Fog and Other Stories

Literature & Fiction

Egan, Laury A.

Genre Fiction

Humanist Press

The deck has always been stacked against you. Then an attractive woman promises love, respect, employment, and a home. Wouldn't you be hooked? Jango Jacks is.Jango is a fifty-three-year-old Korean War vet, itinerant worker, and sweet-natured fellow who left kith and kin in Kentucky decades ago. On a hot August day in 1984, he lands in the Laurel Highlands of Pennsylvania, pockets empty, hungry, and in need of a job. After answering an ad for a farmhand, he is hired by a recent widow, Audrey Dalton, and is immediately charmed by her; surprisingly, Audrey also seems entranced and prepares him a candlelit dinner, which turns into an evening of love. Jango considers ending his tumbleweed ways and settling down after decades of roaming?until the next morning, when he is shocked to learn he's ensnared in a dangerous trap. "A Bittersweet Tale" begins as a romance reminiscent of The Bridges of Madison County but spirals into a dark psychological suspense constructed around a mystery whose truths unfold from several angles, as told by Jango and two secondary narrators. A story of authenticity versus artifice, the novel illustrates the old saw, "looks are deceiving," as police, clergy, and society exhibit prejudiced behavior toward Jango based on his appearance, whereas those who are middle class are able to hide immoral personalities, sometimes using religion as a shield to disguise hypocrisy and pathology.

A Bittersweet Tale

Milford House Press

The summer of 1964. Four teenage lives intertwine as each searches for love, identity, and a passage through painful family conflicts, social isolation, and the confusion of sexual orientation. During a sailing class, four teenagers meet. Jessie Schaffer is fourteen, an intelligent and solitary girl, who dreams of becoming a writer. When she sees nineteen-year-old Lindsay Ames, the instructor, standing on a dock, sunlight illuminating her blond hair and blue eyes, Jessie falls in love but is too afraid of her feelings and what they mean. In an attempt to reassure herself she is "normal," Jessie becomes involved with two boys in the class: Kenny Crenshaw, also fourteen, a darkly handsome and flirtatious guy, and Calvin Brayburn, a year younger, who will be in their freshman class because he's academically brilliant. On the first day of sailing, Cal is smitten with Jessie, though he is hindered by shyness. As the romantic relationships take unexpected twists, Jessie, Lindsay, Calvin, and Kenny relate their individual stories, their hopes, fears, and longings, all the while being buffeted by intense pressures. Set in coastal New Jersey, the plot roams from its beautiful rivers to lush scenes in St. Thomas and Vietnam's jungles during the war.

Turnabout

NineStar Press

Wave in D Minor

Literary Wanderlust

A talented opera singer, Gilbert Eugene Rose, moonlights as a drag queen and diva divine, Kiri De Uwana, in order to pay his rent.
However, Gil is dying to become famous on the New York operatic stage; unfortunately he might get his wish when he lands lead roles as a soprano and tenor in separate productions and is also hired to sing Handel by a dangerous female gangster who is at war with the producer of one of the two operas.
Suddenly, happy-go-lucky Gil finds himself stranded in the middle of Mobster Boulevard, aflutter in heels, dresses, and wigs, with only his wits for protection and a new romance for inspiration.

Fabulous!: An Opera Buffa

Humor & Satire

Tiny Fox Press LLC

A sixteen-year-old girl, Olivia, who feels guilty about her younger brother's death. Her mother, Evelyn, a glamorous artist. Travis, the charismatic owner of the Pink Fancy Hotel. A mysteri-ous Czechoslo-vakian widow, Sofiya. A sojourn on St. Croix, a tropi-cal island. Two love affairs. Secrets. Nazis. Ravensbrück concentra-tion camp. Conflict, jealousy, kindness, tenderness. A res-cue and a resurrec-tion. All woven together in a haunting work of liter-ary fiction set in 1966.\n"An engaging and well-written story of a young woman discover-ing the nuances and mysteries of human relationships, love, and adulthood. Set on a beautiful Caribbean island and peppered with references to charac-ters, places, and events there, I felt like I was a confidant and witness to the emotions and experi-ences of a friend. Egan found an excellent balance between the voice of her young narrator in the time period and the perspective from years later."-Lisa Cantrell, administrator, "St. Croix Memories"\n"The novel is a heart-wrenching treatise of teen angst and relation-ships damaged by trauma, set in the beautiful Virgin Islands. It gently portrays how chance-met friends can help us to deal with adversity."-J.A. Lordi, writing as Tinker Marne, author of Sunken Treachery\n"A major work. All of the primary characters deserve their own novels."-Dr. Helga Schier, former executive editor, Random House

Once, Upon an Island

Literary

Heliotrope Books LLC

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