Book Excerpt: Friends Are Forever by Mike Martin

 

Sergeant Winston Windflower couldn’t be happier for his friend and colleague Eddie Tizzard. On Windflower’s recommendation and with the approval of the big boss, Superintendent Ron Quigley, Tizzard was being promoted to sergeant in the Mounties, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. But in terms of being proud, Windflower might have to stand in line because in the crowd that was gathered at RCMP Headquarters in Marystown, Newfoundland, were Tizzard’s partner, Carrie Evanchuk, and his dad, Richard Tizzard. Both were beaming from ear to ear as they juggled Eddie and Carrie’s two children in their arms.

Carrie had the easier task as little Sophie had been fed and was now snoozing in milk heaven. Hughie, on the other hand, would try and make a break for it every now and then, so Richard had to hang on tightly. He finally gave in and handed the little boy over to his Aunt Brenda, who was sitting farther back in the audience with the rest of Tizzard’s extended family.

Eddie looked down over the assembled RCMP officers and his family and smiled when he saw Hughie trying to get up closer towards him. He could also hear Hughie yelling “Daddy, Daddy” whenever the little boy got pulled back into the crowd. He smiled again as his superintendent called him to the podium and asked him to take off his corporal’s uniform jacket. Ron Quigley then handed him his new jacket with three chevrons pointing down and a crown on top on the right sleeve of his dress uniform, the RCMP’s famous red serge.

There were no speeches. That wasn’t the RCMP’s style. So, the two men shook hands, and Tizzard walked back to his place to thunderous applause from his fellow officers and family. Next on the agenda was the promotion of Windflower’s assistant in Grand Bank, Constable Samira Gupta, to corporal. This time Windflower did the honours, and Gupta exchanged her old uniform for one with two chevrons pointing down that indicated her new rank. She didn’t have any family in the crowd but was very popular with the troops, given the nice round of applause that she also received.

Some of those were special cheers from Windflower’s wife, Sheila Hillier, and his daughters, Stella and Amelia Louise, who had come over from Grand Bank for the occasion. All three loved Sam Gupta. They loved Eddie Tizzard, too. But they all had also made a strong connection with Windflower’s new sidekick and now brand new corporal.

There was a small reception afterwards with coffee and a large cake with the RCMP insignia on it. Both girls had a large piece of cake while Windflower and Sheila visited with Richard Tizzard and Carrie. It was a great celebration day for the Force, as the members called it, and there was plenty of good cheer all around.

But while the Mounties and their families were celebrating, something far more sinister was happening a short distance from the hotel where they were eating their cake.

A group of men had ambushed an armoured truck, and two of them had managed to somehow get inside and now had both armed guards hostage. They ordered the guards to undress, took them to another vehicle, a large panel van, and shoved them inside. As someone else drove them off, the first two men stripped and put on the security guards’ uniforms.

As the reception continued at the hotel, the fake security guards resumed the route that the real guards had been on and made stops at a number of local businesses before making one last visit to the bank in the shopping mall. They looked like the real deal as they walked into the branch. But instead of making their usual stop at one of the tellers, they asked to speak to the manager. A few minutes later the manager was left tied and muffled in the safe, and the false security officers walked out through the bank’s main doors with bags of loot from their efforts.

By the time the alarms were sounded and the bank manager released from the safe, the robbers were long gone. Gone from the bank and gone from Marystown. The real security guards were found out on the highway where they had walked to after being dumped in a deserted area. The day after, when the police started looking for suspects, they were not only off the Burin Peninsula, but they were waiting for a flight at the airport in Gander to take them completely out of the province. Of course, none of that would be known for days as the investigation into the boldest crime in Marystown history began.

– Excerpted from Friends Are Forever by Mike Martin, Ottawa Press and Publishing, 2025. Reprinted with permission. 

As Winston Windflower, his police colleagues and their families gather in Marystown, Newfoundland, to celebrate those being promoted up the RCMP ranks, a sophisticated heist by international mobsters and local biker gangs unfolds in multiple cities and towns throughout the province, robbing banks and businesses of hundreds of thousands of dollars. The Mounties soon realize more than money is being lost.

In this, the sixteenth novel in the Sgt. Windflower Mystery series, author Mike Martin continues to craft intrigue in the cultural and geographical setting unique to Newfoundland and Labrador. Readers new to the Windflower mysteries and those returning will experience the joys of a close-knit community that thrives on the simpler things in life: por’ cakes, a lighthouse in serious need of a facelift, TV movie nights and the warmth of get-togethers with family and friends. 

Friends are Forever is available at Amazon.

Mike Martin was born in St. John’s, NL on the east coast of Canada and now lives and works in Ottawa, Ontario. He is a long-time freelance writer and his articles and essays have appeared in newspapers, magazines and online across Canada as well as in the United States and New Zealand.

He is the award-winning author of the best-selling Sgt. Windflower Mystery series, set in beautiful Grand Bank. There are now 16 books in this light mystery series with the publication of Friends are Forever. 

A Tangled Web was shortlisted in 2017 for the best light mystery of the year, and Darkest Before the Dawn won the 2019 Bony Blithe Light Mystery Award. All That Glitters was shortlisted for the LOLA 2024 Must Read Book of the year award.

Some Sgt. Windflower Mysteries are now available as audiobooks and the latest Darkest Before the Dawn was released as an audiobook in 2024. All audiobooks are available from Audible in Canada and around the world.

Mike is Past Chair of the Board of Crime Writers of Canada, a national organization promoting Canadian crime and mystery writers and a member of the Newfoundland Writers’ Guild and Capital Crime Writers.

Website & Social Media:

Website ➜  https://sgtwindflowermysteries.com/ 

Twitter ➜ https://www.x.com/mike54martin 

Facebook ➜  https://www.facebook.com/TheWalkerOnTheCapeReviewsAndMore

 

Book Excerpt: Tales of the Ocean City: Battle in the Sky Book 1 by Christopher Kaufman

 

“Vispushin! Aloft! ” cried Harl’ut.

With a thrust of her wings, the white pegasus shot upwards through billowing clouds. Harl’ut stood with his arms held out, balancing on her back. They burst into vast heights, the realm of Kurl’wra, the morning sun, whose powerful beams illumined iridescent mist on his golden skin. Far below, the ocean roared and thundered.

Vispushin reached the pinnacle of her high arc.

“Now…” she thought to him.

The pegasus hovered and Harl’ut dove backward from her haunches. In a swan dive, he clove through tiers of frothing clouds. He used his chest and arms to glide in a spiral through the planet Tir’whol’s thick atmosphere. He reached the cool misty air just below the clouds, jack-knifed and straightened, and sliced right into the churning ocean currents.

Dark purples and greens suffused his eyes as he penetrated cold shadowy depths. He arched his
back, frog-kicked and drifted lazily up towards a ceiling of shimmering blue light.

He felt rough tickles on his skin as he passed through a multitude of bulbous purple sea stars. A powerful current buffeted him as he reached the water just below the surface.

“Here!” Vispushin’s voice shimmered in his mind like watery light. With a vigorous kick, Harl’ut vaulted through crashing waves and snagged the sharp hoof of his bond-mate.

“Aloft!” he cried again.

Blazing glare trails blinded him. He grasped the white-gold mesh which clothed Vispushin’s supple form and clambered onto her heaving plush back as she strove upwards.

Reaching the air above the clouds once again, she settled into a steady rhythm of flight towards Ocean City!

It was time, he thought, time to join fully in the city life, The Ocean City…

Harl’ut pictured clearly in his mind the city carved from great spires of rock at the belly of a massive volcanic mountain once worshipped as the god, Pla’than’taa!

Now a vibrant city teeming with life. A place of hope, dreams and vision, where a young civilization was turning the corner into the future. A future Harl’ut yearned to be a part of.

The piercing cry of a sea-eagle shattered his thoughts, a winged shadow passed across the sun at a great height.

Harl’ut leapt to his feet, cupped his hands to his mouth and issued his characteristic call…

“Keeyaaaa!”

The giant eagle paused in its flight and answered, then turned and flew off.

– Excerpted from Tales of the Ocean City: Book 1: Battle in the Sky by Christopher Kaufman, Three Dashes Publications, 2025. Reprinted with permission.

A young civilization is turning the corner into the future, but first they must face a terrible enemy from their deepest past – THE VORM.

The main characters are a young man named Harl’ut and his lifelong companion Vispushin – who is a perIanth, a kind of telepathic pegasus. Join them on this epic adventure as they lead a group of young warriors into the heart of the Vorm Hive.

Book One: Battle In The Sky is the first of five books which comprise the opening series of this epic tale. Here, Harl’ut and Vispushin and The Princess Bryn’lynn, engage in desperate battle over the southern plain with savage Vorm warriors. You will be uplifted by the passionate and thrilling conclusion of the first installment of this fantasy adventure. 

In Book Two: Descent Into The Abyss, Harl’ut recovers from his harrowing adventure from Book One: Battle In The Sky. He walks through the streets of The Ocean City, visits the Sculpture Garden and his friend, Elá, the bard, and engages in exciting training games with warrior/mentor, Calanctus. Then the story takes you down the throat of the vast volcano, Pla’than’taa, once worshipped as a god, where Harl’ut enacts a deadly initiation ritual, confronts the barbaric past of his people and battles a terrifying monster. 

Pick up your copies at https://kaufmantales.com/. 

Christopher Kaufman is an author, composer, presenter, illustrative artist and performer. He started imaginative fantasy books with illustrative art at the age of nine. During high school years he found music and attended The New Orleans Center for The Creative Arts and went on to major in music composition in college. He finished his schooling – earning his DMA in music composition at Cornell University where he studied with Pulitzer Prize Winning composers who prize his abilities as a composer.

Christopher is the type of person who needs imaginative fantasy scenarios to get to sleep. Therefore, he emerged from Cornell, not only with his degrees in music, but with the full event structure for his classic epic fantasy series Tales Of The Ocean City in his mind.

He began writing the story down in the early 2000’s, but it did not really come to life until he developed his home music ‘laboratory’ and started creating the music and text at the same time. Thus books one and two of TOC came about simultaneously as both graphically illustrated pages and effulgent audio albums filled with cinematic epic symphonic music.

They exist now as physical books and audio albums (that go together) and the new Video Book version.  He performs live tours with the music pouring through speakers, live narration and the colorful pages streaming on screen – a true immersive multi-media experience.

He also maintains his career as a composer for the concert stage with a full body of work, from solo works thru orchestral. He specializes as well in ‘environmental works’ which feature soundscapes crafted from hundreds of natural sounds, live musicians (from soloists, chamber groups and to full orchestra), videos filled with both natural and artistic images and readings from the works of John Muir and others.

His home page is – soundartus.com. 

His author page is talesoftheoceancity.com.

His you-tube channel is SOUNDARTUS.

Visit him at Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/talesoftheoceancity.

Christopher believes in the transformative power of imagination.

“Live with imagination!”

 

Book Excerpt: Unorganized Crime by Judy Serrano

 

“When you think about it, I really only need one hostage,” he said as he put his hand on the small of my back and gave me a gentle shove. The helicopter was in the air, and I fell helplessly into the clouds. I grabbed hold of the landing skid and dangled above the water. We were not quite high enough yet that I would turn to dust if I were to drop. “Let go!” he shouted from below. I saw Gage take off his boots and put his wallet next to them on the ground. “Jasmine, jump!”

            I saw him dive into the water, and I let go. This was the most terrifying thing I had ever done. As I hit the water, two strong arms reached for me and pulled me up as I plunged powerlessly into the deep. I held my breath, but I didn’t have much air left. He pulled me up so that I could breathe, and I grabbed hold of his neck. “I’ve got you, Jazz. You’re okay.”

            He turned me so that I could hold onto his neck from behind, and he swam to the shore. The helicopter, which was holding my dad tied up and gagged, was long gone. When we got to the shore, Hector, Gage’s boss, was standing there. He pulled me out of the water, and Gage followed. “Good job,” Hector said to me. “You’re very brave.”

            I watched Gage grab his wallet, cigarettes, and shoes. “You need to quit,” I said. “They’re no good for you.”

            He pulled out a smoke and lit the tip, taking a deep pull off his cigarette. “Someday,” he answered. “Unfortunately, we often want what is no good for us.” I knew to what he was referring, but I let it go. Although you might think that the smell of the cigarette would fill the air, there was an engaging male scent radiating off of Gage that made me almost forget my name.

Suddenly, I realized that Hector was gone. “Where did Hector go? Where’s my mom?”

            “They went after the helicopter, Jazz. I don’t think she’s coming back this time.”

            My mom abandoned my dad and me years ago. They both worked for the FBI, and she never seemed to be able to balance her job and her family. Hector was in charge of all their destinies. As delightfully delicious as Hector was, I always resented him for taking her away. It was my goal to be a cop someday and wipe out organized crime just so people like the ones my parents fought daily would go out of business for good. Of course, I realized how unrealistic that was.

            “I started my own team. You must remember me mentioning that to you,” he said.

            “Yes, Storm. That’s what you call it.”

            We stepped over to his jeep. He reached in and handed me a towel. I began to dry my face and hair with it, as he did the same with his own. Gage was a storm all by himself. He was tall, well-built, and had smoldering dark eyes. His hair fell just below his ears, and I can remember how soft it was when I last ran my fingers through it.

            “I’m not just working for the FBI this time. I have a job out of the country. I’m going to find someone’s daughter who was taken by terrorists.”

            My stomach churned as he opened the door to the jeep, and I hopped inside. “Don’t leave me, Gage,” I said, as my soaking wet body leaked all over his vinyl car seats.

            I reached up for his face, but he grabbed my hand. “We’ve been through this. You’re too young, Jasmine.”

            “Gage, I am 19 years old. I’m old enough.”

            “I’m 27, Jazz. You’re too young for me.”

            That stung. I was waiting for Gage to the be the one for me. I didn’t want anyone else, and even though he may think of me as too young for him, I felt the ache in his eyes. We heard a gunshot, and Gage pushed me down onto the floor of his jeep. He jumped into the driver’s side and took off down the road. “What’s happening?” I asked. “Who’s here?”

            “Someone realized you were still breathing, princess. Put your head down.”

            I stayed down on the floor of the jeep as a bullet hit the windshield shattering the glass. I tried so hard to be brave, but I could barely hold it together. I heard Gage give our location and situation out on a radio. It was only a few moments before everything got quiet. “I lost them,” he said.

“This is all related to my parents, isn’t it.”

            “You know I can’t tell you that.”

            “And the terrorists. Who are they? Who’s the girl?”
            He pulled the jeep over to the side of the road and sighed before looking at me. “Jazz,” he said, putting his hand on the side of my face. “Don’t wait for me. I won’t be back. Do you understand what I’m saying? I’m no good for you. Forget me.”

            He grabbed his towel and brushed the glass off the passenger’s seat. Then he held out his hand for me to take, and he pulled me up off of the floor. I sat uncomfortably and refused to meet his eyes. He wanted me to discard him like a pack of cigarettes. I knew he was no good for me, but I just couldn’t stop thinking about him. I didn’t say anything. Clearly, my efforts were futile.

            He put his hand back on the steering wheel, put the jeep back in gear, and we drove down the highway. “Don’t make me come back just to check on you,” he said. “Behave yourself. Move forward. Forget about me.”

                                                                            *****

I waited for him. I anticipated his return. I am now 24 years old, and he didn’t come back in time … or did he? This is my story. Let the ride begin.

As Jazz finds herself falling from a helicopter, Gage St. Claire comes to her rescue. Organized crime is once again the culprit of her parents’ situation, and as usual, she is caught in the crossfire. Gage pulls her out of the water and helps her escape to safety. The love between them is undiscovered as he tries to leave her behind in an attempt to keep her safe and move forward with his black ops pursuit. Jazz becomes an undercover cop with wiping out organized crime forever as her goal. After Jazz exposes one of the largest crime families in the country, quite by accident, she is hired to expose crime syndicate leader Michael Giambetti Jr., otherwise known as Achilles. Achilles earned his nickname because he has no weaknesses. He has no weaknesses, that is until he meets Jazz. Achilles has been untouchable, and if she were to break this case, she could finally prove herself as a serious undercover officer. Her job is not an easy one, and people around her are not who they appear to be. Will Gage come back for Jazz, or will he be lost to her forever? Will she crack the case on her own? Read as this courageous upstart stumbles through another adventure.

 

Unorganized Crime is available at Amazon. 

Judy Serrano graduated from Texas A&M University-Commerce with a master’s degree in English. She is the owner of Make Cents Editing Services and is an English teacher at a local high school. Judy writes romantic suspense, Mafia romance, and paranormal romance. She is the author of The Easter’s Lilly Series, The Linked Series, Ivy Vines, Visions and the Unorganized Crime series. Although originally from New York, Judy resides in Texas with her husband and six cats.

Website & Social Media:

Website ➜ www.judyserrano.com 

X ➜ http://www.x.com/AuthorJSerrano 

Facebook ➜  https://www.facebook.com/JudySerranoAuthor/

Goodreads ➜ https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4792103.Judy_Serrano 

 

 

 

Book Excerpt: Dragged Down Deep by Michael Okon

 

The creature was indistinct in the dark night. A howl split the air, the noise somewhere between the lolling of a cow and with the shrillness of a siren. It traveled through Logan, making the fillings in his teeth hurt. If an elephant and a Tasmanian devil had a baby, it would have sounded like this, Logan thought inanely.

     It began to move purposely toward them, its arms outstretched. Its eyes shone like blazing yellow neon, mesmerizing them. There was no place to hide in the tidal pool. Logan spun, pushing Elliot toward the parking lot. 

     “That was no turtle,” Elliot gasped. 

     Logan ran, his heart pumping feeling like it would jump from his chest. “Run!” he yelled.

     They splashed heavily in the shallows; their feet weighted with water. Clamoring through the tide, Logan slipped, Elliot pulled him under the armpit propelling him forward. Their clothes were drenched, glued to their perspiring bodies, their feet heavy with trapped fronds and weeds. They made it onto the beach.

     Logan was afraid to look behind them. “Move this way!” Logan pointed to a perimeter of shrubs lining the sand.

     They took off, their arms slashed by the tall grasses. Elliot clutched his phone. He turned for a second, but Logan grabbed the back of his shirt to drag him through the reeds. “Not now, you idiot!” Logan screamed.

     They could hear the heavy splashes of the creature following them. They burst out of the grasses, running at full speed onto the sandy area toward the car. The reassuring outline of the jeep greeted them at the same time a club grazed Logan’s shoulder. 

     Logan heard Elliot grunt with pain, the distinct sound of a fist meeting flesh echoing in the still night. Ham-sized hands gripped Logan’s shoulder, spinning him to plant a fist that landed under his right eye. The night went silent but for the sound of the roaring of the blood in his head. He felt the trickle of blood leak onto his lips after his nose connected with what felt like a brick wall. He was on his knees, looking down at two sets of biker boots, silver skulls dangling over the insteps right in front of him. 

     Logan caught sight of another pair of footwear, polished traditional lace-ups. He pushed himself up on all fours, reaching out and grabbing the legs connected to those shoes. He clutched a handful of beige trousers, the gabardine material slipping in his hand. He recognized the uniform. He felt rock-hard muscles underneath the pants leg. His assaulter kicked, Logan’s head snapping back to see a field of spinning stars. Their attackers were laughing. Logan was outraged. 

     They wouldn’t be laughing when the mermaid from hell pounced on them, he thought grogilly. He opened his mouth to let them know they were about to be surprised by the alleged wild dog or imaginary alligator but decided he’d have more satisfaction watching them wrestle with whatever was following them from the marsh. 

      A strong hand picked him up by the hair and another pounded his ribcage. He winced, his vision blurred, trying to see when the creature from the Black Lagoon would arrive like the cavalry.

     Except that pursuer never arrived. It appeared that the monster had more brains than he and Elliot put together. 

     Logan listened vainly for whatever was following them to break through the marsh, but it must have been scared off. He chose that time to swing wildly, his fist finding a face that must have been hewn of stone. The impact stunned him more than the beating his ribs were taking. His arm went numb from knuckles to elbow. 

     His cheek landed in the dirt while Elliot was thrown against the car wheel. A baseball bat made contact with the windshield, showering them with shards of glass. The bat sailed through the air to smash the side mirror. More glass rained down on them.

Logan lay on his face, every bone in his body aching, his head heavy. He heard new footfalls, lighter one, followed by the sound of a plank of wood connecting with a body.

“Ow!” one of his attackers howled. 

Next he heard several grunts, and the hard slam of bodies falling. 

Logan picked up his head, his vision fuzzy to see two figures in wetsuits beating the crap out of his assailants. Tilting his head, he squeezed his eyes, discerning one was decidedly curvy and feminine. “Penny?” he asked, the word garbled by his swelling lips.

Running feet penetrated the fog that was swallowing his brain. Everything sounded muffled, as if he could barely hear it. There was a loud ringing in his ears.

“Done,” a woman’s voice came to him from far away. “Cowards,” she spat. 

“What do you want to do with these too?” a male voice asked. 

“Leave them. They’re harmless.”

“The boss isn’t going to be happy.”

“I said leave them,” the voice commanded. 

Logan tried to rise, groaned and fell down into the wet sand. “Elliot?” his voice a thread.

“He’s coming around. We have to go!” a man’s barked.

The cold touch of a wetsuit made his skin goosebump as a person knelt next to him. He tried to roll over. Logan felt a soft hand brush back his hair. “Stop tilting at windmills, you silly man. Go back to school.” He caught sight of a smile with a mole on the upper lip.

Logan felt the blood drain from his head as it fell onto a cushion of grass. 

     “Did you see them?” Logan spit out a mouthful of dirt. He was sprawled on a small mound and couldn’t move.

     “My eye is swollen shut,” Elliot’s voice was gravelly. “I feel like I got hit by a train. Am I imagining it, or were we rescued by the creature?”

      “It wasn’t the creature.” Logan was breathless with the effort, wondering if he should share what he thought. “I think it was Aimee.”

“Aimee!” Elliot coughed. “What’s she doing here?”

Logan ignored the question; he was wondering the same thing. 

     Rising painfully to his knees he crawled over to where Elliot was propped against the wheel of the jeep. “Anything broken?”

     “Only my pride. I feel like I’m trapped in an eighties crime drama. What are you doing?” he asked Logan, who was pulling his phone from his pocket with a battered hand.

     “I’m calling the police.”

     “I think that was the police,” Elliot retorted weakly. “What happened to your mermaid?”

     Logan growled, “She’s not my mermaid.” 

     “Did you get any pictures?” Logan asked.

     “Let me see with my good eye.” Elliot squinted as he looked at his screen. “Nothing good. Maybe it was one of those goons setting us up.”

     Logan shrugged. “I couldn’t see much, but I know it was that monster, Mitch and his playmates,” he paused and continued, “And Aimee and some other guy.”

      “You think she was working with them?”

      Logan shook his head. “No, they beat the crap out of them. Mitch practically crawled out of here.”

      “Are you sure it was Aimee? This is a major complication.”

      Logan didn’t answer. He spoke into his phone. “Pen? Can you swing by the marsh, and Penny… don’t say anything to anyone.”

– Excerpted from Dragged Down Deep by Michael Okon, Chelshire Publishing, 2024. Reprinted with permission.

 

Logan Osborne has spent his life chasing the shadows of the past.

As a child, he watched helplessly as his father was snatched from a fishing boat by what he swore was a mermaid. No one believed him then. No one believes him now.

Determined to prove that mythical creatures exist, Logan is drawn back to the small coastal town where his nightmares began after another mysterious disappearance stirs the waters.

Teaming up with his pragmatic colleague Elliot Sheppard and his fiercely loyal friend Penny Swanson, Logan dives headfirst into an adventure packed with danger and deception. As they dig deeper, the trio faces resistance at every turn—a secretive agency with its own agenda, a suspiciously unhelpful police force, and Logan’s old flame, who may know more than she’s letting on.

What they uncover is far darker and more terrifying than Logan ever imagined: the truth about his father, the secrets of Minatuck, and the horrifying reality of the Mermaid of the Hamptons.

Will Logan and his friends expose the lies that have haunted him for years, or will they be Dragged Down Deep into the swampy, secretive underbelly of a town that guards its mysteries with deadly intent?

Dragged Down Deep is available at Amazon.

Michael Okon is an award-winning and best-selling author of multiple genres, including paranormal, thriller, horror, action/adventure, and self-help. He graduated from Long Island University with a degree in English and then later received his MBA in business and finance. Coming from a family of writers, he has storytelling in his DNA. Michael has been writing from as far back as he can remember, his inspiration being his love for films and their impact on his life. From the time he saw The Goonies, he was hooked on the idea of entertaining people through unforgettable characters.

Michael is a lifelong movie buff, a music playlist aficionado, and a sucker for self-help books. He lives on the North Shore of Long Island with his wife and children.

Website & Social Media:

Website ➜ www.michaelokon.com

Twitter ➜ https://www.x.com/IAmMichaelOkon

Instagram ➜ https://www.instagram.com/IAmMichaelOkon

 

Book Excerpt: A Dream in the Wilderness by Jean Hackensmith

 

Superior, Wisconsin

August 21, 1834

Caleb Wachsmann stood before the four open graves, his two eldest children on either side of him and the youngest in his arms. His entire body was numb. It still didn’t seem possible that all four of them could be gone. But they were. Cholera had taken them systematically, one by one. His father. His mother. His beloved wife, Annie, the mother of his children. His gaze settled on the last coffin, no more than three feet long. Inside was his six-month-old son, Danny. 

Caleb and the older children got sick first. Caleb’s mother had been through other cholera epidemics and knew exactly what to do. They started boiling the drinking water from the nearby St. Louis River and, between her and Annie, and even his father, had forced tons of the bacteria-free water down their throats to prevent dehydration. At one time, Caleb joked that he thought he was going to float away.

He and the older children recovered. Then the rest of the family got sick. The rapid deterioration in their conditions made it impossible for Caleb to keep up with the hydration on all four of his patients. Danny was the first to succumb to the disease. He lasted only 24-hours after the first symptoms appeared. The others lasted two to three days.

Caleb couldn’t help but blame himself. He was responsible for their care, and he had failed.

“Pa?”

Caleb didn’t hear his son’s voice. He was too lost in his thoughts and his grief.

A yank on his shirt sleeve brought him back to reality.

“Pa!”

“What, Seth?” he asked with exasperation heavy in his tone as he looked down at the carrot-topped, freckle-faced boy before him. In fact, all of the children were the spitting image of their mother, and it made looking at them all the more painful.

“Why did we put Grandpa and Grandma and Ma and Danny in the ground? Grandma and Ma aren’t going to like it at all, cuz they don’t like to get dirty.”

Caleb stooped before his eight-year-old son, placing two-year-old Bethany on his knee, then indicated for the five-year-old Jenny to come closer, also. “Remember how I told you that your ma and Danny and your grandma and grandpa are in Heaven with God now?”

The two older children nodded.

“You see, what we put in the ground wasn’t your Mama and Danny anymore, or your grandma and grandpa. The part of her that made your mama your mama and Danny, Danny already went to Heaven.”

“Like their ghosts, you mean?” Seth asked.

“Their spirits,” Caleb corrected. “What’s in the ground is just what was left over and, in time, that part of them will go back to the ground.”

“But it still kinda looked like Ma when you and Father Hauley put the cover on the box,” Seth argued.

Caleb sighed his resignation. “Yes, it did. I don’t know how to explain it better, Seth. When you get older, you’ll understand.”

“So, who’s gonna take care of us now, Pa?” Jenny asked. “Mama and Grandma always took care of us when you and Grandpa were out in the fields plantin’ stuff.”

“I haven’t figured that out yet, honey, but I will.”

The little girl’s green eyes teared and her face scrunched up with her sadness. “I miss Mama, Pa. I want her to come back.”

The sight of his sister’s anguish brought renewed tears to Seth’s eyes also, and Caleb pulled both of them close. Bethany put pudgy arms around her older brother and sister and joined in the hug.

The traveling priest who had performed the ceremony, the only other person present at the burial, looked on in sympathy when he considered what lay ahead for the young father. It was unheard of for a man to raise three children on his own, especially a farmer who spent ten to twelve hours a day cultivating his fields. Yes, Caleb Wachsmann was going to have to find a woman, and he was going to have to do it soon.

– Excerpted from A Dream in the Wilderness by Jean Hackensmith, Jean Hackensmith, 2024. Reprinted with permission.

 

Unable to find a teaching position in the flooded job market that is New York City, twenty-one-year-old Sarah Bentley accepts the position of nanny to Caleb Wachsmann’s three children after the farmer’s wife, parents, and infant son die in the Cholera epidemic of 1834. The twist? The job is in Superior, Wisconsin in the Michigan Territory, an unsettled wilderness located on the northwestern tip of Lake Superior.

Caleb is not looking for love; his heart will always belong to his beloved Annie. What he does need is a woman to watch after the children while he toils in the fields making a living for his family. Sarah turns out to be that woman. She raises his children with a gentle and loving hand and also helps Caleb to overcome an unbearable loss. As Wisconsin vies for statehood, the young couple will face challenge after challenge as they struggle to tame a wilderness that really doesn’t want to be tamed at all.

A Dream in the Wilderness is available at https://www.amazon.com/Dream-Wilderness-Saga-Book-ebook/dp/B0DJS19HMH.

I have been writing since the age of twenty. (That’s 47 years and, yes, I’m disclosing my age.) I am the proud mother of three and grandmother to four wonderful grandchildren. After losing who I thought was the love of my life, my late husband Ron, in November of 2011, I met Rick. So, it is definitely possible to have more than one “love of your life.” Rick and I were married in July of 2018 and are still going strong today. He is my soulmate, my confidant, and my biggest fan. He has read every book I have ever written (even the romances!) 

Next to writing, my second passion is live theater. I founded a local community theater group back in 1992 and directed upwards of 40 shows, including three that I authored. I also appeared on stage a few times, portraying Anna in The King and I and Miss Hannigan in Annie. I am sad to say that the theater group dropped its final curtain in 2008, but those 16 years will always hold some of my fondest memories. 

I moved from Superior 15 years ago, seeking the serenity of country living. I also wanted to get away from the natural air conditioning provided by Lake Superior. We moved only 50 miles south, but the temperature can vary by 20-30 degrees. I guess I’m a country girl at heart. I simply love this area, and am lucky to, once again, have someone to share its beauty. I love the solitude, the picturesque beauty of the sun rising over the water, the strangely calming effect of watching a deer graze outside your kitchen window. Never again, will I live in the city. I am an author, after all, and what better place to be inspired than in God’s own backyard.

Let’s Connect!

Website: https://www.jeanhackensmith.com.

X: https://x.com/Author911 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/jean-hackensmith-61554012674412/ 

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/32957713?ref=nav_mybooks

Book Excerpt: The Death of the Kremlin Czar by Jorg H. Trauboth

 

“Watch out! High-voltage line at three hundred meters!“, shouted the co-pilot.
“In sight!“ the commander replied calmly, pulling up just before the obstacle and immediately pushing the helicopter down again. 

The two pilots of the Ukrainian armed forces guided the old Russian Mi-8 helicopter with their night vision devices on a zigzag course away from populated areas and Russian defense walls to the target. The destination was Luhansk. The mission: to free their own soldiers from Russian captivity. They had volunteered for the Ascension mission and trained for the flight intensively in the simulator supplied by the USA, including simulated enemy fire and evasive maneuvers. The simulator‘s current aerial photographs proved to be extremely helpful in the dimly lit night. A lot had changed in Donbass since the region was forcibly annexed by Russian President Ivan Pavlenko. Destroyed cities, abandoned villages, mined escape routes, deportations, rapes, mass graves, poverty, hunger, thirst and despair. 

Ivan Pavlenko was called “Czar Ivan II“ by the co-pilot, a former history teacher. But not only by him. The Ukrainian people hated this man who had brought so much suffering to their families with his megalomania and wanted to steal their country. Even those people whose thinking was shaped by Russian culture had turned their backs on this madman in Moscow. 

The co-pilot turned to Iris, the commander of the special forces, and signaled “30 minutes.“ 

Iris had been given his nickname because - like the German anti-aircraft missile of the same name - he was known for always hitting the bull‘s eye. Everything Iris tackled led to success. On a street in Kiev, the child-pushing, medium-sized, friendly man at his wife‘s side would not have been noticed. No one could have guessed that the man flirting with his young daughter was a rare mixture of analyst, combat soldier and leader with a stellar military career ahead of him. 

Iris looked at his men. The two teams sat opposite each other and remained completely relaxed despite the loud engine noise in the old transport helicopter with its fake Russian registration. 

Perhaps it was a kind of meditative calm before the dangerous mission. Or perhaps it was the awareness that they could be hit by a Russian missile at any time during this night-time low-level flight into the Luhansk Oblast without being able to do anything about it. There weren‘t even any parachutes on board, because every kilogram counted for the return flight, during which the aged and rattling Mi-8 would be fully occupied. 

The commander of the special forces fixed his gaze on the German opposite, who returned the look and nodded. Iris had received authorization for this rescue mission with a foreign team member from the highest authority. He had only agreed to it because the German Marc Anderson was considered a legend in the West despite being only thirty-five years old. Together with the US Navy SEALs, he had evacuated an American aircrew from the depths of Afghanistan and later served as a private security officer. 

The US president‘s family was rescued from the hands of Iranian terrorists on a luxury yacht by the security agent and his team. He and his team were personally honored by the US President. The Iranian terrorists took revenge and brutally murdered Marc‘s wife in front of their house in Hamburg.

 

Russian President and new Czar Ivan Pavlenko suddenly shows his true colors during the war in Ukraine. He wants the old Soviet Union back. The world is on the brink. The influential oligarch Alexei Sokolov wants to prevent Ivan’s megalomaniacal plans and is planning a fundamental new beginning for Russia. To achieve this, the Russian president must die. How will the US President react to the CIA’s proposal to support the oligarch, who has a romantic relationship with the Russian President’s partner, Yulia? 

The poison attack is perfectly prepared, but the Boeing with the oligarch Alexei Sokolow, his lover and over 100 passengers on board is hijacked by a Ukrainian terrorist and is supposed to crash over Berlin after knocking out the crew by shooting. Former elite soldier Marc Anderson is on board with his family and takes over with Alexei. The two flight amateurs try to get control. Will the landing and the assassination succeed or will the Kremlin Czar strike back brutally after realizing the role of Yulia?

The Death of the Kremlin Czar is available at Amazon (U.S. edition) and Amazon (German edition).

Jörg H. Trauboth, born in 1943 near Berlin, logged over two thousand flight hours as a Weapon Systems Officer Instructor in the Luftwaffe, flying PHANTOM F-4F / RF-4E and TORNADO fighter jets, and over 3000 hours in light aircraft. At the age of fifty, he left the service with the rank of Colonel in the General Staff. He received training as a Special Risk Consultant from the English Control Risk Group and served as Managing Director Germany, dealing with extortion and kidnapping cases in South America and Eastern Europe. Shortly thereafter, he founded his own consulting firm, quickly establishing an outstanding international reputation. Trauboth protected his clients with a 24-hour task force during product extortions, product recalls, kidnappings, and image crises. He was the first President of the European Crisis Management Academy in Vienna and President of the American Yankee Association.

He is known as a respected expert in the media on security-related topics. He volunteers as an emergency counselor and is a member of the Crisis Intervention Team (KIT Bonn) of the German Foreign Office. He is a private pilot, married, with two sons and three grandchildren.

In 2002, Trauboth wrote the now out of print standard work “Crisis Management for Company Threats”.

In 2016 the follow-up work was published with Jörg H. Trauboth as editor in collaboration with five authors: “Crisis Management in Companies and Public Institutions”.

Terror expert J. H. Trauboth presented his debut novel in 2015 with the Germany thriller “Three Brothers”. (Available in English). In 2019 “Operation Jerusalem” followed and in 2020 “Omega”. The trilogy is about the former elite soldier Marc Anderson and his team. With these three self-contained thrillers, Trauboth is rated by many readers as the “German Tom Clancy.” The trilogy is available as a printed edition, eBook and audio book.

His first detective novel, “Jakobs Weg” (German), followed in 2021. The highly explosive topic of “sexual abuse of children” is processed sensitively in a scenario on the Way of Saint James and at the end offers contact options for those seeking help.

In 2022, the novella “Bonjour Saint-Ex” was published (German) in which the passionate pilot Jörg H. Trauboth turns the last flight of the legend Antoine de Saint Exupéry into an exciting literary event.

Readers wanted a sequel to the Marc Anderson series. In 2023, ZarenTod – Das Ende der Präsidenten was published, a highly topical political thriller. The Russian president and new tsar, Ivan Pavlenko, suddenly shows his true face during the war in Ukraine. He wants the old Soviet Union back. The world is on the brink. The influential oligarch, Alexei Sokolov, wants to prevent Ivan’s megalomaniac plans and is planning a fundamental new beginning for Russia. To achieve this, the Russian president must be removed. But the plan goes awry. Ex-elite soldier Marc Anderson intervenes. Will Czar Ivan die? What will become of Europe? The book 8/ 2024 in English „The Death of the Kremlin Czar” is the fourth political thriller in the Marc Anderson series.

Website & Social Media:

Website ➜  https://trauboth-autor.de/english/

Twitter ➜ https://twitter.com/JorgTrauboth

Book Excerpt: A Heart's Journey to Forgiveness by Terese Luikens

 

In my mind, these warm childhood memories include only my dad, never my mom. One photo from that era, snapped by an older sibling using Mom’s Instamatic camera, seems to capture our family dynamic. We are in the living room of the house that had the front-porch swing. I might be around four years old. My hair is cut short, pixie style, and I am wearing a long-sleeved, cotton-ribbed bathrobe. Dad, kneeling, wears a suit coat and a bowler hat. His hands are clasped behind my back and mine are hooked around his neck. Smiling, cheek-to-cheek, we face the camera.

Dad and I are in the center of the photo while Mom is in the lower left hand corner. She is sitting in a chair, and wears a plaid skirt and a turtleneck sweater. Her passive face is turned toward the camera.

That snapshot captures my life: Dad at the center and Mom on the perimeter.

– Excerpted from A Heart's Journey by Terese Luikens, Redemption Press, 2022. Reprinted with permission. 

 

For Terese Luikens, a picture-perfect childhood it was not. Frequent cross country moves, an emotionally absent mother and an alcoholic father who ends his life by suicide when Terese is just thirteen years old. 

The sixth of seven children, Terese grew up in an unstable and chaotic household–invisible to her mom yet cherished by her father. 

This heartfelt memoir documents the chain reaction of a tumultuous family history. From her stormy childhood to the far-reaching effects of her father’s suicide, Terese shares her inspiring journey to escape the shame of her past, find healing and live, learn to trust, and discover faith in a real and personal God.

A Heart’s Journey to Forgiveness is available at Amazon.

 

Terese Luikens has been married for forty-four years to the same man, although she is on her third wedding ring, having lost one and worn out another. She lives in Sandpoint, Idaho, enjoys being mother to three grown sons and grandmother to her much-loved grandchildren. She is the author of A Heart’s Journey to Forgiveness, a Memoir of her inspiring journey of emotional healing from her father’s suicide. She facilitates retreats and workshops focusing on forgiveness, and publishes her own blog, Why Bother? 

You can visit her website at www.tereseluikens.com.

 

Book Excerpt: Mercy of the Iron Scepter (Stele Prophecy Pentalogy Book 1) by Randy C. Dockens

 

Excerpt from Chapter 20:

After dessert, Melana excused herself, and Peter offered to escort her home. Shortly after, Ilana and Robert left together. Kalem and Angela stayed a little longer, but after a short time, Angela said she had to return home; Kalem offered to walk her. They said their goodbyes.

Kalem and Angela walked in silence. Kalem could tell something was on her mind, but didn’t know what or how to ask.

“Kalem, can we go somewhere and talk?”

“We can talk as we walk, can’t we?”

“Yes, but I have a feeling this may take a while. Ilana and Robert may be at the apartment. Why don’t we go to the Overlook?”

Kalem looked at her with furrowed brow. “OK.” They turned at the next block, toward the temple complex, and then turned south toward the Overlook. “Is something wrong, Angela?”

“No. But I feel we dance around our feelings for each other, and I would like to clear the air.”

Kalem swallowed—hard. He hoped this wouldn’t mean an end to their relationship. His palms became clammy.

“I’m sorry, Kalem. If I sound like I’m defensive or hurt, I’m not. We see each other so infrequently. When we do, it seems we start to make a connection and, once again, you’re off on another adventure. We don’t communicate beyond surface stuff until we see each other again, and then it all starts over. I would like to know how you feel and where we stand. I don’t have any expectations. Your friendship is important to me.”

They turned the corner and arrived at the Overlook. Kalem motioned for Angela to sit next to him. He gazed at her. My, she is so beautiful. Why can’t I commit? After a while, she said, in a soft tone, “What?”

“The night lights make your hair glisten—and you look almost angelic.”

Angela smiled. “Well, that’s a nice start.”

Kalem smiled back and cleared his throat. “Angela, to be honest, I’ve been attracted to you from day one. I felt guilty, you being younger. Also, you’re so tight with Peter, who’s my nephew. It all felt . . . a little uncomfortable.”

“Well, I can understand that. But I’m only four years younger. Yes, it made a difference when we first met, but I’m now twenty, which makes both of us in our twenties. Is that too far apart? I don’t think Mom and Mik’kel would complain over our age difference when their ages are so, so . . . so much wider.”

Kalem laughed. “In comparison to Raina and Mik’kel, our birthdays are identical.” Kalem paused and became more serious. “I get that, but you’re part of the family—”

“Kalem, I’m not part of the family. Yes, I love them . . . desperately. Raina is the only mom I remember. From an emotional standpoint, we are family, but not by blood. There’s nothing taboo about us having feelings for each other, if that’s where you’re going.”

“But the perception is there.”

“Don’t confuse perception with reality. I don’t think anyone, or anyone who matters, would care if we became serious. But there’s another issue we need to discuss.”

“Oh?” Kalem’s voice got softer. “There’s something else I need to overcome?”

“No.” Angela matched his softer tone. “It’s something I have to decide how to deal with. Kalem, I really, really like you. I know that makes you uncomfortable, but I want to put it all on the line here. There’s a bigger issue than feeling you’re falling for your nephew’s sister.”

Kalem looked at Angela. She didn’t hold his gaze. He could now feel every thud of his heartbeat—knowing he was about to hear something he didn’t want to hear.

“Kalem, I’ve accepted our King as both my Lord and my future hope. You may have accepted him as your Lord, but not as the one to secure your future. That’s a big deal to me.”

She looked back into his eyes; he continued to stare into hers.

“Kalem, please say something.”

She reached out and put her hand on his. He didn’t move—couldn’t move. He finally took a deep breath, took Angela’s hand, and spoke while running his fingers over hers. “Angela, I don’t know what to say. I also really, really like you.”

He looked up and gave a weak smile. “I admit I did feel weird about that. So many things have proven strange for me. When I met the King, he turned out to be totally different from what I expected. Actually . . . ” Kalem gave a short laugh. “Very different from what I expected. I’ve been involved with the steles for so long, maybe it’s all scrambled my brain. I don’t know.”

He gave a short shrug. “I’ve thought many times about why I can’t accept the King as the hope for my future. But there’s something there. I can’t explain it or put my finger on it.”

Kalem forced another smile. “Robert told me once how I have to know the outcome before I’m willing to commit to something. Robert said I can never know what it’s like being connected to the King in the special way he’s connected to those who accept him, until I put my trust in him. I want to commit to him and to you, but I can’t—not yet, anyway.”

Angela’s eyes grew wet with tears.

Kalem felt so guilty, but at the same time, he needed to be honest. “Angela, I’m so sorry. I don’t want to hurt you.”

He let go of her hand, and didn’t know what to do next.

“Sorry, Kalem. I didn’t mean to cry. I don’t understand.” Angela choked up again.

“I don’t know how to explain it, Angela. I hope I can, one day. I have to know about the prophecy on these steles first. Once I know their message, I think I can understand . . . things.”

Angela became teary again. “And what if you never understand?”

“I don’t know. I don’t want to lose you as a friend, though.”

Tears trickled down Angela’s cheeks. “You only want to be friends?”

“No. No, that’s not what I meant.” 

Kalem looked at her, his heart almost breaking, knowing he was causing her pain. He took her hands in his again and rubbed his fingers over hers. His voice became low and hushed. “Angela, you said accepting the King as my future hope is important to you. I understand that, but I can’t make such a step—yet. I can’t disrespect you and pretend so we can be together. That wouldn’t be fair.”

Angela nodded, but the tears kept flowing. “Can I at least have a hug?”

“Oh, Angela, yes. Yes, of course.” Kalem held her in his arms; she sobbed and his eyes watered. “I’m sorry, Angela. I’m so sorry.”

He hoped she felt his love for her in his embrace. He knew she wouldn’t give in, and he wouldn’t want her to, but neither could he. Not yet. After several minutes, she stopped sobbing and pulled away from his shoulder.

“I think I’m better now.” She gave a weak smile and sniffled between words. “Can you walk me home?”

Kalem helped her up and held her close. This was odd. They had essentially broken up—or had they, if they were never officially together? At the same time, he felt closer to her than ever. He continued to hold her close to him as they walked to her apartment.

Along the way, he said, “Angela, I do care for you.”

“I know,” was all Angela whispered in return.

– Excerpted from Mercy of the Iron Scepter by Randy C. Dockens, Carpenter's Son Publishing, 2019. Reprinted with permission. 

 

After Kalem lives through the death of his brother by the hand of the King which occurred over a decade ago, he is now torn. Two prophecies stand before him. The one he wholeheartedly believes in places his life in danger just as it had for his brother. The other is safer but requires him to live a lie.

Kalem, an archaeologist, has unearthed steles which tell of a prophecy about a coming Overtaker who will oust the current king and bring everyone total freedom avoiding a coming apocalypse. He becomes close to Angela, the woman supposedly the key to fulfilling this stele prophecy, desires a romantic relationship with her, but is hesitant to act on his feelings. Her belief in the current king takes Kalem down an alternative view of the prophecy where the current king will bring everyone into an even better future home after saving all from annihilation. Can Kalem exonerate his brother and bring the justice he had always dreamed of? Or will he find his life is being manipulated to prevent the true prophecy from being fulfilled? Unfortunately, he finds deception in places he never would have suspected.

Mercy of the Iron Scepter is the first book of a new biblical end times prophecy series entitled Stele Prophecy Pentalogy by futuristic fiction author Randy C Dockens. This is not your typical speculative fiction novel about biblical end times prophecy as it combines bible prophecy with futuristic advances in science to describe a future home that is agrarian but also technologically advanced, like citizens using a teleporter. Plus, it provides a romantic read with a little tension added in to make it interesting.

Order today at Amazon!