. Good schools were few and far between out here, especially universities. The good ones, like Harvard and a few others, were all back east and very expensive. Henry Lowe, owner and pharmacist of the Corner Drugstore, set up a table near the front of the town hall where he handed out free bottles of his newly invented soda pop. He was still working on a name for it, but claimed it was a real pepper upper. The new drink was a big hit with the women and children, along with a few of the men. Not many, but a few. Most of the men preferred beer or whiskey, or even coffee to this sweet tasting non-alcoholic beverage. Two of the men who tried it said they enjoyed buttermilk over the sweet soda. Undaunted, Henry declared it a big success. Being a widower, Henry was also a big hit with many of the widow ladies in Waco and proclaimed his new soda drink would make him rich and famous. Senator Rodney P. Morgan, a large man in his fifties with a strong jaw, steel blue eyes, and mutton chop whiskers, stood on the stage looking out across the room filled with people. He had no doubt the idea of a university of higher learning would garner him the votes he needed to help get him elected for a second term. Whether he could actually raise the money, or build the school was of no consequence. If he could make them believe this was of a prime interest to him and he was trying to do as he promised, he was guaranteed to win their votes and that was why he was here. That’s what political campaigns were all about, winning votes, not actually getting anything done. If he’d learned anything during his first term, it was to make the voters believe you were looking after them and their interests. And, if he did actually get something passed that was important to them, they would say, “He did exactly what he promised to do and you can’t ask more than that.” BACK COVER The newspapers called him, "The Chameleon," because during each assassination the killer looks incredibly like someone that everyone knows, including the Governor of the state of Texas. When Clay Brentwood gets on his trail, he has to wonder if those around him are what they seem. Even, Clay's boss, Bill McDaniel, head of the Texas Rangers - has been acting strangely and Clay can't be sure he is the same man he has known all these years. For Clay, the problem is obvious - how does he stop a madman with no known identity?

Beneath A Colesberg Sky


Jeffrey Whittam - 2015
    From Dakota’s Black Hills to the gold and diamond fields of Southern Africa, Jim O’Rourke and his daughter, Kathleen step from the sailing ship Eudora and take their covered wagon deep inside a vast and ancient wilderness. The land is raw-boned and unforgiving – the men and women who search its heart for wealth, love and adventure, even more so. Smoke from a thousand fires clung to a broken landscape and towering above it, churned from a vast and open wound in the earth’s crust, were those billowing clouds of powdered Kimberlite; as yellow, ochrous fingers they reached upwards for over a thousand feet, deep inside the heart of that darksome Colesberg sky.

Carson Kettle


Wyatt Cochrane - 2021
    Marshals failed, can farm boy Carson succeed?After the Civil War, to the people of Oak Bower, Arkansas, “…he'd always be Carson Kettle, son of the man who'd chosen the winning side in the war and would forever pay for it.”Folks in town all called both him and his father ‘Yankee Lover.’ All but her, and she’s gone.Only sixteen, and untrained and untried in the ways of Colts and fists and evil gunmen, Carson’s determined to ride into the Indian Territories and bring Lijah Penne to justice. But Lijah’s feared by all, and even the best deputy United States marshal can’t find him.Can youth and determination overcome an experienced outlaw, forged in the crucible of the Civil War to kill man, woman, or child, without a second thought?No one thinks so. They say: leave it to the grownups, you’re too young, too inexperienced.And maybe they’re right, but they don’t feel what Carson feels, and he saddles up anyway…Book one in a new, clean, Classic Western Series.

The New Kid 2: In the Dog House


Maureen Straka - 2018
    He also has to deal with an awful substitute teacher, his know-it-all cousin, and a cheating scandal at school. Can he help to figure out who cheated on the test before the whole class is punished?

High Plains Ambush


John D. Fie Jr. - 2017
    Thomas, WL Cox, and Duane Boehm filled with action, adventure and plot twists such as C. K. Crigger, Robert Vaughan, and C.M. Curtis! This is a book that is filled with the bodies of those who stand again law, order and patriotism! Matt Hutchins, the lone survivor of a wagon train massacre takes on the world to do what is right, and must use guts, guns and glory to bring peace to his people. Found and raised by the Sioux, Matt not only learns the ways of the Sioux, but his survival skills are keenly honed with his tracking abilities used by both the Army and later by the sheriff of a town named Buffalo Flats Matt lives alone on the open plains with his trusted friend and horse ‘Ole Friend, a gift given to him by the Chief Buffalo Robes, the one who taught him how to survive. If you love great Western writing—and you love classic Western movies—you will LOVE “High Plains Ambush.”