Inspired by the old African proverb: "When an old man dies, a library burns to the ground," high-school student Morgan Rielly sought to preserve as many Maine libraries as he could by interviewing men and women from Maine who served in World War II and preserving their stories. All of these veterans taught him something, too, not just about how to fight a war, but how to live a life. They were never preachy, never full of themselves. Each of them knew they had participated in something great and special, but none of them thought that they, themselves, were great or special. There was Fred Collins, the sixteen-year-old Marine who used his Boy Scout training to clip a wounded soldier's chest together using safety pins from machine gun bandoliers while under withering fire on Iwo Jima. Or Inex Louise Roney, who served as a gunnery instructor for the Marines, hoping she could end the war sooner and bring her brother home. Or Harold Lewis, who held onto hope despite being shot down out of the sky, nearly free-falling to his death, and spending four months behind enemy lines in Italy. Or Jean Marc Desjardins, whose near-death experiences defusing German bombs with his buddy Puddinghead, taught Rielly the value of a good friend.

At 9:02 A.M. on April 19, 1995, the serenity of America's heartland was destroyed when a massive explosion leveled one side of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, and the reality of terrorism shocked the nation. Damage from the blast covered many city blocks; 168 men, women, and children were killed; and an estimated 500 were injured. On April 21, Timothy McVeigh was formally charged as a suspect in the bombing. More than a year after the bombings, as the wheels of justice grind slowly toward a trial, the nation, in its shock and horror, still asks: Who is Timothy McVeigh? Why would anyone commit such a horrible act? What turned a seemingly ordinary small-town boy - a decorated former soldier and war hero - into an alleged mass murderer and the most hated man in America? Journalist Brandon M. Stickney answers many of the compelling questions surrounding McVeigh and the Oklahoma City bombing, and puts this critical information into the broader perspective of McVeigh's childhood, his educational and military service, and his efforts to find meaning and purpose in life. In this thoroughly researched and sensitively written biography, the author, a reporter and native of the western New York area where McVeigh was born and raised, draws on his own personal experience, available documents, and numerous interviews with McVeigh's family, friends, and associates to offer intimate details of McVeigh's life - factors that contributed to his startling transformation from all-American boy to "All-American Monster".

From her ranch home in Montana in the 1920s, Nettie Brady dreamed of joining the rodeo circuit and becoming a star. Defying her mother's wishes and trading her skirts for trousers--and riding the range with her brothers and taking on the occasional half-ton steer in local rodeos--Nettie bucked convention to compete with men in the arena. When family hardship and tragedy threaten her plans, she turns back toward a more traditional life as a ranch woman, but chafes against its restrictions. Then she meets and falls in love with a young neighbor who rides broncs and raises rodeo stock. Can Nettie's rodeo dreams come true if she's also a wife and mother? Based on the life of the author's grandmother, a real Montana cowgirl, this novel takes on the big issues of a woman's place in the west, the crushing difficulties of surviving on a homestead, and the excitement and romance of a young girl aching to follow her dream.

In this sequel to Cowgirl Dreams, Nettie Brady, now Nettie Moser, is working with her husband Jake to prepare for a busy rodeo season when she's offered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to travel to London to perform with the Tex Austin Wild West Troupe. When fate once again interferes with her dreams, Nettie finds herself overcoming challenges only to set aside her passions. As Nettie and Jake work to keep their horse herd from disaster and to preserve their way of life, the realities of the Great Depression separate them. Based on the life of the author's grandmother, a real Montana Cowgirl, Follow the Dream, reveals the story of the real Montana in the mid-Twentieth Century and continues the sweeping family saga begun in Cowgirl Dreams.

The third novel featuring DCI Jack Hawksworth asks the question: is one life worth more than another?

Police are baffled by several deaths, each unique and bizarre in their own way – and shockingly brutal. Scotland Yard sends in its crack DCI, the enigmatic Jack Hawksworth, who wastes no time in setting up Operation Mirror. His chief wants him to dismiss any possibility of a serial killer before the media gets on the trail.

With his best investigative team around him, Jack resorts to some unconventional methods to disprove or find a link between the gruesome deaths. One involves a notorious serial killer from his past, and the other, a smart and seductive young journalist who’ll do anything to catch her big break.

Discovering he’s following the footsteps of a vigilante and in a race against time, Jack will do everything it takes to stop another killing – but at what personal cost for those he holds nearest and dearest?

Pentecostal evangelist Mario Ivan "Tony" Leyva was considered by many to be a true prophet of God. Clutching his black Bible, for over twenty-five years Brother Tony delivered mesmerizing sermons to millions of people. When he proclaimed his vision and version of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Leyva's devoted followers readily gave their hard-earned dollars to one who, they thought, was clearly doing the Lord's work. But at the same time, Brother Tony used Christianity and his status as a respected Pentecostal evangelist and prophet of God to systematically and insidiously put an end to the childhood innocence of young adolescent boys in twenty-three states. This is the hard-hitting true crime story of how Leyva and his preacher cohorts seduced, sodomized, and pimped the young sons of hundreds of unsuspecting parents who came to hear them preach. How did it happen? How could this serial pederast get away with his crimes for so long without parents' knowing? And how could these crimes against nearly a thousand boys go undetected by law enforcement for over two decades? Based on his meticulous interviews with victims, their parents, and others, Mike Echols answers these and many other questions.

- A collection of tall tales, modern fables, nonsense stories, and stories from history--all with a Florida flavor
- Each tale lists telling time and intended audience as well as tips on how to tell it
- Pull up your favorite chair and a few listeners and start your own storytelling tradition with the gems in this collection
- Wander into the Everglades and listen to the animals argue over the meaning of a lost boot
- Watch Sneaky Sam get his just reward when he tries to run off with the good and virtuous Hannah
- Rib-ticklers featuring the sly Cracker Jack and a place called Dogbone
- Perfect for teachers, parents, campers

Actor, comedian, song writer, and author, the versatile Steve Allen has shared his very special brand of entertainment with audiences the world over. His penetrating wit and wisdom allows us to laugh at ourselves while thinking about some of the serious issues of our time. Drawn from life's raw materials and his own fertile imagination, "The Man Who Turned Back the Clock" is a delightful yet provocative collection of short stories as only Steve Allen could write them. This wide-ranging assemblage includes 31 tantalising tales. In addition to the title story, readers will find: "The Humor Strike"; "It's Nice to See You Again"; "The Day the Jews Disappeared", (addressing anti-Semitism); "The Sunday Morning Shift" (focusing on the scandals of money-grubbing evangelists); "The Jensen Theory" (which takes a look at racism); "The Girls on the Tenth Floor"; "Point of View"; and many more. Readers will find in some the surprising twists and turns of an 'O Henry' yarn. This collection is funny, it's thoughtful, it's vintage Steve Allen!

In his last years Mark Twain had become a respected literary figure whose opinions were widely sought by the press. He had also suffered a series of painful physical, economic, and emotional losses.
The Mysterious Stranger, published posthumously in 1916 and belonging to Twain's "dark" period, belies the popular image of the affiable American humorist. In this antireligious tale, Twain denies the existence of a benign Providence, a soul, an afterlife, and even reality itself. As the Stranger in the story asserts, "nothing exists; all is a dream."

In what Jeneva Rose declares a “chilling and atmospheric” tale, Nola Strate, a late night radio host in Portland, Oregon, listens to stories of hauntings and cryptic sightings for a living. But one foggy evening, a caller describes an eerie scene that triggers memories of Nola’s childhood escape from a serial killer, and she fears he’s back to finish what he started.
 
Nola Strate is being watched, again.
 
After an encounter with a notorious serial killer in the Pacific Northwest as a child, Nola has grown up and tried her best to forget her traumatizing night with the Hiding Man. She installed security cameras outside her Oregon home, never spoke of her experience, and now hosts Night Watch, a popular radio call-in show her semi‑famous father used to run. When coincidences lead Nola to believe that she is being stalked, and a caller on Night Watch has a live incident with an intruder in the caller's home—the description of whom is chillingly familiar—Nola is convinced that the Hiding Man has resurfaced and is coming for her.
 
With a mysterious next‑door neighbor lurking in the shadows, more people getting hurt, the police not taking her concerns seriously, and evidence pointing towards her own father, Nola decides to become, like her listeners, a Night Watcher herself, and uncover the monster behind the Hiding Man's mask.

The Old Man and the Sea is one of Hemingway's most enduring works. Told in language of great simplicity and power, it is the story of an old Cuban fisherman, down on his luck, and his supreme ordeal -- a relentless, agonizing battle with a giant marlin far out in the Gulf Stream. Here Hemingway recasts, in strikingly contemporary style, the classic theme of courage in the face of defeat, of personal triumph won from loss. Written in 1952, this hugely successful novella confirmed his power and presence in the literary world and played a large part in his winning the 1954 Nobel Prize for Literature.

"Modest, gem-like, and oddly affecting, the sixteen quite short stories of Full Frontal present intimate moments of one gay man's not untypical life in the late twentieth century. And, like a bracelet or necklace of quirky, individual charms, they ultimately add up to the kind of surprising cumulative effect one usually only gets from knowing someone well for a long time."

-Felice Picano

It is August of 1957, and Tim Halladay, a caddie at the Long Shore Country Club, is looking forward to beginning eighth grade at Assumption School. Tim and his best friend and fellow caddie, Jimmy, are oblivious to the fact that they are slowly transforming into young men with secret desires.

As Tim embarks on a journey of emotional and sexual development, he approaches the world around him with a "full frontal" attitude that allows him to somehow not only survive but thrive, beginning with his first gay experiences as a shy teenager in suburban Connecticut and moving through his escapades at a Virginia army base, the Hotel Manhattan, the Museum of Modern Art, the Polo Lounge at the Beverly Hills Hotel, and lavish suites at various upscale hotels and resorts. As Tim moves from one encounter to the next, he gradually transforms, moving toward a future as a rising star.

"Full Frontal" shares an intriguing glimpse into the life of a gay man, as told through his eclectic relationships as he eventually discovers that true happiness is all about give and take.

The Flight of Peter Fromm is a novel of ideas disguised as the biography of a young man from a Pentecostal fundamentalist background in Oklahoma, who loses his faith while a student at the University of Chicago Divinity School. His spiritual odyssey is narrated by his mentor, a professor at the divinity school - who is actually a humanist who believes neither in God nor in an afterlife. Although Peter never abandons his theism or his admiration for Jesus, he reaches a point where he feels it would be hypocritical to remain within the church and to become the evangelist he had hoped to be.
The counterpoint between Peter and the narrator reflects the eternal conflict between theism and atheism. In following the changes of Peter's beliefs, almost every aspect of Protestant theology and ethics is explored. The evolution of Peter's faith parallels the evolution of Christian theology, from the day of Pentecost to contemporary liberal theology.

In this mystery novel set in central New York, sleuth Marty Fenton is drawn into the most complex and dangerous puzzle he has ever encountered.

Early in the planning of this Centenary Edition, the editors decided to set aside a final volume for those works of Hawthorne that did not find a place in the previous volumes. Many of these works were written early in Hawthorne's career, going back as far as his precollege years, and from the still hazily understood time of his earliest periodical publications - sometimes pseudonymous, more often anonymous. The Life of Franklin Pierce - which did not belong with the romances, however loud the satirical charges of political opponents that it did - finds its place in this volume, along with the first complete publication of Pierce's Mexican diary, which Hawthorne used in composing his Life.

This novel plunges the reader into the last agonizing years of the Civil War. Cattle from the Florida plains are needed to save a desperate South from starvation. But quicksand and snake-filled swamps, Yankee raiders, and vicious outlaws block the trails between Florida and the rest of the Confederacy. Men like Tree Hooker, tough as alligator hide and quick with gun, knife, or whip, reckon with Union forces and renegades when they take on the job of driving the herds.