SECOND PRINTING This is the story of Henry Kent, father, husband, teacher and would-be superhero. A story of right versus wrong, faith versus logic and the tenuous nature of reality and sanity. Flashes and Specks is a portrait of one man's attempt to maintain his life in the face of madness, torture and the end of the world.

Flashes and Specks

Literature & Fiction

Pogodzinski, Mark

Literary

No Frills Buffalo

Diamonds in the Rough is a compilation of short sports-related stories — some humorous, some uplifting — that I’ve experienced first-hand during my lifetime. But it’s not just about sports. It’s about lifelong friendships made on ballfields, father and son/daughter relationships, the importance of giving back to your community ... and a whole lot more.  Chapter One begins with an incident that happened to me on a muddy baseball diamond roughly four decades ago, that I still remember like it was yesterday. Chapter Two flash-forwards approximately 30 years as my son experiences a similar situation while I’m coaching his team. And then it just kind of takes off from there, covering everything from baseball championships to the heartbreak of losing your “best friend” to pure human survival.  Mark Kelso, a member of the Buffalo Bills’ four Super Bowl teams, has penned the foreword. Says Mr. Kelso, “You will reach back in your own past and rekindle experiences that you had, and it will bring a smile to your face.” It all comes together as an easy and fun read for young and old alike.

Diamonds in the Rough

Kirchmyer, Mr Joe

Sports & Outdoors

Buffalo, New York, in the fall of 1980: a white supremacist embarks on a killing spree, targeting black people… one every day.  His first murder- from City Hall’s balcony twenty-eight stories high- becomes his signature.  The case is assigned to Mark Bennett, a new detective whose father was a police legend.  Ken Connell, the department’s star investigator, is angry to learn he is passed over.  Bennett owns a pedigree, but lacks experience solving homicides.  Bennett grapples with secrets: conversations with his dead father and a burgeoning affair he must keep quiet, because Allison is separating from a husband who doesn’t want her to leave: Ken Connell.  Bobby Bennett, Mark’s younger brother, is a rookie patrolman learning the job.   His partner is George Pope, a veteran street cop who once paired with Bennett’s father.  Pope is wise but crusty, determined to mentor a stubborn young man, no matter how much resistance he faces.  For several days, victims keep coming.  Against a backdrop of crooked cops, drug dealers, prostitutes, transvestites, tension mounts as the net narrows on the killer while Connell learns the truth about his wife’s affair.  These events converge in a darkened basement with two cops, a killer and three guns trained in different directions.  Rich in characterization, Broken and Profane is crime fiction that resonates with authenticity, a taut thriller portraying the underbelly of life and the men who are entrusted with keeping society’s order.  Jeff Schober is the author of the true crime book Bike Path Rapist with Det. Dennis Delano and the novel Undercurrent.

Broken and Profane

Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Schober, Mr. Jeff

Thrillers & Suspense

Based on true events, many investigated by the author personally, THE PLAZA was inspired by the murder of crime reporter Armando "El Choco" Rodriguez, of El Diario de Juarez. Plaza. Spanish: in Mexican culture, a slang word describing the territory of a certain drug cartel."I've been a reporter for years, and a resident of Juarez, Mexico all of my life. I've never seen anything like it. No one thought the drug war would be like this...My town has become the battleground for drug cartels. Even the police are being killed on a daily basis. Bands of teenagers working as paid assassins & extortionists are hitting every business, no matter how small. Things I took for granted like going to a restaurant, getting a haircut, or even an evening at the movies with my family put all our lives in danger. Robberies and public executions have become common place. Now when I report only five homicides in twenty-four hours, it is considered a good day." - Saul Saavedra, crime reporter for The Juarez Daily in THE PLAZA.

The Plaza

Paxton, Guillermo

Abandoned at birth, Jerry Balone spent most of his life in foster homes, orphanages, detention centers, and reform schools before going to prison for his involvement in a robbery/burglary in which three people were killed. His story of crime, gangs, and prison life is one that should be read by anyone who believes in the power of education, rehabilitation, and redemption.

Rising From the Ashes

Politics & Social Sciences

Balone, Gerald T

Philosophy

A little more than 125 years ago, a hardy group of businessmen and ordinary folks carved out a city among the pines of northern Wisconsin where the Somo, Tomahawk and Wisconsin Rivers converge. Founded on the vision of one man, William H. Bradley, a millionaire lumberman from Maine, the city of Tomahawk literally ‘sprang up over night.’ Through Bradley’s foresight, Tomahawk boasts unusually wide streets, beautifully parked areas and boulevards, and a wide open welcoming business thoroughfare. Today, businesses are still flourishing, pines are still standing, and the population of the city has increased three fold. Boomtown, is a historical account of the early years of Tomahawk, including biographical information on pioneers, prominent citizens and ordinary folks.

Boom Town: Early History of Tomahawk Wisconsin 1886-1924

History

Comeau, Robin L

Americas

Two years ago Tom Donovan was a cop, working the rough and tumble streets of Buffalo’s East side.  One fateful night he was involved in the deaths of a Federal agent and an unarmed man.     Fast forward to the present; Donovan is now working as an operative for a private investigator.  His latest assignment is to locate the wife of Gary Shields, a local real estate mogul.  His investigation leads him to a seamy underside of Shields’ business interests and he is forced to make a choice between doing his job and answering to his conscience.   Further complicating matters is Donovan being named in a wrongful death lawsuit by the family of the man whose shooting cost him his job two years before. Donovan’s past collides with the present as he searches for absolution.

Rust Belt Redemption

Coleman, David C.

Everyone Can Drum is the perfect instructional fun book for kids , family and friends interaction in the world of rhythm and drums that brings all together. Written by Corey Kertzie drummer for Big Leg Emma and Vinnie Amico, drummer for moe. combines their years of experience to put together a book full of information and lessons. A great book for children ages 5 and up.Illustrated by Fred Whitehead.

Everyone Can Drum!

Arts & Photography

Kertzie, Corey

Amico, Vinnie

Whitehead, Frederick

Music

A nurse from a Buffalo hospital punches out at midnight, then disappears, leaving an abandoned car in the parking lot. Four days later, the investigation falls to detectives Mark Bennett and Salvatore DeAngelis. Despite August’s heat, the case is ice cold — no suspects and no clues. Meanwhile, on a sweltering afternoon, patrolmen George Pope and Bobby Bennett respond to a routine domestic call, encountering a drug-addled mother in conflict with a father trying to do right by their infant daughter. The legal system offers clear-cut answers, but how should officers respond when the law is flawed? As Mark Bennett struggles with his investigation, a woman appears in the detective bureau carrying his dead father’s tie clip. They were once good friends, she claims, although Bennett has never heard of her. Now she asks a favor... The second installment in a series, Boneshaker is crime fiction inhabited by gritty characters who grapple with gray areas, explore the past, and tread staggered pathways between right and wrong.

Boneshaker

Schober, Jeff

Mystery

Leonard Lamply Jr. was born into a less than equipped family. His overbearing grandmother, a junkie mother, and a submissive grandfather are only a handful of the people who inject turmoil into his life. Join in the mayhem of those who are endeavoring to help Leonard. Track their constant struggle with his delinquent friends, drug dealers, and girls with low self-esteem. Follow as you are led along the arc of his life, from mischievous toddler to troubled adolescent through mean spirited and felonious teen. Who is responsible for the outcome of Leonard Lamply Jr.? I suppose it all depends on your perspective.

The Raising of Leonard Lamply Jr.

Davidson, John M

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