literary fiction

Third Wheel by Richard R. Becker

Third Wheel is an exhilarating coming-of-age thriller about belonging, betrayal, and breaking away. It is the story of a boy trying to find his identity without the benefit of clear role models. He takes chances on random and fragile relationships forged in the pre-boom hours of Las Vegas, 1982.

Brady Wilks is remarkable as a transformative protagonist. He must make tough decisions as his friends try to navigate a dangerous path selling cartel-supplied drugs.

Four-time award-winning author Richard R. Becker once again shares his unique insight into the human condition. Desolate and gritty, Third Wheel is a triumphant debut novel.

The Oldest Word by Johnny Firic

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The Oldest Word by Johnny Firic

The story opens with the discovery of a mysterious box from the distant past. Its makers are five orphaned friends who hope to help civilizational knowledge survive disruptive climate change centuries in the future: the ending of the Ice Age. The bar is continuously raised as the box traverses more than a dozen settings to the present day. Readers are tacitly encouraged to partner with the author and fill in the blanks by considering their metaphorical boxes, lessons for the future from their past.

Exchanges between cultures and generations highlight human transience. Adoption is the preeminent motif, many characters being orphaned, or having adopted, or both. Nature’s agency is felt throughout the story, with animals, plants and landscapes presented as respected partners rather than resources to be exploited. Nothing can fully reconcile human contradictions, and true equilibrium must come from a transcendent perspective. Plural identity followed by association with all humans, past, present and future, is only a good start. Can we progress beyond all life forms? The book ends on the question: what can you do but hope?

The Ring by Florence Osmund

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The Ring by Florence Osmund

Paige West is a well-educated, financially stable business owner who mourns the death of her father and misses the closeness she had with him throughout her life. Jessivel Salter is a high school dropout who had a child out of wedlock at sixteen and is now a single mother on the brink of becoming homeless. She also misses her now-deceased father, but for very different reasons. When fate unites them, Paige is drawn to Jessivel from the start and wants to help her. But Jessivel doesn’t trust Paige or her intentions and rejects her many “helping hand” offers.

The two women eventually connect and when certain disturbing truths are unveiled, they discover they have something in common that is inconceivable and shocking. Their relationship soon becomes contentious and forces each woman to decide whether she wants to take the easy way out and part ways forevermore or face up to the adversity that fate has thrown at them.

And it all started with “the ring.”

They Called Me Margaret by Florence Osmund

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They Called Me Margaret by Florence Osmund

Margaret Manning has spent the better part of her life conforming to the expectations of other people—first her father, then her husband. Breaking away from this ruinous tradition, she becomes a cozy mystery writer and decides to open her own bookstore—The Indie Book Nook. But when her husband mimics the behaviors of some of the more unscrupulous characters in her books, she fears that she is losing him, or even worse that she is losing her mind.

While abandonment is nothing new to Margaret—she hasn’t seen or heard from her mother since she was six years old—the fear of losing her husband is devastating. She struggles to find the strength to mend her shattered marriage while also coping with obscure health issues, her daughter’s precarious behavior, a disingenuous neighbor, and an unpredictable mother-in-law.

Who in Margaret’s life is friend and who is foe is not always apparent, and it’s up to her to figure it all out.

The Oldest Word by Johnny Firic

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The Oldest Word by Johnny Firic

“Plural identity is where respectful practice begins.”
Who are you? Just the one body and mind? Does your story begin with your birth? Or how far back would you go?

The Oldest Word spans ten thousand years and more than a dozen settings. Human contradictions are reconciled time and again, with tragedy and humor feeding off each other. From the twin mirror mazes of history and psychology, amid ever-shifting social and natural landscapes, enduring patterns emerge.

The story opens with the discovery of a mysterious box from the distant past. Its makers are five orphaned friends who hope to help civilizational knowledge survive disruptive climate change centuries in the future: the ending of the Ice Age. The bar is continuously raised as the box travels through space and time to the present day. Readers are tacitly encouraged to partner with the author and fill in the blanks by considering their metaphorical boxes, lessons for the future from their past.

50 States by Richard R. Becker

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50 States by Richard R. Becker

An Idaho farmer who aches for absolution after a tragedy is given one more chance at redemption. Two runaways cross paths in a Tennessee bus station with only one ticket between them. A family sees looters racing toward their home as they escape an Oregon wildfire. A young couple takes a reckless turn off a state highway in Utah and find themselves in a nightmarish government biohazard area.

These and 46 more shorts make up an anthology that will surprise readers with each new thought-provoking story as they skip effortlessly across different genres, moods, and states of mind. Together, they provide a character-driven sampling of the American experience over the last 60 years — the kind and the cruel, the heroic and criminal — in unpredictable and exciting ways.

50 States is a debut collection of short stories that captures the human condition and reveals how perception shapes destiny. The book spans several literary genres with each short story set in a different state across America. It is soon to be released as an audiobook, narrated by a 5-time Emmy winner.

Bargain Book: 10/01/2021 The Essence of Nathan Biddle by J. William Lewis

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Protagonist Kit Biddle is a rising prep school senior who finds himself tangled in a web of spiritual quandaries and intellectual absurdities. Kit’s angst is compounded by a unique psychological burden he is forced to carry: his intelligent but unstable Uncle Nat has committed an unspeakable act on what, according to the Uncle’s deranged account, were direct orders from God.

The tragedy haunting his family follows Kit like a dark and foreboding cloud, exacerbating his already compulsive struggle with existential questions about the meaning of his life. When the brilliant, perhaps phantasmic, Anna dismisses him, Kit quickly spirals into despair and self-destruction. But when his irrational decision to steal a maintenance truck and speed aimlessly down the highway ends in a horrific accident and months of both physical and emotional convalescence, Kit is forced to examine his perceptions of his life and his version of reality.

In this exquisite bildungsroman, calamity leads to fresh perspectives and new perceptions: it focuses Kit’s mind and forces him to confront the issues that plague him. Readers will empathize―and celebrate―as the darkness lifts and Kit comes to terms with the necessity of engagement with life’s pain, pleasure . . . and absurdity.

An intelligent, clever, and captivating tale, The Essence of Nathan Biddle soars in the spaces that exist between despair and hope, darkness and light, love and loss. Beautifully written, profoundly moving, and resplendent with characters destined to remain with you long after the last page is turned, The Essence of Nathan Biddle is unforgettable.

Targeted Age Group: Adult Fiction

Book Price: $0.99
This book is bargain priced from 10/01/2021 until 10/31/2021.

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The Essence of Nathan Biddle by J. William Lewis

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The Essence of Nathan Biddle by J. William Lewis

Free Book: In the future this will not be necessary by Paul Samael

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Miles Jensen has a confession to make. To the “true believers”, he is the faithful guardian of a website devoted to the late Pete Novotnik, founder of a future-obsessed internet cult. But Miles is not a true believer – he only got involved out of a desire to rekindle an affair with Pete’s wife, Kay. Hoping to shock the true believers into a crisis of faith, he decides to reveal his true colours and his dubious role in Pete’s death. But when a journalist starts to investigate, he is forced to confront the truth about his motives for wanting to undermine the cult and his feelings for Kay.

A thought-provoking novel with flashes of dry humour, “In the future…” is about jealousy, belief and the utopian dreams we project onto technology.

REVIEWS:

“Thoughtful, intriguing and worthwhile” – 5 stars (Tom Lichtenberg, Smashwords user).

“[F]resh and interesting… a high quality work… by a literary writer” (Lisa Thatcher).

“[R]eminded me of Julian Barnes, particularly ‘The Sense of an Ending.’ “- 5 stars (Heather Douglass, Smashwords user).

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About the Author
Paul Samael lives in the UK. “In the future this will not be necessary” is his first novel. He has also written several short stories and produces a blog where he reviews fiction by other self-published authors.

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Echo from Mount Royal by Dave Riese

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Echo from Mount Royal by Dave Riese

Imagine you are 18 and fall in love with a handsome, wealthy young man. Your romantic dreams have come true – except his family hates you!

Montreal, 1951. Rebecca Wiseman, 18, a bright college student, lives with her working-class parents. At a local dance, she meets a handsome young man but has little hope of seeing him again. When Sol Gottesman asks her on a date, her joy mingles with disbelief when she learns he is the son of a wealthy businessman.

Sol takes her in his family’s chauffeured Rolls-Royce to the most expensive restaurant in the city, introducing Rebecca to a world of upper-class wealth and privilege. Rebecca is head over heels in love and believes her life is perfect.

But despite Sol’s outward charm, he lacks self-confidence and trust. He reveals the simmering conflicts in his family and his fears that his brother will drive him out of the family business. Rebecca, headstrong but naïve; wants to protect Sol and help him to stand up to the pressure from his family. Their engagement fulfills her romantic dreams, but his family ‘s resistance and the revelation of a shocking sexual secret threaten to tear them apart. Rebecca tries to convince Sol that her love and support is all he needs. A late-night telephone call threatens to change her life forever.

An absorbing romantic book spiced with family secrets and shocking revelations. Online Book Club.org
Vivid descriptions, crisp dialogue and a headstrong female protagonist. Contemporary-Books.com

Winner in the General Fiction/Novel category 2016 Next Generation Indie Book Award

Third Wheel by Richard R. Becker

The Oldest Word by Johnny Firic

The Ring by Florence Osmund

They Called Me Margaret by Florence Osmund

The Oldest Word by Johnny Firic

50 States by Richard R. Becker

Bargain Book: 10/01/2021 The Essence of Nathan Biddle by J. William Lewis

The Essence of Nathan Biddle by J. William Lewis

Free Book: In the future this will not be necessary by Paul Samael

Echo from Mount Royal by Dave Riese

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