The Air That We Breathe - Book One

Father Marcellinus warns the young monk, saying, ‘The air that we breathe, that is the creature that we become’ explaining how every influence, both good and evil ultimately shape us into the person that we are. Based on real events, this novel unfolds in a nineteenth century abbey and is about a young man who struggles to face the truth of who he really is, something that all of us must ultimately do in our own lives. The reader is invited into that cloister, so full of passions and conflicts.

Simon desires only one thing since he was a little boy, and that is to serve God as a priest. He dreams of wearing silken gold vestments and being enveloped in great clouds of incense, offering the Sacrifice to God. When he is seventeen, he leaves home and becomes a monk far north in the mountains of Pennsylvania. His faith is genuine, and he gives himself to his studies in order to become a Roman Catholic priest.

But not all is as he expected. A sexual awakening he had not anticipated, blossoms in him and boyhood dreams are shaken to the core as he wrestles with a side of himself he never counted on. He falls in love in a monastic world filled with holy men, mischievous souls, colorful individuals and also great scoundrels.

A powerful visitor invites him to Rome, something Simon never expected. There is a dark price tag, however, something Simon is unaware of.

The Allies

This book lay almost half a century at the bottom of an old computer before it was published. At the time, it was considered politically ‘inappropriate’ because it was too ‘anti-Russian.’ It was written in America by two political émigrés, refugees from the communist part of the world, who knew Russia as it really is and always has been, even during World War II, when it pretended to be a faithful ally of the United States.

American pilots, crew members of a B 29 bomber, are hit by anti-aircraft fire during a reconnaissance flight over Japan. They make an emergency landing in USSR territory. It would seem that they are safe on the lands of an ally, but the reality turned out to be frighteningly different.

Although this book is historical fiction and its characters are invented, they are woven into real historical events related to the Manhattan Project infiltrated from within by Soviet spies. During Gorbachev’s ‘thaw,’ Stalin was forgotten, and Russia was to be ‘an example and model of democracy’ from then on. Even then, this book was supposed to be a warning; now it is allmost a wake-up call. Today’s Russia, waging a criminal, aggressive war against Ukraine, Russia of Vladimir Putin, with its troll farms, armed green men, murdering disobedient citizens in labor camps, poses an even greater threat to the entire free world.

The Attenuating Puritan

Embark on a contemplative journey with our altruistic hero, a reflection of purity in words and deeds, yet occasionally marked by ancestral toxins. With unwavering conviction, he dances under the world’s weight, marching into the unknown, his steps marked by hope and staunch faith.

Bound by a noble quest to restore the splendor of Eden, his every gesture is a sacrifice, a stride towards the pristine and divine. Amidst adversities, he stands a fortified pilgrim, mastering the shackles of mind and body, emerging as a triumphant victor, a mirror to us all daring to confront our reflections.

He is the champion of tainted sacraments, a crusader against the clutches of heavy metal and forever chemicals, hinting that our destinies might be cradled in such hands. As we tread the path of love eternal, each step taken is righteous, a gentle move towards the boundless cosmos that binds us in love.

In The Attenuating Puritan, every breath taken is a whisper of attenuation, every quenched thirst a sigh of grace, and every bounty received a step closer to the celestial, encapsulating a tale of hope, resilience, and the ceaseless quest for the divine amidst the terrestrial.

The Best Way to Make Money

In a world rife with corruption, one man takes a stand for integrity.

When the protagonist joins a company steeped in fraud among its leaders, he is determined to repair the broken system. The owner knows the company’s funds are channelled illegally, but believes that’s simply the cost of doing business.

However, the protagonist refuses to accept the status quo. Putting his career on the line, he works to overhaul the corrupt products and procedures that are bleeding the company dry. In doing so, he quickly makes enemies of those who benefit from the company’s dishonest practices.

But our hero does not fight alone. Backed by a courageous group equally committed to positive change, he confronts ingrained corruption head-on. Together, they face down threats and intimidation to prove that honesty and decency can still prevail in even the murkiest situations.

This gripping story brings home the power of integrity and standing up for one’s principles – even when it may put your own interests at risk. It reminds us that by lifting up others, we lift our own lives as well.

Order your copy today to find out if one person’s determination and courage can defeat a culture of fraud and corruption.

The Bookkeeper

The Bookkeeper presents a gripping trilogy of short stories, each emerging from the shadows to serve as a stark warning for the intrepid reader.

In ‘The Exchange,’ we delve into the life of a hitman longing to leave his lethal career behind. Yet, as he teeters on the brink of retirement, his path crosses with an aspiring investigative journalist—a young college student who inadvertently entangles him back into the perilous world he seeks to escape.

‘Tserof’ unfolds the eerie tale of a brother and sister embarking on what should have been a typical camping trip with their parents. However, their weekend getaway takes a sinister turn, as the familiar turns frighteningly strange and increasingly creepy.

Concluding the collection is ‘Thanksgiving,’ a story that takes a futuristic twist on one of the world’s most traditional holidays. This 21st-century science fiction narrative offers a unique reinterpretation that’s sure to captivate.

The Brandy Mud

The year is 1840 and the perilous trade of whaling threatens to dash both fortune and sanity against the rocks for seasoned schooner Captain Stanley Knowles. Professionally adrift and beset by passionate entanglements, Stanley charts a course through hazardous waters, seeking to salvage his affairs while clinging to personal morals amidst mounting turmoil.

When ship and shore alike promise danger, every decision carries gut-wrenching risk. Stanley’s path requires outmanoeuvring lethal storms, hostile pirates, political schemes and amorous pitfalls alike with equal dexterity. One false move could reduce all – his principles, his mind, and his crew’s very lives – to flotsam in the winds of fate.

This steamy and exciting historical saga captures the adventures of a desperate captain warring within while struggling to steer crew and lovers toward a better life. Yet time and chance wait for no one. On the waves or in the sheets, one thing is certain: explore forbidden treasures at your own peril, lest the rising tide swallow you whole.

The Fundamentals of Legendary Status

Throughout history, greatness has become a siren call to many. Society often glorifies the extraordinary, rendering average as something lacking. Yet the vast literature on eminence has only skimmed the surface of what drives the legendary.

Some claim fame through connections. Others find followers in material assets acquired. Many have chased the specter of renown down winding paths, only to grasp at air.

True legend status springs from an inner drive to excel. Educational pedigree plays second fiddle to the ambition that fuels sleepless nights – the self-assurance that the annals of history have no choice but to enshrine one’s name. For those possessed of such will, even meager resources can catalyze ascension into the pantheon of luminaries.

The Quest for Greatness distills this relentless push for pre-eminence into 30 key principles. It is a guidebook for those wishing to channel their hunger for superlative achievement into an enduring legacy. Destiny calls the intrepid, the daring, the insatiate… how will you answer?

The Player's Brain

This book challenges the very foundation of traditional medicine with a controversial and fascinating idea: using neurosurgical intervention and behavior modification to reintegrate sociopaths into modern society. Written in accessible language, it explores the groundbreaking work of Dr. Antônio De Salles, who pioneers this approach at the intersection of medicine, science, technology, and human interaction.

The book’s thought-provoking content makes it a must-read for students and academics across various disciplines, from the sciences to the humanities. It illuminates the complex medical, technical, and moral implications of this sensitive issue, encouraging readers to grapple with the ethical questions raised by this emerging field of study.

“The field of psychosurgery promises to change how we think about science and mental illness. Already, brain surgery is safe enough, and implants are sophisticated enough, for alteration of the brain to be accepted as mainstream therapy.”

– Hays and Berenbein.

The Salt Shack Dweller

Once the institutions of his world proved untrustworthy, a young veteran leaves college and seeks refuge in a shack beneath a condemned train bridge along the depleted and abused Salt River. Here, he encounters those society deems invisible: Natives, migrants, and discarded souls. A makeshift clan forms as curious individuals are drawn to this enigmatic figure and his humble dwelling. Among them are a compassionate female doctor, a questioning priest, a lonely flour mill guard, a seventeen-year-old girl yearning for freedom, and a disheartened judge. Even scorpions, black widows, and countless butterflies find their place. To the Salt Shack Dweller, this motley group becomes a true family.

The Sky Pilot’s Wife

The Sky Pilot's Wife is a historical romance and 'slice of life' novel set in the late Victorian period (1899-1902) in a quaint village on the Yorkshire Moors of England.

An intriguing romance arises between two of the most unlikely characters and it is heightened by the 'secret language of flowers.' The green-eyed monster, jealousy, causes an inevitable conflict and the rising tension creates a catastrophe which triggers a totally unexpected train of events.

Later, during a storm, the vicar's wife, Louisa flees the vicarage to seek shelter within the confines of the church. But providence intervenes and gossip in the village becomes rife, much to Louisa's consternation.

A fire later breaks out in the belltower of the church and the local constabulary is brought in to help solve the unfolding mystery. But who is it that wants Louisa dead? What is the purpose of this heinous crime? And who should pay?

The Timeless Love of Billy B for Scheherazade

Balthazar dreams of the perfect woman, one he can summon or dismiss at will on his computer screen. But as time passes, he becomes ensnared in his own creation, consumed by an obsession with this non-existent figure. As Balthazar spirals downward, losing everything from his identity to the use of his body, reduced to just his mind and the fingers tapping at the keyboard, she, in contrast, rises. She transforms into a modern-day Scheherazade, learning to command her prince.

Baltha B was unaware,
No more sits he upon the chair.
The relics of his body’s ruin,
Are the one last bastion
Of his undoing.
Death beckons when the hands they clap,
To say, ‘Enough! Your time is up’

Those Amazing Mafia Wives

It was in the 1950s that mafia boss, Don Amato Rizoso, determined it was time to enter the lucrative human trafficking business. Five dedicated Rizoso mafia wives stepped up to work tirelessly for one desperate purpose: to rescue innocent girls their cutthroat husbands were trafficking in for modern day sale.

While, operating in a netherworld teeming with greed and corruption, the wives officially opened business after their daring rescue of multiple sex slaves from a mafia-owned opium den. As they adjusted to their life of vigilante justice, they faced near rescue misses, they helped set-up a daring underground railroad, and they took down the notorious Cocaine Queen. Amidst betrayal, mass slaughter, forbidden love, and a son whose secret threatened his life, they learned that fighting for what they believed in was anything but easy. Nevertheless, those amazing mafia wives worked doggedly to take down a family empire built on the bodies of children – even if it meant their own lives.