Bøger udgivet af Story Merchant Books

William G. Borchert's inspiring and courageous memoir probing the intimate details of a family devastated by the disease of alcoholism, and blessed by recovery. Borchert wrote the screenplay of My Name Is Bill W, the most-watched television movie ever made. "I am a fan of neither pain nor discomfort which is what this effort of disgorging the past entailed," Borchert reports. "But some very good friends finally convinced me over a period of time that sharing my own experiences in addition to the generous input from those in my family closest to me could offer hope to other alcoholics and show families devastated by the disease that there is a way out. In an age when there are still more than 44,000,000 alcoholics affecting at least eight others around them, over 200,000,000 people are looking for help. That is a plague. My personal experience with this disease proves there is help available as well as a pathway to a new life beyond their wildest dreams." The author of eight books and producer of other successful films, Borchert not only wrote the Bill W story about the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous, starring James Woods, James Garner and JoBeth Williams but also the highly acclaimed movie, When Love Is Not Enough, about the founding of Al-Anon, starring Winona Ryder and Barry Pepper. The author and screenwriter said his new book was by its very nature even more difficult to write.

Sex, Drugs, and the Rock 'n Roll of dysfunction are on the docket of Bronx Family Court, the busiest family court in NYC. Schwartz the Lawyer fights for justice for families in that court while struggling with personal demons that place his own family at risk. In the cross-hairs of this tragi-comedic novel are the minions of the Children's Best Interest Industrial Complex: the judges, lawyers, caseworkers, social workers, therapists, and litigants who populate Bronx Family Court. Bronx Stagger rises from the ashes of Tom Wolfe's Bonfire of the Vanities to dramatize the inner life of the denizens of The Bronx behind the sealed doors of the courtrooms. With his libido in overdrive, Schwartz is looking for love in all the wrong courtrooms. Immersed in the dysfunctional dance of sex and violence that permeates the Family Court milieu, Schwartz is conflicted by his flagging idealism, nagging conscience and the dulling of his skills against the miasma of mediocrity and C.Y.A. culture that infuses the Family Court/Foster Care System. Accused of sex abuse and domestic violence, Schwartz travels the continuum from apathetic lawyer to outraged litigant as his family is drawn into the Court's vortex of passion. A diverse ensemble of colleagues, clients, and cohorts inhabit the landscape of this novel, each with their own story to tell. The humor ranges from dark to echoes of vaudeville. The tragedy is, well, pretty tragic. The soundtrack of Schwartz's tale is provided courtesy of his infatuation with a star-crossed scion of the Bronx, the Late, Great Bobby Darin. The temporal frame of the novel is the final months of the Twentieth Century, with the horrors of the next century stored like floats in a parade, waiting to be inflated and unfurled.

1935. Roz Lhulier and his team unearth the massive tomb of Pakal, the greatest Mayan king. It's the discovery of the century, they think. They're wrong. Instead, deep in the pyramid that holds the seventh-century ruler, hides a primitive Codex, a book of prophecy, predicting the collapse of the solar system. Raising the question, "Does the world end?" The codex is deciphered by Alan Turing, the genius who broke the German's Enigma Code during WWII, but its message is jealously guarded by the Astronomers, a lethal cult inside the Catholic Church. They've compromised or killed anyone with knowledge of the secret--presidents and prime ministers, for starters. The Codex pulls Noah Scott into its deadly orbit, a physician-turned reporter, and his partner Kate. When they investigate the murder and memoirs of DiShannia, a highly precocious teenager who's achieved national recognition for her research on the demise of the Mayan civilization, Kate and Noah are led from Washington DC, to the British Museum, to the Center for Nuclear Research in Geneva, to Melbourne, Australia. Each step enlightens them, offers them clues, frightens them. And us. The Potter's Tale weaves two strands of the novel--the Codex and its rich human stories--with another, creating an unsettling narrative DNA. This third strand involves the Potter, who crafts the story. And the genes that craft us all. Does the world end? The Potter knows the answer. Noah, Kate discover it. We learn it too--on the last page.

Lonely and dissatisfied with eternity, Zaki Raxa Palo is an immortal seer from the golden age of the Toltecs, the time during the emergence of the great Lord Quitzalcuat. He is alive today because of the arcane secrets he learned. He describes the first twelve days of his instruction in the esoteric as they occurred thousands of years ago, when the tight knot of immortality was unraveled before him and he was taught to wrap it around himself. Although he is a prince with a questionable birthright, once he hits puberty the learned seers and sorcerers around him seize upon the moment as they groom him for kingship. Suddenly, Zaki is forced to learn and take notice of the world around him; no longer can he be the isolated and lazy boy he was. Accompanied by his pet, Chahel, an orphaned jaguar, he is led into the reality of myth. The lead instructor of wisdom, the Cabicacmotz, introduces him to the frightening practices of the Toltecs. Who knew that awareness could dwell in one's shadow? Zaki has seen a few games of Bateh, the deadly ball-game, but he has never seen it as it is meant to be played, where intent can propel the ball towards the goal and defeat can be complete. On the day of the Festival of Adults, a private affair within the tribe, he sees the royal team upon the grand ball court. The Cabicacmotz leads him around the festival to receive omens from different groups he must learn from. The Chuchmox will teach him gazing, the sneaky Etamanel Evan will make him smoke a spiky plant, the Balam Ch'Ab will show him how to transform himself into a jaguar, he will learn to play Bateh with The Jaguars, and the strange Ahtoobalvar will show him how to fly over mountains in a new body. Fate has conspired against little Zaki. His instructor, the Cabicacmotz has the ability to set Zaki's hair on fire and he just might become his brother-in-law. Worst of all, the Cabicacmotz can read his mind and rifle through it at ease. How does one only think good thoughts? It's a trick worth learning when one's hair is on the line. Being a boy was a luxury, no one paid any attention to Zaki. Now he is counted as a man, it seems, and all of the tribe knows his business. Disappear once while trying to gaze at one's shadow and everyone hears about it. They even think he might have been transported away by the Xibalbans, the denizens of the underworld. Zaki can't understand what all the fuss is about. He doesn't understand that it's best never to be noticed by those beings. Now he is under constant observation. The only good thing that has happened is that Zaki now has friends. Only the noble-born children get to learn the arts or those who have been pointed out by omens. Two brothers, Hac and Cham, of the lowest caste are chosen to learn alongside Zaki. Quiet Hac and the cocky Cham are the only boys who are confident or stupid enough to befriend the prince. At least Zaki no longer feels invisible and unworthy. Friends can make all the difference. Not everything is going well in the tribe, however. Spies have delivered devastating news to the Toltecs. Once, long ago, the Toltecs rebelled against false gods and their followers within the tribe. They thought they had destroyed them all, but now they know that is not so. The idolaters have thrived and they are forcing the tribes around them into subjugation. Do their gods still exist? No one knows. They only know that they must be stopped and war is in the air. No matter what, though, he is still going to have to learn all that his teachers demand. He'll have to wear a navel stone, practice dreaming, smoke things that make him think oddly, learn where his sense of self is at all times, live with purpose, and discover that the childhood stories of his tribe contain incomprehensible and esoteric truths. The world is much more mysterious than he ever imagined...

THE YEAR IS 2030. IN A DRAMATIC, final attempt to free her inner demons, twenty-year-old Daniela Delgado tempts fate and winds up on a strange farm in 1923. With an olive complexion due to her Mexican/Italian heritage and a fresh pixie cut, she is mistaken for a "boy of color." Her only shot at survival now is to play it cool, pose as "Danny," and figure out how to get back home to her two, loving moms. And then she meets Daphne-an abused, motherless farm girl in desperate need of freedom and a friend. Having escaped Daphne's father, the two of them are now roaming the streets of New York City disguised as a young aristocrat and her male servant. They're running out of money, and ideas. And Daniela thought living in 2030 was tough. But her solar powered smart phone works. And there's someone within range. She pings them. A selfie of an attractive male comes in with the text: I'm Lain. Who the f--- are you? Even in that moment, Daniela knows this can't be safe, but what are her choices? They meet Lain at a speakeasy on the Lower East Side. When Daniela reveals her last name, Lain says the only Delgado he knows is Anaya-the head of the Santa Muerte Coven of witches in Merida, Mexico. And then he hints that Daniela is a liar, even though she rocks a man's three-piece suit like no woman he's ever met. And as for her tattoos? Don't get Lain started.... Despite the intrigue, Daniela adds Lain to the list of folks Daphne and she must outrun to stay alive. But as they plan their trip to Mexico, they soon discover that list is much longer than they thought. And they uncover a few other things, too, about Daniela's true identity....

"When I landed in California in 1989, I followed the rest of the passengers to baggage claim. There, one woman caught my attention. I knew she was my mother, even though I hadn't seen her since I was three. When our eyes met, she knew who I was, too. The closer I got, the colder and more distant the space between us became. This was my first memory in my new world, my first jolt of freedom."The pain and shame and worthlessness that I experienced when I escaped the Children of God cult at fourteen became something of a self-fulfilling prophecy. I was derivative of the abuse and severe neglect I had suffered since birth. And so was my brother, Michael. We were born second-generation Children of God cult members and had known no other life. Our father was devoted to the organization and was abusive both physically and emotionally, and our mother had parted ways with him when we were just two and three. Adults had started experimenting sexually with us by the time we were ten and eleven. We had been brainwashed to believe our leader, "Moses David," was to be followed without question. We read the Bible daily; we read "Mo Letters" about rape and hell and the fate of "backsliders"-people who went against the cult. We were told that horrible things would happen to us if we left. Our subconscious minds ruled our behaviors once we entered the real world, the "Whore," as the C.O.G. called America. Deluded as we were, we backslid into our own demise. I started experimenting with drugs, alcohol, and sex. I attempted suicide. Yet, I still managed to graduate from high school with the help of my aunt and uncle. By that point, however, my mother and stepfather said I was an adult, and so I was left to figure out how to exist on my own. I had no understanding of the big world. I had no useful social skills or any skills. I didn't even know how to drive. I lived with one boyfriend until he realized I was an empty soulless human shell, and then I'd move onto the next. After spending several years on the streets in Hollywood, I ended up wandering Venice Beach for a few months. I would stare at the ocean longingly, begging for it to take me home. It was so beautiful, and I was nothing. Then one day, a couple police officers found me standing on the median of a Freeway down in Santa Monica. They took me in and I spent a year in a mental institution recovering. And then I was released.I was up north again, wandering around San Francisco. This was in 1998. I was at a gas station. My brother walked up. I hadn't seen him in years. His smile was as magnetic as ever. He saw the tracks in my arms and asked me to please stop hurting myself. He bought me a burrito, said I was too thin. I wanted to be better for Michael and myself, so, I went to the Children of God cult in San Francisco-to recover in the safety of the only arms I'd known as a child. But my story doesn't stop there....To imagine a happy ending with a life like mine seems impossible. They wanted to take away my body, my soul, my choices, and my voice. But, the one thing they did not anticipate was that I would find within myself the strength of will to do more than just survive. And the gift of will would become mine.

"A unique combination of carefully researched material and breathless adventure story," Book, Bones & Buffy. LIMITED TIME SPECIAL OFFER PRICETo what lengths would the Vatican go to suppress the secret origins of its power? A renowned priest is killed in Rome. A Roman coin is recovered from a wreck off the coast of ancient Judea. It's up to a young American Jesuit priest and a vivacious, brilliant, female archaeologist to connect these seemingly disparate events and unravel the greatest mystery of all. Together they pursue their passion for truth, while fighting to control their passion for each other. What they uncover is an ancient Roman imperial stratagem so controversial the Vatican fears it could undermine the foundations of the Catholic faith. From the ancient port of Caesarea to Rome's legendary catacombs and the sacred caves of Cumae, this straight from the headlines thriller follows their quest to uncover the truth about the historical existence of the real "Christ Savior."Essential Reading for fans of Dan Brown or James Rollins.

Rat Pack Party Girl: From Prostitute to Women's Advocate is the gutsy and wrenching story of former Rat Pack high-roller and sex-trade survivor Jane McCormick. Not only does she reveal her 1960s sexcapades with Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Peter Lawford, Vic Damone, Sam Snead, Arnold Palmer, Jerry Lewis, Bill Frawley and other celebrities, she also details her molestation by an abusive stepfather and the too-young marriage that led to her addiction to the "big money" of high-roller prostitution in Las Vegas. She survived a dangerous abortion, seedy silicone injections, years of pill popping, and the harassment of her abusive "old man," all on a long and hard journey down a road of self-discovery. At the end of that road, she was finally able to realize her self-worth and obtain what she wanted all along: happiness fueled by the discovery of her true sexual identity as a gay woman, which has resulted in the comfort of experiencing real love in her now twenty-two year relationship.McCormick tells her story not to titillate but to educate both women and men about the life of selling sex, and to help younger women decide not to enter prostitution, to show them that getting out is way harder than getting in, and to give hope for escape to those who've already fallen victim. She envisions changes in federal and local laws regarding the sex-trade industry as well as a place where prostituting women can find the refuge and the help they need to put their lives in order.

SONS OF MY FATHERS intertwines two dramatic stories--the heroic saga of 19-year-old Ulysses Simpson, who joins wit his father Baylis to protect their family as the American Civil War rages around them; and the true story of another young Simpson man six generations later who follows the family tradition of service to the country and enlists in the military at the height of the Vietnam War. In 1864, Baylis Simpson is a sharecropper whose North Georgia farm stands on a line between General Sherman's Army and Kennesaw Mountain, the "Gibraltar of the South" that is the Confederacy's last hope of stopping the destruction of Atlanta. When "hell comes to Georgia," Baylis's youngest daughter suffers a horrifying tragedy that sets Baylis and Ulysses on a course of revenge, a decision that will forever change the destiny of their clan. One hundred years later, when Baylis's descendant Ron Simpson is assigned to fly a Huey gunship as a U.S. Army pilot, he fights a personal war within himself over whether to keep a century-old family oath. Ron's fateful decision forces him to confront his family's past and risk sacrificing his own future. Deeply personal and compellingly written, SONS OF MY FATHERS is an evocative journey into the author's family history and the universal themes central to is--the bonds of family and star-crossed love, duty versus faith, the true nature of patriotism and conscience in war, and the turbulent end of innocence. Rich in emotional textures, this multi-generational saga is a transformative and timeless coming-of-age narrative.

What seems like one lucky day quickly trigger a series of unimaginable horrors for Strider, an unassuming hiker fresh off the Appalachian trail. In his panicked search for his missing fiancée, he finds himself trapped at Winter's Farm, a popular hiker destination with a kooky owner and mysterious disappearances. But a foreboding electric fence stymies his desperate escape.

Lishan has just infuriated her editor's circle of unscrupulous friends. The idealistic journalist's Truth Be Known series publicly airs and consequently threatens the lifestyles of several dangerous and powerful men in Washington--a list that includes an extravagant senator who enjoys perks from those in power, the food and drug CEO Jack Conner, and the FDA Commissioner. But all are invested in concealing their corruption, no matter the cost. Lishan's daring activism puts her life on the line, forcing her to enlist the aid of a trusted few: a flamboyant scientist at the FDA; a former professor who has a passion for her and who cannot control his jealousy; an author unjustly incarcerated for previously publishing the misdeeds of Conner and the FDA; and her aunt, who has guarded over and mentored Lishan following the murder of her parents when she was a child. She finds herself threatened not only by her editor and the recipients of pointed remarks on the exposé, but also by the U.S. Attorney, the senator's legal council, and the CEO's henchmen--all determined to maintain the public's ignorance. Mix in the chaos from the men in her personal life who expose her weaknesses and strengths, and the complications in Lishan's life exceed what she thought was possible. Still, justice for the people is her driving force, no matter the risks to her life.

Shashtah thinks he has everything figured out. To prevent his new Dragon, the Prophetess of Tphah, from dying the way his first Dragon, the Phrophetess of Tkai had, he simply has to go through the secret ritual at the Anvil that the Dragonriders of Dumnonia call "The Training." But the new Dragonlord, KAshon, has no experience in training a normal Pair let alone such an unusual one as Shashtah and Tphah. Plus Kashon's magic is not that of the Dumnonians; he wields the power of the Wizards of Corin.Designed by his god to be a conduit for magic, Shashtah quickly finds wizards and deities channeling a confusing array of power through him that his young Prophetess is unable to help him control. That suits the Dark One just fine. He lurks inside the shadows of Mount Cinnamar, waiting for the perfect time to add that one last bit of magic to the mix that will forge Shashtah into the most destructive weapon Centuria has ever known: The Dragon Sun.

In April of 1798, Napoleon appoints Lieutenant Charles MacDonald, a nineteen-year-old graduate geographical engineer, to be the pathfinder for his personal Brigade of Guides during the invasion of Egypt. Charles was born in Virginia during the American Revolution and was educated in France, a graduate of L''Ecole Polytechnique and a postgraduate of L''Ecole des Ponts.But agents of the British Secret Service who are trying to undermine the invasion of Egypt interfere in Charles''s journey on a number of occasions by attempting to rob the mail coaches he is accompanying.In response, General Bonaparte assigns Charles''s father, the blind General James MacDonald, his confidant and instructor in engineering and mapmaking at L''Ecole Militaire more than a decade earlier, to head a secret section investigating the British and these crimes. What they uncover is an abandoned convent in Paris being used as a headquarters--with 3.5 million francs in gold hidden in its walls.