The Astronaut From Bear Creek

Ten years ago, retired astronaut Jim Mayfield closed himself up inside Bear Creek Inn, and he hasn’t been seen since. Just when the small town of Bear Creek had almost forgotten about their reclusive and mysterious resident, a man from out-of-town flies in on a private jet to meet with the astronaut. The visit prompts the good people of the small town to begin asking questions. Who is Jim Mayfield? Why did he lock himself away? And who is the stranger that visited him? While the small town asks these questions, the most puzzling thing of all occurs when Bear Creek Inn takes in two guests for the first time in ten years.

Jim Mayfield is a very reclusive man. In his family¿s cloistered inn in Bear Creek, Pennsylvania, he spends his retirement from NASA carving rocking chairs and hiding from the world. His isolated life, however, begins to drastically change when his sister Mallory, a social worker, brings over an orphaned girl to temporarily reside in the Bear Creek Inn. This girl, Abbey, slowly but surely wins Jim¿s affection. He becomes determined to do whatever it takes to protect her¿eventually she might become his daughter, even if that means travelling back toward the stars. In addition to Jim and Abbey, another guest comes to stay in the Bear Creek Inn. Kelley is the focus of an equally enthralling subplot in which she must overcome the loss of her soldier-husband and his unborn child and start a new life. "The Astronaut from Bear Creek" is a wonderful second novel by Nick Allen Brown. The characters are dynamic and memorable. The story will tug at readers¿ heartstrings. Furthermore, the settings, from backwoods Pennsylvania to training facilities at NASA, all feel genuine and well researched, giving the book an added element of authenticity. "The Astronaut from Bear Creek" is close to interstellar!

Nick Allen Brown has published three books: FIELD OF DEAD HORSES; THE ASTRONAUT FROM BEAR CREEK and now GRAINGER COUNTY TOMATOES. These first three novels portray life in mid 20th-century America, set in rural Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Tennessee. Main characters have suffered deep personal losses and find themselves in the need of friends and family. Sometimes, they don't realize that they can also provide personal salvation to those who appear to help them. Those who sometimes find themselves with no family, find "family" when they're least expected. Nick Allen Brown's novels provide uplifting tales of people stepping into places of loss and sometimes terror, but find themselves uplifted by their neighbors from whom they've often stayed distant?a father who has seemed distant and uncaring steps in with heroic help to save a son against forces bent on destroying him...these unexpected sacrifices keep the reader scared and uplifted. Nick Allen Brown's stories are hard to put down-his characters are so engaging and elicit the reader's empathy, support and ofttimes, love.

Grainger County, Tennessee, 1951 A farmer suffers a fatal heart attack and collapses in his tomato fields. Weeks later, the unlikely heir to the farm begins to work the land and soon discovers holes being dug throughout the fields. Broken glass and tire tracks surround each excavation as does the mystery of what the culprits are searching for. Concern grows when someone breaks into the house in the middle of the night and the tomato fields are set ablaze. While the heir to the farm believes that the threat is coming from disgruntled relatives who didn’t receive an inheritance, she couldn’t possibly know that the real threat is coming from a small house on the other side of town. What do they want? What are they looking for? Destruction, mystery, and turmoil plague a family in a small town in 1951.

Small Town...Big Secret Georgetown, Kentucky, 1939 Soon after dawn on a February morning, Elliott Chapel discovers an unconscious, bloodied, young woman lying face up in the cold waters of Penny creek. Days later, awakening from her hypothermic coma, Ellie Evans finds herself on the Chapel Farm. Once she explains her plight as the abused wife of a powerful man, Elliott offers her and her son a place to stay and vows to keep them from harm For both Ellie and Elliott, life under the same roof is a challenge—with the cantankerous Paul Chapel, Elliott’s father who spends his retirement days drinking whiskey with his aging coonhound by his side. Elliott has taken over the daily operations of the horse farm with his assistant, Booley. Booley manages a small staff and helps Elliott attempt the impossible with the newly-acquired horse of a high-profile client. Ellie pitches in and helps out when she can and helps change the mood of the busy farm with her sweet charm and culinary skills, even getting on the good side of the bad-tempered Paul Chapel. Just when daily life settles into an enjoyable rhythm, a violent struggle erupts when the malicious Mayor Evans descends on the farm with the county sheriff and two deputies. Armed with shotguns, they remove Ellie and her son from the farm, against her will. Narrated by Elliott five decades later, he recalls the incident on the chapel Farm and subsequent events which ultimately reveal the long-kept secret—hidden in a small town since 1939.

"Volume Two records the contemporary Sacred Arrow and Sun Dance ceremonies in their entirety"--P. [4] of cover.