What Immortal Hand CoverWhat Immortal Hand CoverAll books are available via Amazon. If you would like a signed copy please send an email to magicianswake@msn.com.  You may also call me at 941-726-3145

Books

October Ridge: A Cold-Case Mystery   $20.00

*At dusk in the lush forest of a southeastern Ohio lake, while families sit around campfires enjoying the late summer fog, just over the ridge, a grisly crime is unfolding.   At dawn, hikers stumble into the shallow burial site of Regina Edwards.  Back in his rented cabin, less than 500 feet from the grave of his quarry, Wally St. John sleeps dreamlessly, his hunting completed…for now.  It is 1960, a time of bebop music, innocence, and a shameless serial killer.

*Over a half-century later, forensic investigator Libby Muldrew feels a connection to Regina and the others who died in her favorite vacation place.  Despite the time which has passed, Libby will not stop investigating this cold case until she gives closure to the families who lost daughters to a heretofore nameless, faceless monster.

*Newlywed schoolteacher Alicia Travis narrowly misses being a victim of Wally St. John in 1960.  She believes, as do the police, that she may have been the only person who saw the face of the killer.  Over 50 years later, she assists Libby to nail the animal who has tormented her soul all these years.

The Acclaimed Black Diamond Series:

$50.00 for the Trilogy or $20.00 per novel

I Owe My Soul: The Black Diamond Covenant    $20.00

Set in the coal-rich hills of southeastern Ohio during the early twentieth century, I Owe My Soul: The Black Diamond Covenant traces the lives of three diverse women who set small town Nelsonville and larger Columbus on their heels, scoring major victories for equality. Mary Rose Markham builds a family and a merchandising empire fueled by time-threatened wealth of coal, but learns there are many causes worth fighting for. Jane Moore, raised in coal camps, suffers heartbreak, rises victorious with coal miner Bud Neeley, and unites with Mary Rose to build a suffrage unit, which includes an unlikely ally, Sarah. Sarah Washington dreams of life outside racial constraints, finds hatred and mistrust in southeastern Ohio, and risks personal safety to become a writer, exposing atrocities. Her efforts with Mary Rose and Jane on behalf of women and black citizens propels her into an uneasy spotlight. This novel paints a shocking picture of an area known as Little Cities of Black Diamond, rich in history but washed with terror and grief.

Dappled Glory: The Black Diamond Heritage    $20.00

Life in the coal mines of Ohio and Pennsylvania was fraught with tragedy, illness and death in the early 20th Century. Irish immigrant Jamie Burns fights anti-Irish sentiment and danger, both in the mines and out. In Southeastern Ohio, the Markhams continue to build their merchandising empire, with builder Fred Hunt providing both inspiration for the Markhams and a distraction for several women whose paths cross his. Fictitious characters interact with real historical figures in this look at the early days of the United Mine Workers of America in the Appalachian Valley coal region.

In the Eyes of God: The Black Diamond Legacy  $20.00

The Black Diamond Legacy:  The might Markham saga continues.
*Sarah Washington learns that she still has more battles to fight in her quest for racial equality when she receives’her great-grandmother’s slave journal.

*The five Engle brothers of Harlan, Kentucky suffer one more agonizing loss in the coal mines and vow to leave mining forever. Levi joins forces with Union organizers Bud Neeley and Jamie Burns to bring an end to death in the mines.

*Molly Hunt, recovering from a broken heart, finds solace in politics…and learns she can love again in the arms of Levi Engle.
*A young generation heads off to war.

“What Immortal Hand: The Black Diamond Heresy”
“Why you be whoopin’ me. Massah? Ain’t I a good nigra?” “You are a good Negro, Clarence, but my daddy taught me you gotta show negroes who’s boss.”
The whipping breaks something in Clarence’s soul. He plans his escape, along with George and Elijah, heading north by the North Star until they come to Camp Wool in Athens, Ohio and finds a surprising “safe haven.”
*Fifty years later, his grandson Daniel Davis has made a good life for himself as a coal miner in nearby Perry County, but he longs for more, to run a restaurant with his grandfather. Then he meets Penelope Sutton, a cultured white governess, who tips his life upside down.
*Jerry McQuade, a disciple of Fred Hunt, also has his eye on Penelope, unaware that she is enamored of Daniel. He wields a hammer and saw but his real “project” is to win over Penelope.
*The Markham legend continues into WWI.
In a panorama that spans six decades, the reader learns about sleepy Somerset, Ohio, the mines of Congo, and the turmoil that churns beneath the surface.
$18
Other Fabulous Novels 

God Rest Ye Deadly  $20.00  

While the rest of Sarasota readied itself for Christmas, one man crept away from the bloody bodies of a famly of three, knowing he would carry his burden of guilt forever.

Sheriff Russell Baylor carried a burden as well, knowing this crime would haunt hin, fearing it may possibly never be solved.

This 1959 murder mystery is lush with description of the Gulf Coast as it was in its earlier days, and with a revealing look at law enforcement in the 50s, it demonstrates that even with the limitations of the day and place, some lawmen dedicate their lives to catching the most illusive of criminals.

The Mourning of Amalie   $20.00

The Mourning of Amalie is a murder mystery solved by the ghost of the murdered woman and her much-alive great-niece. It offers a charming glimpse into 1915 McArthur, Ohio, a quaint logging town, and into two fascinating women and a man who, by all rights, shouldn’t be allies, let alone friends. Jessie White, a first-generation black housewife and Mariah Soloman, a middle-class white schoolteacher, unite when both receive visits from Amalie. Septuagenarian Jack Carey witnessed the crime in 1865 and doesn’t know it until Mariah drags him into her investigation. This unorthodox team solves the crime in a manner which will keep you turning pages. Historically accurate, the novel blends captivating fictional characters with true issues, which include the dangers of coal mining and the horrors of racial prejudice.

The Tail of the Comet   $12.00

Mothers and daughters often have a difficult relationship, even a love-hate competitiveness. This memoir examines that most fundamental of emotions, maternal love, from the perspective of the writer’s senior years, darkened by the sudden, traumatic death of her mother while the writer was still in her teens. Never getting to say goodbye or to make amends for hurts has led the writer to a skewed analysis of all relationships and a minimizing of all accomplishments, as if viewed through a cloudy window.

The Magician’s Wake $16.00

Meet Libby Markham and her Kenny, whole intense, touching clandestine love affair spans several decades and four marriages—none of them theirs.  In a series of independently themed vignettes woven together with nostalgia reminiscent of “Summer of ’42,” the lovers grapple with his crippling Catholic conscience which rips them apart repeatedly, just to find their way back to their “Thorn Birds”-style romance.

Told by the brilliant but painfully vulnerable Libby, with brutal honesty tempered with wit and astute observation, the reader travels forward and backward in time, watching Libby’s character develop from childhood spent on the University of Minnesota campus, influenced first by her powerful “magical” single mother who leaves Libby orphaned in her teens to find her own magic, and later by the complex, contradictory and stormy Kenny Lawrence whose obsession with his entry to Heaven while amassing an astounding fortune leaves Libby roiling in his wake.