Compiled by April Helms
The cooler weather means more indoor activities. If you are interested in a book while passing the time, many local scribes have new books out.
WHISKEY ISLAND
by Les Roberts
$24.95
Gray and Co. Publishing
www.grayco.com
Whiskey Island is Stow author Les Roberts' 16th book in a series featuring fictional Slovenian American private investigator Milan Jacovich (pronounced MY-lan YOCK-ovich).
Much of the plot for this latest installment could have been taken straight from the local news: longtime councilman Bert Loftus, a man with an oversized appetite for fine dining, flashy suits, and Las Vegas call girls, is made the target of media scrutiny and an FBI investigation that may end his career. Convinced that someone is trying to kill him but not so eager to work with the cops to find the culprit, Loftus turns to Milan for help. At first Milan has trouble taking the bombastic Loftus seriously but the P.I. changes his mind after a call girl with connections to the shady councilman is found dead near the Cleveland Zoo.
Fans of the Jacovich series will find a lot to enjoy about "Whiskey Island." The storyline will resonate with readers in the area, with the recent government scandals. But what's really fun are the interactions and dialogue between the experienced private eye and his new assistant, Kevin "K.O." O'Bannion, who was introduced in the previous novel, "The Cleveland Creep." It remains to be seen whether the two will forge a lasting alliance or become rivals; time will tell. Tobe Blaine, an officer relocated from Cincinnati, is another fun addition to the story, and someone who readers will hopefully see again in future installments.
Roberts will speak and autograph copies of his new book, "Whiskey Island," on Nov. 10 from 1 to 3 p.m. at Books-A-Million, 335 Howe Ave. in Cuyahoga Falls. The event is free and open to the public.
A PLAIN DEATH
by Amanda Flower
$14.99
B&H Publishing
amandaflower.com
Amanda Flower. Tallmadge resident and author of the India Hayes Cozy Mystery series, recently debuted her Appleseed Creek Amish Mystery series.
In her first book, A Plain Death, an unlikely friendship between a high-tech woman and a runaway Amish girl leads to murder. Her first day in Appleseed Creek, Ohio, Chloe Humphrey, befriends Becky, an ex-Amish teenager looking for a new home. While driving Chloe's car, Becky collides with a buggy, killing an Amish bishop in the process. The case moves from accident to murder when police reveal a cut brake line. Now, Chloe and Becky's handsome brother, Timothy, must discover who the real intended victim is before the murderer makes a second attempt.
SCHOOLED
by Tali Nay
$13.50
Corner Chapter Press
Cleveland area resident Tali Nay recently published Schooled, which looks at what we actually take away from a public education. This memoir captures the things we learn in school that are never part of any lesson plan yet somehow have the biggest impact upon the shaping of our perceptions over the years we spend in a classroom.
FALSE MEMORY
by Dan Krokos
$17.99
Hyperion Book CH
dankrokos.com
Dan Krokos, a Cleveland area resident, penned False Memory, the first installment of a planned trilogy set in a futuristic world. The story begins with Miranda North waking up alone on a park bench with no memory. In her panic, she releases a mysterious energy that incites pure terror in everyone around her, except Peter, a boy who isn't at all surprised by Miranda's shocking ability. Left with no choice but to trust this stranger, Miranda discovers she was trained to be a weapon and is part of an elite force of genetically-altered teens who possess flawless combat skills and powers strong enough to destroy a city. But adjusting to her old life isn't easy--especially with Noah, the boyfriend she can't remember loving. Then Miranda uncovers a dark truth that sets her team on the run. Suddenly her past doesn't seem to matter...when there may not be a future.
Follow the author on twitter (@DanKrokos) or visit www.dankrokos.com.
PUNISHMENT
by Linda Rocker
$18.95
Wheatmark
lindarocker.com
Punishment was written by former Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Linda Rocker. Rocker's debut legal thriller begins on a day like any other at the West Palm Beach courthouse -- that is until the bomb went off and set the mayhem in motion. Bailiff Casey Portman arrived too late for her morning coffee, but early enough to see the beginning of a series of mishaps, mistakes, and murders that would tie the justice system in knots. At the center of it all is the trial of the decade in her judge's courtroom, a case nicknamed a "Dogicide" for the man charged with murder using his pit bull as a weapon.
The second novel, Blame is in progress and she will be publishing a collection of short stories, Is Anybody Listening? in early 2013.
THE STOWBILLY CHRONICLES
by Michael Pollick
$1.99 Kindle
Scribd
Scribd.com
Author and former Stow resident Michael Pollick recently released his new collection of humor essays about his childhood years in Stow, The Stowbilly Chronicles. This collection is available in print and ebook formats at Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com and Booktango.com. Topics include Workman, Kimpton and Lakeview schools, plus Archie the Snowman, favorite Stowbilly foods and the 4th of July parade.
THE FACE IN THE WINDOW: HAUNTING OHIO TALES
by Chris Woodyard
$16.95
Kestrel Publications
www.hauntedohiobooks.com
Kestrel Publications recently announced the publication of The Face in the Window: Haunting Ohio Tales, a new collection from Ohio ghostwriter Chris Woodyard.
Have you ever heard of the spectral faces in the windows of Sandusky and Milan? The skeletal ghost photographed at Bucyrus? The clothes-shredding Wooster Poltergeist? A cat named Death at a Cincinnati hospital? The deadly Woman in Black of Dayton?
If not, that's because these strange tales have been long buried in the archives of Ohio's newspapers.
"These stories were written by the Dead," stated Chris Woodyard, author of the 7-volume Haunted Ohio series in a media release. "Many of these accounts haven't seen the light of day since they were first published. They've been resurrected from the aptly named newspaper morgues."
The book contains more than 120 true stories of ghosts, haunted graveyards, spirit photographs, vampires, spook lights, and poltergeists from 59 of Ohio's 88 counties.
The Face in the Window is the first in Woodyard's new "Ghosts of the Past" series. The next volume, out before Christmas, is titled The Headless Horror: Strange and Ghostly Ohio Tales.
"The Face in the Window is a Victorian scrapbook of hauntings and horrors," said Woodyard. "It's a time-machine that takes you back, not to some Disney version of the 19th century, but to the bad old days of a very haunted Ohio."
THE CRIMSON CROWN
by Cinda Williams Chima
$18.99
Hyperion Book CH
cindachima.com
New York Times Bestselling and Chagrin Falls author Cinda Williams Chima released on Oct. 23 The Crimson Crown, the final installment of her Seven Realms series from Disney/Hyperion.
A thousand years ago, two young lovers were betrayed -- Alger Waterlow to his death, and Hanalea, Queen of the Fells, to a life without love.
Now, once again, the queendom of the Fells seems likely to shatter apart. For young queen Raisa ana'Marianna, maintaining peace even within her own castle walls is nearly impossible. Tension between wizards and Clan has reached a fevered pitch. With surrounding kingdoms seeking to prey on the Fells' inner turmoil, Raisa's best hope is to unite her people against a common enemy. But that enemy might be the person with whom she's falling in love.
Chima is a graduate of The University of Akron and Case Western Reserve University.
AGE IS JUST A NUMBER
by Karen Gaebelein
in Not Your Mother's Book . . . On Being a Woman
$16.95
www.PublishingSyndicate.com
Karen Gaebelein of Broadview Heights wrote an original contribution that has been published in the newly released book, Not Your Mother's Book - On Being a Woman, the lead title in the edgy new entertainment series by creators Dahlynn and Ken M
Not Your Mother's Book is a collection of stories featuring "edgy" real-life stories on a variety of subjects ranging from your deepest secrets and wildest night out to menopause and fishing. Consisting of compelling real-life, even 'edgy' stories written by individuals 18 years and older, Not Your Mother's Book contains language and situations akin to a PG-13 or TV-14 rating.
GELTERSBURG
by William E. Cornell Jr.
$24.95
Infinity Publishing
www.infinitypublishing.com
Earlier this year, Twinsburg resident William Cornell published his third book and first novel. The historical fiction work is set in German, starting just before World War II and ending after the war. Cornell's first two books ("Tales of a Great Lakes Sailor" and "Railroading with the Cornells") are reflections of his personal experiences. "Geltersburg" is his first novel.
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