This is my story of being on the high functioning end of the autism spectrum - having Asperger's Syndrome to be precise - and my lifelong social and emotional struggles of being in the mainstream with this condition, as I was mainstreamed out of special education at six years old and have been mainstreamed ever since. This book includes some pretty traumatic tales of me being bullied, shunned, unable to fit into many aspects of mainstream adult society, particularly the workforce, and, well...feeling like I'm ""Walking On Eggshells"" wherever I go due to my being on the spectrum. If anyone on the spectrum, high functioning or otherwise, is able to get the feeling that he or she is not alone in whatever struggles they may be experiencing, or if any neurotypicals(non-autistics), after reading this, gains understanding and maybe a little sympathy of what Aspies and folks on the spectrum go through, then I suppose I have accomplished something.

Nathan Talbot participated in the 1936 Olympics, as captain of the Tyrian Tempest, representing the United Kingdom in the 6-Meter Class Yachting races. The competition was fierce and even though Talbot was a skilled sailor, he was disappointed with only winning the Bronze Medal, outmaneuvered by the German sailing master Werner Grossman. However, there were other darker issues plaguing the young Englishman once he returned from Nazi Germany. Something sordid and dangerous was simmering underneath all the pomp and circumstance of the new Fatherland. Less than four years later, Nathan's concerns were realized, as Germany plunged the world into yet another war. This time, Talbot took command of a Motor Torpedo Boat (MTB) and this time set sail for combat in the English Channel. Nathan was soon to discover that his old nemesis, Werner Grossman, had been given command of an entire E-boat flotilla operating in the same area. Then one night, while Talbot was sneaking about Occupied France, he literally ran into 19-year-old Elise Dube and it was love at first sight. While taking daring risks to keep the flames of romance burning, Talbot was also assigned to British Intelligence. would come in handy for more covert reasons. There was just one problem. It also became obvious that Herr Grossman had also been captivated by Elise Dube's charms and planned to seduce her. Failing that, the German officer had every intention of forcing himself upon her. While the war at sea was often decided with lightning speed and brutal results, World War Two became incredibly personal for Nathan Talbot, who would stop at nothing to rescue his true love.

Something went terribly wrong. Seemingly normal people suddenly were so aggressive, even violent. They took to the streets, protesting everything, which led to massive riots. Law enforcement was hard pressed to contain this inexplicable breakdown in society.

This is the fourth book in the Minerva's Shield series. The action picks up right where Apollo's Plague left off. The bunker suffers the loss of 10 of their members to the alien attack and worse than that, Bob Norton, their leader, is presumed dead as well. However, the community recovers quickly after Debra Vitale is elected their new president. Life inside the bunker improves dramatically and it seems that the Georgia survivors will do quite well. Unfortunately, outside of the bunker's new private mini-grid, the rest of area known as the Zone is suffering from an incredibly violent drought. Many forces come into play, all vying for control of the planet. Yet in far off Texas, it appears that Bob Norton did survive after all, but the grueling torture he is forced to endure changes him forever, both mentally and physically.

What starts out as a covert military operation to exterminate all the Taliban goat herds in Afghanistan quickly ends up going badly awry! The dead goats suddenly reanimate and begin attacking their herders. Soon the entire Afghan population becomes an army of undead, spreading fear and devastation throughout the region. Stick close to a special Ranger unit as they flee from Afghanistan, traveling through Turkmenistan to Kazakhstan and into southern Russia, where they sneak aboard the Trans-Siberian Express to Vladivostok. These men unknowingly carry with them the possible cure to the rampant plague. However, before they reach their destination, they are joined by a veteran US Army colonel and a beautiful female US Navy ensign who have their own agendas. This unlikely band of Americans eventually seizes a Russian trawler to make their way to Alaska, where even more surprises await them while crossing Canada to the US border.

Danielle Draganov was in no way the typical woman, if there was such a thing to describe a 25-year-old beauty. Instead of going to college like most of her friends, she got a job and spent her free time searching through abandoned buildings. Officially she was known as an urban explorer, an apt description for her escapades, but too simplistic to cover the range of her adventures. Danielle was considered something of a legend among her peers. She took her hobby seriously and without hesitation explored places others bypassed. Perhaps this is why she got in so much trouble in the first place.Then one day, while searching through an enormous abandoned piano factory on the South Side of Chicago, Danielle literally runs into Michael Paxton. He too is an abandoned building explorer. So begins a torrid romance with a significantly older man.

Every civilization has created its tales of cataclysm or apocalypse. We are perhaps the first generation, which by deliberate actions could create our own doom. ItOs no great stretch of the imagination that humans might disappear from the face of the earth. Still, the instinct to survive is a powerful force and there probably would be some who would indeed make it. Within hours after the unexplained apocalypse unveiled in MinervaOs Shield, lights would start going out around the country. More than 70% of power in the United States alone is generated by the burning of fossil fuels. These power plants would only continue to produce electricity as long as the fuel takes to be consumed. As discovered during the journey outlined in NikeOs Chariot, if there is no one around to provide the new fuel into the generating plants, then it will be quite quick before the lights blink off everywhere.

Steve Corbin has a fascination with airplane crashes. This is not morbid curiosity, but a historical necessity. After leaving the NTSB, Steve, along with his army buddy Devin Wade, start up a company expressly designed to track down and recover the wreckage of airplanes crashed during World War II. What begins as an endeavor of passion, soon leads to intrigue, betrayal, and derring-do, as these intrepid explorers stumble upon more than they bargained for. Throw into the mix the beautiful Melissa Tovari, a mysterious woman with a covert agenda, and you have the makings of an edge-of-your-seat adventure, filled with gun play, plenty of sex, and government meddling. The Wreckchasers isn't just some formula action novel, but delves into the moral and ethical questions surrounding the human elements of lost remains of crew members around the world. So join in with each expedition and discover the intricacies of wreck recoveries, while always keeping a sharp lookout for a shot from the dark.

The Secret of the Dragon's Teeth continues the adventures of Gavin Kane, Emily Scott, and Bunty Digby, sixteen-year-olds who struggle with their daily lives in England during the pivotal year of 1944. Cornwall is now an armed camp, with thousands of Americans and Canadians, as well as men from throughout the occupied countries, all training and preparing for the invasion of the European continent. The war has reached a brutal climax and the Allies now have the upper hand. In Nazi Germany, however, Heinrich Himmler is far from admitting defeat, as he prepares to unleash whatever horror he can devise to delay the inevitable.

The world has come to an end.

Or has it?

What starts out as a long overdue father-and-son vacation immediately becomes more complicated, when they uncover an unusual coin in the dirt. Frighteningly, it's as if the planet is thrown into upheaval over this innocent discovery. All of a sudden, the FBI shows up at their door asking lots of questions, planting the seeds of paranoia, doubt and worry. The neighbors start acting strangely, almost on the verge of panic. The nearby military base is abandoned overnight and the weather has never been so unpredictable.

As everything falls apart around them, no one is certain what is happening. There is no cell phone service, no radio or TV, no form of communication whatsoever. What should the people prepare for - the ever-popular zombie apocalypse, or global economic collapse, another American civil war, nuclear or biological terrorist attack, super volcano or titanic earthquake, planet-wide meteorological disaster, impending asteroid collision, or perhaps an alien invasion from outer space?

While the masses flee in every direction, a small organized group finds refuge in a corporate data bunker, which was once a military facility. Here, thirty people are thrown together, perhaps by fate or coincidence, they come to wait out the final days, the dreaded apocalypse. Without warning or explanation, their lives are spared by the power of the mysterious coin - Minerva's Shield. When they emerge from inside the mountain, however, they find a world relatively undamaged. Yet there is no trace that people ever existed. There are no bodies, no skeletons, not a single trace. It is a world without humans.

This diverse community of survivors quickly bands together to gather supplies and hammer out a new existence, where they appear to be the only living souls.

Still, they are curious about what really happened that fateful day.

And someone, or something, is watching them as well.

The author's love of New Mexico, combined with his passion for writing and teaching, all came together to form the basic plot for this book. Best-selling author Garrett Brody looked forward to beginning his visiting lecturer of creative writing at the University of New Mexico's English Department. However, while Garrett is out hiking one afternoon, he comes across a dying man who utters, "Carla is the key." So begins a mystery that Brody refuses to let go of, even when his own dark past catches up to him. Filled with his trademark style of adventure and romance, Derek Hart once again unleashes a story bursting with action.

In "Executive Firepower," David Lockhart holds down a pretty typical job, as a sales manager for a company that supplies an extensive catalog of products. On the surface, there's nothing unusual about David Lockhart. However, when he receives a certain call sign, Lockhart becomes the team leader of MESA, a Black Ops organization that reports to the Director of the NSA. Only the President of the United States knows of their existence.

So, when orders came through for Lockhart to gather his team together for another top-secret mission, he thinks nothing of it. It came from the proper source, within proper channels, encoded with the latest series of ciphers. Everything seemed in order. It was not. The mission was a one-way ticket to oblivion and the ambush MESA walked into took every life of the team. All except one. Yup, you guessed it. David Lockhart managed to survive, rescued by a stunningly beautiful, but mysterious woman assassin.

For the perpetrators of this betrayal of MESA, David Lockhart's survival was not a good thing. No, it was not a good thing. For now Lockhart was mad. Not the raging, red-faced, out-of-control, irrational kind of mad. No, you see, David Lockhart wasn't like that. His anger was far more dangerous and revenge would come from anywhere, at any time. For David Lockhart was the best, the very best. A story filled with violent gun battles and torrid sex, all leading to a stunning climax as Lockhart saves the President of the United States.

Secret of the Dragon's Scales continues the adventures of Gavin Kane, Emily Scott, and Bunty Digby, fifteen-year-olds who make the best of their young lives in England during the autumn of 1943. World War II rages on, but the tide seems to have turned in favor of the Allies. Three times previously, the teens have defeated Nazi plans to defeat England using evil magic, and three times, there have been new alliances formed with creatures from the hidden worlds of legend and fable. Yet once again, Heinrich Himmler is determined to unleash another strange and horrible weapon from deep within Nazi Germany, while halfway across the world, Allied armies are now tenaciously fighting the Japanese Empire.

Secret of the Dragon's Scales continues to develop the ongoing influence of Thaddeus Osbert. The dragon has become indispensable in assisting his teenaged charges, as they inadvertently aid the Allied efforts against Nazi Germany. However, the dragon also takes quite seriously his responsibility to instruct Gavin Kane in the ways of justice, honor and above all - compassion. Sir Osbert manages to negotiate a steady source of sugar for his persistent sweet tooth, in exchange for supplying something Winston Churchill needs as well. Once again faced with danger and intrigue, the teens call upon their dragon friend to help them battle the Nazis, who finally commit their own winged monstrosity, with unexpected results.

The central theme of "Claws of the Raven" hasn't varied much from the first book written by Derek Hart. Love is still a wonderful curse and humans go out of their way to complicate every step along the way. When all is said and done, even the author can't manipulate the characters to do and react in ways that are out of character. No matter how hard one tries to make it happen, men and women don't just fall in love and all is bliss. Whenever somebody is brave, or foolish enough, to say, "I love you," then instantly the complications begin. This time it's pirates and swashbuckling adventure at its best

Secret of the Dragon's Claw continues the adventures of Gavin Kane, Emily Scott, and Bunty Digby, fourteen-year-old teens who struggle with their daily lives in England during the winter of 1941 and into the spring of 1942. War has forced everyone to settle into an uncomfortable daily pattern, while England is still under siege, as U-boats relentlessly attack vital convoys. Halfway across the world, British, American, and Allied forces are now also fighting the Japanese Empire. Twice before, the teens have helped battle the forces of darkness, but once again face strange and wicked creatures sent from deep within Nazi Germany. Secret of the Dragon's Claw further develops the friendship and alliance between this teenage trio and the eccentric Sir Thaddeus Osbert. The dragon has become accustomed to battling a myriad of dangerous foes over the ages, but protecting Gavin, Emily, and Bunty has become a full-time endeavor. Thaddeus must deal with his nagging sweet tooth, which this time gets him into several compromising situations. However, the dragon's addiction to sugar has unforeseen benefits too. The children band together with their dragon friend, of course, but they also discover magical powers are commonplace throughout the United Kingdom. Will a hasty alliance with a senile old wizard be enough to prevent something so horrible, so unimaginable, that it threatens to plunge the entire world into permanent darkness?

"Secret of the Dragon's Breath" continues the adventures of Gavin Kane, Emily Scott, and Bunty Digby, thirteen-year-olds who continue to struggle with their daily lives, during the spring of 1941. While relatively safe on the north Cornish coast, the teens are well aware that England is under constant threat, as the Germans continue to bomb London and the surrounding industrial cities. While these friends have learned to cope with air raid sirens and strict rationing, they're soon faced with another sinister attempt to bring Britain to her knees. Yet with the addition of several new characters, the teenagers discover the true meaning of friendship from these unusual allies. "Secret of the Dragon's Breath" also marks the return of that high-spirited dragon, Sir Thaddeus Osbert, who not only breathes fire, but also craves sugar. Faced with danger and intrigue, the teens call upon their dragon friend to help them battle the Nazis, who are determined to win the war, no matter what the cost. With a terrible new force threatening their beloved England, it's up to Gavin, Bunty, and Emily to seek out a magical solution. When their favorite dragon unleashes yet another secret power, you can be assured the outcome will not only be exciting, but full of long-lasting implications as well.

"Secret of the Dragon's Eye" is a tale of fantasy for all ages, with a high-spirited dragon named Thaddeus Osbert and three adolescents who befriend him. Faced with danger and intrigue, the children band together with the dragon, to thwart a German top-secret mission, aimed at seizing the mystical and magical sword of King Arthur-Excalibur. By combining their wits, their courage, and their imagination, the children overcome many obstacles to forge friendships as solid as time itself. Yet there is a price to pay for their brave intervention against the forces of evil. Will they be willing to once again battle incredible odds to make amends? What sacrifices will be required to save their mythical, fire-breathing friend from his pre-ordained fate?

One hundred and thirty-seven years ago, the Countess Isabelle Sophia Bario, diplomatic representative of Emperor Dom Pedro II of Brazil, sailed to war-ravaged America, to negotiate with President Lincoln to allow Brazil to trade with the Confederate States of America. In fact, she was a Rebel spy and instead of treaties, Sophia was after Union secrets. What she found instead was intrigue and murder. Fleeing for her life, Sophia was rescued by Captain Robert Norton, a Confederate cavalry officer. Thus began a torrid love affair with strategic implications.

"Ice Flotilla" is a story about ordinary people caught up in the extraordinary horrors and challenges of World War Two. In the midst of this terrible conflict, human beings were also faced with many of life's seemingly mundane choices too. How they handled the pressures of war, the loss of loved ones, and still managed to discover their dignity during those tumultuous times, is what this book is all about. With a world at war, love still made a difference in so many ways.

Once again Iceland was a major locale for one of Derek Hart's novels. Intrigued by the culture, the people, the landscape, and the history, the author felt motivated to write another book expounding the virtues and complexities of this fascinating nation.

Follow the life and death struggle of Richard Hathaway and his son Ian during the dark days of World War Two.

"Tidal Trap" finds hero Jefferson Parker quickly embroiled in an international chase of global proportions. When invited to visit his friend at a Naval base in Maine, Parker is recruited to undertake a covert mission. At first he refuses, but after an attack on the station and the disappearance of his friend, Parker accepts his role. Parker and his schooner crew are drawn ever deeper into intrigue and betrayal. At stake, the security of America's submarine force and the lives of countless people. Behind the obvious conflict arises a secret past for both Parker and Taylor Stephenson, a beautiful but seemingly innocent bystander. Not to be so easily pushed aside, there's Carla Gianni too, who is a crewmember on Parker's schooner. She too is very much in love with Parker and isn't about to her man just slip away.

Join Parker as he struggles to find solutions to a rogue submarine and environmental issues about dolphins used as weapons. Parker must come to terms with a mission betrayed, a crew to lead and protect, and a choice between two women he professes to love.

"Tidal Trap" will take you on a journey into attack submarines, across storm-swept oceans in a fast sailing ship, and behind doors with political trade-offs.

Canadian Travis Kelland was 20 years old when Germany invaded Poland to start World War II. Travis was also the only son and heir to Sir Charles Kelland, a wealthy and powerful businessman whose vast holdings stretched across many provinces of Canada. Sir Charles was grooming young Travis to eventually take the reins of the Kelland empire. However, Travis had other plans. He enlisted in the Royal Canadian Navy and set forth on a grand adventure to fight the Nazis. Of course, Travis was in for a rude awakening. He joined the MTB's (Motor Torpedo Boats) squadrons fighting in the Channel and the North Sea and was immediately faced with death and destruction, winning the DSO from the King himself. Yet Travis was a survivor too. After proving himself in combat, he is transferred to the Mediterranean and took command of his own MTB based out of Alexandria, Egypt. In this theatre of operations, his crew fight Germans and Italians, constantly faced with overwhelming odds and the constant threat of Rommel. These are the adventures of MTB 545, from 1940-1945, spanning the desperate years to the days just prior to the D-Day invasion.

Mike Rejest is a dedicated Special Agent for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) out of Albuquerque, New Mexico. He is responsible for the Southwest region and has over 35 law enforcement officers reporting to him. Over the past year, however, he has detected an ominous trend developing. It appears as if an environmental terrorist may be operating from somewhere in the 4-state territory Rejest oversees. Cattle barons have been executed in the night, corporations suddenly destroyed by unexplained explosions, even the unsolved murder of several of his field operatives and government trappers.
Throughout the West a terrible legend is being created - of a ghost rider on a silent horse, coming in the night to deliver swift and exacting punishment. His victims are from all walks of life, all ages, both sexes. So begins the struggle, between an agent of the law and a messenger of retribution. The action spreads through New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Arizona, covering the last remaining wilderness areas of the Southwest. Battle-lines are drawn and friendships challenged, as the environment takes center stage before the public once again. Finally, frustrated by the failure of everyone else, Rejest gathers his own team of trusted fellow BLM Rangers. They set out to hunt down the stranger in the New Mexico wilds, only to discover that they are being pursued instead. The difference between predator and prey grows murky, only separated by the quickness of reflexes and the caliber of firearms.

With the fall of Phnom Penh, Cambodia and Saigon, South Vietnam, in April of 1975, an illegal secret war began. Using Army personnel, the CIA unleashed Shadow, covert operations designed to disrupt the newly installed Communist governments. Now, fifteen years later, the President and the CIA have decided to activate the final phase in Cambodia, an area of continuous civil war. The key: only one man knows the identity of the agent planted within the Cambodian puppet regime. That man is Ross Kinkaid.