Beyond the Midnight Shadows

Julie drops the flashlight and it rolls around on the floor, casting odd shadows on the walls. As she turns to pick it up, there is a smoky image of a man's face in the shadow next to her. Startled, she starts to fall backwards down the stairs... With a sudden jolt, she awakes in her chair. She lets out a long sigh and looks around the room. The morning sun is already shining through the windows of the big house. Not everything is always as it seems, and for someone like Julie, there is a blurry line that connects her dreams and reality. As the two begin to merge, what will she discover? Beyond the Midnight Shadows is a collection of stories that will take you on a path of discovery, challenging what the characters (and you) think they know. After all, fate has a different vantage point.

Black

Acheron, GA. When Sheriff Paul Adams is confronted with the murder of well-liked local Eve Collins, suspicions soon turn to Sullivan Gates, a man rumoured to have killed his own parents.  Together with Eve’s husband Jesse and her mother Dawn, Adams is determined to track down the killer.

But even stranger things than murder are afoot. A misty chill has fallen on the town, the grey skies seem to swirl ominously above. Whispers spread of inhuman creatures stalking the woods outside town, and strange ritual chanting in the dead of night. Residents seem to go missing, more by the day, without leaving behind a trace.

What is the link between the death of Eve Collins and the unsettling, unnatural occurrences in Acheron? What is it that prowls the woods beyond the town? Who, or what, is behind these disappearances? Adams is determined to get to the bottom of this, but will he ­ — or any of them ­ — make it out alive?

Black Swan Impact

Creative, shocking, and constantly intriguing, Black Swan Impact is a taut geopolitical novel that features a bold but grim vision of a post-World War III future. The thrilling storyline never meanders, instead moving forward with purpose and keeping the reader in eager pursuit of it. Readers will enjoy this captivating, insightful, and detailed crisis that could only be created by an insider with many years of expertise in the subject matter.

A former government employee of the Department of Homeland Security, Helen Hynson Vettori delivers a credible and horrifying tale born from her consternation regarding the United States government’s suboptimal response to SARS CoV-2. Appalled that previous years of planning and preparation for biological incidents, to include pandemics, were overlooked, she wrote this sci-fi political thriller. As a result, readers will find unnerving truths woven throughout this terrifying fiction. Further, with her background as a Senior Medical Intelligence Analyst and paramedic, she provides graphic descriptions with visceral details that compel readers to turn each page with chilling captivation.

Black Switch

Sebastian Sinclair is on his way to becoming one of the greatest spiritual healers of our time. He came down to earth with certain abilities. These gifts he gave himself are an evolution of what normal humans have never seen before in this lifetime. Seeing ghosts and angels are just the preliminary steps of what he will eventually receive in the future.

But he must be careful about the many pitfalls that will arise while trying to fulfill his destiny. Never did he think that Sophia Freemont, the love of his life, would ever become entangled in the extraordinary obstacles that lie ahead of him. Unfortunately, he will have to learn that nothing great ever comes without a price.

In his ambition to succeed, he very well may have taken on more than he can handle. If that happens, it could put him on an altered life course. A path more grim then he could possibly imagine. 

Sebastian is now on the planet Earth living out his existence. He has been alive now for 27 years and is just about to go through his first real painful life lesson as an adult. It is the stepping stone for his enormous transformation to becoming what he was meant to be.

Black-Eyed Peas and Turnip Greens

“A better sister novel for To Kill a Mockingbird, this southern bildungsroman, Black-Eyed Peas and Turnip Greens written by 92-year-old first-time author Bonnie Smith, plants our imaginations vividly in the soil of her poverty-stricken childhood and develops in us not pity but endearing admiration. Both a raw confessional and tale of triumph, Smith’s voice is as fresh and flourishing as her first day of school amid violent bullies and shaming teachers whose relentless taunting only serve to fertilize a bounty of inner strength that will see her from coast to coast through decades of anti-female working conditions, failed marriages, and drug-abusing children. What most amazes and inspires in this sometimes funny, always generous, and deeply soul-searching autobiography, is that Smith remains thankful for the scarlet “P” that poverty etched upon her mind. I want all my high school students to read it as soon as possible, while the author lives to receive our thank you notes."

Lauren Graham

English Writing Instructor

Blind Date

How many of the 6% of marriages that last 50 years began with a blind date? In this powerful and moving memoir, the author shares their own journey of love and adventure that began in Denver and ended in Montana. From a childhood hand injury to finding stability in marriage, the author takes readers on an emotive and thrilling ride that includes skydiving and seizing a sense of adventure. Through even the most difficult episodes, the author’s assured writing style and honesty make this story one that readers will relate to and resonate with. The memoir also includes the wife’s own reflections, adding a charming and unique dimension to their shared memories. This is a story of enduring love and the incredible journey of a life well-lived.

Blood Summer 1862

1862 was the second year of the Civil War and a year when hundreds of European immigrants and settlers from the eastern United States were building cabins and clearing farmland in Minnesota.

It was also the year when the Dakota Sioux were starving on their reservation because the annuity from the federal government was late, and the traders refused to sell them food on credit. In August the smoldering firestorm erupted, and the Dakota Sioux went on a rampage that shook the state and the nation.

This is the story  of a newly-arrived Swedish family who suffered through it, of a devout Dakota Sioux man who helped them and many others survive, and of the President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, who sought justice for 303 condemned Dakota Sioux prisoners in the midst of the bloodiest battle of the Civil War.      

Bloom of the Desert Rose

Marie Bensworth has been married now for 10 long years, living in the Wyoming plains’ beautiful empty spaces with her husband, Lewis. Childless and lonely, it seems her life is faced with replaying the same hot, long days again and again.

That is, until an outcast stranger moves to town. In the weeks to follow, thoughts and feelings arise within her she never knew she had, pushing and guiding her to this new and mysterious man. When their worlds abruptly collide, their attraction, at first ignored, becomes something much more powerful, stirring deeply within each of them.

Now, as the golden band on her left hand sets her life, she must decide if this man is worth the cost of her reputation and marriage. But when Lewis becomes suspicious, Marie will be faced with the choice to stand firm or fall into the strong arms of a man she was destined to love.

Bodotria

Step back into the first century C.E., a time when Caledonia was a windswept frontier on the fringes of Roman rule. Andreas, fleeing Roman persecution, joins the Roman army and embarks on a remarkable journey. Alongside fellow soldiers Isaac and Bergamus, they’re assigned a year-long intelligence mission in Caledonia.

This debut novel launches a trilogy, chronicling their years-long odyssey. Amidst forging friendships, love, and alliances with Caledonian tribes, they must contend with the militant Caledonii tribe of the Western Highlands. Andreas grapples with his faith and soldier’s duty, Isaac finds love in the midst of war, and Bergamus seeks one last mission before retiring from the Roman army.

Bodotria is an epic exploration of faith, duty, and destiny against the backdrop of an evolving land, a story of courage and camaraderie amidst the tumultuous birth of Scotland.

Bogart's Hat

In 1955 Harry Kavanagh’s uncle steals a ringside seat for a championship bout in Madison Square Garden. “Hey kid, out of my seat!” It’s Humphrey Bogart! Rewarding the kid for his moxie, Bogie gives him his fedora.

It’s 2016 and years after the death of his wife, Felicity, Harry is still grieving. When the medical examiner commits suicide, Harry suspects his wife may have been murdered. Harry tenuously re-emerges into the world in an effort to find the truth. Along the way he is roughed up by the brawny brothers he nicknames the Liverwurst Twins, nearly drowns during a Nor’easter, is threatened by a mobster, and is rescued by a shadowy woman who is known to Harry only by the scent of her perfume. Armed with an acerbic tongue and an awakening rage, the once sedentary college professor serves out his sabbatical dishing out easy violence and a lecture to anyone who has the audacity to get in his way.

Harry’s sidekick is his beloved Great Dane, Lolly. They’re assisted by his college-age son training to be a ballet dancer, his girlfriend, and an avenging angel living off the grid. Catching a murderer and donning Bogart’s hat as the ultimate reward are on Harry Kavanagh’s menu and within his grasp.

Robert Honor is a graduate of Moravian College and NYU. He lives in the New York City area with his family and Great Dane, Pink.

Boy Refugee

Boy Refugee: A Memoir from a Long-Forgotten War is the story of a young refugee boy in the aftermath of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. The story chronicles his escape from war-ravaged Bangladesh to the relative safety of a barbed-wired internment camp in the foothills of the Himalayas, his day-to-day life as a civilian prisoner of war, and his thousand-mile, two-year-long journey back to Pakistan.

Breaking the Chains of Bondage

Thirty-four years ago, Charles Smith was incarcerated in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (or ‘Injustice,’ as he would say) with two life sentences. Now, he shares with us the harrowing and horrific experience of life in a Texas prison. Breaking the Chains of Bondage is his personal memoir that guides us through the fields and down the halls of everyday life, torture, and trauma in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice prison system. It is a read you won’t soon forget.

Despite facing numerous hardships and challenges during his 30+ years of incarceration, Charles persevered and achieved a master’s degree in psychology from UT-Clear Lake in Houston, earning widespread respect as a motivational speaker. He shares his passion for justice for all and his love for Esther and humanity at large. Breaking the Chains of Bondage is a riveting story of courage, resilience, and love. Open it up—take a walk inside.