From the author's introduction:Picture a book as a gateway to a new land and a book review as a tantalizing glimpse of it, a brief travel memoir of someone who has been there and come back. A large part of what makes life so thrilling is our appreciation of the interpretations of experiences that we find in books. So sit back in your favorite chair or couch or lie down on your bed or chaise lounge and dive in. Allow these reviews to assist you in your own literary explorations by g...

When a hitchhiker returning from an extended trip abroad in the early 1970s crosses the United States, he plunges into a dark, surrealistic, frightening landscape from which there seems to be no escape.After a worldwide plague has decimated their city, four children searching for sustenance enter a seemingly deserted mansion, only to find out that its owner, a madman seeking the alchemical secret to immortality, has modeled it after an elaborate ancient torture chamber.In t...

After a worldwide plague has decimated their city, four children searching for sustenance enter a seemingly deserted mansion, only to find out that its owner, a madman seeking the alchemical secret to immortality, has modeled it after an elaborate ancient torture chamber.

In the aftermath of the official cancellation of Medicare, Social Security, and other government welfare programs, a destitute senior is relegated to an internment camp for old folks. There he discovers that all is not as it seems, and the recalcitrant elders have some tricks up their sleeves that they can use to deal with the pitiless system that has banished them from its midst.

As a hospice at the edge of a futuristic battlefield is evacuated due to the encroaching enemy, the only remaining nurse decides to stay behind to receive one last arriving patient, who turns out to be a dying teenage girl. Due to the absence of anesthetizing medications, the nurse takes the wounded soldier into her private virtual reality, where she has to confront memories more painful than any physical injuries.

Long have the clandestine members of the Telepathic Guild assisted individuals, corporations, and governments by means of their unique skills. Guild Home functions as a headquarters and a refuge, and its strict regulations foster unity and discipline.In this linked series of stories, a guild member falls in love with an outsider and is faced with a life-changing decision; a group of young people rebel against the guild's stringent rules; a famous sports star discovers he is telepat...

When his mother sues him for his wasted life, a homeless man becomes a national phenomenon.

Ring the Bells That Still Can Ring is a raw, unfiltered, and deeply human memoir that blends spirituality, psychology, theater, football, and redemption into a remarkable journey of self-discovery.Author Richard J. Walters, a former West Virginia University football player, lawyer, and stage actor, opens his life with brutal honesty-sharing his battles with mental health, faith, failure, and the re...

It is the late 1960s...What better place than prison to recruit psychopathic killers? So thinks Benny, possessed by a thousand alien entities which he intends to share around with the other inmates before unleashing hell on Earth in the form of a murderous rampage. Only William Stafford, a Vietnam War veteran unjustly convicted of killing a girlfriend, can stop him. But to do so he has to break back into the prison he has just escaped from...

Barry and Buster want their toy wagon to travel farther, but pushing harder does not produce the result they expect. Instead of calling the attempt a failure, Barry suggests changing one feature at a time. The friends compare slopes, surfaces, and pushes while making predictions and noticing what happens. Their energetic investigation shows young readers that every result provides useful information—and that changing a plan is part of solving a problem.

Escaping a death sentence on a starship, three refugees come across a stone city that has been mysteriously abandoned. With a torrential rainstorm fast approaching, they become aware of a horrific menace lurking in tunnels beneath the city streets.

In a world whose inhabitants routinely visit famous historical events, two jaded road-weary tourists take a holiday in an isolated retrograde enclave where time travel is forbidden.Humankind is plunged into chaos as the recently deceased reappear and take up residency in their former homes.As the result of an expensive technique that restores their youthful vigor, wealthy old people gallivant from place to place adventure-seeking and partying. However, their newfound energy...