Bobby Ether and the Jade Academy by R. Scott Boyer

 

When Bobby Ether is abducted and brought to the secluded Jade Academy in Tibet, monks teach him and other special students how to tap into their Anima—the universal energy that connects all living things.But the headmistress of the academy is secretly testing each student, looking for genetic triggers that can be exploited to create a new breed of humans born with metaphysical powers and abilities. As his abilities increase, Bobby is thrust into a cesspool of conspiracy, lies, and betrayal. A jade amulet left by his clairvoyant grandfather may provide answers, but what exactly is his family’s connection to this mysterious place? Can Bobby master his talents and uncover the truth in time to avoid the schemes? If not, his fate—and the fate of all the students—may be sealed.

Mischief and Mayhem by S. D. Nicholson

After lying dormant for centuries, a dark presence awakes and invades the realm of the Faers. While malicious forces quietly stir in the southern nation of the Meadows, Ophelia Maplewood, along with her companions from the Woodland Scouts, finds an unexpected human, new strength, and allies in the north. Will their journey bring balance to the homeland and prevent chaos from spreading to the other realms? Only time will tell. Part One of the Faerlands Chronicles.

 

 

A Pearl in the Brain: The Cancer Journey of a Scientist in His Search for the Seat of His Soul by H. Bruce Rinker PhD

As a scientist and man of faith, Bruce agonized over his nightmarish diagnosis of a terminal brain tumor. Glioblastoma is the deadliest brain cancer, a death sentence. Faced with likely extinction, Bruce began an uncertain pilgrimage without any helpful guide except for spotty medical articles, heady conversations with specialists, and rampant misinformation. He wrote his book to address this dearth of detail about a killer disease with rising incidence. He tells his story with light humor, hope-filled wonderment, and soul-driven resolve despite the odds of survival. He playfully combines science, spirituality, a Southern upbringing, and world travels as he scales this mountain of challenge.

A Pearl in the Brain is relevant to healthcare practitioners, academics and scientists, theologians, cancer survivors, and general readers concerned about how lifestyle and environment shape our health and spiritual well-being.

War Crimes by Marty Grossman

After fleeing the vindictive communist government of Vietnam in the mass exodus of 1975, the Phan family moves to America. They become naturalized citizens and relocate to Seabrook, Texas, where they once again take up fishing for a living. But the local fishermen do not take kindly to the new outside competition. Fueled by anti-immigrant racism, a series of grisly murders take place, with the ace of spades death card marking each victim. Will the clues lead back to vengeful Vietnam-era soldiers who hate the “dinks” above all else, or is something else causing havoc?

Deploying High by Nora Firestone

DEPLOYING HIGH conveys the life, leadership and lessons learned by Chief Gene Saunders in his mission to save lives and bring loved ones home through Project Lifesaver International. Using the same SWAT team commander’s strategies and tactics he developed for local law enforcement, Saunders worked through adversity and successfully developed the right solution of technology and feet on the ground. The resulting use of personal locators, drones, tracking devices and expert field staff has allowed Project Lifesaver International to become the leading force in special-focus expedited search and rescue. Over 3,500 cognitively impaired people prone to wandering have been saved. This is their life-saving story.

The Chow-hound by Bruce Joel Brittain

The Mighty Eighth Air Corps of the U.S. Army lost more combat veterans in the destructive maw of World War II than any other combat unit in the US military, yet these very young crew members climbed aboard their aircrafts daily and, in the leering face of death, ground down the Nazi infrastructure and combat units across the European Theater of Operations.

As the losses mounted, the tours of duty extended. Finally, the Chow-hound was assigned a “milk run” into the edge of France, where a direct hit at the waist of the ship separated the Chow-hound into three pieces at 14,000 feet. The plane and crew were doomed. But fate, human kindness, luck, scientific advancement and coincidence have transformed this ordinary combat loss into an extraordinary story that ripples across time and generations.

Lethal Injection by Perry Miller

A syringe is switched and the patient dies on the operating table. Dr. Gideon Lowell takes it upon himself to help the anesthesiologist, who happens to be his wife. The hospital and the police do not want his help, so Gideon ignores them, and carries out his investigation behind the scenes. He recruits an interesting cast of characters, including a newspaper reporter with a magic wand, a cybersecurity expert who likes to bend the rules, and a somewhat skeptical police detective. Gideon rattles cages and shakes things loose to solve the crime. A tale of murder, revenge and coercion, love and friendship, all told with tongue-in-cheek humor.

The Emancipation of Evan Walls by Jeffrey Blount

EVAN WALLS IS TERRIFIED by the birth of his first child because he doesn’t want her to suffer the isolation he had as a child. Seeing his torment, his wife, Izzy, prods him to explain. He tells of being a black child growing up in the racially charged 1960s. Inspired to overcome the racism and class status imposed on blacks, he dreams of a life bigger than that lived by most everyone he knows in the small Virginia town of Canaan. He is resented by friends and family for desiring a life better than theirs. Among the smartest in his class, Evan becomes a target of white kids threatened by the forced integration of their schools. Caught in a crossfire of hate from whites and his own people, who question whether he is black enough, Evan is often alone and bewildered. Only the love of his great grandmother, Mama Jennie, and his mentor, Bojack, keeps him on track. Together, they help Evan find perspective and peace.

American Masterworks of Religious Painting 1664-1964 by R. Peter Mooz PhD

Writers and historians have overlooked or denied the existence of a religious painting tradition in America . . . until now. American Masterworks of Religious Painting 1664-1964 explores 300 years of American painting and offers new revelations. Beginning with seventeenth century Puritanism and culminating in examples of intense religiosity amid twentieth century art often regarded as signifying a steady erosion of religion, each chapter offers an explosive new approach to art by America’s greatest painters based on professional scholarship. Sex, wealth, insanity and drunkenness abound but are balanced by atonement, piety, the rituals of Native Americans, and the expression of traditional beliefs, offering a new understanding of American art and artists.

Trouble the Water by Rebecca Dwight Bruff

“Before this decisive night, I’d not fully appreciated the subtle line between inspiration and insanity. But now, with all our lives at risk, I found myself navigating that most perilous edge . . . ”

Based on the life of an unsung American hero and slave, Trouble the Water navigates the rich tributaries of courage, betrayal, and redemption. In his inspiring journey, Robert Smalls witnesses great privilege and suffering alongside his owner’s daughter and the dangerous son of a firebrand secessionist. At the age of twelve, he’s sent to work in Charleston, where he loads ships and learns to pilot a cotton steamer. When the Civil War erupts and his cotton steamer becomes a confederate warship, Robert seizes the opportunity to pursue freedom for himself and the people he loves.

General in Command: The Life of Major General John B. Anderson by Michael M. Van Ness

Prime Minister Winston Churchill crossed the Rhine River on March 25th, 1945. His presence was calculated to emphasize the British role in the defeat of the Germans and to divert attention away from Patton and the Americans who had crossed the Rhine at Remagen two weeks earlier.

Supreme Allied Commander Dwight Eisenhower had warned his commanders that Churchill would seek to steal the limelight. Eisenhower ordered his commanders to refuse any requests to cross the Rhine; “The answer must be NO!” But when Eisenhower and Bradley left, the Prime Minister seized his chance. This photograph caught the moment and was printed on the front page of newspapers around the world.

Once again, the wily Prime Minister had captured the world’s attention at the expense of the Americans. The joint American, Canadian, and British operation appeared to be primarily a triumph of British arms. Eisenhower, Bradley, and Patton were furious. Eisenhower could do nothing about the Prime Minister, but he never forgave the American generals involved. And General Eisenhower had other things on his mind.

It took ten years and an act of Congress for General William Simpson to receive the fourth star due him as Commanding General of the US Ninth Army. Major General John B. Anderson still waits his third star as Commanding General US XVI Corps.

In the meantime, General in Command: The Life of Major General John B. Anderson is his triumphant story from the Iowa cornfields to command of the largest combat corps in Europe in the Second World War.