This book may offer a cautionary tale in the age of Covid-19. The narratives we shape around disease in society are so often about politics, and the competing versions of leprosy eradication's story are no exception. In one telling, the extra-budgetary funding for anti-leprosy work came with unwarranted interference in the WHO programme, resulting in an over-hasty, acrimonious and ultimately unsuccessful elimination campaign. In another interpretation, a great work of twentieth-century disease control was accomplished, through extraordinary philanthropy, visionary courageousness, and wily and pragmatic diplomacy. In yet another, experienced, self-sacrificing anti-leprosy experts refused to abdicate their professional responsibilities to populist campaigns more concerned with statistics than people, which were risking patients' health with under-trialled drug therapies and irresponsibly entrusting medication to patients without supervision. None of these bureaucratic, triumphalist or elitist narratives exists independently of the others. None is without credit, and none is to the complete credit of all involved. These competing stories offer uncanny resonances in the ongoing politics of public health, which have only intensified since both the emergence of M. Leprae millennia ago, and the concerted campaign against it in the last seventy years. What could the 'stories of leprosy' tell us about our pandemic response?

STORM OF CRIMSON is approximately 225 pages long; it is the first book in an intended paranormal young adult series. The reading comprehension level is about grade nine. Written for my grandchildren, ages 11-18, "Storm of Crimson" contains no inappropriate language, profanity, or sexual situations; I use my maiden name of Jo Lewis for books written for youth, and my regular name (Jo Robertson) for my mature audiences. Sydney Banks' senior year is going well. A star female athlete, she's on track for a soccer or basketball scholarship until new student Paynton Merrick, III, enters Granite Hills High School, and her world is turned upside down by what they discover during winter break. Along with her childhood friend Jinx, Sydney and Merrick uncover an old and disturbing legend - and something dark and evil hiding beneath their high school. Can they join forces to defeat the coming Calamity? Or is it already too late?

THE WATCHER Forensic psychiatrist Kate Myers believes the killer of two teenage girls in Bigler County, California, is the same man who savagely murdered her twin sister over fifteen years ago. Working on sheer tenacity, she sets out to prove it. Deputy Sheriff Ben Slater hides his personal pain behind the job, but Kate's arrival knocks his world on its axis. He wants to believe her wild theory, but the idea of a serial killer with this pathology is bizarre. Together they work to find a killer whose roots began in a small town in Bigler County, but whose violence spread across the nation. A Janus-like killer, more monster than man, fixates on Kate and wants nothing more than to kill her "again."

A clandestine government organization called Invictus "recruits" outstanding athletes for secret projects. But their top agent Jackson Holt has special, almost preternatural, qualities not even the Organization can explain. Olivia Gant, professor of Ancient Studies at a private college in California, was once Jack's childhood sweetheart. But when he deserted her, he left her alone to combat her stepfather's drunken attentions and her mother's careless neglect. Nearly twenty years later, their paths cross in a mission to fight a bizarre religious serial killer whose methods include crucifixion and burial alive. Olivia and Jack battle for happiness against years of secrecy and distance as they use Olivia's expertise in Latin and Jack's special gifts to track a brutal killer. Can Olivia forgive Jack for his long-ago betrayal? Can Jack allow Olivia to witness the terrible Change that makes him such an effective killing machine? Short Version Jackson Holt is the top agent for a clandestine government organization called Invictus. He has special, almost preternatural, abilities not even they can explain. Olivia Gant, professor of Ancient Studies, was once Jack's childhood sweetheart, but he deserted her. Twenty years later, their paths cross as they track a bizarre religious killer whose murders include crucifixion and burial alive.

It is considered a great privilege to be chosen as a "seer," one who can wander through Dreamspace; but Anna knows different. Ripped from her home, drugged and starved, she must work endlessly along with Thayus and Aisha, to prevent the worlds natural disasters, kidnappings and assasination plots. But there is a secret the Teachers have not shared, a secret that will change all their lives, and the lives of her family, forever.

"Frail Blood" is an historical romantic thriller. California, 1909. A woman straps a pistol to her ankle, walks to her lover's home, and shoots him. Her motive? After an affair of four months, he jilted her for another woman. How would an attorney defend the woman in light of her outright confession? Would an all-male jury view her actions with repulsion or pity? The climate of California in the early twentieth century when women couldn't vote and men held the real power, where immense wealth rested alongside poverty, held a paradox of contradictions. The bare bones of this true California court case sparked the idea for the fictional story of Alma Bentley, attorney Malachi Rivers, and Emma Knight, the woman who help him investigate the case. When jaded lawyer Malachi Rivers engages newspaper editor Emma Knight to aid him in the case of Alma Bentley, he has no idea they'll eventually unmask a vile web of family deceit, wickedness, and treachery. Constantly putting herself in harm's way, the feckless Emma uncovers dark secrets that lie behind the wealthy facade of the Joseph Machado clan. With her strong opinions, Emma tests Malachi's patience even while he's strongly attracted to her. She disagrees with every aspect of his trial strategy, but he defends his client the only way he can - insisting that a woman, a naturally frail creature, is incapable of committing such a heinous crime. Emma wants to experience true passion and detests the idea that women are inferior to men in any way. Even while she confronts Malachi at every turn, she falls ridiculously in love with him. Readers of historical fiction and mystery/suspense, as well as historical romance, will enjoy the elements at play in this slice of life, fictionalized story of California.

Assistant district attorney Isabella Torres and DEA Agent Rafe Hashemi want to prosecute the same man, notorious and vicious Diego Vargas. But Isabella believes Vargas knows something about the disappearance of her older sister twenty years ago and wants to charge him for his current human trafficking operation. Rafe wants to nab the corrupt councilman for drug trafficking. When Isabella and Rafe meet anonymously at an upscale bar and end up spending a passionate night together, only to learn the next day who the other is, sparks fly and the game is on for control of the case. Forced to cooperate with each other, they must balance the danger of the case against the danger of their hearts.