The Three Americans

It is 1917. Janet Defoe never planned for the day German biplanes would appear and blow her world away. With her French home in shambles and only a derringer for protection, she finds her way across the war-torn town. She meets a band of tattered French survivors and together they form a plan for escape. Before they can reach their rendezvous point, they are overtaken by German guards. With blood on her hands, Janet sets out on her own. She doesn’t know what lies around the corner, perhaps death perhaps another chance at life.

Meanwhile, three Americans named Douglas, Teddy, and Burke, fresh from the trenches, pursue the Germans across the scorched French landscape. They have one goal and that is to kill the enemy. When they are overcome and taken prisoner, they take the matter of their rescue into their own hands. Ultimately, Douglas and Teddy make away with German guard uniforms and return with rifles to retrieve their companion. Upon their escape, they run into a French youth who was drafted by the German army named Jeannot. Together they patrol the town in search of food, ammunition, and shelter against the German presence.

Bianca, a French girl who has lost everything to the Germans, soon finds her way into the lives of the four soldiers… and young Teddy’s heart. With their band complete, the only thing for the five of them to do is survive the occupation. Days pass, perhaps weeks. Jeannot reveals a shocking secret to the others. Planes appear in the sky, but they are not German planes. The liberation of Beau Chateau is at hand. Janet and the three Americans hit the streets in their “grays” and clear a path for the allies with their rifles and grenades. The war for them is about to be over.

The Things He Lost There

Vietnam. The word still resonates with powerful emotions: death, lost souls, devastation – both human and material – shattered men, and a country equally broken and horribly divided.

Into this turbulent backdrop steps Jack Houston, a graduate student at the University of North Carolina. Thrust into the heart of the conflict, Jack’s journey encapsulates the grim realities of the Vietnam War and the crucial role of the surface Navy. After fierce combat in places like Phu Quoc, Rach Gia, and Hue during the Tet Offensive, Jack’s ship, the highly-decorated Black River, faces a new challenge. A new commanding officer, Cork, takes over, driving – what the crew calls ‘corkscrewing’ – the ship into both operational and morale disasters.

This narrative explores the impact of Captain Cork’s leadership on Jack and the crew, filled with moments of profound sadness and unexpected hilarity. The climax comes with the Black River, now under Jack’s command, confronting six Chinese gunboats in the Taiwan Straits: a hopelessly mismatched battle, given the ship’s unsuitability for naval combat. The survival of Jack and his ship hangs in the balance as they navigate this deadly encounter.

Parallel to the war story is Jack’s poignant love affair with Melanie Lawton, a spirited graduate student back in Carolina. Through her perspective, we witness the defining events of 1968 and 1969: antiwar demonstrations, the chaotic 1968 Democratic Party Convention in Chicago, Woodstock, drug culture, and political assassinations. One devastating decision made in the midst of war shatters Jack and Melanie’s relationship, leaving Jack to question if he can ever reclaim what he lost in Vietnam – his love, his peace, his future.

The Sweet Revenge of Marcus Aurelius

The Sweet Revenge of Marcus Aurelius is based on the true story of a talented and ingenious slave who sold his master. When he was still a young house boy, Marcus Aurelius was taught to read and write by the plantation owner’s rebellious twelve-year-old daughter, who also instilled in him a passionate desire for freedom. She even encouraged him to escape, which he did – three different times – thus setting in motion his ultimate and sweetest revenge. His story, even without fictionalizing, is a wide-ranging, swash-buckling tale of a fittingly just revenge set against many venues: the cruelties and dehumanizing effects of plantation life, a year in a unique community of escaped slaves in the Great Dismal Swamp, Paris high society in the Second Republic, duels, an enduring love affair, bad dogs and violent slave catchers, crime-ridden New Orleans street life, and even a stint as a passenger on a pirate ship.

The Story of Walks with Bear and Bro'Ken

Spanning two quests across generations, this tale begins in the 1700s with Kenthaki, a Shawnee youth later known as Walks-With-Bear, who embarks on a journey with his father’s obsidian knife, a pouch of medicinal herbs, and a staff to find his life’s purpose. His confrontation with a bear and the subsequent adoption of its cub, alongside the transformative relationship with a Christian captive, shapes his future. Years later, his grandson, Bro’Ken, undertakes his own quest to locate his missing father, leading to profound changes. Inspired by the 2003-2006 Lewis and Clark re-enactment, this narrative explores life-altering quests and the impact of cultural intersections.

The Speculatores: The Men Who Spied for Rome

Over recent decades, scholars of ancient Roman history have begun to peel back the veils on the realm of intelligence within the Roman State, exploring its integral role in shaping Rome’s defensive grand strategy. While the consensus posits a noticeable shift from indifference during the Republic era (509-27 BCE) to a more engaged stance in the imperial epoch post 27 BCE, it particularly highlights the Dominate period (284-476 CE) as the ‘Golden Age’ of Roman intelligence endeavors.

However, a veil of ambiguity still shrouds Rome’s engagement in external or foreign intelligence operations, notably espionage. Amidst this scholarly dissonance, The Speculatores: The Men Who Spied for Rome embarks on an exploratory voyage to unearth the roots of this disagreement. With a keen eye on the historical narrative and a robust analysis, this book endeavors to bridge the gap in understanding, delving into the very rationale that questions the existence and extent of Roman espionage activities

As you traverse through the pages, The Speculatores unveils the clandestine world of those who might have operated in the shadows for the glory of Rome, offering a fresh lens through which to understand the unseen sinews that perhaps bolstered the mighty Roman machinery of statecraft and defense.

The Pemberley Papers

Prepare yourself for dreadful revelations about Jane Austen's most beloved fictional great house, Pemberley in Derbyshire! When contemplating the storyline of Pride and Prejudice, have you ever wondered how Mr. Darcy progressed from contemptuous indifference to irrepressible passion toward Eliza Bennet? Whether Mr. Wickham was truly so wicked as he was depicted to be? Why old Mr. Darcy was so fond of his steward's son? Much is left untold in Pride and Prejudice. What cosmic influences brought Eliza Bennet and Mr. Darcy to their "final good understanding"?

In The Pemberley Papers, the lives of Georgiana and Fitzwilliam Darcy and the swirling underworld of servants are brought to light. We learn in this fanciful interpretation of Pride and Prejudice how military spies, émigré French priests, midwives, music instructors, and Darcy's dog contribute to the well-known happy ending for Austen's most charming couple. 

The Pagans Revenge

The year is 908, and the Island of Ireland is tearing itself apart. As the small nations within this island struggle for power, one king dreams of peace. 

The Pagan's Revenge centers around Finnan, a young man sworn to protect the King and Queen of Munster.  
A story of love, betrayal, and war that will keep you on the edge until the very last page. 

The Messengers

After numerous negotiations the Indigenous still remained scattered throughout the wilds of Northern Ontario, Canada. In spite of treacherously cold conditions, they remained steadfast to the land, refusing to give up their lifestyle while trying to survive from Mother Nature’s unpredictable temperament. Captain Jesse Burn’s illegitimate son was among them. Father and son, a pair of strong-willed rival enemies, co-existed in a strange and deadly kinship while getting caught up in a changing way of life that neither would accept.

It was during November 1898. when Jesse had received his orders as a dedicated, respected officer in the Armed Forces. He had a job to fulfill regardless of the number of lives lost during the process. After Colonel McEwan shook Jesse’s hand and walked out, Jesse stared at the closed door for a long time. He glanced at the document containing the list of names he was to apprehend, knowing that most of those men would rather die in battle than be taken alive. Jesse scanned further down the list and suddenly froze. He opened his desk drawer and pulled out a bottle of whiskey hidden near the back. After many swallows, he leaned back in his chair; his eyes were pools of liquid blue. His son’s name was on that list. 

The Man of the Wilderness

For centuries, the First Jewish War Against Rome (66 – 70 C.E.) and the subsequent fall of Masada has been synonymous with implacable courage against overwhelming odds. This is the story of the courageous attempt of one determined man to live with integrity and die with honour. First century Romans, Jews, and Christians: the wise, the mad, the corrupt, and the saintly meet in this inspiring tale of intrigue, romance, warfare, and triumph.

The Magwitch Fortunes

This is the long-awaited brilliant sequel to Charles Dickens’ novel, Great Expectations, with the powerful activities of the convict hero, Abel Magwitch. Suffering under corporate skulduggery and a broken heart, Miss Havisham becomes a recluse raising the beautiful Estella who taunts her childhood friend, Pip Pirrip. Pip helps Magwitch on the frost-bitten Kentish moors prior to his transportation to Australia. Magwitch never forgets. Becoming seriously wealthy in Australia, Magwitch anonymously funds Pip and returns to Britain only to be recaptured as a felon.

Awaiting execution, Magwitch perishes in prison, leaving his heirs, Pip and Estella, to travel to Australia in search of the Magwitch fortune.

The Last Vanishing Point

2013

Olivia discovers letters and a painting by her uncle William, an artist and WWII bombardier who vanished after being shot down over France just before D-Day. Inexplicably compelled, Olivia begins a personal quest to discover William’s fate.

1943

William says goodbye to his new wife, Maddie, a concert pianist in New York City, and joins the RAF to battle the Nazis in occupied Europe. He quickly comes to regret the death and devastation wrought by his bombing missions, in sharp contrast to his times on leave, painting landscapes of the English countryside. Unexpectedly, William is recruited as an agent for the Special Operations Executive by a mysterious woman at a manor in the Cotswolds and leaves for the Scottish Highlands. Based on her family connections with the Underground, Maddie embarks on her own treacherous journey that leads her to join the French Resistance in Paris.

The Last Vanishing Point is a compelling love story of mystery and intrigue, and of how the power of art and the enduring bonds of family can heal trauma and loss. The reader is transported through historical details and the author’s cinematic writing style will take you to another time and place where a heartfelt and timeless story unfolds.

The Incorrigible Rogue

Rochdale, Lancashire, England, 1885.

Martha Anne Ashworth is in trouble in school, once again. The precocious and gifted 10 year old daughter of mill owner John Ashworth has, for the umpteenth time, tried school and parental patience and now legal authority with her quick wit, sharp tongue, impudent defiance, and certain determined independence. With her mother dying, and her father drowning his woes in whisky, young Martha Anne’s wildness leads to her eventual arrest as an Incorrigible Rogue; all seems to be spiraling out of control until an uncanny friendship with the village wise woman, Betty Nuppy, helps guide Martha Anne on a path to salvation, if not, at least, redemption.