The Rock Hole

Named one of the Top 12 Mysteries of 2011 by Kirkus Reviews Finalist in the Benjamin Franklin Awards (Mystery) It's 1964: farmer and part-time Constable Ned Parker combines forces with John Washington, the almost mythical black deputy sheriff from nearby Paris, to track down a disturbed individual who is rapidly becoming a threat to the small Texas community of Center Springs. Summoned to a hot cornfield one morning to examine the remains of a tortured bird dog, Ned finds a dark presence in their quiet community. Ned is usually confident when it comes to handling moonshiners, drunks, and domestic disputes. But when the animal atrocities turn to murder, the investigation spins beyond his abilities. After a dizzying series of twists, eccentric characters, and dead ends, Judge O.C. Rains is forced to contact the FBI. Worse, sinister warnings that Ned's family has been targeted by the killer lead the old lawman to become judge and jury in order to end the murder spree in the Red River bottomlands.

"t's 1964: farmer and part-time Constable Ned Parker combines forces with John Washington, the almost mythical black deputy sheriff from nearby Paris, to track down a disturbed individual who is rapidly becoming a threat to the small Texas community of Center Springs. When Ned is summoned to a hot cornfield one morning to examine the remains of a tortured bird dog, he finds a dark presence in their quiet community. Ned is usually confident when it comes to handling moonshiners, drunks, and domestic disputes. But when the animal atrocities turn to murder, the investigation spins beyond his abilities. After a dizzying series of twists, eccentric characters, and dead ends, Judge O.C. Rains is forced to contact the FBI. Worse, sinister warnings that Ned's family has been targeted by the killer lead the old lawman to become judge and jury to end the murder spree in the Red River bottomlands"--

First published in 1962, David E. Miller’s award-winning work on the Hole-in-the-Rock episode was arguably his greatest achievement as a historian. One of the great set-pieces of Mormon history, the San Juan Mission had become clouded by myth and hagiography when Miller first became attracted to its study in the 1950s, and few reliable sources were at that time available. Not content with exhausting archival material, Miller contacted all locatable descendants of the members of the original party, and thereby brought to light a great number of previously unexploited sources. The Hole-in-the-Rock study achieved additional depth from his intimate knowledge of the actual trail acquired on repeated traverses by Jeep and on foot. A member of the LDS Church, Miller wrote of the Mormons with sympathy and understanding, but with a commitment as well to the critical standards of the historical profession. A must-read for anyone interested in American History.

Two bloodlines. Forbidden marriages. Children's deaths. For the Conners and Clark families, it's one tragic disaster after another. Two lineages so intertwined by love and marriage and...the Curse! The demon who haunted their ancestors for several years has resurfaced to continue the tradition with this youngest generation. A young couple who didn't know about their past or their present circumstances have awakened the demon with their immoral relationship. As a result, they lost three infant children to the Curse, and now she's pregnant with a fourth, but the demon wants to possess the unborn child for its own. Who will finally win the battle for the unborn baby, a product of the Curse? Will it be the young couple who need this child to carry on their family name? Or will the darkest side of evil win and end this bloodline forever? Follow the Conners and Clark families through one hundred years of tragedy and desperate choices.

"God-Shaped Hole will change you as a reader, writer and human. It is rare books like this one that remind me why I fell in love with the written word." — Colleen Hoover When I was twelve, a fortune teller told me that my one true love would die young and leave me all alone... When Beatrice Jordan meets the unpredictable Jacob Grace, the two wild souls become instant allies. Together they discover an escape in each other's creativity and insecurities, while running from secrets they cannot seem to shake — or a fate that could throw them to the ground . . . This 15th Anniversary reissue of Tiffanie DeBartolo's classic love story introduces a new audience of dreamers to a quintessentially real and raw vision of spirit, and inspires everyone to live — and love — as vividly as possible. "This generation's Love Story." — Kirkus "If Holden Caulfield were a twenty-seven-year-old woman living in LA, this is the book he'd write, or read. It's very fast and very funny, and at its core it's that rarest of things - a truly convincing love story." — Dave Eggers "With wit and humor, the author brings these characters and their quirky, artsy friends alive. Bottom Line: You'll dig it" — People

A searching, self-deprecating memoir of a man on his way to eating himself to death before discovering the anxiety and fulfillment of distance running. “Uplifting, emotional, and just plain hilarious, The Running-Shaped Hole may even inspire you to put down your fork and pick up those running shoes.” — JAY ONRAIT, TSN host and broadcaster When Robert Earl Stewart sees his pants lying across the end of his bed, they remind him of a flag draped over a coffin — his coffin. At thirty-eight years old he weighs 368 pounds and is slowly eating himself to death. The only thing that helps him deal with the fear and shame is eating. But one day, following a terrifying doctor’s appointment, he goes for a walk — an act that sets The Running-Shaped Hole in motion. Within a year, he is running long distances, fulfilling his mother's dying wishes, reversing the disastrous course of his eating, losing 140 pounds, and, after several mishaps and jail time, eventually running the Detroit Free Press Half-Marathon. At turns philosophical and slapstick, this memoir examines the life-altering effects running has on a man who, left to his own devices, struggles to be a husband, a father, a son, and a writer.

Lyndon B. Johnson is President, Beatlemania is in overdrive and gasoline costs 30 cents a gallon when Ned Parker retires as constable in Center Springs, Texas. But his plan to live a quiet life as a cotton farmer is torpedoed. A phone call leads Ned to a body in the Red River and into the urgent investigation headed by his nephew, the newly elected constable Cody Parker. Together they work to head off a multi-state killing spree that sets northeast Texas on fire. As the weeks pass, Ned's grandchildren, ten-year-old Top and his tomboy cousin Pepper, struggle with personal issues resulting from their traumatic experiences at the Rock Hole only months before. They now find themselves in the middle of a nightmare for which no one can prepare. Cody and Deputy John Washington, the law south of the tracks, follow a lead from their small community to the long abandoned Cotton Exchange warehouse in Chisum. Stunned, they find the Exchange packed full of the town's cast off garbage and riddled with booby-trapped passageways and dark burrows. Despite Ned's warnings, Cody enters the building and finds himself relying on his recent military experiences to save both himself and Big John. Unfortunately, the trail doesn't end there and the killing spree continues...

'Hello, I've discovered a hole in my apartment... it moves around ... yes ... if you could come and look at it ...bring it down to you, you say ... how ... hello!'.The protagonist has discovered a hole and tries to find an explanation. He seeks expert advice. But not everything can be explained. Perhaps he will just have to accept that it's there.THE HOLE has simple, expressive drawings by pen and computer. The hole is punched right through the book, so it exists in real life.Praise:'... a stylish and surreal picture book... line drawings combined with a minimal use of colour lends the book a stylish and elegant appearance. With few details, attention is drawn towards the simple points on each page, making the story quick to read and easy to understand for readers young and old. At the same time it raises a whole host of questions, both concrete and abstract, and invites several perusals. It is fortunate that the pages are sturdy - this is a book that will quickly become well-thumbed.' - Dagbladet About the AuthorØyvind Torseter is an artist. He has created many picture books and given individual as well as collective exhibitions. Øyvind Torseter won the Bologna Ragazzi Award 2008 with his picture book AVSTIKKERE (DETOURS), and has received several other prizes and nominations as well for his illustrations. But we suspect that THE HOLE will be his great international break-through. No online pdf can do justice to this fabulous story, as the physical hole going straight through the book cannot be visible on a screen. Still, you will get an idea of the philosophical implications raised in this book when looking at the illustrations.