From the Nightbird Nest

We have been away for a while but that doesn't mean we haven't been busy. With this update we bring you our finalized publishing schedule for next year. And quite an exciting lineup it is, too.

First up is a trade paperback reprint of Jedwin Smith's outstanding memoir, OUR BROTHER'S KEEPER, which was first published in hardcover in 2005, and has long since gone out of print. This very touching and personal story of the death of Smith's younger brother Jeff—a Marine Corps rifleman who was killed in action during the 1968 Tet Offensive—is being used by the Veteran’s Administration and the Wounded Warrior program to assist returning veterans and their families. The book won the prestigious Reader's Digest Memoir of the Month in the year of publication. We don't usually publish reprints, but there is such a huge demand for a paperback edition of this fine book, it proves an exception to the rule. And with all of today's veterans returning Stateside, it is as timely as ever.

Second, scheduled for an early summer release, is first-time novelist Ronald Aiken's DEATH BENEFITS, a tale of suspense about a lawyer attempting to help out an old friend who claims someone is trying to kill him, only to become enmeshed in a crafty professional criminal's dark netherworld of murder, deceit, and insurance fraud. This one sould appeal to those of you who enjoy fast-paced noir similar to Heywood Gould's THE SERIAL KILLER'S DAUGHTER.

And last but not least, my second novel, KING OF THE HOBOS, is slated for September publication. This one is a high octane thriller about a near-future America that has been plunged into a second Great Depression after another Wall Street Crash. Bands of hobos and desperados roam the countryside and ride the rails in search of food and shelter. America has become a jungle full of predators. This one is lightning-quick and dangerous, like a runaway freight train. Literally.

Check out these coming attractions below. We even offer opening chapters of the two novels for your reading pleasure.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jeff Dennis, Publisher, Editor-In-Chief
jeff@nightbirdpubs.com

Coming April 2012

OUR BROTHER'S KEEPER

by Jedwin Smith
 

Two-time Pulitzer Prize nominee Jedwin Smith brings us OUR BROTHER'S KEEPER, the story of all wars, past and present.

While this is an unvarnished depiction of combat and its somber compilation of battlefield casualties—those killed and wounded, as well as those who forever must live with the guilt of having survived—it is also the story of mankind’s seemingly endless cycle of madness: men marching off to war, surviving and then subsequently raising their own children in the specter of war’s glory, thus propelling them down the same path of destruction.

OUR BROTHER'S KEEPER is also the story of war’s staggering list of collateral damage—the family and friends of the slain, who, but by the grace of God, are unable to escape the torment of having lost a loved one.

Since 1941, three generations have been seared by five catastrophic wars, the casualties of which are incalculable. For the present generation it is Iraq and Afghanistan. But for author Jedwin Smith, his parents and his brothers and sisters, it is the haunting specter of Vietnam that will never be forgotten.

Seemingly on a whim, Marine Corps PFC Jeffrey Earl Smith put aside his anti-war sentiments and joined the Marines in June 1967. Sent to Vietnam five months later, his death during a Viet Cong ambush in March 1968 was the catalyst that finally ended his parents’ marriage and created a lost generation of Smith siblings.

In OUR BROTHER'S KEEPER, Jeffrey’s older brother and a former Marine himself, shares a riveting family saga unlike anything you’ve read before.

In essence, this is the story of all families whose sons and daughters are called upon to defend our American principals on foreign shores during time of war—a saga that the editors of Reader’s Digest describe as “a powerful story of brotherhood, bravery and healing,” the haunting and gut-wrenching story “of a man who found redemption when he wanted revenge; it will break your heart, but change it, too.”

Writing with passion, intensity, and immediacy, Jedwin Smith tells the tale of years when, consumed by guilt, he spiraled into alcoholism, self-loathing, and a fury at the world that often manifested itself in the obsession to find and destroy the man who killed his brother. He reveals how Jeff’s death drove each member of the Smith family into his or her own emotional turmoil and self-exile—and then shows how each eventually found a measure of peace in their life. As for the author, he shows how only love, patience, and unconditional faith saved him from self-destruction ... and finally guided him toward the road to recovery.

In OUR BROTHER'S KEEPER , Jedwin Smith examines who his brother was, how he died, and why his death has had such a devastating impact to this day. The book is both the story and the outcome of a quest that took the author across the United States to visit siblings he hadn’t seen in decades as well as the former Marines who had been at Jeff’s side on that awful day so many years before.

Finally, the journey took the author to Vietnam, where he confronted Duong Tu Anh, the former Viet Cong commander responsible for the attack that killed Jeff. The encounter was chilling, extraordinary, and life-changing.

OUR BROTHER'S KEEPER is more than a moving and beautifully written family saga of the Vietnam War and its bitter and ongoing aftermath. It is also the story of how America has either been in denial or in recovery in many important ways ever since.

But most of all, it is an inspiring personal tale of loss and healing, anger and forgiveness, self-discovery—and the transcendent power of love.

Coming June 2012

DEATH BENEFITS

by Ronald Aiken

We are pleased to bring you this page-turning noirish thriller from first-time novelist, Ronald Aiken.

What would you do if your best friend told you his boss was going to kill him? Try to save his life because he once saved yours? Well if you’re Tony Benson, and your best friend is a prankster like Leo Radigan, you’d do nothing, just laugh it off and say, “That’s a novel approach to work-force reduction.” If only it was that simple.

Leo’s boss, the mysterious Hike Muertens, is an influential businessman and philanthropist, but Leo insists he’s not the man he appears to be. “With this guy you gotta give an arm to keep a leg,” he insists.

At first, Tony believes Leo’s ever increasing paranoia is fueled by problems at home—a bad marriage, spoiled kids and rising debt. After all, why would a man of Muertens’ stature commit murder? But as Tony tries to help his friend through his personal crisis, he finds himself being drawn into Leo’s paranoid world, and begins to wonder if there might be something to his crazy tales, after all.

As paranoia becomes reality, Tony’s darker side emerges and he must successfully navigate his way through the state’s mental health and criminal justice systems to save his own life.

Click here to read the opening chapters

Coming September 2012 

KING OF THE HOBOS

by Jeff Dennis

The author of the popular 2009 dark fantasy romance, THE WISDOM OF LOONS, is back, this time with a gritty intense thriller. In KING OF THE HOBOS, Jeff Dennis depicts a near-future America that has been plunged into a second Great Depression. The unemployment rate hovers near 40%. Hundreds of thousands are homeless, roaming the country in search of food and work and two pennies to rub together. Just as with the original Depression of 1929, men hop freight trains to get from one location to another. Hobo camps have sprung up everywhere. The American landscape is dangerous and teeming with violent predators. Only the strongest and most fearless survive in this Mad Max milieu where everything, including human life, is up for grabs.

One of these wanderers in this brave new world is Derek Parnell. Seven years before, a house fire in upstate New York claimed Parnell’s wife and 11-year-old daughter. Arson investigations prove the fire was deliberately set. Devastated, Parnell vows to find his wife's and daughter’s murderers and to seek revenge. A few key clues point west, to Arizona, possibly Utah and Colorado. But the fire has wiped him out financially, which limits his mobility.

A month after the homicide verdict, Parnell is approached by a mysterious man who calls himself Croesus. Croesus sets him up with a large sum of money, but gives no explanation before vanishing. Parnell finds the timing of this gift suspicious and so expands his investigation to discover the identity of his very generous anonymous financial backer. It’s all very strange, especially since there are seemingly no strings attached to the money. Parnell sets up a shell corporation to grow his newfound capital as well as to hide it from the government. Then, six months after the house fire in which he lost everything, he heads west to take on his investigation in earnest.

Even though he is now a wealthy man, Derek Parnell decides to take on the hobo’s life. For six years, he rides the rails, learning that people are more willing to talk to a dirty ragged hobo than they would some rich fat cat wearing an expensive suit and driving a flashy car. During his travels, Parnell develops a deep-seated empathy for the plight of his new hobo friends. He feels great guilt over his own lucky happenstance, so he spreads his newfound wealth around as he visits hobo camps. His reputation grows to near legendary status as the hobo community embraces him, anointing him with the grandiose moniker of King Midas. There is nothing Derek Parnell—a.k.a., The King—won’t do for his less fortunate brethren, including vigilante justice.

One of his reclamation projects is his current lover, Elaine Leibrandt, a former catalog model now living in Flagstaff in a house bought and paid for by Parnell. Six years before, Elaine was blinded in one eye by a boyfriend who, in a jealous rage, threw battery acid in her face. Parnell paid all of Elaine’s medical bills, got her set up in her new home, then tracked down and killed the boyfriend. The murder was not Parnell’s first, and it would be far from his last. His mindset? “Karma determines who gets to live or die, and sometimes karma has to be helped along a little.”

And now, almost seven years after the horrific house fire, Parnell gets a few solid tips that he feels will lead him not only to the arsonists responsible, but also the identity of Croesus and the reason behind the huge monetary gift. He also gets information from several sources that his daughter Jennifer possibly had not perished in the fire, and that she is still alive and well. Parnell has heard rumors to this effect over the years, but never this convincing. At one point he is even shown a murky webcast of a young woman who bears a remarkable resemblance to what he imagines his now-18-year-old daughter might look like. Her voice and mannerisms ring true as well. But is it really Jennifer? Or is it a trick to extort money from him?

Parnell and Elaine depart on a hellish journey to find answers. They ride the rails in true hobo style, calling on help from their vagabond friends along the way. Their trip takes them from a gypsy fortune teller in Sedona to a meeting with a mysterious operative named Thor at the Ancestral Pueblo Cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde in southwestern Colorado, then on to a connected high roller in Las Vegas, and finally to an anti-government radical fringe paramilitary group known as The Liberty Dogs high up in the wilds of the northern Colorado mountains. As they make their way on this treacherous journey, they leave a trail of death and destruction in their wake. And the discoveries they make are truly startling—for those who survive.

Click here to read the opening chapters