Kirjahaku

Jeff Corley, MD, a cosmetic dentist and the eldest sibling of the Corley family was born broken and afraid, lacking what is needed to form a healthy personality. As he grew, family events revealed Jeff's deadly fear of bees, and he became convinced that honey bees hate him and create his misery. At age seven, he accidentally blinds Emmy Lou, his only childhood friend. That tragedy drives his ill-fated need to overcome shame and to make a new identity. Little Jeff fades away, and a new shadow child takes his place, an obsessed child with a narcissistic personality disorder who grew into a self-centered man filled with damaging spiritual pride. Jeff believes that marrying the perfect woman will solve his problems, but the women he finds do not measure up. Then he meets Elissa Fortuna, a strange medicine woman, who removes his deep pain but sends him away with unrequited love. Heartbroken, he attempts suicide by thrashing into honey bee hives, but spiritual forces work through the bees to keep him alive and to tear away his pride. Jeff's hopeful transformation arises from both the natural world and his deepest wound, the blinding of Emmy Lou, the sad event where he first mislaid his love and compassion as a child. Includes Readers Guide.

Meet the Corleys: Mom and Pop and their three grown kids-Jeff, Ida, and Junior-a zany but lovable family living in a changing neighborhood in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Mom wants to fix each of her children's problems-Jeff's gambling, Ida's promiscuity, Junior's drinking-and to create a normal family. She convinces Pop to sell the family land and give $500,000 to each of their children, believing the money will solve their woes. However, hundreds of prairie dogs and the City Council's animal ordinance stop the sale. The Corleys try various methods to remove the critters-shooting them, blowing them up, rounding them up and trucking them away-but they all fail. Immersed in conflict, humor, and irony, the prairie dogs come up out of their holes and into each of the Corleys' hearts, mysteriously softening their hard edges, helping them to find healing deep in Mother Nature. As disease befalls the prairie dogs, and just as it seems the Corleys will get rich, they discover that it is love, not money that is the true wealth of their family.

This hard-hitting story lights up the world of animal rescue with engaging characters and their pets, bringing hope out of personal tragedies. Danny Sandoval, a character from the author's previous book, "Prairie Dog Blues," joins up with his friends to take on Norma Jean Lawson and her Safe Sanctuary No-Kill Rescue Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Danny accuses Safe Sanctuary of negligent animal care, claiming they do more harm than good. Undaunted, Norma Jean puts up a fierce fight through her attorney, and sues Danny for libel and slander. Danny fights back, and both Danny and Norma Jean struggle with their own internal demons as they attempt to rescue dogs and cats, innocent creatures that sometimes bring a mysterious transforming power to broken lives. Their battle shows that bad motives often end in darkness, and that animals and a clean heart can reveal pathways to God's healing. "Dog Shelter Blues" takes these beaten, everyday people on a breathtaking journey that ends with an astonishing triumph of good over evil.

Ida Corley, a troubled thirty-six year old nurse from Albuquerque is searching for her unknown half-brother, a sibling she discovered by reading an old letter in her deceased mother's personal effects. On her deathbed, Ida's mother had confessed a teenage abortion, but the letter reveals a different past, a secret that unhinged Ida and drove her on a quest to find him. Her journey takes her to Victoria, Canada where she goes on a whale watching tour and becomes bewildered by a close encounter with a killer whale. He captures her eye with his own eerie whale eye, luring Ida into new spiritual territory and the mystery of interspecies communication. Ida searches the Inside Passage where killer whales act as guides, save her life, open windows into the natural world, and reach deep into her soul. It is as if these powerful mammals carried Ida up to the heart of Mother Nature, showed her the stars, and then returned her to a new life. Ida had set out to find her half-brother, but ended up finding herself. Ida Corley first appeared as a character in "Prairie Dog Blues," and surfaced again as Danny Sandoval's lover in "Dog Shelter Blues," both from Sunstone Press. Along with "Killer Whale Blues," the three novels explore the power of nature and living creatures to transform broken peoples' lives. Mark Conkling's latest novel in this series is "Honey Bee Blues."

Jeff Corley, MD, a cosmetic dentist and the eldest sibling of the Corley family was born broken and afraid, lacking what is needed to form a healthy personality. As he grew, family events revealed Jeff's deadly fear of bees, and he became convinced that honey bees hate him and create his misery. At age seven, he accidentally blinds Emmy Lou, his only childhood friend. That tragedy drives his ill-fated need to overcome shame and to make a new identity. Little Jeff fades away, and a new shadow child takes his place, an obsessed child with a narcissistic personality disorder who grew into a self-centered man filled with damaging spiritual pride. Jeff believes that marrying the perfect woman will solve his problems, but the women he finds do not measure up. Then he meets Elissa Fortuna, a strange medicine woman, who removes his deep pain but sends him away with unrequited love. Heartbroken, he attempts suicide by thrashing into honey bee hives, but spiritual forces work through the bees to keep him alive and to tear away his pride. Jeff's hopeful transformation arises from both the natural world and his deepest wound, the blinding of Emmy Lou, the sad event where he first mislaid his love and compassion as a child. Includes Readers Guide.

Adam Young, a builder and general contractor from Albuquerque, is addicted to opioids and alcohol. His marriage to Maria falls apart one day when he is the only one present to the SIDS death of their daughter, Ava. Although ruled a "crib death" by the medical examiner, Maria believes Adam was impaired and could have done more to save Ava. Will their marriage end? One Saturday, when Maria is away with her friend, Adam takes his seven-year-old son Lucas on an errand and runs his truck off the road, nearly killing them both. He is cited for DUI and goes with Lucas to the ER. They meet Dr. John Warnock, who treats Lucas's broken arm and talks with Adam about his DUI, his opiate addiction to prescription pain pills, and his alcoholism. Adam later goes to Dr. Warnock's office, and there, in the waiting room, he meets Lola Jenkins, a drug representative who is also a professional escort, cocaine addict, and part of a blackmailing ring. She lures Adam, and other doctors, into sexual escapades that are photographed for extortion by a gang also involved in child trafficking. While in detox, at the urging of Dr. Warnock, his friend Ryan takes advantage of Maria's grief and sleeps over at her house a couple of nights-until Maria regains her senses. When moving out of Ryan's apartment, where he was staying, Adam finds a pair of Maria's blue panties in Ryan's laundry, abruptly ending their friendship. Were her panties a trophy? There is hope for Adam's recovery, but the battle is not over. Pitfalls and twists keep his addiction on the edge of his search for a new life. Includes Readers Guide.