Bøger af Brian O'Donnell

Set against the backdrop of Colorado's recent historic legalization of marijuana, "A Life At High Altitude" is a departure from the typical stoner/dealer/smuggler fiction so commonly found in marijuana literature. "A Life At High Altitude" is an endearing, mature, philosophical story of one woman's life journey. Rosalie Sullivan grew up in a mountain ski town in the Colorado Rockies during the 1960's. Her brother is killed in the Vietnam War the very same year that Rosalie graduates from high school. Not long after receiving the news about her brother, her parents die in a car crash while returning from a ski outing. Devastated by the loss of both her brother and parents Rosalie is left facing life on her own. While working at the same ski resort that her parents had, she meets Preston Kane. Preston is on a corporate retreat with a group of chemical engineers working for the Ronsonto Chemical Corporation out of Saint Louis, Missouri. A brief fling with Preston leaves Rosalie pregnant, resulting in a marriage that takes her out of Colorado landing her in Saint Louis. However, the marriage ends quickly in divorce and a bitter child custody battle ensues, stripping her of all maternal rights and preventing her from ever contacting her three year old son again. A defeated, broken twenty-three year old Rosalie, not much more than a child herself, returns to Colorado alone. The year is 1969. Fast forward to the year 2014. The story opens with Rosalie's son, Jason, now a forty-seven year old man along with his wife Deborah on their way to Colorado to meet his estranged, biological mother for the first time in over forty years. He finds her in Apex, a small isolated town high in the mountains. Rosalie, a respected artist, is now in her late sixties and is battling cancer for which she takes medical marijuana, much to Jason's disapproval and initial disappointment. For her entire adult life Rosalie had hoped, beyond hope, that she would one day see her long lost son again. There are two sides to every story and the day has finally come for Rosalie to tell her's. Rosalie's story goes back to the Vietnam War, the peace movement, the 68 Chicago Riots and the part that the Ronsonto Chemical Corporation, now her son's employer, played in her divorce and the ensuing parental alienation that followed. "A Life At High Altitude" is a contemporary, heartwarming tale about how life just whisks you along, and living with the decisions one makes along the way.

Putrid streams that flow too slowly through a local wood, leaving puddles and pools of a hostile environment in its wake. Where children used to play is becoming desolate and lifeless. Even the trees are showing signs of ill health. But three children are determined to find out what ails Broadaxe Wood. Harry, Eric and Sam don't know how to tackle the problem, but they find an unusual ally in the form of a talking tree!

Raymond has just lost his immediate family in a horrific road smash. Once he has attended to the funerals (3) he is forced from his home and needs to find somewhere to live. Now an orphan, without family support, except for a crippled Grandmother, a twelve-year-old boy has to find a new home and a college to attend. He has passed his Eleven-Plus exams and ready for Grammar school. His Grandmother squeezes him into her council flat until a new opportunity occurs. He is offered a new home with large gardens and greenhouse close to a suitable college. After a number of years with hard labour he manages to put his life together with the help of his patron. Only long hours of work and study will get him through this scenario. His possible love-life has to be put on hold as he builds up a very lucrative business. His biggest challenges are with official (and officious) government officers and officials who try to take him down and finally even steal his properties and land holdings, to build a new by-pass road. He was cheated by his sweetheart and left alone again. Can Raymond rebuild his life, again.