How much can the human spirit endure? Buck, a Caucasian teacher, and Hues, a multiracial street preacher, form an unlikely friendship after meeting in a bar fight near their Army training base in 1969. When their helicopter crashes later in Vietnam and they’re captured by Viet Cong soldiers, they begin to learn the power of brotherhood. Marched to a prison camp and forced into hard labor, they are beaten frequently and given little to eat or drink as they suffer a brutal life in a bamboo cage.
Each day begins with the ominous question: how can they survive another day? They discover the gift of good memories and share them often. And they find great hope in Hues’s incredible life spirit that lights their darkest days.
Fourteen months after their capture, Hues damages his ankle so severely he can’t walk. With death closer than ever, they escape and begin a harrowing journey through the dense jungle filled with predators-the enemy, the wildlife, and even their fellow soldiers who may not recognize them. Buck vows to carry Hues every step until they reach safety, but can they possibly make it? Their devotion to each other drives them onward.
“Unseen and hidden away in the dark, damp cellar within the house down dirt lane, a creature stirred. It showed no preference for young or old, male or female, race, color, or national origin, mercilessly devouring all. It was a silent killer, often going unnoticed until it was too late.”
Samantha, a young, bright analyst at the CIA, finds herself in a dire situation when her lifelong research reveals alarming information linked to atomic bomb testing. A monster created from the fallout poses risks to both the environment and the general population.
True events weave with political conspiracy as covert government forces close in, determined to silence Samantha forever. With her life hanging by a thread, can she outsmart her ruthless pursuers and expose the truth before it’s too late?
Imagine if who you thought you were wasn’t your true identity. That is what Jade and her sister Amber discover soon after inheriting their multimillion-dollar company from their late parents. Gathering clues to understand the strange coincidences and answer the questions left unanswered for years, they come across the truth and learn that everything is two-fold.
With knowledge comes consequences. The Parker sisters must navigate this new information while keeping their parents’ legacy alive and each other safe.
Etched in Stone is a harrowing and magic-rich novel that takes you on an incredible journey of self-discovery and teaches the power of heritage, choices, owning one’s gifts, and the ultimate lesson of forgiveness.
One night just before summer break, Tor Bergman, a bewildered college sophomore, receives an unexpected invitation from striking coed Connie St. Louis. She wants to hitchhike across the country from Ohio to Washington, through Canada to Alaska, and back in just seventy-eight days. Tor hardly knows Connie. Why agree to such a crazy undertaking? Call it infatuation, a call from the collective unconscious, or perhaps an innate desire to complete the hero’s journey, but Tor agrees and sets out with Connie on their epic adventure.
Backpacking across America, the duo meets all kinds of fascinating new people each day and witness a beauty and splendor of the countryside that’s as varied as the weather. Along with his opinionated traveling partner, Tor soaks in the zen events of everyday life, learns about accepting oneself and others despite personal complications, and discovers a spiritual side to life. The summer of 1970 will be one Tor never forgets—and not just because of the skinny-dipping.
We’ve all had bad days, but nothing compares to Trip Torrent’s. PR director of theluxury cruise ship Climax of Dreams, he awakens to the discovery that the ship’s owners have donated it to house 4,000 squabbling refugees. Then, at a celebrity-glutted fundraiser, it gets hijacked. And that’s only the beginning! Torrent’s reluctant sea voyage includes seminude female commandos, a secret stash of special ops weapons, a billion-dollar cloud of money, a kidnapped tech guru, a ship navigation system with a dangerous stutter, a soccer match haunted by Navy drones and fighter jets, a faded comic whose skills at mimicry could save or sink the ship, an unexpected global fashion craze, a double-dealing repairman, and a whopping big hurricane. Even his attempts at romance are interrupted-by the synthetic charms of a robot bartender with a bit too much charisma! What will blow up first: his career, his relationship, or the ship?
In 2013, Kristan Shimpi turned forty. She was a parent of two school-age children, and she and her husband were trying to decide if their family was complete. They could never get on the same page about more children, but Kristan had a strong desire to nurture. So, in six months, she collected four chickens, two cats, and a puppy named Smooch. Smooch’s tongue was so big that it did not fit into her mouth, and she used that tongue to smooch everyone she met.
Smooch was a bullmastiff, a breed that was supposed to be calm, not need a lot of exercise, and be really easy to train. Smooch was the total opposite. She was one-hundred-percent love and not a good listener. She taught their family that love can be accepting and unconditional. This book includes anecdotes of Smooch’s life with Kristan’s family. It was not a long life, but it was full of so many adventures and memories that she will cherish forever.
Can you really fake it till you make it? Lieutenant Minerva Mills is about to find out.
It’s 1995 and the Army units of Fort Stewart, Georgia, are gearing up to deploy to Bosnia. But Min has no intention of going to war-torn Eastern Europe. Her father disappeared in Vietnam and-longing for some connection to him-she’s determined to go on a long-promised tour to Asia. The colonel will only release her on two conditions: she ensures the rag-tag Headquarters Company is ready for the peacekeeping mission and she gets her weight within Army regs.
Min only has one summer to kick everyone’s butts into shape, but the harder she plays Army, the more the soldiers-and her body-rebel. If she can’t even get the other women on her side, much less lose those eight lousy pounds, she’ll never have another chance to stand where her father once stood in Vietnam. The colonel may sweep her along to Bosnia or throw her out of the Army altogether. Or Min may be forced to conclude that no amount of faking it will ever be enough to make it and, as was true for her father, the Army is an impossible space for her to occupy.
The eyes are the windows to the universe, if one knows how to look. For a select group of extraordinary children, this has never been more apparent.
Born into a world ravaged by war, Samuel Helen is among the first in a wave of “new youth” children who possess abnormally large eyes and breathtaking psychic abilities. But Samuel’s powerful telekinesis cannot be managed by the team of scientists at General George Mabus’s military facility. He finds his only solace in his sessions with his wise tutor, Walter, who introduces him to music and philosophy, and his cherished weekly visits with an ordinary orphan girl, Evelyn, in the neighboring village.
When a twist of fate sends Samuel and Evelyn into uncharted territory, Samuel is forced to confront dark shadows from his past in order to unlock the deepest wells of his psyche, even the universe itself, and discover deep spiritual truths while harnessing his abilities-and facing off with vengeful enemies.
He soon realizes that he is part of something much greater than he could have ever imagined . . .
It is 1934, in the small town of Bernalillo, New Mexico. Mr. Soto and his sons are aMexican American family that own and run the town’s bar, grocery store, and apple orchards. To everyone’s surprise, Mr. Soto decides to retire and leave the family businesses to his sons. The youngest, George, shares his news with his close friend, Ruben Valdez, who is not only jealous of George’s new fortune but also desperately needs money. After getting into trouble with the mob and finding no other options, Ruben holds his former friend at gunpoint, asking him for the code to his family’s safe. Anger, pressure, and cowardice causes Ruben to act in a way he never thought imaginable.
In this multigenerational tale, the story picks back up in the 1970s where that gun will be used again against the Soto men. The final piece of the story is in the late 1990s, which concludes how this family triumphed through generations. Based on a true story, A Piece of the Town spans multiple generations, proving identity can be understood through our past. Discover this family’s New Mexican history, unfold their troubled past, and learn how family always comes first. Well, in most cases.