Zack S Daughters

Zack Neiway was a private man who loved naval power, his family, and the quiet of the open water. His steely gaze could hold you in thrall or dismiss you into insignificance. He especially loved his daughters—much more than he should have. Zack’s Daughters is the story of a “perfect” family’s tragedies and how those tragedies are finally resolved through religion, storytelling, and music. The surface is what you see; the reality is something else. "An utterly disturbing, and often absorbing, family saga with many moving pieces" -- Kirkus Discovery Review "Mesmerizing. Kreidler seduces with poetic words to hurl us into the dark corners where abuse dwells." -- Eileen Spratt Ehlers

"What were the odds of Dr. Zack Sargent turning up at Safe Harbor Medical? Nurse Jan Garcia's former fiancae would be on staff here--and assigned to work closely with her as she launches the hospital's new egg donor program. It's more than a little awkward. Years ago, a terrible misunderstanding tore them apart. And now Zack, a widower raising his young stepdaughter alone, learns that Jan secretly kept the daughter--their daughter--he thought she'd given up for adoption. Zack has become the kind of steady, caring father both girls need, and he and Jan can't ignore the sparks that still fly between them. But to become a family, they must learn to trust each other again. Could two little girls and two stray cats be enough to bring them back together?"--P. [4] of cover.

Detective Joe Kavinsky and his bride Sarah are interrupted in their Bermuda honeymoon by a report of the nearby suicide of Sarah's father. In returning home, they receive wedding photos that include several taken by a bodyguard of a notorious drug lord. Tracking down the photographer leads Joe to nearly swallowing poison at a huge shopping mall and a piano player who helps capture the drug network with some fancy notes. Lots of exciting drama occurs as both local and federal authorities team up to "run down" the clever drug lord and his "kingly" gang. Meanwhile, Joe's uncle Al, the newspaper reporter, uncovers a fraudulent DNA examination at a major clinic where the global drug network kingpins visit while pretending to be undergoing medical checkups. With the support of a "very pretty" Muslim girl the terrorists are finally arrested at the mall. Success is bittersweet, however, since Kavinsky learns that a trusted cop was a "mole" for the terrorists... but who is it?

Equal parts speculative and satirical, the stories in Why Visit America form an exegesis of our current political predicament, while offering an eloquent plea for connection and hope. The citizens of Plainfield, Texas, have had it with the broke-down United States. So they vote to secede, rename themselves America in memory of their former country, and happily set themselves up to receive tourists from their closest neighbor: America. Couldn’t happen? Well, it might, and so it goes in the thirteen stories in Matthew Baker’s brilliantly illuminating, incisive, and heartbreaking collection Why Visit America. The book opens with a seemingly traditional story in which the speculative element is extremely minimal—the narrator has a job that doesn’t actually exist—a story that wouldn’t seem much out of place in a collection of literary realism. From there the stories get progressively stranger: a young man breaks the news to his family that he is going to transition—from an analog body to a digital existence. A young woman abducts a child—her own—from a government-run childcare facility. A man returns home after committing a great crime, his sentence being that his memory—his entire life—is wiped clean. As the book moves from universe to universe, the stories cross between different American genres: from bildungsroman to rom com, western to dystopian, including fantasy, horror, erotica, and a noir detective mystery. Read together, these parallel-universe stories create a composite portrait of the true nature of the United States and a Through the Looking-Glass reflection of who we are as a country.

"In this book Elbert B. Smith disagrees sharply with traditional interpretations of Taylor and Fillmore, the twelfth and thirteenth presidents (from 1848 to 1853). Smith argues that Taylor and Fillmore have been seriously misrepresented and underrated. They faced a terrible national crisis and accepted every responsibility without flinching or directing blame toward anyone else."--Publisher.

Redefining Moments is a book offering the perspective of a man at the tail end of a richly rewarding existence. Gordon B. Zacks was diagnosed with Stage 4 terminal cancer in December 2013. Instead of succumbing to illness and grief, he channeled the positive energy he had accumulated through decades of spiritual and emotional fulfillment. The result was not only a celebration of his time on the planet with his family and friends, but also an advice book whose purpose is to help others realize and maximize the joys of being alive. Zacks was an important business executive who influenced U.S. presidents and facilitated social progress, but the secret to his meaningful life lies beyond these achievements. Readers who heed his advice carefully may one day count themselves lucky to be in a similar position: able to greet death as an unexpected, but nonetheless welcome guest at the end of a great life.