Bøger af Steve Bartholomew

San Francisco, 1906. Broderick McRae, reporter for the Morning Call, has discovered he's two people. A different person inhabits his mind and body. The Other is a dead Italian soldier named Abramo. He tells McRae they are both on a mission to save the city. Their task involves a murdered opera singer and a killer on the loose. There's also Enrico Caruso, who's coming to town. McRae doesn't even like opera.Worse yet, McRae's dear wife Julianna has just left him. After all this, things start getting complicated.

Sometimes murder happens in broad daylight. In 1877 a man is stabbed on a San Francisco streetcar, but no one sees it happen.Georg Vintner is the Driver. He finds himself suspected of the crime because there's no one else to pin it on. The victim is from a wealthy family, and the DA wants a conviction. The Driver needs to find the killer and prove his own innocence. It's either that or hang.Genevieve Sutliff is the only other known witness, but she didn't see the killer. The Driver finds himself personally involved with her, to his own surprise and confusion. Mrs. Sutliff, a recent widow, discovers herself equally confused. She will do anything to save her Driver, even if it means telling him some dark secrets.The Driver must unravel this web of deception and crime before it's too late. His other choices are to run, leaving all behind, or to let them hang him. Now read the tale and travel to a time that haunts us yet today.

Ira Beard book three. Ira Beard only wants to see the Mojave Desert and a silver mine. He finds instead evil and deceit, and must fight for his life. As a former policeman, he believes in justice and protecting the innocent. He knows if he runs he won't be able to face himself. Ira has young Andrew Grinder to back him up. Andrew wants to work as a desert guide. Instead he runs head-on into Ira's need for justice. He likes playing cards and knows how to cheat, but like Ira he despises cheaters. If Ira loses his game against a crooked mine owner he's likely to die. And so will other people. Read the book to see how an honest man plays in a crooked contest.

Waters of Doubt, third tale in the DiPaolo trilogy, a novella. Theodore Roosevelt has invited Martino DiPaolo to an exciting vacation in the Brazilian rain forest. The trip nearly proves the last of both men, as well as the rest of the expedition. They have chosen to follow the course of an unmapped river, the River de Duvidas, River of Doubt. But DiPaolo is shown an ancient, secret world.Meanwhile at home, DiPaolo's arch enemy Kwanyin Luk is hatching his own plans. He has created the greatest confidence game of his career: the di Paolo estate con. He is making millions of dollars and can't be touched. Then he decides to go after DiPaolo himself, with a gun.

San Francisco, 1880: Driver, after a year at sea, returns to the city, only to be shot down and nearly killed. The main suspect? A mysterious Russian known only as The Scratch. It's up to Driver's wife Genevieve to hunt him down, since the cops seem with clues. With Driver still recovering from wounds, things can only get worse when Robert, the ex cabin boy, is abducted. Where is The Scratch, and what of the shadowy figure known only as Mr. Smith?

Sometimes you go after a bandit and find something different.Ira Beard signed on as bounty hunter. He's going after Joaquin Murietta, the worst desperado in California. The reward is one inducement. Another is that his reputation as a lawman is on the line. Trying to find Joaquin, he learns some people think he's a hero, not a badman. Ira needs to see for himself, even if it means a gun fight.Octavia de LaLuz has met Joaquin. She's not sure if he's hero or villain. She will save Ira Beard's life three times. She knows the country needs heros but will never run out of bad men. Octavia wants to bring life to a land of sudden death. She will not let Ira go any more than he can let go Joaquin. The question remains, whose head will end in a pickle jar?Now read the book and travel to a time past, which haunts us yet today.

Sometimes only a liar can reveal the truth.San Francisco, 1880. Jeremy Fantom dislikes his job as reporter for The Bulletin. He dreams of joining a circus or going to sea. That all changes when he meets Worrell the inventor. Worrell has a machine that will run forever without fuel. Or so he claims. Jeremy soon finds himself involved in city politics, crime, swindling and riots. Then the inventor's daughter is kidnapped. Jeremy embarks on a mission to rescue her and see justice done.Miss Hollyhock is Worrell's daughter. Devoted to her father, she befriends Jeremy and reveals some of Worrell's secrets to him. She hints that powerful circles in New York are intent on suppressing her father's inventions. Jeremy Fantom writes articles for his paper about some of the wonders he has witnessed. Then he begins to have doubts, until Hollyhock disappears. He soon learns that the line between truth and humbug is not always clear cut.Now read the book and travel to a time past, which haunts us yet today.

1901: Pinkerton op Martino DiPaolo is working as bodyguard. He's guarding the Hong Kong consul general and family on their voyage to San Francisco aboard the S.S. City of Rio de Janeiro. The consul's in a hurry to get to the U.S. president's inauguration. That's because he know of a threat on the president's life. There's also a threat against the consul. DiPaolo has failed once before. He fears he may fail again. Meanwhile, the man assigned to kill the president is alone and running loose. And the Rio is running late. Who succeeds or fails in this race against death?

Sometimes real sanity is found only in a mad house. San Francisco, 1879: Georg Vintner, A.K.A the Driver, has returned after two years at sea only to discover the woman he loves is still confined to the lunatic asylum. Only by rescuing her, can he discover if he wants a life with her. Only then can he learn the truth. Wealthy investor, Nathan Foster Casco, must keep that woman locked away. She is Genevieve Sutliff, confessed murderer, and if she gets loose, she will interfere with his schemes - or so he believes. Driver finds himself deep in the middle of plot and intrigue, trying to unravel Casco's tangled web of lies, save the woman he loves, and gain true justice for Murphy - the slain stagecoach teamster. If he fails, everyone will lose. And then there's the matter of the teamster's ghost... Sometimes the murdered refuse to stay dead.

Hiram Courtenay and his wife Lisbeth have lived in San Francisco since it was Yerba Buena. They have some strange stories to tell. If you would like to hear some, they're short enough to read while waiting for your horse drawn street car.

San Francisco, 1877. I'm Georg Vintner, sailor man. I grew weary of the terrors and dangers of life at sea, so I went ashore. I took work as a streetcar driver in the City, so folks called me Driver. All went well until a man got himself murdered on my watch. I was soon suspected of the crime. Either I discovered the real killer, or I could find myself in the hangman's noose.My peaceful life as Driver ended, as I got caught up in a round of swindlers, thieves, corruption, graft, and sometimes killers. Worse yet, I was in love with a mad woman. How do I spring her from the Asylum? And what of that ghost of the dead stagecoach driver?After that, it all starts getting complicated. Come and join me in Old San Francisco, as I discover life in the City can be more dangerous than the sea.

Sometimes you need a woman's touch to drill through solid granite.Geraldine Halloran resolved not to be terrified. She signed on as telegraph operator, one of only two women at Tunnel 6, a railroad tunnel to join the continent. . It will be like nothing else in the world. It will be over 1600 feet long, at 7000 feet altitude. It will need nitroglycerin and more than ten thousand Chinese laborers. It will need courage. Geraldine needs courage in the face of explosions, landslides, and blizzards. Then she realizes someone is trying to sabotage the railroad and kill the man she's fallen in love with.Stetson Applegate is that man. He deserted from the Confederate Army because he prefers building to fighting. Now he thinks he knows who is trying to stop the railroad. He came to California to work. He discovers he will have to fight, because some ideas are too great for surrender.Now travel to a time past, which haunts us yet today.

Sometimes a magic lute is more than a magic lute.Minions of an evil ogre have stolen Rymer the troubadour's lute. The lute's name is Ariella. Rymer needs her for his livelihood. He thinks of Ariella as Her, not It. In fact he believes his lute is his wife. He sets off to find the ogre and recover Ariella. He will encounter Swine Girl, who will help him. But he first must pass by the Black Duke and Castle Grey, where Swine Girl's brother is held captive. How will he get past the castle and find his ogre? The Black Duke stands in Rymer's way. No one knows where he came from, or the source of his power. He has taken Castle Grey for his own, and drained all color from it. He throws Rymer in the deepest dungeon, next to Swine Girl's brother. The troubadour has only a single dragon's scale to help him escape. Where is he to find an army to overthrow the Duke?If Rymer should fail in his mission he will not see Ariella again, and Castle Grey shall be buried in gloom forever. Now travel to an imaginary time past, which haunts us yet today.

Sometimes you bring your own gold when you travel to the gold rush. Marcus Gale wanted only to get out of New York. Now he's bound to California and the Land of Gold. He means to get there even if it means shoveling coal all the way. He's taken a job as stoker on a steamship, without knowing what a stoker does. He finds himself caught up in a conspiracy to take over the ship, robbery, mayhem, and a pirate attack. Marcus decides his main goal is to get to California alive. He doesn't know he's destined to carry gold. Alouette Thorndyke is also aboard the ship. She's beautiful and rich, or claims she is. Marcus doesn't realize she's about to get him involved with swindling, chaos and mutiny. Nor that she is about to save his life. Marcus dreams of getting rich in California, but the journey is long from Inferno to Paradise.Now read the book and travel to a time past, which haunts us yet today.

They say Bradshaw's crazy just because he talks to his cat and eats roadkill. They say that's why he was kicked out of MIT. He knows better, but he's not saying. Now he's come across a Government secret, a super weapon. Who can he trust to share it with? There are all these agents running around looking for it. To make matters worse a beautiful woman turns up seeking revenge. Now even the Sheriff is worried and there are rumors the President himself might be coming to calm the hysteria. This whole thing could be embarrassing. Take a look inside these pages and see what a tangled web we weave!

Sometimes only a fraud and swindler can reveal the truth.Liam O'Malley gives up on the California gold rush. Instead he gets a job photographing ghosts and spirits. Of course the pictures are all fake. He's happy in his job, until he meets Delia, the most beautiful spirit medium on Earth. He falls in love, and then finds out there are people in town who oppose his pictures, among other things. Liam finds himself caught up in a conspiracy he never dreamed existed. The enemy doesn't want only to stop him photographing haunts. They want to own the whole city.Delia makes her living fooling those who wish to be fooled. She knows it's dishonest, but it does no harm and makes people happy. Delia thinks she has problems enough, with her family secrets and strange parents. When she meets Liam she's introduced to a new game of life and real death.Now travel to a time past, which haunts us yet today.

Sometimes a man must change even his name if he wants to change his life.Black Bart has had enough of crime. He's done his time in prison. Now he decides to disappear and seek out an old silver claim a friend gave him years ago. He finds out disappearing isn't that easy. His lover Magdalena wants to come with him. So does the man who put him in prison. Black Bart, AKA Charles Boles, heads to Nevada to seek his fortune. He's staking his future on one last roll of the dice.Black Bart hasn't counted on Jason Sutliffe reappearing from his past. Sutliffe is the main reason Bart has come to hate Wells Fargo. The last time they met, Sutliffe took everything. Now he wants to take Bart's future. Sutliffe wants that silver mine.Charles Boles/Black Bart was a real person. It's true he disappeared. This story is not true, it's a fantasy about where he might have gone and what he might have done. It's all a lie. I hope you enjoy the story.Now read the book and travel to a time past, which haunts us yet today.

McRae, reporter for the San Francisco Call, awakens one morning in 1906 to find he is two people. Another mind inhabits his brain, that of a dead Italian soldier. The soldier wants to avenge his own murder. He also bears a warning of coming disaster to the city. As if it couldn't get worse, McRae's wife has left him. Two more spirits await. The first is a ghost of the living, a live woman in a coma. She begs McRae to save her life. And next comes an actual demon. Or is it a demigod? As if an earthquake and fire were not enough. This trio of stories is the complete McRae series.

Sometimes you look for peace and find war.The Civil War finds California. Ira Beard volunteers to defend the Union. Instead of traveling east he's sent to bring down a Rebel who has been robbing gold mines. Ira believes in honor and a righteous cause. When he gets wind of a plot to rob the San Francisco mint, he knows he has a war on his hands. When he learns his wife Octavia is held hostage, he really gets mad.Octavia de LaLuz, Ira's wife, is determined to help whether he knows it or not. She decides to become a double agent, spying for both North and South. Playing a dangerous game, she feeds false information to the Rebels and reports back to her Union handler. When the Confederates take her hostage she wonders if maybe she's in over her head. Read the book and travel to a time past, which haunts us yet today.

The only path to safety is through the most dangerous place in this world. Men pursue Benjamin for his wild talent, which he doesn't understand. His path will lead him to imprisonment, to a lesbian biker chick, a gypsy, and a certified lunatic. Among his allies is a woman from another world. His enemy wants his lunch money. Now come on a journey to the Chapel Perilous.

This is a collection of trunk tales. A trunk tale is a story which I dug out of my trunk. I wrote it years ago, it didn't get published, so I filed it away in my trunk and forgot about it. Recently I began winnowing my papers and found several that I think are not too bad. The first story, "Cheops," I first published as a stand alone short. It's now included. Cheops is an angry elephant, and you can't blame him. The other stories are a varied mix, from love to horror. I hope you will read them and decide they are not too bad.Steve

When Geraldine Halloran arrives at the Central Pacific end of track in the winter of 1866, she's resolved not to be terrified. After all, she has a right to be there. She was hired on as regular telegraph operator, though they thought they were hiring a man. She's the only other woman at Tunnel 6, except for Mrs. Strobridge, the superintendent's wife. Tunnel 6 was said by some to be impossible. Nothing like it had ever been done. It was to be a railroad tunnel linking California with Nevada, over 1700 feet long and 6000 feet altitude, dug through solid granite using black powder, nitroglycerin, and more than 5000 Chinese laborers.Geraldine was to discover many things to terrify. There were explosions, landslides and blizzards. However there were some compensations. She got to run her own telegraph key, without being required to wear corsets. And then there was that nice, funny looking boy, Stetson Applegate, whom she might, perhaps, fall in love with. And then a third woman showed up, a strange lady named Georgette Dupriest. Though she claimed to be writing a book, no one could quite understand why she was at a railroad camp. Georgette did seem quite taken by that nice gentleman, Mr. Asa Turner. Geraldine begins to have second thoughts when it gradually becomes clear that someone is trying to sabotage the railroad. And also trying to kill the man she loves.If you read this book, secrets may be revealed.

Sometimes finding the truth can reveal more than you want to know. Dana Reynolds came to Nevada after losing his job in San Francisco. Now he's a newspaper reporter assigned to investigate this so-called Indian prophet, Wovoka. Along the way, he learns some things about corrupt Indian agents. That knowledge earns him a beating, and makes him mad. Now he's more determined than ever to find out if Wovoka is another swindler, or a prophet. And he wants to know the connection between him and the white men robbing Indians. Wovoka is teaching his tribe some dangerous ideas - Don't lie, cheat or steal, and try to get along with the Whites. He will become Dana's instructor without Dana knowing it. Dana knows only that if he can not arrive at the truth and tell it, he must return to the kind of life he no longer wants. His search will lead him to a vision of ultimate horror. Now travel to a time past, which haunts us yet today.

Hyram and Lisbeth have been living in San Francisco since it was called Yerba Buena. They have been here long enough to meet some strange and sometimes desperate folks. Hyram likes telling their stories. He hopes you will like reading them. The tales are short enough to read while waiting for your horse-drawn streetcar. The first one is about a starving boy who turned up one morning looking for work.

San Francisco, 1880. Jeremy Fantom dislikes his job as reporter for The Bulletin. He dreams of joining a circus or going to sea. That all changes when he meets Worrell the inventor. Worrell has a machine that will run forever without fuel. Or so he claims. Jeremy soon finds himself involved in city politics, crime, swindling and riots. Then the inventor's daughter is kidnapped. Jeremy embarks on a mission to rescue her and see justice done. Miss Hollyhock is Worrell's daughter. Devoted to her father, she befriends Jeremy and reveals some of Worrell's secrets to him. She hints that powerful circles in New York are intent on suppressing her father's inventions. Jeremy Fantom writes articles for his paper about some of the wonders he has witnessed. Then he begins to have doubts, until Hollyhock disappears. He soon learns that the line between truth and humbug is not always clear cut.

Here it is, my newest tale, The Driver. It concerns a streetcar driver by name of Georg Vintner. Georg was born in Norway, came to the U.S. at a young age and went to sea. Somehow he washed ashore in San Francisco in 1877. He has given up the sea and now drives a tram. These days most streetcars are pulled by horses. Georg's job is not an easy one. He works a 16 hour shift, six days a week. The horses don't have it much better, though they only work four or five hours a day. They last about five years on the job. That's bad enough, but now a man is murdered on Georg's car, in the middle of a riot. Georg is suspected of the killing, for lack of anyone else to blame it on. Now he finds himself with the job of trying to solve the murder. I think this book is my first murder mystery, though I'm not sure about that. With most other mysteries, the detective actually solves the crime. Read the tale, and you decide.

Sometimes the only path to sanity is through madness. San Francisco, 1859. Joshua Norton, desperate to survive, sees madness overtaking America. He has lost his fortune and believes the country is losing its mind. In a flash of insight, he finds the answer to both problems. He will become Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico. He will issue proclamations to make things right.Now imagine young Marina. She wants only to sing. Because she allows Joshua into her theater she allows him into her life. Soon she is caught up into the madness of Civil War, a conflict making no sense. In a world turned upside down, the insanity of Emperor Norton becomes her only anchor to Reason. And in defiance of death, there is new life.Read the book and travel to a time past, which haunts us yet today.

The only path to safety is through the most dangerous place in this world. Men pursue Benjamin for his wild talent, which he doesn't understand. His path will lead him to imprisonment, to a gay biker chick, a gypsy, and a certified lunatic. Among his allies is a woman from another world. His enemy wants his lunch money. Now come on a journey to the Chapel Perilous.

Liam O'Malley was just looking for an honest job. The California Gold Rush wasn't paying off for him, and he was tired of living in tents. In San Francisco he did find employment, but he wasn't sure how honest. He found himself assistant to a Daguerreotype photographer who specialized in photographing ghosts and departed spirits. Of course the pictures were all fake. Liam became sure of that when he learned to make the pictures himself. He didn't know he was about to get involved with Prince Susslov, self-appointed Witch Hunter. Or with Delia, daughter of an escaped slave and the most fascinating woman he'd ever met.

Nathaniel had his reasons for making his journey to Rhyolite. Rhyolite was the greatest boom town in the west, with a population of ten thousand and growing fast. Nathaniel hoped to find what had been taken from him-taken by the snallygaster, that old legend from the back hills of Maryland. Snallygaster was that four legged flying snake that would snatch away whatever you most valued when you turned your back. It took away Annabelle, the love of his life. At least, that was the way he felt. Now he was here in Rhyolite, to make his fortune, to find Annabelle-and to look up the man he had murdered back in Baltimore.