Kirjahaku

The five star reader rated Amazon Kindle e-book, Billy'O, Lost in the Promised Land, a four volume Irish emigrant epic is now available in paperback with the issue of Book I. Books II-IV will be available in paperback in the next few months. For all those with some degree of Irish heritage or anyone who has themselves been an immigrant or come from a family that has emigrated to America, this is the ultimate emigrant saga relayed to you in an eyewitness account that is combined with a personal coming of age story of a young teenage immigrant, Billy O'Shea, who survived the Irish famine and faced a multitude of hardships in America after he arrived along with his family at the port of Boston in June of 1847. The four part auto-biography of Billy O'Shea spans 17 years, from the age of thirteen at the time of the Irish Famine in 1846 to the California Gold Rush and through to 1863 and chronicles Billy O'Shea's heroic exploits during the blood stained years of the American Civil War.Book I begins as Billy O'Shea describes in his own words how his family survived after they are evicted from their home during the Great Irish Famine during the winter of 1846-47 while wandering about on the village roads near Kilkenny Ireland. Billy also describes the harrowing experience of the long and perilous journey aboard a cargo ship to Boston in the spring of 1847. Upon arrival in America, Billy becomes estranged from his family and strikes out on his own. He forms a close bond of friendship with an Irish gang leader from Fort Hill named Jason Brody, who soon leads him into trouble and leads him to return to his family. Not long afterward, a family tragedy sends Billy off on his own again and he finds sanctuary and a welcoming new family of fishermen on a remote island in Casco Bay off the coast of Maine. Billy further describes his struggles to come to grips with his first teenage romantic crush and the pains of unrequited love while training to become a fisherman. In this first volume, further hardships and troubles await the young emigrant as he describes his struggles to graduate from boyhood to manhood and he begins his epic journey across America to seek out his fortune during the California Gold Rush in 1849.

Dooley Blake has just turned 40. He is facing an identity crisis and his conscience is plagued with guilt. Five years earlier, he left B'ville after feeling emasculated by a humiliating divorce that stripped him of his property and parental rights. He rode his Harley west to San Francisco, California to accept a job as a mandolin player with a bluegrass band. In order to keep up his child support payments, Dooley is forced to leave music and take on work as a bounty hunter and then as a private investigator chasing down witnesses. After one of these witnesses is brutally murdered, Dooley is blamed and forced to leave San Francisco. Returning home, Dooley receives a cool reception from his mother, Flora Blake, a shrewd, hardworking business woman with a strong religious faith. Dooley learns from his mother that his teenage son, Andy, had a fistfight with his stepfather, Lance Butler, who accused the boy of making advances. Dooley learns soon afterward that his son is gay. Dooley's homecoming becomes more contentious after he uncovers some shocking secrets about his father's past life and how they intertwine with small town racism and bigotry. During a confrontation with his son, Dooley discovers that Andy has prodigious talent as a musician. Dooley manages to find some common ground with Andy through their shared love of playing music. They set out on a father/son odyssey to New York City so Andy can have his shot at a competition to win a music school scholarship. During their journey, Dooley makes important discoveries about his son, his father and himself that lead to a life changing set of experiences. About the cover: The cover illustration is a bird's eye view of B'ville as envisioned and rendered in acrylic on canvas by the author, John Sheehan.

The Legend and Legacy of a Window: Edgar's Window is an extraordinary ghost story blended with a suspenseful murder mystery to form a great read. The E-book version of Edgar's Window received a five star rating and the paperback version is available now with added graphics and a newly designed cover.The legendary story begins in the year 1848. According to the rumors, Edgar Allan Poe spent three nights in a windowless room at Madam Clegbourne's boarding house at 72 Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village, New York City. Madam Clegbourne, a well known spiritualist in the village at the time claimed to her fellow believers that Mister Poe had drawn a window upon the wall of one of her rooms in charcoal and she had discovered that it was a portal to the spirit world. A year later, upon learning of Mister Poe's untimely death in a Baltimore hospital, Madam Clegbourne set up a candle lit shrine to the late poet and forbade anyone to enter the Poe room other than herself. Nine years later, in March of 1857, the Clegbourne Boarding House became the scene of a series of diabolical murders, ghostly visitations and strange disappearances that would disrupt the lives of the motley collection of boarders who had the misfortune to live at the house at the time of the haunting. Rose Devlin, the only female among the boarders, was a struggling actress who was put upon by the Madam's stepson, Donovan O'Mara. Was it the evil forces unleashed by the window or the passions of jealous anger and revenge that led to a desperate and dangerous game of cat and mouse among the various boarders? Grab the book and find out for yourself.

This spell binding mystery suspense thriller begins with a nightmare. A jazz pianist's worst nightmare, Johnny Fingers was attacked and his fingers were smashed by a gang of street ruffians at the age of fifteen in the summer of 1913 in the Bowery. 23 years later in the summer of 1936, he wakes up from the recurring nightmare that has plagued him since the attack took place. He has struggled to make a come back as a pianist aided by his wife Fe, but troubles abound in his life and the great depression has Manhattan and the rest of the country in its grips. The pawn shop Johnny runs with his wife Fe is failing. His wife is threatening to leave him because they are terrorized by threats from local gangsters who want to turn his pawn shop into a front for fencing stolen goods and loan sharking.If that wasn't trouble enough, Johnny is summoned to meet with Tommy Cronin, the aging leader of one of the most fierce and notorious Irish gangs in the city. Tommy's grandson, Frank Cronin has disappeared. As a jazz pianist, band leader and actor, he has run out in the middle of the production of a movie in Hollywood. Frank Cronin and Johnny Fingers had a long past association as friends and musical partners. Tommy and his son Angus task Johnny with the job of finding Frank. As far as they know, according to Angus, Frank is rumored to have returned to New York City to visit his black daughter, Josie, a product of his relationship with her mother Esba Kittridge, a black jazz singer. Johnny is told about other rumors that Esba's father, Teddy Kittridge has threatened to kill Frank if he shows up in Harlem to see Josie.Before the meeting ends, Tommy takes Johnny aside and demands that Johnny end the feud with his old friend Frank as a dying man's wish. He also reveals a long held secret that Frank may have had some involvement the brutal attack on Johnny that ended his career as a ragtime pianist. Johnny leaves the meeting angry but confused. It was Frank who found him in the cellar after the attack and carried him to a hospital and it was Frank and his family who took care of him during his long recovery.During a visit with his musician friends to a Harlem jazz club owned by Teddy Kittridge, Frank Cronin comes crashing back into Johnny's life. Johnny Fingers is beset with suspicions and fear of his old friend whom he has determined is a psychopath who is capable of committing mayhem and murder with the least amount of guilt. Despite his fears, Johnny is determined to risk it all to uncover the truth from Frank about what really took place 23 years ago during the attack. This leads to a suspenseful and terror filled confrontation between Johnny and Frank while out sailing on a sloop off the Maine coast. Johnny uncovers more truth than he bargained for, hearing frank's hinted revelations of a brutal knife attack on Esba's father Teddy before they left for Maine. But the most startling revelation comes about the day of the attack when Johnny had his fingers smashed. You'll have to purchase and read the book to find out what happens next.

Now is the time to improve your life. You can do this, take charge and make the necessary changes to lead a healthier and more fulfilled life. No Hurry Less Worry, the ultimate survival guide for seniors is loaded with inspiration and instructional workshops to guide you through this process step by step and at your own pace. In 2010 at the age of 58, artist and author, John Sheehan, the author of this guide, set himself on a path of transformation. During this process to improve his health and well being, he lost 75 pounds. More than eight years later, John still considers himself to be a work in progress. John offers a personal inspirational testimonial of the changes he made and how they improved his health and well being. As evidence of his improved physical and mental condition, he offers a 25 page photographic gallery of the paintings and woodwork projects he created during the transformation period which are illustrative of the positive effects of the new healthier choices he made in his diet and daily activities.Included in this guide is a learning center featuring 6 workshops. The author offers you the benefit of knowledge he has acquired over the past fifty years in many different creative disciplines and more recent knowledge regarding his experience developing a work wellness regimen for his own transformation. Workshop 1 offers you a step by step instructional on how to set up your new work wellness regimen. Workshop 2 offers you a step by step guide to improve your diet, and instructions on how to cook a healthier diet and a starter cookbook. Workshop 3 will help you rekindle your creative mind and show you how to can regain skills in how to use your imagination. Workshop 4 offers you a step by step tutorial in story writing and a four step process to write a novel. Workshop 5 will offer you a tutorial on how to bring back the childhood pleasure of drawing. Workshop 6 will provide you with a tutorial on creating a three dimension model and a chapter on how to publish a book with your home computer and printer. As an extra bonus, the author has provided a resource guide in the back of this book that includes a listing of 70 books and 70 web sites to allow you to expand your knowledge of all the subjects offered in this guide. You can consider this guide to be your starting point to leading a healthier more fulfilled life as a senior.