Eight Novels (ePub)

Eight Novels contains the following books, all of which can be purchased separately: The Voice of the Victim, The Blackwater Journal, The Road Map to the Universe, Fairy Tales by Martians, Requiem for the West, The Scriptwriter, The Book of Dreams, and A Tale from the Blackwater River.

The Voice of the Victim: Not only is this a clever murder mystery, but it is also a satirical tour through the modern world of guns, murder, and mayhem...a mixture of slapstick comedy, dark premonitions, and a sweeping indictment of everything that Western culture has ever produced...sassy and extremely irreverent...sometimes romantic and poetic, sometimes mocking and belligerent...too bizarre for some, too intense for others.

The Blackwater Journal: Sixteen-year-old Alanda Streets is trapped in a room from which there is no escape. There are padlocks on the door, the windows have been boarded up, and Alanda's only contact with humanity is her father, the man who has imprisoned her and told her that she must die because of the terrible secret she discovered in his past. Is there any way out of her terrifying predicament? Or is her life about to come to an end?

The Road Map to the Universe: Who really murdered Karen Breen? Although her husband is convicted of the crime, things change when an informant tells police that her son Jeremy was the murderer. Eventually, Jeremy is arrested, tried, and convicted, but then, while the jury is being polled, an extraordinary revelation occurs—in fact, in the annals of courtroom history, it is probably a premiere.

Fairy Tales by Martians features Charles Dimmer, an eighth-grade science teacher who runs into difficulties when he attempts to explain Darwin's theory of evolution. After suffering through a bizarre class where he is hounded by a student who believes that human beings have evolved from Martians, Charles returns to his house, but when he overhears his wife's new lover plotting his murder, Charles flees to a motel room. The next morning, he's arrested for murder, but bizarrely, his interrogator focuses on claims that he told his students they were descended from Martians.

Requiem for the West features an offbeat romance; the Dilbert-like humor of bureaucrats who can't figure out anything; the subtle but persistent mockery of the widespread belief that our culture is superior to anything that has ever existed; a chain-smoking college president who considers poetry to be the domain of cannabis addicts; and most of all, a poem that you will never forget.

The Scriptwriter is a tale about a man who loves three women: Zena is incredibly beautiful; Darla is incredibly rich; and Anita is incredibly homeless. In the end, which one will he choose?

In the Book of Dreams, Detective Shane Manning has a troubling history when it comes to his dreams because many of them are nightmares that often seem to find their way into reality. This was especially true when he was younger--the dream he had back then would haunt him for years. And now, years later, he's investigating the murder of a young woman, but he still can't seem to get away from his dreams, which are leading him down a deadly path.

A Tale from the Blackwater River: A struggling author named Alanda Streets finds herself in trouble when an old boyfriend begins to stalk her. From the notebooks of Alanda: I suppose A Tale from the Blackwater River might seem like a satire or a parody. But as a matter of fact, my experiences with Kevin Decker aren't really all that funny. I had so much wanted to become a great writer, but then all these bad things happened to me. What I was really hoping to do was write the great American novel, but all I've been able to come up with is a novella that will have people laughing their heads off.