Autumn of the Republic: The Generals of October, 20th Anniversary Edition is an entertaining thriller -- and also important food for thought.   As a Constitutional Convention (CON2) Unfolds, across the panoramic backdrop of Washington D.C. in its worst crisis since the Civil War, two young Army officers conduct a murder investigation -- and stumble on a conspiracy by military and corporate leaders to seize the government.   Captain David Gordon and Lieutenant Victoria ‘Tory’ Breen investigate the disappearance of a Coast Guard computer expert who knew too much. As their investigations intersect, so do their passions -- but the national crisis cannot wait. Can they stop the plot of the Generals of October, who want to throw out the U.S. Constitution we have known since 1787, and install an entirely new one that means tyranny and injustice for all while corporate profits skyrocket?  This is the first major update on Seven Days in May, which was a bestselling novel and blockbuster movie with an all-star cast half a century ago. Dark Cold War paranoia is obsolete -- but, as Oklahoma City 2005 and New York City 9-11 proved, there is no shortage of deadly enemies both inside and outside our nation.   If you love intense, brainy thrillers like Seven Days in May, Three Days of the Condor, The Parallax View, or The Lost Constitution, here is a powerful companion story. New Author Preface contains fascinating background details and fascinating info -- more at the author's personal website (johntcullen).

The Generals of October

Literature & Fiction

Cullen, John T.

Genre Fiction

Clocktower Books

Danger, action, and passion collide in this mainstream thriller about the U.S. in its worst political-military crisis since the Civil War. Premise: A Second Constitutional Convention. Article V is a ticking time bomb in the U.S. Constitution, and now is the day of reckoning. As the nation's fate hangs in the balance, young Army officers David Gordon and Victoria "Tory" Breen must outwit the sinister Generals of October and also resolve a terrible secret from her past.

Contemporary

The Christmas Clock

Religion & Spirituality

On Thanksgiving Day 1892, a beautiful young woman appeared mysteriously at the most exclusive resort in Southern California--the new Hotel del Coronado. There was something dark and ominous about her from the very beginning. She rented a room, and waited for an even more mysterious man who never did show up. In five days, she turned from a vibrant and healthy beauty into a trembling soul who could barely walk. Then, on the night of a thundering sea storm, she shot herself dead on the back steps of the hotel. Nobody knew who she was, or why she had come. Her case was instantly a national sensation, tinged with hints of unsavory plots and conspiracies in high circles. For weeks, her body lay on display in a San Diego mortuary, a morbid Victorian spectacle for thousands to view. Bit by bit, the press reported new, stunning, contradictory details that have not been resolved even today. This book proposes a dramatic new theory that examines the'Beautiful Stranger' in a national and global context. Her identity changed almost daily as puzzled police across the nation searched for her brother, her doctor, her husband, her lover...to no avail. Was the flawed coroner's inquest just botched, or a cover-up? Her story rubs elbows with kings, queens, tycoons, presidents, and Congressmen--always had a dark and disturbing tinge. Her ghost haunts the hotel even today.

Dead Move: Kate Morgan and the Haunting Mystery of Coronado, 2nd Edition

History

Americas

Ray Bradbury sent John T. Cullen a personal note in 2008, thanking him for writing this dark holiday fantasy worthy of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, or of Ray Bradbury's macabre yet heartwarming tales. The story is cute and entertaining for all ages, young and old.   The story will have special resonance for those whose families have been touched by alcoholism and some of the resulting wounds that stay with us for a lifetime (does not touch upon sexual abuse, but violence and neglect). At the same time, this remains first and foremost an entertainment, not a lecture--much as Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol may be read either way as well.  Arthur Latchloose, a miserable, wealthy old banker, has everything--but has nobody. A modern genie with a cell phone, and a wondrous clock made for the Sun King, turn his world upside down.This is a dark holiday fantasy for men and women of all faiths and cultures, which loses nothing from its unique Christmas spirit while opening its doors of wonder and spooky humor (along with a few tears) to all.  Each of us is a traveler in a river of time. Like fish in water, or merfolks patrolling the deep, we are unaware of the medium in which we travel. We are born, we grow up--we love, lose, and love again--we suffer; and ultimately, each of us becomes yet another discarded vessel among the objects that time’s rushing river has deposited in its empty riverbed. This, you see, is a river that only passes once through any point in time.  In his hour of need, our friend Arthur Latchloose, by a strange confluence of fate and chance, comes upon a marvelous device that runs precious time through its hands. This wondrous, antique grandfather clock was built for the Sun King, and ended up passing among the hands of Oriental despots for centuries.  During the recent many unfortunate wars in that mystical region, it came into the clutches of a desperate straggler—from yet another of the many wars there. This unfortunate soul, Major Jarlid, upon returning home from the war, is forced to sell it to pay his final debts. His buyer turns out to be a terribly wealthy but equally desperate and lonely man—our friend Arthur Latchloose.  Along with the fabulous clock of the Sun King comes a genie right out of a bottle on some Oriental beach. He is, one might say, not a spirit to be rubbed the wrong way. But this djinni has not met the likes of feisty old Latchloose before now. And so begins a dark and curious tale, on a cold and snowy Christmas Eve.  It is a story best told by firelight, worthy of Mr. Charles Dickens, but without Tiny Tim Cratchett or wailing ghosts clanking in chains. Instead, we have a genie constantly talking on his cell phone, working on contract and harried by his London office.

The Christmas Clock: or: Time's River of Dust, a Dark Holiday Tale

Literary

NOTE: for an update on the second anniversary of MH370's disappearance, see John T. Cullen's new book titled Lemma 3: MH370 Solution. Contains updated info as of 8 March 2016 (detailed new intro) plus the complete June 2014 text as in Vanished 777. Finds of wing debris in African waters strongly support the author's 2014 proposal now called Lemma 3 or Africa Gambit. Website info soon at Clocktower Books. What really happened to Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370? Author John T. Cullen unleashes an imaginative wake-up call against complacency. Here is a plausible, scary, fact-based theory that avoids crackpot conspiracies while delivering a chilling "what if" thought experiment. Yes, it is possible that the plane met with a tragic accident and fell into the sea--but the circumstances of its vanishing are so bizarre that we must think outside the box and suspect a diabolical plan by the terrorists who caused 9/11 and other assaults on civilization. The default premise is that Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 (fictionalized here as Flight 777) was taken by terrorists, will be weaponized, and will be used against the West in the most spectacular terrorist attack to date. The story never takes its eye off its entertainment mission, while delivering a battery of plausible, hair-raising scenarios - culminating in a cliff-hanger climax you guaranteed will not see coming. A vacation in paradise becomes an adventure in hell for Jack Dorsey and his deeply covert Team Gray troops. Returning from a top secret mission in the Middle East, the men enjoy a few innocent days of R&R with their young wives on a remote, tropical Malaysian island - just hours before being hurled into aviation history's darkest mystery. The circumstances of the plane’s disappearance are too suspicious to ignore. Even more ominously, the presumed hijack comes just before the anniversary of Osama bin Laden’s May 2011 death during capture by U.S. Navy SEALs in Pakistan. Forensically, talk about motive (revenge), opportunity (a rich choice of horrifying targets), and means (the hijacked airliner). In particular, think about method. This enemy often uses common means of mass transportation for his spectacular mass murders. Think World Trade Center 2005 (car bomb); NYC 9/11 (planes); Madrid (trains); USS Cole (warship); London (subway, cars)… the list goes on. Flight 777 (aircraft), anyone? The author, a U.S. Army veteran comfortable with military culture at all levels, takes you directly to command centers as well as action scenes. Our primary hero is Jack Dorsey, a historian and millionaire in private life, and a U.S. Army Reservist on duty. He is the hero of Doctor Night, a futuristic Jack Gray thriller, for which Vanished Flight 777 is now a prequel. Jack is preoccupied with his beautiful wife Catherine, who is due to deliver their first child at their Temecula (San Diego County) ranch. All the heroes and heroines of this novel seem real and compelling, with personal lives and families, but without slowing a breakneck pace. They also have a special stake – Team Gray member Rob Keaka and wife Marian took off on Flight 777. Supporting Jack, as he uncovers the riddle of Vanished Flight 777, are engaging characters including tall, capable U.S. Navy Cdr. Mary Rose ‘Maro’ Rodriguez; the gritty and hard-moving young Admiral Paul Falk; and heroic Special Forces troops from all services including Master Sergeants Ben Latoni and Ray Marston and USMC Captain Shep Sepak. Jack also works with regional intelligence analysts like IDF Colonel Rebekah Goldstein and Saudi RAF Col. Mustafa ‘Don’ bin Malik. Civilization’s relentless enemy has only death in his dreams for us, day and night. We must assume that Flight 777 is weaponized and ready for the deadliest, most spectacular assault yet. Only through awareness can we anticipate and defuse the next chapter in our ongoing nightmare. Join us for Vanished Flight 777 - and think about the implications while enjoying a good read.

Vanished Flight 777: A Suspense Thriller and Thought Experiment Based on the True Story of Flight 370 in March 2014

Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Thrillers & Suspense

1892 gaslamp noir - true crime mystery and ghost legend - two fabulous books in one volume - new double (4th) edition 2016-17 on the 125th anniversary of San Diego’s famous legend - remembering the tragic Beautiful Stranger’s violent and mysterious death at the Hotel del Coronado near San Diego. First Book: Dead Move - Kate Morgan and the Haunting Mystery of Coronado (nonfiction; true crime cold case analysis). Based entirely on known, true history, with over 100 end notes and scholarly references—highly detailed, but entertaining for readers who love a puzzle. This is one of the most challenging you will ever encounter. Also available as a stand-alone.Second Book: Lethal Journey - a noir gaslight period novel closely based on Dead Move. Fast-paced, thriller material with that 19th century patina that takes you to California’s own cobblestone streets, dimly glowing gaslights, and shadowy figures moving in the kind of marine layer fog for which the West Coast is notorious. Also available as a stand-alone.Publisher recommends: read Lethal Journey (the novel) first - it’s a fast-paced, atmospheric thriller closely based on history, with powerful characters (Kate Morgan, Lizzie Wyllie, John Longfield, John Spreckels - all true people alive in 1892). Then read Dead Move, which is crammed with fascinating, deeply researched evidence solving the case for the first time ever.On Thanksgiving Day, 24 November 1892, a young woman (the legendary ‘Beautiful Stranger’) checked into the fabulous Hotel del Coronado, near San Diego, under a false name. Dazzling and elegant, she was thought by staff and guests to be a new and upcoming stage actress or socialite. She was actually a poor factory girl from Detroit with stars in her eyes. She was also a ‘ruined woman’ (pregnant out of wedlock, condemned by Victorian society). Five days later—in a mysterious plot at the hotel that is now explained for the first time by John T. Cullen--she died violently and inexplicably of a gunshot to the head, on the back or beach stairs of the hotel, during one of the century’s most violent ocean storms. Was it murder or suicide, and why? Instantly, her story became a national sensation in the Yellow Press, fueled by rumors of scandal with men in the highest circles. For the first time ever, penetrate the fog of myth, deception, and cover-up to learn the true story of the Beautiful Stranger. It is a story with not only local, but also national and global implications. Ultimately, it is a tragic and timeless woman’s story, of a ‘ruined woman’ driven to unbearable ends after her betrayal by those she loved and trusted. In death, she was laid out like a fallen princess—a true Victorian Fallen Angel, in the best tradition of the age, as exemplified in Thomas Hardy’s famous tragedy Tess of the D’Urbervilles.This is a historical and scientific investigation that avoids speculative or paranormal considerations. While neutral on the supernatural, this book gives ghost believers a historical baseline for understanding how the ghost legend came to be.

Coronado Mystery: Dead Move & Lethal Journey: Kate Morgan and the Haunting Mystery of Coronado, Special 125th Anniversary Double - 2 Books in 1 - 1892 Gaslight True Crime & Famous Ghost Legend

The tragic and fascinating story of the Beautiful Stranger is uncovered for the first time since her mysterious and violent death. It's a noir 1892 San Diego gaslamp true crime involving blackmail, the Gilded Age, and 'men in powerful places' as the Yellow Press hinted. Her demise led to the famous ghost legend - a Coronado Mystery finally explained by John T. Cullen, a San Diego author. The story was a national sensation across the United States that year, powered by rumors and titillations.The truth, as finally uncovered by the author, is far stranger and more fascinating than the scandalous news stories of the time, or even the muddled ghost legend that endures to this day.In her shocking and heart-wrenching death, Lizzie (age 24) became that quintessential Victorian ideal of womanhood - the Innocent but Fallen Angel, epitomized in Thomas Hardy's tragic and sentimental novel Tess, A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented (1891). Both Tess and Lizzie were beautiful young women brought low by an evil world - only Lizzie was the real deal.Because so much was at stake, the true crime at the Hotel del Coronado led to a nefarious cover-up - and one of the USA's most famous ghost legends. Lizzie was the dead woman - not Kate Morgan. Lizzie still famously haunts the Hotel del Coronado, for those who believe in ghosts. Against a vast backdrop of true historical context, this real story comes to life as a human study of two women - Kate Morgan and Lizzie Wyllie - along with their lover John Longfield (a married Detroit bookbindery foreman, Lizzie's boss, who 'ruined' Lizzie in Victorian terms. We also learn as background about kings and queens, moguls and presidents, and a tragic crown princess who move in Hotel del Coronado owner John Spreckels' circles.Dead Move is a detailed scholarly analysis that solves an amazing puzzle of many moving parts - and the author is able to shine light on each of the tantalizing clues, dead ends, and false leads - many of them deliberately planted. Why? To save the reputation of one of the nation's wealthiest men, John Spreckels, at a critical moment in history.John Spreckels owned virtually all of San Diego and Coronado in 1892, including the newspapers. There was no effective police department - so his security agents covered for him at a critical time. He was in Washington, D.C. with family friend President Benjamin Harrison, trying to stave off rival corporations' overthrow of the monarchy in Honolulu with the loss of Spreckels sugar plantations in Hawai'i. The Spreckels Machine could not afford any breath of scandal. The author has concluded that Spreckels' agents were all over the doomed blackmail plot from the beginning. The monarchy was overthrown six weeks after the Beautiful Stranger episode at Spreckels' hotel in Coronado, long after Lizzie's mysterious death.The last word was had by John Longfield, who spread the final false rumor as he returned to his wife and children in Detroit, having rid himself of the girl he ruined. Lizzie (not Kate Morgan) lay dead at the hotel. Longfield closed the loop by covering for Kate and the Spreckels Machine, saying Lizzie had fled to Canada - a complete lie. The fortune promised by Kate Morgan did not materialize - but John Longfield went scot-free and Kate Morgan evaporated into history, leaving her name and identity attached to the dead girl. Today, San Diego author John T. Cullen has lifted the veil on this engaging story and set the record straight.Readers can enjoy the (nonfiction) analysis in Dead Move, and a noir 1892 period thriller (Lethal Journey, fiction) closely based on the true crime analysis - or get both books in one volume titled Coronado Mystery.

Dead Move: Kate Morgan and the Haunting Mystery of Coronado, 125th Anniversary, 1892 Gaslight True Crime

Biographies & Memoirs

True Crime

John T. Cullen's novel Lethal Journey - Victorian gaslight noir - is closely based on the 1892 true crime at the Hotel Del Coronado near San Diego. This fast, atmospheric thriller combines the best elements of legend and true history.   For granular detail, read the author’s painstaking, scholarly analysis in the nonfiction book Dead Move: Kate Morgan and the Haunting Mystery of Coronado. His careful analysis ties all loose ends together, in the first-ever plausible explanation of this San Diego legend. He solves an old, brittle cold case, dispelling 1890s cover-up legends planted to protect John Spreckels - owner of the hotel, and one of the nation's wealthiest men in 1892.   The Beautiful Stranger - as the young mystery woman is officially remembered - was poised, striking, and doomed. She died violently and mysteriously at Spreckels' new Hotel del Coronado, a resort by the Pacific Ocean. The true crime mystery instantly became a national sensation, leading to a famous ghost who allegedly haunts the U.S. National Landmark hotel to this day. Cullen's three books are not based on ghosts or the supernatural - only true history, hidden in plain sight until now under a successful cover-up.   The Yellow Press fanned flames and rumors of her alleged dalliances with men in high places - none of it true. She was part accomplice, part victim, in an ill-conceived blackmail attempt that went horribly wrong. The target was resort owner John Spreckels, a son of Sugar Baron Claus Spreckels of San Francisco.   Iowa grifter Kate Morgan tried to use the young woman's out-of-wedlock pregnancy as a threat on Spreckel's public image at a critical moment. Spreckels had nothing to do with the pregnancy. He was in the White House, desperately conferring with family friend President Benjamin Harrisonto save the Hawai'ian monarchy and Spreckels sugar plantations in Hawai'i.   Under a false name (‘Lottie A. Bernard’), the Beautiful Stranger checked into the Hotel del Coronado on Thanksgiving Day 1892. She carried herself like a young stage star. Five days later, she lay dead on a stairwell from a gunshot to the head, a large revolver by her side.   Despite Spreckels' and Harrison’s efforts, the Hawai'ian monarchy was overthrown six weeks later (January 1893). The Spreckels dynasty lost their sugar plantations, but established a new sugar beet empire in the town of Spreckels, near Monterey, California.   Poor Lizzie Wyllie, the dead beauty - swallowed up in falsehoods, forgotten - was thrown in an unmarked grave outside San Diego. Lethal Journey (novel) dramatizes her true, tragic path. She was the victim of a repressive Victorian society, in which women were not allowed to vote, travel alone, or own property. She was young, pregnant, alone, and desperate. She broke the rules to survive, but fell into the clutches of an unscrupulous, fatally false friend (Kate Morgan) who also stole her lover. Lizzie ended up used, broken, and hopeless. On a dark and stormy night (literally) in November 1892, she shot herself while weakened and depressed on drugs Kate gave her to induce a spectacular miscarriage in the lobby of Spreckels' hotel - unless the tycoon paid up.   Lizzie, a beautiful young run-away shop girl from Detroit, had pretensions of becoming a great stage actress, but fell victim to her own frailties and cruel Victorian morays. In death, she was embalmed, dolled up like a princess, and morbidly displayed in a store window for thousands to admire. She embodied of that morbid, powerful Victorian fantasy, the Fallen Angel. The Beautiful Stranger remains today an object lesson for women's rights, and the tragic story of a naive soul.   This is the stand-alone edition of Lethal Journey (thriller).   Also available from Clocktower Books: the stand-alone edition of Dead Move (nonfiction; factual analysis).  Or read *Coronado Mystery* - both books in one volume. All editions print or ebook, 125th Anniversary editions for 2017.

Lethal Journey: Famous 1892 Gaslight Mystery: True Crime & Ghost Story at the Hotel del Coronado near San Diego

The tragic and fascinating story of the Beautiful Stranger is uncovered for the first time since her mysterious and violent death. It's a noir 1892 San Diego gaslamp true crime involving blackmail, the Gilded Age, and 'men in powerful places' as the Yellow Press hinted. Her demise led to the famous ghost legend - a Coronado Mystery finally explained by John T. Cullen, a San Diego author. The story was a national sensation across the United States that year, powered with rumors and titillations. The truth, as finally uncovered by the author, is far stranger and more fascinating than the scandalous news stories of the time, or even the muddled ghost legend that endures to this day. In her shocking and heart-wrenching death, Lizzie (age 24) became that quintessential Victorian ideal of womanhood - the Innocent but Fallen Angel, epitomized in Thomas Hardy's tragic and sentimental novel Tess, A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented (1891). Both Tess and Lizzie were beautiful young women brought low by an evil world - only Lizzie was the real deal. Because so much was at stake, the true crime at the Hotel del Coronado led to a nefarious cover-up - and one of the USA's most famous ghost legends. Lizzie was the dead woman - not Kate Morgan. Lizzie still famously haunts the Hotel del Coronado, for those who believe in ghosts. Against a vast backdrop of true historical context, this real story comes to life as a human study of two women - Kate Morgan and Lizzie Wyllie - along with their lover John Longfield (a married Detroit bookbindery foreman, Lizzie's boss, who 'ruined' Lizzie in Victorian terms. We also learn as background about kings and queens, moguls and presidents, and a tragic crown princess who move in Hotel del Coronado owner John Spreckels' circles. Dead Move is a detailed scholarly analysis that solves an amazing puzzle of many moving parts - and the author is able to shine light on each of the tantalizing clues, dead ends, and false leads - many of them deliberately planted. Why? To save the reputation of one of the nation's wealthiest men, John Spreckels, at a critical moment in history. John Spreckels owned virtually all of San Diego and Coronado in 1892, including the newspapers. There was no effective police department - so his security agents covered for him at a critical time. He was in Washington, D.C. with family friend President Benjamin Harrison, trying to stave off rival corporations' overthrow of the monarchy in Honolulu with the loss of Spreckels sugar plantations in Hawai'i. The Spreckels Machine could not afford any breath of scandal. The author has concluded that Spreckels' agents were all over the doomed blackmail plot from the beginning. The monarchy was overthrown six weeks after the Beautiful Stranger episode at Spreckels' hotel in Coronado, long after Lizzie's mysterious death. The last word was had by John Longfield, who spread the final false rumor as he returned to his wife and children in Detroit, having rid himself of the girl he ruined. Lizzie (not Kate Morgan) lay dead at the hotel. Longfield closed the loop by covering for Kate and the Spreckels Machine, saying Lizzie had fled to Canada - a complete lie. The fortune promised by Kate Morgan did not materialize - but John Longfield went scot-free and Kate Morgan evaporated into history, leaving her name and identity attached to the dead girl. Today, San Diego author John T. Cullen has lifted the veil on this engaging story and set the record straight. Readers can enjoy the (nonfiction) analysis in Dead Move, or the noir 1892 period thriller (Lethal Journey, fiction) closely based on the true crime analysis - or get both books in one volume titled Coronado Mystery.

Dead Move: Kate Morgan and the Haunting Mystery of Coronado

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Cullen, John T.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Cullen, John T.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Cullen, John T.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Generals of October

The Generals of October

The Christmas Clock

Dead Move: Kate Morgan and the Haunting Mystery of Coronado, 2nd Edition

The Christmas Clock: or: Time's River of Dust, a Dark Holiday Tale

Vanished Flight 777: A Suspense Thriller and Thought Experiment Based on the True Story of Flight 370 in March 2014

Coronado Mystery: Dead Move & Lethal Journey: Kate Morgan and the Haunting Mystery of Coronado, Special 125th Anniversary Double - 2 Books in 1 - 1892 Gaslight True Crime & Famous Ghost Legend

Dead Move: Kate Morgan and the Haunting Mystery of Coronado, 125th Anniversary, 1892 Gaslight True Crime

Lethal Journey: Famous 1892 Gaslight Mystery: True Crime & Ghost Story at the Hotel del Coronado near San Diego

Dead Move: Kate Morgan and the Haunting Mystery of Coronado