Published: June 19, 2006 03:57 pm      

By the book: Area's authors provide summer reading

Summer is a great time to head for a comfortable chair, relax and lose oneself in a book.

Whether you prefer a good murder mystery, parenting book, self-help book, nonfiction or historic tale, The Tribune-Democrat has compiled an intriguing summer reading list comprising authors with regional ties.

The newspaper refrained from including self-published books. Prices also are not included because of varied costs from bookstores or Internet sales.



“18 Seconds”

By George D. Shuman

(Simon & Schuster)

Shuman, with homes in Laughlintown and North Carolina, is a 20-year veteran of the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police force.

His first novel, “18 Seconds,” is an explosive thriller that has earned critical acclaim.

Perhaps no higher compliment was given “18 Seconds” than getting a thumbs up from Stephen King, who listed Shuman as his No. 2 recommendation for summer reads.

The book focuses on investigative consultant Sherry Moore, who is blind and stunningly beautiful. She has the extraordinary ability to “see” a deceased’s last 18 seconds of memory by touching the corpse.

At age 5, she was found near death on the steps of a city hospital. A head injury had left her without sight and prevented her from remembering her past. When Sherry discovers she does have sight, sight that transcends death, she learns to use her gift to help others solve mysteries that only she can tap into.

Shuman packs a realistic style and authentic investigative detail into this riveting tale filled with pulse-pounding tension that will send readers right to the edge.

“I was in awe that people could do such powerful things with words,” Shuman said. “But anyone who reads knows that great books are like gems on a beach, you find them here and there and between them is all the commonplace stuff.

Shuman received rave reviews from the Washington Post, Washington Tribune and Baltimore Sun newspapers.

The book was on the Post’s Bestseller list at No 9.

The novel will be available in paperback in March 2007.



“Fire on the Water”

By James Gindlesperger

White Mane Publishing

Gindlesperger, of Upper Yoder Township, offers a rare look into life at sea during the Civil War.

“Fire on the Water” chronicles the two-year voyage of the Confederate warship Alabama and the efforts of the USS Kearsarge, among others, that chased her around the world and brought her exploits to an end.

“I used the ships’ logs, personal diaries and other contemporary accounts to follow the ships’ cruises through hurricanes, fires, mutinies, desertions, shark attacks and other adversities until they met in battle off the coast of France in 1864,” Gindlesperger said.

“Fire on the Water” is Gindlesperger’s third book. He wrote “Escape From Libby Prison,” which won the 1996 George Washington Honor Medal for Excellence, presented by the Freedoms Foundation of Valley Forge. It was also featured on the Discovery Channel and the film rights were optioned by Warner Brothers. His second book, “Seed Corn of the Confederacy,” detailed the participation of the cadets of Virginia Military Institute at the Battle of New Market.



“They’ll Teach You a Lesson”

By MaryAnn Aikins-Rager

(AuthorHouse)

Aikins-Rager of Indiana has worked with children for more than 25 years. She has a degree in pedology, which is the study of children. When she is not writing, she is teaching and learning from children in a preschool in rural Pennsylvania.

“My book has been called a unique parenting book, although that is not what it is intended to be,” she said. “But it is a must for parents, teachers and all who enjoy learning about human development.”

Aikins-Rager generates genuine emotion from the reader as the children come to life in the pages of the book. The chapters are short, but the lessons will stay with the reader long after the last page is turned.



“A Habit For Death”

By Chuck Zito

(Midnight Ink)

Zito grew up in Geistown Borough and resides in New York.

He said writing “A Habit For Death” combines three of his passions: Theater, mystery novels and a good beach read.

“My first novel starts with what is familiar to me: The beautiful western Pennsylvania landscape, a small theater and a stage manager,” said Zito. “It then wanders off into the imagination. Like all good mysteries, the great motives of lust, greed and power are present. However, ‘A Habit For Death’ is the lighter side of mayhem.”

Zito stumbled into the theater when he was

15 when he landed the role of the Cowardly Lion in a Johnstown Youth Theater production of “The Wizard of Oz.”

He had summer theater roles at Cresson Lake Playhouse, earned a degree from Carnegie-Mellon, and worked for many years as a stage manager, director, artistic director and producer.

“The desire to write seemed always to shadow my other interests,” he said.

“I can't say why I crossed the line from reader to writer. I’ve attempted to answer a question to which I suspect no one was actually demanding an answer: What’s so funny about murder? Turns out, not much in

the act itself, but there is a great deal of fun in the cast of characters who come along for the ride,” he said.



“Tiger in the Rain”

By Robert Clayton Buick

(AuthorHouse)

Born in 1932 of Serbian parents in Johnstown, Bogdan Buich, later to become Robert Clayton Buick, has lived on the edge of history.

In his memoir, “Tiger in the Rain,” Buick weaves personal anecdotes with national events to relate a true story.

He was a merchant mariner, successful bullfighter in Mexico and a soldier of fortune associated with the Central Intelligence Agency.

Buick, who lives in Tujunga, Calif., asserts that he is the last living person who can, with personal knowledge and involvement, put together all of the people and elements of the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

The book tells how Buick was recruited by the U.S. government for a surveillance project at a small hotel in Mexico City to observe clandestine activity.

He uncovered a plot to kill Kennedy two months before the president was shot in Dallas.

Buick contends his knowledge of the plot made him the most hunted man in the world.

“Keppy's War”

By John Kepchar with Larry Aaron

(Xlibris)

The book recounts the memories of John Kepchar (aka Keppy), who served as a radioman aboard the flagship of Rear Adm. Donald Pardee Moon during the ill-fated Exercise Tiger prior to the invasion of Normandy during World War II.

In the early-morning hours of April 28, 1944, eight landing ship tanks and their lone British escort were en route to their practice landing area at Slapton Sands, England, which looked every bit like the beaches of Normandy.

Nine German E-boats – high-speed, torpedo-carrying boats that patrolled the English Channel – came out of the fog-shrouded night from Cherbourg, France, and struck quickly and without warning.

Kepchar, a Windber native, recalls an attack during a dress rehearsal for the D-day invasion. It resulted in 749 deaths, the second highest number of U.S. fatalities in any single day of the war. It was topped only by the attack at Pearl Harbor.

“Being with the amphibious force aboard the admiral’s flagship influenced my desire to become an author,” Kepchar said. “The suicide of Moon made me want to give him recognition for the supreme sacrifice of his life in the line of duty.”

The book also exposes the secrecy behind Exercise Tiger and how it was covered up and ignored for many years.

“Secret diaries of mine are also included,” Kepchar said.

“The book will help people gain new appreciation for all military men and women and their sacrifices in World War II, Iraq and the other wars in between.”



“The Gifts That

Are Forgotten”

By Lee Walter

(Publish America)

Walter Lee Graboski of Northern Cambria, writing as Lee Walter, said he wrote the book because he believes people are forgetting the purpose of life and the three gifts God has bestowed on humanity: Faith, hope and love.

The story revolves around two young children in foster care who find their real parents.

David and Sarah, who were tortured at a foster-care home, knew that they had to get out before they died. So they asked God for help, and their prayers were answered.

“While discovering God’s three gifts, the children also get a shocking surprise,” Graboski said.



“Manifest Dreams

Into Reality”

By Celest Klatt

(Empty Canoe)

Klatt of Johnstown is a psychic-clairvoyant.

“What I teach in this book is how people can change their lives around for the better just by manifesting their dreams into reality,” Klatt said. “What influenced me to become an author is the need to help others get what they want from life, without looking back at an older age and wondering if they could of done better in life.”

Klatt said she works as a healer and medium and also is skilled in the arts of Reiki, past life regressions, and hypnosis.

“I have worked hands-on with numerous police agencies throughout the northeast as well as with respected doctors and hospitals around the world.”



Tom Lavis can be reached at 532-5054 or tlavis@tribdem.com.