A routine laboratory task becomes an action-packed thriller of kidnapping, theft and spiritual warfare. DNA expert, DOCTOR GARY CARTER, endangers his life as well as his wife's, CELESTE, when he travels to Israel to verify the authenticity of a cross. His decisions cost him more than he can afford; his only solution requires help from a source he has selfishly abandoned. Carter quickly becomes a religious phenomenon as his charismatic, scientific jargon about the DNA of Christ mesmerizes audiences across America. He hypothesizes that if Christ's blood could be evaluated, the strand of the double helix would be unique, free from the normal abnormalities and mutations known to mankind. The discoverer of this ancient cross purports it to be the cross on which Christ died. This calls into question the centuries old assertion by the Catholic Church that they already possess the cross of Christ. This new preposterous claim gets the attention of vying factions who monitor Carter's activities. Leaks of his mission draw unwanted attention: two televangelists desire the cross as another gimmick to shore up their ratings--and purses. The underworld springs into action in an unexpected twist of which Carter has little insight to handle. He becomes enmeshed in their schemes as they stoop to low degrees to obtain the cross. His wife is kidnapped and held hostage while her captors use her as bait to obtain the cross. As he searches frantically for her, he is hounded by a sense of spiritual inadequacy that keeps nipping at his heels. Like a dagger to the heart, he realizes his selfishness has endangered his wife's life. Her fate rests upon his actions, but like Jonah, he feels spewed out of God's favor. In desperation, he devises a plan to save Celeste, but with the gnawing anxiety he might be too late?

Nancy York, just out of college, accepts the assignment to a one-room schoolhouse in the remote community bordering Troublesome Creek. The clannish ways of the mountain people soon collide with her preconceived notions. Nancy boards in the home of widowed Wesley Taggart and his five young children. Her strong personality clashes with the assured and enigmatic Mr. Taggart. Further, the circumstances of Mrs. Taggart's death shroud the household with a mysterious pathos. Nancy discovers her textbook knowledge has ill-equipped her to help this family deal with their grief. A rare skin condition plagues the community: some of the children are born with blue skin. Nancy tries to change the attitude of unfounded rejection and shame associated with the disease. Nancy and Wesley lay aside their differences and together work for the betterment of the community. Their effort weaves a tapestry of hope and love, but the thread that binds threatens to unravel when tragedy strikes. This poignant and thought-provoking drama offers a winding plot of suspense, good versus evil and the misunderstandings that abound when cultures clash. It's a love story inundated with natural disasters, diseases and death. These calamities highlight the harshness of the Appalachia culture. The strongest sensation of all is the pain that's associated with love.

A gripping tale of racial prejudice in a small Southern town, Bloodroot tells the story of a re red law enforcement officer who stumbles upon a complex web of ignorance and abuse. Retired county sheriff Harry Weatherholtz has returned to Virginia's Shenandoah Valley to live out his final years. But a despicable crime soon forces Weatherholtz out of his peaceful retirement.The court system has placed two African-American orphans, young Eddie and his teenage sister, Miss Ann, in the care of the vicious Hurley Cutshaw. The community looks the other way as Cutshaw treats the orphans like chattel, subjecting them to a life of neglect and abuse - abuse which culminates when he forces Eddie, who can't swim, into a deep lake to retrieve a five-cent fishing lure. Eddie drowns while Cutshaw sits on a stump and watches. Weatherholtz zealously urges current County Sheriff Flin to investigate the supposed accidental drowning as a homicide, and to push for a grand jury investigation. Although Sheriff Flin resents Weatherholtz's meddling at first, the two eventually join together in an audacious attempt to shut down Cutshaw's child-labor racket. In the process, they realize that the crime does not implicate Cutshaw alone. Its roots run deep, drawing on a hate that drives the hearts of those in the highest positions of power. Bloodroot is the first if the Shenandoah series.

From a Biblical perspective, Suffering With Purpose helps the reader better understand and deal with suffering. Though God isn't near as prone as we surmise to send suffering our way, when we suffer, He allows us to find meaningful purpose in the suffering. We may never realize the specifics, but God has a unique way of allowing suffering to serve a meaningful purpose within ourselves and in the lives of those with whom we associate. If we must suffer, we dare not waste our purpose in suffering by fighting against the pain, the loss, and the disappointment. Instead, we need to live with expectancy that God will bring some good out of our suffering.