BookSpeak Network

Crime reporter Tori Younger attends a wedding and finds a potential story: the bride's last husband was stabbed to death by her young son. Then, the night before the ceremony, the groom is murdered. The prime suspect: the now-adult son. The weapon, location, and motive are all the same, but to Tori, it's a little too open and shut a case. With a family on the brink, Tori must find the re...

Detective Shelby Reed has been handed a murder case that threatens to strip away all pretensions and preconceived notions about the town of Locust Grove. Whitney Chandler, the All-American high school girl, is dead, and all eyes are on a certain star football player. Detective Reed and her unwanted "partner," Det. Jasper Erickson must find a way to work together and solve the case. As th...

In this episode of The History Stacks, teacher and author Joe Regenbogen returns to the BookSpeak Network to talk about his life as an educator, his writing, and his passion for history. A topic of conversation involves education, and especially how history is taught in school, and the potential to challenge norms to achieve a deeper understanding of our history, and perhaps ourselves. A Louisiana...

Omaha, Nebraska, does not seem to be the place for high society, high fashion, and even higher-stakes crime. Don't tell that to Jennifer and Nari, two women who are engaged in a caper that promises the big score, but is done for different reasons. The straight woman, Jennifer, has walked the line all her life, but feels let down by a corporate system that doesn't value her. Jennifer&apos...

Thomas K. Clancy is the author of four books and is a nationally recognized expert on the Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution. In this episode of The History Stacks, Clancy discusses his interest in the Constitution, and in particular, the amendment that he sees as the anchor of the document. His works include Cyber Crime and Digital Evidence, the fifth edition of which will be released in 202...

"Once love is taken away from you, taken out of your hands, or beaten into a fearful thing, you lose the capacity to salvage yourself in the presence of another person." These words are one thread that leads into "A Dangerous Friendship," an intense, dark-humored, cynical, and at times perilous journey for two women. Author Robin Merle (pronounced Merrill) makes her fiction deb...

In the second and final installment of this series, we hear from the voices of the Pennwriters Conference. The annual event, in its 39th year, was held recently in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. As part of its long-running commitment, Sunbury Press Books founder, Dr. Lawrence Knorr, participated in the three-day event. The conference is designed to assist authors, poets, and writers of any genre and ski...

The 39th Annual Pennwriters Conference was recently held in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. As part of Sunbury Press Books' longstanding commitment to the written word and those who craft it, founder and publisher Dr. Lawrence Knorr was among those who attended--the conference is designed to help authors, poets, and writers of all genres and skill levels. Workshops, presentations, and meetups with e...

Set in early 20th-century Pittsburgh, Lara Brenckle Malmont's Three Rivers Home brings us the life and times of Francesco "Frankie" Fortunato , on Sunbury's Milford House imprint.  The tale of a tenacious orphan, Frankie overcomes loss while battling callous adults, corrupt systems that care nothing for children such as himself. All the while, Frankie promises to reunite with h...

Ronald Rand is known throughout the world as an actor, author, educator, poet, and painter. He is also a traveler, having visited more than two dozen countries as a US Cultural Ambassador. His new book,  The Marsh in May and 30 Poems with 29 Paintings by Ronald Rand, is an immersive experience that taps into human experience through word and paint. While praised for his post-modern and post-Impres...

While not the first literary detective, Sherlock Holmes is one of the most read, viewed, and heard. Holmes has been depicted more than 250 times; with his partner, Dr. John Watson, the pair have not only captured the imaginations of mystery (and non-mystery) lovers, but also authors, the world over.  Fan fiction about Holmes and Watson dates back to the 19th century, often featuring playful, satir...

Edward V. Bonner is a man of many passions. From his early years in the steel town of Hazelwood, Pennsylvania, Bonner has combined his love of history, literature, and education with sports. A lifelong martial artist with a specialty in Shotokan Karate, Bonner has participated in numerous tournaments across the US, operated his own school, and still instructs, primarily younger students. He has al...

Andrea van de Loo has lived a life with many experiences and transformations. In a series of short chapters, Andrea brings out her more than 80 years of human experience in " The Pressing Stones: The Healing Journey of a Nazi's Daughter ." Andrea's early life in the Netherlands during the Second World War is recounted, and in particular, that of her father. He joins the SS in a...

In a land of hard-bitten lawmen, Ed Earl Burch may be the toughest of them all. An aging, but still difficult and dangerous character, Ed Earl has worked both sides of the law. Now, he's back in the borderlands of West Texas and Northern Mexico, where a shadow of his past has again arisen. A series of grisly, straight-razor murders leads Ed Earl to believe that a man he thought he'd kill...

Two brothers are traveling from Iowa to Indiana for the funeral of their father. On the way, their reminisces paint a portrait of the man, with colors Midwest rural life might not expect. The life and times of Wilbur Rife are replete with abuse, alcoholism, exotic dancers, crime, tragedy, persistence, and love. The testament by one of his sons tells a tale of survival but also of navigating life i...

In this personal memoir, Eric Gnezda tells of his passions: music, running, and service to others. His life journey has been one with the expected twists and turns, joys, heartaches, and all in between. Through these experiences, Eric discovers life's true meaning and provides hope for a world with renewed humanity and true empathy. An award-winning singer and songwriter, Eric is the creator...

Detective Oliver Tucker is dead...but he's not done solving crimes, including his own murder. In the first of Tj O'Connor's Dead Detective series, "Tuck" must navigate the afterlife to help his widow, Professor Angela Tucker, and their dog Hercule find his killer and solve a deeper mystery. Gold coins, mobsters, a psychotic hitman, and a possible Civil War burial ground ar...

Diana Long is a widow facing middle age, and has rented out her East Hampton home to boarders. Needless to say, the parade of tenants that passes through at times reads like a Rogue's Gallery, with characters, incidents, and the occasional dog who make Diana's home their own...temporarily.  In Three Rooms, Shared Bath: A Landlady in the Hamptons, Eileen Obser takes the reader in Diana&ap...

Robert "R.B." Swift has marked a half-century of journalism, best known for his coverage of the State House in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He is the author of three books on Colonial American History, including  Life, Liberty and Death on the Appalachian Frontier , released by Mastof Press in 2024. Speaking with host Dr. Lawrence Knorr, Swift discusses his interest in history, his journali...

Gerri Almand has entertained and regaled readers over the past several years with her tales of RV travel, through  The Reluctant RV Wife, Home is Where the RV Is,  and  Running from COVID in our RV Cocoon.   Health issues, however, prompted Gerri and her husband to cut back their "Life on the Road" and move into an Over-55 community in the Eugene, Oregon area. From the Brown Posey Press...

24th Century New Earth is a world ravaged by war, climate change, and factions. Within these are the haves and the have-nots. One of the latter, Kat Wallace, escapes slavers to find herself in the island kingdom of Bosch, where piracy is the game and the illicit "glitter" drives the economy.  Motivated by revenge, Kat seeks to join the Pirate Force, but her plans may well be derailed by...

"Who is my father?" The question has haunted Lydia Hamilton since she was five. A mixed-race girl growing up in early 19th-century Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, Lydia navigates her youth, her marriage, and eventual separation from Jacob Smith, to her dual role as housekeeper and business manager for an attorney named Thaddeus Stevens.  From the Heart of Lydia is her story, available on the L...

Dr. John LaCasse returns to the Sunbury Press Books Show to discuss quantum physics, science, spirituality, and philosophy, along with a few light-hearted sidetracks. His new book, Fight for the Quantum: Essays on Spirituality and Science, is a collection of takes, described as a lively polemic that examines the "hard problem" of consciousness--why physical states give rise to subject ex...

John P. Deeben is a historian, government archivist, and genealogist with a passion for Civil War history. Currently a reference archivist and Subject Matter Expert (SME) for Early American Records at the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, DC, Deeben provides research assistance for military records from the Revolutionary War through the early 20th century.  A frequent lec...

In this episode of "The History Stacks," Col. Terrence W. Beltz discusses his love of the subject from his youth (which included dragging his parents to Civil War battlefields such as Gettysburg). This extended into Beltz's career with the US Army, from which he retired with the rank of colonel, and he also served with the Virginia Housing Development Authority in Richmond. Beltz re...