Now They Call Me Jack


Book Description

Every puppy hopes for a loving family and a loyal master, but not all dogs are so lucky. Some dogs are destined to come from the wrong side of the tracks, regardless of how they started out. Jack was such a dog. He was placed into a dysfunctional family dominated by an abusive teenager. Jack remained locked in his fenceless prison for more than half his life until his master decided he was no longer wanted. Abandoned on an isolated island, Jack figured out how to survive. He created a new life for himself—a life far different from what he had hoped for. Jack endured hunger, thirst, heat, rain, mosquitoes, and the wrath of other animals. When he became the victim of a vicious attack, he struggled for every breath, hoping to be saved before it was too late. Rescued by strangers, Jack gets a second chance. He finds his way to a forever home, to a family struggling with grief at the loss of their beloved dog. Technically, Jack is a rescue dog, but in truth, he provides a lifeline to his adopted family as much as they pulled him out of his own dire circumstances. Jack’s life is a story of survival and triumph, of new beginnings and redemption. Now They Call Me Jack is a tenderly written novel inspired on true events. Jack tells his own story with poignant truthfulness and good humor.




The Texicans


Book Description

The birth of Texas through the eyes of underdogs.




Perfidia


Book Description

NATIONAL BESTSELLER AN NPR BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR Los Angeles. December, 1941. America stands at the brink of World War II. War fever and racial hatred grip the city. The hellish murder of a Japanese family summons three men and one woman. LAPD captain William H. Parker is superbly gifted, corrosively ambitious, liquored-up, and consumed by dubious ideology. He is bitterly at odds with Sergeant Dudley Smith—Irish émigré, ex-IRA killer, fledgling war profiteer. Hideo Ashida is a police chemist and the only Japanese on the L.A. cop payroll. Kay Lake is a twenty-one-year-old dilettante looking for adventure. The investigation throws them together and rips them apart. The crime becomes a political storm center that brilliantly illuminates these four driven souls—comrades, rivals, lovers, history’s pawns. Here, Ellroy gives us the party at the edge of the abyss and the precipice of America’s ascendance. Perfidia is that moment, spellbindingly captured.




Retribution


Book Description

In 1879, Taw Black, away at college in Georgia, receives word that his family's ranch in the New Mexico Territory has been raided by outlaws-and that his father has been killed. When Taw learns that his adopted brother may have been involved, he starts for home to clear his brother's name and avenge the death of his father. With no money to fund his journey, Taw must plod through the dangerous post-Civil War landscape, using any means to survive. Taw's grief transforms into hate, even as he is befriended by a riverboat gambler, a Mexican outlaw, and a band of renegade Indians. When he finally arrives home, he uncovers a master plot instigated by a gang of killers intent on not getting caught. As he takes retribution on the men responsible for his father's death, he fears that his actions are causing him to lose part of his own soul-something that becomes more daunting when he meets a special woman who could change his life forever.




Graffiti Palace


Book Description

Its August 1965 and Los Angeles is scorching. Americo Monk, a street-haunting aficionado of graffiti, is frantically trying to return home to the makeshift harbor community (assembled from old shipping containers) where he lives with his girlfriend, Karmann. But this is during the Watts Riots, and although his status as a chronicler of all things underground garners him free passage through the territories fiercely controlled by gangs, his trek is nevertheless diverted.




Timely Conquest


Book Description

Luciano de Herrera was born 1832, fourteen years before the U.S. Army marched into the territory and claimed it for the U.S. under the Manifest Destiny belief. Luciano realized that changes were coming, he felt that the laws of the frontier no longer applied. Americano law would now govern the territory. When Luciano caught his wife of two years in bed with another man, he faced a difficult decision. With a gun drawn ready to kill the intruder, his friend Chato stopped him. He spared the man's life and spared himself life in an Americano jail. This action set off a series of events that would bring great misfortune to Luciano and his family. For the rest of his life he struggled to maintain hsi sense of honor. In Timely Conquest Jerry tells the story of his great-grandfathers, Luciano and Jesus as they adapt to life under U.S. control. They fight in the Civil War here in New Mexico's Glorieta Pass, they experience love and loss in a fascinating snapshot of a time in the American West.




Calico Starr


Book Description

North Texas in 1880 can be brutal, as Callie Mae Starden, a 16-year old farm girl, quickly found out. Her family killed by a land-greedy rancher and she left for dead, Callie is found by a horsetrader. Later, she discovers that he is really the famous gunfighter, Josh McClain, and she begs him to teach her the trade, so she can avenge her family. Josh reluctantly agrees, then sends her through a rigorous training ritual including months of living with a Comanche Indian scout to learn to fight, to hunt and track. With her new friends, she embarks on a trail of vengeance that takes her to Laredo, to Mexico, on to Tombstone and finally back to the town of Cache Creek, for her reckoning with Price Morgan. Her adventure includes gunfights, Indian attacks, lively entertaining characters, action galore and a tension filled climax. Follow her story, as she becomes a gunfighter, and find out if she gets her revenge on the rancher Price Morgan and his murderous cowhands. Book Review by Joel Dortch, "Dutch" SASS Cowboy Chronicle, Dec 2003 Calico Starr: Wild Justice By Paul Harmon "Calico Starr: Wild Justice is the title of an exciting new Western novel by author Paul Harmon. This thrilling and action-filled story is set in the Texas Panhandle range country during the turbulent years following the Civil War. It is a story of greed that led to violence and the near annihilation of an entire pioneer family. Follow the adventures of beautiful young Callie Mae Starden, saved from a near-death experience by an aging gunfighter who becomes her mentor, and helps prepare her for the final showdown and wild justice that will not be denied! This rousing story of romance, adventure and ultimate revenge will keep you completely captivated. Harmon is a talented storyteller-author in the tradition of Louis L'Amour. He has a knack for getting the details right and keeping the reader interested in learning the rest of the story. If you like westerns, I guarantee you will like this one!"




When Winning Meant Losing


Book Description

Jerome Murray was an ordinary man, ordinary throughout his childhood, ordinary for the better part of his adult life. He would not have considered the adjective as disparaging if used to describe him; he liked being ordinary. Then, one day, Jerome Murray wins the California State Lottery, and his life would never be ordinary again. For a brief period, he, his wife, and daughter enjoy their newfound wealth, marveling at the things it allows them to accomplish, not only for themselves, but for their family, friends, and even strangers who need their help. Then, something tragic happens that changes the course of Jerome's life forever. While his friends are somewhat successful, after much prolonged effort, in bringing him back from the edge of destruction, he finds it challenging to move on. Jerome's wealth and the consequent powerful freedom it bestows upon him, make it possible for him to pursue avenues that are extraordinary by any sane person's understanding of the word. The power of his wealth not only brings him to the brink of self-destruction, but it also allows him the complete freedom to go beyond it.




This Storm


Book Description

New Year's Eve 1941. War has been declared, the Japanese internment is in full swing. A body in unearth in Griffith Park. There's a murderous fire and a gold heist. There's Fifth Column treason on American soil. There are homegrown Nazis, Commies, and race racketeers. There's two dead cops in a dive off the jazz-club strip. And three men and one woman have a hot date with history. -- Adapted from jacket.




Beyond Reason


Book Description

New York Times–bestselling author: A woman is targeted after taking over her family business in Texas . . .“Unforgettable characters and a high-octane plot” (Publishers Weekly, starred review). Five weeks ago Carly Drake stood at her grandfather’s grave. Now she’s burying Drake Trucking’s top driver, and the cops have no leads on the hijacking or murder. Faced with bankruptcy, phone threats, and the fear of failure, Carly has to team up with the last man she wants to owe—Lincoln Cain. Cain is magnetic, powerful, controlling—and hiding more than one secret. He promised Carly’s granddad he’d protect her. The old man took a chance on him when he was nothing but a kid with a record, and now he’s the multi-millionaire owner of a rival firm. But Linc’s money can’t protect Carly from the men who’ll do anything to shut her down, or the secrets behind Drake Trucking. If she won’t sell out, the only way to keep her safe is to keep her close . . . and fight like hell. “As the suspense unfurls at a breathtaking pace, readers will be captivated by this tale of drug dealers, foreign terrorists, bloody violence, and hot, steamy sex, all leading to a shocking ending.” —Publishers Weekly “I love her books!” —Linda Lael Miller