One selfless act, one naïve decision, so innocent in the making, so condemning in effect, how foolish John had been not to expect trouble to follow. Murder or self-defense, what did it matter? One man was dead and another wanted revenge.
Having grown up with a silver spoon in his mouth, John is a young man who sets out on an adventure of self-discovery. His confidence is on the rise until a single failure in judgment sends him fleeing for his life. Wanted for murder, John’s flight carries him throughout a nation broken by war and stitched together by the transcontinental railroad. Along the way he encounters an array of colorful characters. Friend or enemy, mentor or tormentor, each will have a profound impact on John and his fate. Hounded by a mercenary posse, John must remain a step ahead to survive while waiting for a resolution he fears will never come.
BIOGRAPHY You are reading this bio either by accident or because you have an interest in my writing. The one thing about being an author that I have found uncomfortable is the request for a bio page everywhere I turn. I am generally a private person but more than that, I feel pretentious writing about myself simply because I am an author.
That being said, I will provide a little insight. My father and his father were trim and door carpenters. They could do other carpentry but they specialized in the detail work. My dad was also a talented artist. My other grandfather was a mechanic in a civil service job, winning a number of awards for quality and innovation. I had one grandmother who retired from A&P and my mother was an elementary school teacher. Combine this DNA and you get me with too many interests for my own good.
I particularly enjoy working with mechanical things and I can fix practically anything. I also build furniture when I have time and do my own home repair and remodeling work in most cases. Oh the list I could detail for you of all my interests but what they usually boil down to is frustration for not having enough hours in the day. However, two interests which have played key roles in my writing have been my love of travel and my passion for history. I have traveled the United States extensively and local history has often been my focus. There is something eerily compelling about standing in the midst of hushed voices in a museum or the twilight breeze across the desert or prairie... Excuse me, I was drifting into my imagination and if I don't stop now I might be get stuck there for a while.
As for my writing, my mother had the most significant impact. As a kid I can remember she was always writing something and she won a few awards. It is because of her writing that the thought of me as a writer seemed reasonable. I wrote a few short stories and about half a novel in high school but I allowed life to pull me away from it. It wasn't until several years ago when I had one of the most vivid and unique dreams that I began to get serious about writing. Out of nowhere I dreamt the key points of the plot for Thrust From the Hand of God and the rest of that story fell into place as if by supernatural means. I know that many people these days do not believe in God and Christ seems to be on the public enemy list but I do feel God gave me this story and I credit any success it has to Him.
I do not write Christian Fiction but I do not write smut either. My goal is that any reasonable reader will enjoy my work, be entertained by it and learn something in the process. I am a firm believer that a book should teach you something. For instance, Thrust From the Hand of God has a lot of great history wrapped into it but don't worry, it is painless, I promise. After all, what good is any work of fiction if it does not first entertain?
Since that fateful dream I have had several others like it, each providing me with the core of another unique story. The list of stories spans several genres and it is my desire to write them all. For now, I humbly ask you to give Thrust From the Hand of God a chance. Based solely on the feedback I have received I do believe you will be pleasantly surprised.
I liked that the young man matured throughout the book and became responsible for his actions, but that sense of responsibility turned his life upside down and he had to start trying to live through a vendetta.