The Mystery of the Strawman


Book Description

It all began for detective Jake Jezreel with the discovery of an ancient letter. A lost, never-before-seen letter. The inscription was a message from Jake’s father from fifteen years before. Happiness and sorrow were intertwined in that note. But deep within the cipher rested a hidden menace from the dark past. The menace was a criminal only identified as Strawman. In fifteen years, where had Strawman hidden himself. Jake hadn’t a clue what had happened to Strawman. But in short order Jake Jezreel was about to find out. And he will also discover that Strawman has a much more grandiose crime in mind than all his previous penny-ante criminalities. Soon after this discovery, Jake is hired to deliver a pastoral letter for the Senior Pastor in the Jerusalem church, Pastor James. The letter would later become known as The Epistle of James. The first destination for the letter is the coastal city of Caesarea, the capital of Judea. Upon arrival, Jake encounters someone with a distant association to his past. And in the process, the detective uncovers a devious plot to assassinate one of the key personalities in the city during the Roman holiday celebration of Parilia. Time is running out. Jake is called in by the local authorities to discover and thwart the unseen, unknown perpetrators. But Jake has only a day and a half to ferret out the murderous gang before the Parilia celebration begins. There is only one mysterious note as a clue. It is signed – Strawman.




Strawman's Hammock


Book Description

As a romance convention descends upon Blacklin County, Texas, Sheriff Dan Rhodes soon has his hands full with murder. Terry Don Coslin, a hometown-boy-turned-hunk-of-the-century, is the first victim. A convention attendee soon meets her untimely death in a hotel room. As Rhodes makes his way through the savage world of happily ever after, he discovers why romance is indeed a very deadly business. Martin's Press.




The Straw Men


Book Description

Sarah Becker is the fifth girl to be abducted by a homicidal maniac. Judging from the state of the bodies that have been found, her long hair will be hacked off and she will be tortured. She has about a week to live.




The Mysterious Collapse of World Trade Center 7


Book Description

At 5:20 in the afternoon on 9/11, Building 7 of the World Trade Center collapsed, even though it had not been struck by a plane and had fires on only a few floors. The reason for its collapse was considered a mystery. In August 2008, NIST (the National Institute of Standards and Technology) issued its report on WTC 7, declaring that "the reason for the collapse of World Trade Center 7 is no longer a mystery" and that “science is really behind what we have said.” Showing that neither of these claims is true, David Ray Griffin demonstrates that NIST is guilty of the most serious types of scientific fraud: fabricating, falsifying, and ignoring evidence. He also shows that NIST’s report left intact the central mystery: How could a building damaged by fire—not explosives—have come down in free fall?




The Straw Men


Book Description

All the depravity and evil of man is found upon the stage. January, 1381. Guests of the Regent, John of Gaunt, Brother Athelstan and Sir John Cranston have been attending a mystery play performed by the Straw Men, Gaunt's personal acting troupe. The evening’s entertainment, however, is suddenly and brutally interrupted by the violent deaths of two of Gaunt's guests, their severed heads left on stage. The Regent orders Athelstan to find out who committed such a heinous act, leading him to tackle his most baffling and disturbing case yet... A taut and clever medieval murder mystery that won’t let go, perfect for fans of S G MacLean, S W Perry and Rory Clements.




Straw Man


Book Description

Crime reporter Jack McMorrow is drawn into the darkest tangle of his career when a story about illegal gunrunning between Massachusetts and Maine overlaps with a puff piece about Mennonites. Cultures and tempers clash as Jack tries to keep one step ahead of a looming tide of violence that threatens to take him and his family down forever.




The Puppet Masters


Book Description

This report examines the use of these entities in nearly all cases of corruption. It builds upon case law, interviews with investigators, corporate registries and financial institutions and a 'mystery shopping' exercise to provide evidence of this criminal practice.




The Great Detective Stories


Book Description




Fruit of the Poisonous Tree


Book Description

A female lawyer must prove a war hero’s innocence. Navy SEALs hijack a Russian warship to stop a North Korean missile crisis.




Meander, Spiral, Explode


Book Description

"How lovely to discover a book on the craft of writing that is also fun to read . . . Alison asserts that the best stories follow patterns in nature, and by defining these new styles she offers writers the freedom to explore but with enough guidance to thrive." ―Maris Kreizman, Vulture A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2019 | A Poets & Writers Best Books for Writers As Jane Alison writes in the introduction to her insightful and appealing book about the craft of writing: “For centuries there’s been one path through fiction we’re most likely to travel― one we’re actually told to follow―and that’s the dramatic arc: a situation arises, grows tense, reaches a peak, subsides . . . But something that swells and tautens until climax, then collapses? Bit masculosexual, no? So many other patterns run through nature, tracing other deep motions in life. Why not draw on them, too?" W. G. Sebald’s Emigrants was the first novel to show Alison how forward momentum can be created by way of pattern, rather than the traditional arc--or, in nature, wave. Other writers of nonlinear prose considered in her “museum of specimens” include Nicholson Baker, Anne Carson, Marguerite Duras, Gabriel García Márquez, Jamaica Kincaid, Clarice Lispector, Susan Minot, David Mitchell, Caryl Phillips, and Mary Robison. Meander, Spiral, Explode is a singular and brilliant elucidation of literary strategies that also brings high spirits and wit to its original conclusions. It is a liberating manifesto that says, Let’s leave the outdated modes behind and, in thinking of new modes, bring feeling back to experimentation. It will appeal to serious readers and writers alike.