Hartslog Valley, the Shadow of Death region, in Central Pennsylvania is haunted by a history of violence. The horrific Dean Massacre occurred there in 1788. Just south of Harstlog in Woodcock Valley, a band of fifty Indians and two white collaborators tortured and murdered ten of Captain Phillips Rangers in 1780. In 1754, Captain Jack returned home from hunting and found his wife and two children slain by Indians. Seeking revenge, he scoured the wilderness. The expert tracker and hunter left a bloody trail of scalps strung from the trees and Indian lodges of his enemy.

Now two hundred years later, the violence continues. Skeletons are found wired to a tree on Blood Mountain. Hostages are taken in a Mennonite school, resulting in the death of a boy. Two girls are kidnapped from Twin River High School. Hartslog Valley is again thrown into chaos.

When local authorities are ineffective, enter the vigilante. Following the tradition of Charles Bronson in Death Wish, Clint Eastwood in Dirty Harry, and Sylvester Stallone in Rambo, Vietnam War veteran and Twin River High School custodian Gene Brooks vows to protect the students.

Twin River sophomores, Conner Brooks and Matt Henry, are caught in the turmoil. Harassed by the chief of police, community thugs, and school bullies, the boys fight to survive in the modern wilderness of Hartslog Valley.

Hartslog Valley, the Shadow of Death region, in Central Pennsylvania is haunted by a history of violence. The horrific Dean Massacre occurred there in 1788. Just south of Harstlog in Woodcock Valley, a band of fifty Indians and two white collaborators tortured and murdered ten of Captain Phillips Rangers in 1780. In 1754, Captain Jack returned home from hunting and found his wife and two children slain by Indians. Seeking revenge, he scoured the wilderness. The expert tracker and hunter left a bloody trail of scalps strung from the trees and Indian lodges of his enemy.

Now two hundred years later, the violence continues. Skeletons are found wired to a tree on Blood Mountain. Hostages are taken in a Mennonite school, resulting in the death of a boy. Two girls are kidnapped from Twin River High School. Hartslog Valley is again thrown into chaos.

When local authorities are ineffective, enter the vigilante. Following the tradition of Charles Bronson in Death Wish, Clint Eastwood in Dirty Harry, and Sylvester Stallone in Rambo, Vietnam War veteran and Twin River High School custodian Gene Brooks vows to protect the students.

Twin River sophomores, Conner Brooks and Matt Henry, are caught in the turmoil. Harassed by the chief of police, community thugs, and school bullies, the boys fight to survive in the modern wilderness of Hartslog Valley.

Summer Sleep-Away is a tale of a young boy’s first summer going off to sleep-away camp. Far from home, separated from his family and not knowing a soul, Mattie Kleinfeld is scared, homesick and cries himself to sleep. But soon the tears give way to new friends and fantastic adventures. Mattie goes hiking and fishing. He sails and swims and participates in team sports. But it is not the canoe trips or the overnights that set this summer apart; it is not even his first girlfriend. It is a clue that he and his pals stumble upon that leads them to the adventure of a lifetime, to a vast treasure and to a window that sheds light on Mattie’s unique background. Mattie’s story will engage the imagination of every reader and capture the heart of any adult who was ever a kid.

“Whitt ducked under the lintel and stepped down onto a brick floor.  The door was a good six inches lower than the door’s threshold—but he had known it would be so—and that realization stopped him dead in his tracks, just as the sense of déjà-vu struck.  He had ducked under the lintel, and his step down had been fluid, almost practiced.  He recalled a warning: ‘Watch your step.  The floor is a goodly step down inside.’ Or did he imagine that?

The story of the Fo’c’sle Door begins in present day Canada with a very unusual crime scene but quickly takes you to the 1700’s and the little fishing village of Ryeport on the coast of England.  Here the tale unfolds around Roddy McDowd, who has been unwillingly relegated to what he sees as a ‘God forsaken place’, as a punishment for his transgressions and a mysterious, striking figure from Haiti – Paul Latour, whose fate becomes entwined with that of the villagers as he tries to save his child from a violent sea captain.

This compelling tale transports the reader over hundreds of years, and interesting vibrant characters, who through adventures with smuggling, murder and the supernatural, play a part in one man’s attempt to fix a ‘deal made with the devil’.  The outcome will keep you guessing right until the end.

“Whitt ducked under the lintel and stepped down onto a brick floor.  The door was a good six inches lower than the door’s threshold—but he had known it would be so—and that realization stopped him dead in his tracks, just as the sense of déjà-vu struck.  He had ducked under the lintel, and his step down had been fluid, almost practiced.  He recalled a warning: ‘Watch your step.  The floor is a goodly step down inside.’ Or did he imagine that?

The story of the Fo’c’sle Door begins in present day Canada with a very unusual crime scene but quickly takes you to the 1700’s and the little fishing village of Ryeport on the coast of England.  Here the tale unfolds around Roddy McDowd, who has been unwillingly relegated to what he sees as a ‘God forsaken place’, as a punishment for his transgressions and a mysterious, striking figure from Haiti – Paul Latour, whose fate becomes entwined with that of the villagers as he tries to save his child from a violent sea captain.

This compelling tale transports the reader over hundreds of years, and interesting vibrant characters, who through adventures with smuggling, murder and the supernatural, play a part in one man’s attempt to fix a ‘deal made with the devil’.  The outcome will keep you guessing right until the end.

Dewey Roscoe Jones was a pioneering African American journalist. While working for the Chicago Defender, the most widely read black newspaper in the United States, he edited a book review column and a poetry column whose contributors included Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, Frank Marshall Davis, and Gwendolyn Brooks. Jones personally wrote about fifty reviews, becoming Black Chicago’s premier literary critic and commentator on the Harlem Renaissance. Frequently disappointed by the novels emanating from New York, he endeavored to create his own masterwork of fiction. Dark Days is the fruit of his labors.

Ishmael, the novel’s protagonist, comes to age in Oklahoma, “a wild territory” where former slaves and their offspring vie with former plantation owners and their offspring to make a new life. Theirs is a common legacy of frontier violence and frontier dreams, born in the aftermath of the Civil War, forcible removal of Native Americans, and the 1889 Land Rush. Black Ishmael loves white Denise, and their interlocked fates are the center of the tale. Ishmael’s turbulent journey follows Jones’s own path from Muskogee to Chicago to the trenches of war-torn France.

Dark Days was completed midway between 1930 publication of Langston Hughes’s novel Not Without Laughter and Richard Wright’s Native Son in 1940. That chronology situates it in the closing days of Harlem’s Renaissance and on the cusp of Black Chicago’s creative flowering. By recovering his father’s novel, Dewey Roscoe Jones II has performed a service to all readers interested in the trajectory of African American creative expression in the early twentieth century.

Richard A. Courage, Professor of English, Westchester Community College/SUNY; co-author of The Muse in Bronzeville: African American Creative Expression in Chicago, 1932-1950.

After thirty years, Brigadier General Carolyn McKenzie Marshall is retiring and leaving the US Army behind. She’s proud of her accomplishments, especially the formation and training of the first women’s jump program in the army. Though looking forward to a new life in Hawaii, she’s sad to leave her sisters behind, including her replacement, Col. Dora Aimsley. The two have been through a lot together.

But just three days into retirement, one of Carrie’s past exploits comes back to haunt her and her fellow sisters. Ten years ago, the Sheikh managed to escape destruction when Dora blew up the building in which he and his cohorts were hiding. Now, the Sheikh has returned to exact revenge on Dora and the team who caused him to lose money and face.

The Sheikh means business. Even so, Dora foils his hijacking attempt on the Pope’s airplane, and the Sheikh retaliates by kidnapping Dora’s twin daughters and Carrie. Dora’s training kicks in and with the help of her fellow sisters tries to save her friend, her family, and herself.

After thirty years, Brigadier General Carolyn McKenzie Marshall is retiring and leaving the US Army behind. She’s proud of her accomplishments, especially the formation and training of the first women’s jump program in the army. Though looking forward to a new life in Hawaii, she’s sad to leave her sisters behind, including her replacement, Col. Dora Aimsley. The two have been through a lot together.

But just three days into retirement, one of Carrie’s past exploits comes back to haunt her and her fellow sisters. Ten years ago, the Sheikh managed to escape destruction when Dora blew up the building in which he and his cohorts were hiding. Now, the Sheikh has returned to exact revenge on Dora and the team who caused him to lose money and face.

The Sheikh means business. Even so, Dora foils his hijacking attempt on the Pope’s airplane, and the Sheikh retaliates by kidnapping Dora’s twin daughters and Carrie. Dora’s training kicks in and with the help of her fellow sisters tries to save her friend, her family, and herself.

Dr. Linda Kipling has had her share of excitement working as a meteorologist with the Naval Research Laboratory. Twice in four years, she and her boss, the arrogant Dr. Victor Silverstein, have faced international crises requiring heroic action. Now, in 2011, Kipling faces her most formidable foe yet: her only remaining relatives, the Müller family.

Debates about climate change continue as two researchers in Greenland mysteriously disappear. Kipling soon comes to a horrific realization: not all observed climatic aberrations are coming from natural variation or an increase in greenhouse gases. Instead, someone is tampering with nature, risking a cataclysmic event that could destroy the world. Her dying father is suspicious; he believes distant relatives in South America are involved.

The Müller family was once part of Hitler's inner circle. They escaped from Germany in 1945 with a fortune in gold, and now they hope to alter the world's climate for their own purposes. Kipling must head to Greenland under the guise of familial reunion in order to dismantle the Müller plan and save the planet from a climatic apocalypse.

"Paul Mark Tag['s] books never disappoint. He is a gifted writer and knows how to craft a great story... White Thaw takes us on a great adventure [involving] global warming [and] poses the question of just how far would a group go to win."

—Simon Barrett, Blogger News Network

“This book is a rollicking, humorous, read – unlike any book ever written about Isle Royale. Dan Kemp is a great storyteller.”

—Peter Oikarinen, Author of Island Folk – The People of Isle Royale

They checked the weather reports, and everything looked clear. Everything had to be clear before the boys could traverse dangerous Lake Superior. Confident in their decision, Digger and Wayne take to the water in a fourteen-foot rowboat, and following a harrowing adventure across deep, blue waters, they make it to the incomparable Isle Royale, off Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

Residents of the UP, known as Yoopers, these boys are ready for trouble, and trouble finds them right away when National Park Ranger Robert Davies—whom the boys call “Dudley,” after Dudley Dooright—decides to keep a close watch. Even so, the ranger’s careful observations can’t stop the boys from bootlegging, getting cozy with local gals, and helping travelers in need.

By the end of the summer, these best pals have broken every rule in the book—and forced Dudley to write a few new ones. Isle Royale is a majestic piece of untouched land, lacking in electricity, but filled to the brim with colorful personalities and freedom. Digger and Wayne will never be the same … but neither will the little island that feels just like paradise.

In his first collection of short stories, author Bill Mooney presents a journey through the minds of complex characters seeking life change amid turmoil and shares a window into the foundation of what creates a simple life: love, commitment, and self-discovery.

In “Eddie Masters Down Under,” Eddie Masters is stuck in Australia, living the life of a drifter and awaiting funds to get back to the States. But when he is offered a tempting proposition, Eddie is faced with a tough decision. “Hunting the Kohinoor” introduces Walt and Abbey St. George, an attractive married couple who once had lofty dreams and goals, but now live a humdrum life in a Philadelphia suburb. But when a renowned jewel goes missing, the St. Georges decide to go hunting for the diamond worth millions of dollars, sending them on an adventure halfway across the world. In “Going Home,” newspaper reporter Willie Cole, who has just finished writing the obituary for his friend and co-worker, has no idea his life is about to take a dramatic turn.

Going Home is a poignant collection of engaging novellas and short tales that, through the unforgettable experiences of its diverse characters, share the important message that choices inevitably lead to destinies.

ESCAPE OVER THE IRON CURTAIN is a work of fiction, based on the true story of a young girl’s escape from former Socialist Romania. In search for a true identity and spirituality she ends up in New York City, where she has plenty of freedom to create her own reality and to follow her dreams. Bound by the invisible chains of poverty Anna encounters unexpected situations and learns many difficult and sometimes uplifting lessons.

Glimpses in the life of a misguided teenager in former Socialist Romania, and her brave escape into a new life facing unexpected and puzzling situations. “…They sat me next to one of the officers. I had no idea where they were taking me. We drove for about an hour. It was so dark that I couldn’t see anything except for the road in front of us illuminated by the headlights. We were in a mountainous terrain and the Jeep was taking many turns. As I was getting used to the darkness I could distinguish silhouettes of trees by the side of the road, black phantoms rushing into the night. The Jeep stopped by a brick wall with barbed wire on top. A large gate opened and we drove in…”

In search for an identity and plagued by poverty she joins a spiritual community hoping to fulfill the void in her life, only to find herself immersed in a web of emotional drama.

From the dawn of recorded time, death, hell, and mayhem have been the calling cards of a Destroyer, who leaves nothing but carnage and desolation in his path.

Thousands of years in the future, nine-year-old Prince Marckolius witnesses a brutal assault on his mother by a group of ruthless vampires. Mortified when she dies in his arms and convinced that his uncle had something to do with the attack, Prince Marckolius vows to seek justice. After training diligently with his aunt for several years, seventeen-year-old Marckolius gathers his friends and embarks on a search for the truth behind the evil act. Initially driven by revenge, Marckolius matures to become the legend he is meant to be as he faces off against forces led by his uncle that have been plotting to enslave the last of the free nations within the known Multiverse.

In this futuristic adventure, a battle of wills is instigated between two very powerful Destroyers, leaving the Multiverse to wonder what will be left when all is said and done.

It is 2014, and the United States is only a shell of its former self. After years of careful and methodical planning, the military has just pulled off a deadly coup that leaves every politician and government official dead. As the remaining super powers turn on each other, they begin destroying what is left of the civilized world.

After a year of unrest, self-proclaimed president Jonas Bennett rules the American Republic with an iron fist and no regard for the US Constitution. He leaves the citizens of North America with only two choices: submit to him and his evil army of traitors, or fight for freedom.

Joe Randall, his wife, and their children watch in horror as their world disappears before their eyes, and they wish for only one thing—to live in peace in their North Carolina home. But fate has a different plan in mind for Randall; he soon realizes it is up to him and his liberty-loving patriots to take up arms against the new regime.

America is the gripping story of a courageous freedom fighter caught up in an unforgettable battle of good versus evil as he battles against a superior force to save the only world he has ever known from destruction.

Sy Raskin is stung by the news of Bonney Herrsch’s death—and then perplexed by his obituary. Raskin had known the long-time intelligence operative for forty years. Herrsch was Raskin’s mentor, and they’d shared risks and danger. But in all that time Herrsch never mentioned a family. He had died in Switzerland and been buried on an estate there—another surprise.

Herrsch led an OSS team on an operation at the time of the Normandy invasion. Shortly after the three operatives parachuted into eastern France, the Germans were onto them. They had been betrayed, as had the men they’d be sent to replace. Eluding the pursuing German troops, Herrsch made it into Switzerland. Raskin knew about this history, but knew nothing more about a Swiss connection.

Now Raskin is determined to uncover his friend’s past. He enlists the assistance of Fritz Kohl and Alex Fletcher, two former CIA analysts who were briefly acquaintances of Herrsch. The trio follows a trail that leads them to Switzerland—and to dumbfounding revelations about Bonney Herrsch’s extraordinary life.