The Silver Man

In The Silver Man: The Life and Times of John Kinzie, readers witness the dramatic changes that swept the Wisconsin frontier in the early and mid-1800s, through the life of Indian agent John Harris Kinzie. From the War of 1812 and the monopoly of the American Fur Company, to the Black Hawk War and the forced removal of thousands of Ho-Chunk people from their native lands—John Kinzie’s experience gives us a front-row seat to a pivotal time in the history of the American Midwest. As an Indian agent at Fort Winnebago—in what is now Portage, Wisconsin—John Kinzie served the Ho-Chunk people during a time of turbulent change, as the tribe faced increasing attacks on its cultural existence and very sovereignty, and struggled to come to terms with American advancement into the upper Midwest. The story of the Ho-Chunk Nation continues today, as the tribe continues to rebuild its cultural presence in its native homeland. Through John Kinzie’s story, we gain a broader view of the world in which he lived—a world that, in no small part, forms a foundation for the world in which we live today.

In the court of King Stephen of England in the year 1136, there is a cunning courtier called Greta the Witch. Greta has a terrible vision of the future and a vision of a strange silver man, a traveler from another world. The king has a secret of his own and plots an elaborate deception. Greta follows the king and two of his men-at-arms, and the four of them encounter the silver man while he is monitoring mankind’s progress. The silver man freezes the four of them in time. Nearly a thousand years on, and the silver man returns to Earth. Mankind’s technological progress is a threat to his people, and the Earth must be destroyed. But an eccentric British scientist working with a top secret group at NASA detects the silver man. The scientist causes a freak accident that transports King Stephen, his two men-of-arms, and Greta forward almost a thousand years in time to the modern day. King Stephen and his men-at-arms capture the British scientist who is accused of murder. The US military capture the silver man, and an elite team is set up to try and understand the visitor from another world. They conduct the work in secret, but try as they may, even the highest levels of the US government do not seem to be able to keep the story away from the media. The British Secret Service MI6 become involved as a tenacious London journalist reveals details of the strange goings-on in the quiet Hampshire villages of Hartley Wintney and Fleet. Meanwhile, in the United States, the media manipulation becomes more difficult when the silver man changes into a baby boy. Many begin to believe that this baby is the new messiah, the second coming of a baby Jesus, a new prophet.

Miraculous the great Roman warrior who fought at Caesar's side, finds himself in a very strange situation...Slain by a worthy fighter and with a curse placed upon him by his jealous and cowardly enemy, Maxim, he is forced to roam the streets of Bath as a ghostly apparition. Lonely, and ignorant of the fate of his beloved children. Miraculous is in despair.Until the year 2008, when he meets the young down-on-his-luck David - the silver man.Together they turn their fortunes around - two very different men from different times, buy who share a special bond that will last forever,CUSTOMER REVIEW OF "e;MIRACULOUS AND THE SILVER MAN"e;: For anyone who has either visited the City of Bath or read about its legendary Roman history, with its famous Roman Baths, this is a fascinating and highly entertaining fantasy tale, which draws upon both ancient Roman times and present-day Bath for its settings. Patricia Greenburgh is an excellent story-teller with a vivid imagination. Her characters are very well-drawn and utterly believable, as we follow the trials and tribulations of David, the Silver Man and Miraculous, the ancient Roman warrior, around modern-day Bath and ancient Rome. I would recommend this engaging tale to readers of all ages. - PETER STEPHENS - January, 2011

Twelve-year-old Biddy, a spirited girl braving the Arizona heat with her trusty burro Buck, spends her days exploring the desert. Despite her polio and leg brace, Biddy and Buck embark on imaginary adventures until they stumble upon a mysterious cave. Inside, she discovers a peculiar machine and meets Joe, a man claiming to be from the "sky bloc." Joe's miraculous healing powers restore Biddy's leg, igniting wonder and fear in the small town of Sage Bend. As tensions rise, the town's suspicion and prejudice lead to a dramatic confrontation, testing Biddy's courage and the power of hope.

A revenge thriller about celebrity culture and the power of beauty in an ugly world, by the author of Alphabet.

When Liz Meredith and her new baby move into the middle row-house on Onley Street—Liza having lived for years off-grid in an old railcar—there's more to get used to than electricity and proper plumbing. She's desperate to avoid her well-meaning social worker and her neighbours Alice and Tom, who, for reasons of their own, won't leave her alone. And then there is her other neighbour, the disfigured and reclusive John Green, better known to the world as Frankie Styne, the author of a series of violent bestsellers. When his latest novel is unexpectedly nominated for a literary prize and his private life is exposed in the glare of publicity, Frankie plots a gruesome, twisted revenge that threatens others who call Onley Street home. Frankie Styne and the Silver Man is unforgettable: a thrilling novel of literary revenge, celebrity culture and the power of love and beauty in an ugly world.

In this hilarious new novel in the bestselling Detective Varg series, an eminent art historian is framed and the ace investigators of the Department of Sensitive Crimes are on the case. Detective Ulf Varg is a man of refined tastes and quite familiar with the art scene in Malmö. So when art historian Anders Kindgren visits the Department of Sensitive Crimes to report a series of bizarre acts that have been committed against him, Ulf and his team swing into action. Fish stuffed into the vents of Kindgren’s car and a manipulated footnote in a recent art review magazine would be cause enough for an investigation, but when a painting Kindgren had confidently appraised as genuine is later declared to be a fake, it’s clear that someone is out to tarnish his reputation. Meanwhile, Ulf is also weathering personal issues, which quickly spiral out of control. When his lip-reading dog, Martin, engages in a contretemps with a squirrel that results in a grievous wound, Ulf must rush Martin to the veterinarian and weigh the merits of cosmetic surgery for animals. And later, when Martin’s blood is found in the back of Ulf’s classic Saab, Ulf finds himself the subject of a departmental investigation. In the end, Ulf will have to muster all his detective skills and bureaucratic cunning to restore Kindgren’s reputation—as well as his own.

This look at careless journalism—from hilarious mistakes to egregious ethical lapses—is “chock-full of amusing historical anecdotes” (Publishers Weekly). Winner of the National Press Club’s Arthur Rowse Award for Press Criticism We regret the error: it’s a phrase that appears in newspapers almost daily, the standard notice that something went terribly wrong in the reporting, editing, or printing of an article. From Craig Silverman, the proprietor of www.RegretTheError.com, one of the Internet’s most popular media-related websites, comes a collection of funny, shocking, and sometimes disturbing journalistic slip-ups and corrections. On display are all types of media inaccuracy—from typos to “fuzzy math” to “obiticide” (printing the obituary of a person very much alive and well) to complete and utter ethical lapses. While some of the errors can be laugh-out-loud funny, the book also serves as a sobering journey through the history of media mistakes (including the outrageous hoaxes that dominated newspapers during the circulation wars of the nineteenth century) and a serious muckraking investigation of contemporary journalism’s lack of accountability to the public. Regret the Error shines a spotlight on the media’s carelessness and the sometimes tragic and calamitous consequences of weak or non-existent fact checking. “Mixing humorous corrections taken from large and small newspapers alike, Silverman gives historical context to the current problems . . . and then proposes solutions for busy newsrooms.” —Variety