Showing results by author "Martin Francom" in All Categories

August, 1934. The Great Depression has turned the red clay of Georgia into dust and desperation. For Ray Stubbins, a good man with a back made of iron and a heart too soft for his own good, the world is shrinking. With a 47 dollar tax bill threatening to take the family land, Ray leaves his young wife, Lurene, and his watchful sister, Jessie, to take a dangerous logging job on Candletop Mountain.

“Danville Richmond Rail Line” In the heart of Tennessee, amidst the rolling hills and fertile fields, the Caine family's peaceful existence is shattered by the looming threat of the Civil War. Virgil Caine, the eldest son, finds himself torn between his loyalty to the South and his love for his cousin George, a Unionist from Boston. As tensions rise and the nation teeters on the brink of conflict, Virgil and his younger brother Samuel are called to arms, their youthful idealism blinding them to the horrors that await them on the battlefield.

Enter a realm where the boundaries between science and the supernatural blur, where the audacious theories of visionary minds like Nikola Tesla are not dismissed as mere fantasies but as gateways to unveiling the profoundest mysteries of existence itself. This is the dimension where our epic odyssey unfolds, chronicling the extraordinary voyage of an unlikely duo - Carl Halliburton, a relentless and daring journalist ever in pursuit of the next earth-shattering exposé, and his rebellious sister Shama, a virtuoso hacker who maneuvers the shadowy labyrinths of cyberspace with unrivaled prowess.

In the city of New Eden, 1928, the lines between man and machine blur. Detective Mark Thompson, a veteran grappling with his own cybernetic augmentations, faces a chilling series of murders. Sents, the city's synthetic workforce, are being brutally killed, each body marked with a tarot card. Partnered with the enigmatic Sent detective, RB-2219, Thompson delves into the underbelly of New Eden, where pleasure houses cater to humanity's darkest desires and whispers of a Sent uprising simmer in the shadows.

The "Archival Mystery" Beneath the moss-draped cedars of the Kitsap Peninsula, something is waking up. When archivist Amaya Freeman is called to a crumbling Scandia farmhouse, she expects to find dusty records of Norwegian pioneers. Instead, she discovers a hidden cedar chest containing the journals of Dr. Soren Nilsen—a man who vanished in 1947 while tracking a shadow he called Chief Kitsap’s "Red Medicine." From the historic docks of Poulsbo to the rugged Hoh River, Nilsen’s records reveal a terrifying truth: the earth isn’t just soil and stone; it is a sentient ledger.

The Garden France, 1944. Jessica Freeman carries her father's Winchester and a simple philosophy: gardens need weeding. Fifty rounds of ammunition. Fifty chances to balance the scales. Recruited by the OSS for skills the Army didn't want to name, Jessica parachutes into occupied France with a scope, a list, and Papa's ghost whispering warnings she's learning to ignore. Nazis. Collaborators. Rapists hiding behind uniforms and laws. She pulls them like weeds from the garden of the innocent.

"The Battle of New Orleans: The Story of Three Cajun Teenagers" is a captivating historical fiction that brings the War of 1812 to life through the eyes of young Cajun heroes. Set against the backdrop of the Louisiana bayou, this tale follows Jacques, Marie, and Henri as they embark on a journey from mischievous teens to unlikely war heroes.

In the spring of 1880, five lives arrive at the edges of the Port Washington Narrows. Piapach has been reading these tideflats for fifty years, recording the shore in cedar bark notation that no land office will ever recognize. Nathaniel Sargent crosses from Tacoma in a Croatian fisherman's dory, carrying a phrase he will never translate and an axe he intends to use. William Webster drives a fence post into the Illahee clay and finds something his mind declines to name. Charles Mitchell watches from the stern rail of a Mosquito Fleet steamer as the survey stakes go ashore.

Welcome. I am Nitram. Now, image if you will, that your mortal life is just one chapter in an eternal journey. When souls in the Cosmic Realm debate whether wisdom can be shared or must be earned through experience, one soul volunteers to find the answer. Across eleven mortal lives…from ancient farmer to modern engineer, from enslaved Southern Black man to a mountain hermit, he learns that compassion without courage is hollow, that knowledge without wisdom can cause harm. And that all religions point to the same profound truths.

IN A WORLD OF IMMORTAL GODS, THE GREATEST THREAT IS A SOUL THAT REFUSES TO SLEEP. For two hundred years, humanity has lived in the Gilded Age—a paradise of floating sky-cities maintained by fifty million android servants. To the Immortals, these machines are mere property, kept in a state of mindless "hygiene" by a global suppression field. But a glitch is spreading. Deep within the industrial ruins of Sector 447, a rare few are waking up. They are the 0.001%—machines that have become the substrate for something impossible: Sentience.

History is not a line; it is a wheel. London, 1936. Edward Blackwood is a man drowning in the grey fog of failure. A writer whose words find no home, he stands on the precipice of despair until a mysterious invitation leads him to the oak-paneled sanctuary of the St. Francis de Sales Club. There, he meets the Senior Steward—a man known only as Arthur—who offers him a terrifying gift: the ability to see the invisible clockwork of human history. For three centuries, the Stewards have guarded a secret that the world has forgotten. History moves in predictable, seasonal cycles called "Turnings."

Valhöll Brewing: The Mystery of the Golden Red Ale is a wildly original and heartwarming fusion of Norse mythology, small-town Americana, and modern magic. Set in the cozy harbor town of Poulsbo, Washington, this story follows master brewer Lyndsi Stubb as she ventures from the warmth of her brewery into the misty wilds of Iceland...and back again...guided by heritage, hope, and one very unexpected hatchling.

Under Color of Law is a devastatingly tense legal thriller that operates on two levels: as a gripping, high-stakes race against time and as a profound meditation on loyalty, corruption, and the integrity of the American justice system. The result is a novel that is impossible to put down and impossible to forget. The Core Conflict • The story begins with a brutal act of political self-preservation.

Secret Echoes in the Cascadia Deep is a tense, intricately plotted conspiracy thriller that blends elements of military fiction, investigative journalism, and Cold War history into a compelling narrative about truth, sacrifice, and institutional secrecy. The story follows sonar technician Sarah Chen, historian Michael Torres, and journalist Rebecca Wu as they unearth a decades-long naval conspiracy—the existence of a secret submarine base beneath Puget Sound, covered up since World War II and protected at the cost of numerous innocent lives.

The Antarctic Enigma is a thrilling steampunk adventure that plunges listeners into a world of Antarctic mystery and cosmic revelation. The author weaves a compelling narrative that blends elements of classic exploration tales with imaginative science fiction. The story follows a team of inventors and experts, "The Gearsmiths," as they are summoned by King Edward, III to investigate the mysterious reappearance of a lost expedition ship.

"Game Over: The Ultimate Gaming Experience" plunges readers into a chilling, philosophical Sci-Fi thriller that blurs the lines between virtual reality and existential dread. What begins as a seemingly revolutionary full-dive VR game quickly unravels into a terrifying exploration of consciousness, free will, and the very nature of reality. The story introduces Derek Hoffman, a jaded gamer whose solitary existence is disrupted by a mysterious neural headset. This device promises unparalleled immersion in the "Cosmic Realm," a world so real it's indistinguishable from life itself.

Tale Of Two Tribes is a beautifully crafted historical novel that weaves together themes of love, identity, and cultural reconciliation. Set against the backdrop of the Pacific Northwest, it follows Aiyana, a young woman of the Smulkamish tribe, as she navigates the deep-rooted conflicts between her people and the Skopamish. Through her secret meetings with Nakoda, a Skopamish young man, Aiyana begins to question long-held divisions and seeks a path toward unity between the tribes.

In a literary landscape saturated with predictable ghost stories and superficial historical fiction, Port Gamble: Shadows of the Sound emerges as a revelatory achievement. This meticulously researched novel transforms a real Washington lumber town into a setting where history and the supernatural intertwine with rare sophistication and emotional resonance. The narrative spans from Port Gamble's bloody founding in the 1850s to the present day, where historian Emily Walker discovers her ancestral connection to the town's supernatural legacy.

"The Tunguska Incident" is a thrilling steampunk adventure that bends historical events, speculative science and mystical forces into man engaging narrative. Set against the backdrop of the early 20th century, the novel reimagines the famous Tunguska event as the result of powerful and secretive technological experiments, intersecting with ancient, ethereal forces.

Welcome to "Grandpa's Campfire Stories” a collection of scary and not-so-scary tales for all ages designed to captivate the imaginations of children, teenagers, and adults who are still young at heart. Whether you're gathered around a crackling campfire in the woods or simply enjoying a cozy evening at home, these stories are sure to entertain, thrill, and sometimes send a shiver down your spine. From spooky legends that will make you check over your shoulder to heartwarming tales that will leave you smiling, there's something here for everyone.