Fiction with Heroes to Root For
Trust Misplaced
Paul Dodge #1
“Flory delivers a strong and complex crime thriller speckled with sharp action, salty dialog, and deep character development. Trust Misplaced moves at a steady pace, and weaves subplots into a complex tapestry that is sure to engross fans of Connelly, Patterson, and Coben.”
– Dave Edlund, USA Today best-selling author of the Peter Savage novels.
Paul Dodge is no stranger to the dark side of crime. As a parole agent and a member of the local Sex Crimes Task Force, he knows what depravity lies in the shadows. But when an investigation into a local sexual predator leads him to a photo of a judge’s daughter and another young girl ends up dead, Dodge quickly realizes he doesn’t know who to trust.
In the most dangerous case of his career, Dodge races to detangle a growing web of lies and corruption. His life and career are both on the line in this high-stakes case, and a single misstep could end them both.
Unforgiving Savage
Peter Savage #8
"Unforgiving Savage is a harrowing thriller anchored by its everyman hero, who grapples with the moral implications of making weapons." –John M. Murray, Foreword Reviews
Peter wants nothing more than to settle into a normal life with his fiancée, Kate Simpson. But the Fates seems to have other plans as he finds himself in a deadly confrontation with North Korean agents intent on stealing his latest invention; a pulsed energy weapon that promises to revolutionize small arms technology and upend the international balance of power.
After suffering a heartbreaking loss at the hands of the North Koreans, Peter is devastated. Vowing retribution, he has only one option. With his faithful companion Diesel by his side, Peter must retreat to a remote section of Idaho wilderness known as the Zone of Death—a large, uninhabited tract of Federal land where one can literally get away with murder.
Somehow, he must entice the North Korean assassins to follow him. There Peter will need all his skills as a hunter to kill… or be killed.
Someone Had to Die
There's always the one case that got away, the one with loose ends and a lack of closure that plagues those who investigate it.
For James Butler, a partner in a prestigious boutique law firm in Orange County, that case is the 1985 murder of DEA Special Agent Enrique Camarena in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Though the murder occurred more than 35 years ago, James can't shake the nagging feeling that maybe the investigators missed something. The more James digs into this cold case, the more unwanted attention he gathers from powerful forces on both sides of the border who would prefer to keep the case closed.
Someone Had to Die follows a fictional lawyer as he digs into the true story of Special Agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena's abduction and murder in 1985, drawing from and exposing interviews and facts never before published.
The New Reality
Alex Pella #1
Author Stephen Martino delivers an action-packed medical thriller in a heart-stopping race to save humanity.
In the year 2080, a deadly retrovirus is inadvertently released upon the planet. Facing financial ruin and catastrophic loss of life, the world's nations turn to acclaimed neuroscientist Alex Pella and NIH expert Marissa Ambrosia. Assembling a team of experts, the scientists begin an international search for the cure while fighting off a foreign elite military unit sent to stop them at all costs. Guided by a code concealed within the Hebrew text of the Old Testament, the scientists must traverse ancient lands and solve a biblical riddle in their quest to save humanity from its eminent destruction.
Drawing from both our nation's politically charged environment and the worldwide economic crisis, The New Reality follows Alex Pella on a journey that projects a frightening path for human existence in the twenty-first century.
Nonfiction to Inspire
Stewards of Humanity
IBPA Benjamin Franklin Awards 2022 — Silver Medal in Best New Voice: Nonfiction
"A sincere tribute to professionals who do not always receive the recognition and support they deserve, Stewards of Humanity is a memoir about healing through—and from—humanitarian work." —Foreword Reviews
When the world turns away from the horrors of war, genocide, famine, and natural disasters, the stewards of humanity run toward the suffering. They stand as a thin line between life and death for thousands of people who will never know their stories. These stewards are neither heroes nor saints—they are ordinary people with ordinary struggles who rise to extraordinary challenges. They are beacons of light in the darkness of humanitarian crisis.
With an unflinching view into some of the worst humanitarian crises of our lifetime, author Robert Macpherson—US Marine combat veteran turned aid worker—tells the stories of the men and women who have courageously confronted evil and injustice from Somalia to Bosnia, Rwanda, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Throughout his narrative, Robert challenges us to consider our place in humanity and our own role as stewards.
Climbing Lessons
“Climbing Lessons stays close to home, with the unflinching discoveries that come from birth, marriage, fatherhood and death, all told with Bascom’s great powers of honesty, humor, and deep sincerity.” –Thomas Fox Averill, Emeritus Creative Writing Professor at Washburn University, O. Henry Award winner, and author of the novel Found Documents from the Life of Nell Johnson Doerr
When Doc Bascom tries to show his grade school sons how to climb a huge sycamore, he ends up dropping 12 feet flat-out on his back. Stunned, he finally gasps, “So that’s how it’s done.” And in that moment, he becomes an emblem for all fathers—trying to lead the way, failing, then getting up and trying again.
This “climbing lesson” is just one of 40 playful, sometimes poignant stories by award-winning author Tim Bascom, who illustrates the special bond between fathers and sons—and how that relationship must change with time. When Tim takes his own turn at fathering, he realizes that his devoted toddlers are turning into unimpressed teenagers. No longer the hero he had hoped to be, he must accept a new, flawed version of himself, not unlike his father before him.
These brief inter-linked stories show that abiding affection can still prevail, bringing fathers and sons closer, even as they tackle the steepest parts of the climb.
Faith and Air
"Faith and Air is like a frame that displays verbal photographs of what I love most about North Carolina—the people! Simple. Real. Down-to-earth. Unashamed of faith in God."
–Anne Graham Lotz, Author, Speaker
A longtime journalist grounded in facts confronts stories that ask for faith.
Throughout his thirty years on the air, television reporter Scott Mason has interviewed countless people who unexpectedly offered up miracle stories. Such as the legendary golf broadcaster who makes for a wonderful personality profile—and then says, “Oh, and by the way, I died and came back to life.” Or the sole survivor of a plane crash who describes his harrowing ordeal—and tells of a radiant vision he says he witnessed while catapulting through the fuselage. One after another the miracle stories kept coming, but Scott Mason suspected these stories would never find their way onto the air. So he made a miracle list and dug deeper into these intriguing accounts on his own.
As he pursues the leads throughout this book, Scott shares a compelling narrative of fact and faith and his personal struggle to balance them both.
Looking Within
What would it be like to have x-ray vision?
Beyond diagnosing illness or injury, can images of ourselves tell us more about life?
What if you could see that an accident victim will never walk again; that a young mother has breast cancer; or that a teenager is brain-dead and will be removed from life support? Can imaging help us better appreciate the complexity of existence, our strengths and vulnerabilities? Does looking into the body give insight into what it means to be human? Would it allow you, at least indirectly, to glimpse evidence of the human soul?
Looking Within is the first mainstream collection of dramatic non-fiction narratives about discoveries in patients found by medical imaging. Ruff highlights the wonder and mystery of the human body, literally and metaphorically looking inside of others. Each story describes a patient in whom a life-changing discovery is made: tumors, stroke, domestic violence, substance abuse, sterility, unexpected pregnancy, infection, surgical complications, evidence of criminal activity, mental illness, even impending death. Dr. Ruff’s words, images, and insights help us see ourselves like never before.
