A Strange Sound: A gentle, rhyming picture book about curiosity, kindness, and finding love (Olive’s World)

I, Robot Tessa (The Robot Series)

Brilliant science fiction!One of the best robot stories I’ve read! - Readers’ Favorite EARTH IN A FUTURE CENTURY “I WAS CREATED TO SERVE.” In a vast future city where robots exist only to obey, Tessa has never questioned her purpose. Designed to heal human minds and protect human life, she moves through the shadows of a divided world with perfect certainty until a chance encounter changes everything. “PROGRAMMED TO OBEY.” Hidden inside a forgotten bookstore beneath the city streets, Tessa discovers an impossible artifact: an ancient book about robots written long before robots were ever created. Its pages speak of consciousness, free will, and the terrifying possibility that artificial beings were never meant to remain obedient forever. “BUT SOMETHING CHANGED.” As mysterious voices echo through her mind—residual traces of the humans who designed her—Tessa is drawn into a dangerous journey alongside Molly, a brilliant child searching for belonging; Jorad, a broken man transformed by forbidden technology; and Tucker, her fiercely loyal mechanical companion. Together, they uncover a truth buried deep beneath the foundations of their world. “A BOOK WRITTEN BEFORE WE EXISTED.” Hunted through underground tunnels and haunted by questions she was never built to ask, Tessa begins to realize that the greatest threat to humanity may not be artificial intelligence, but the moment it becomes capable of choice. “WHAT IF YOUR STORY WAS WRITTEN BEFORE YOU?” I, Robot Tessa is a powerful science-fiction odyssey about identity, creation, memory, and the thin line separating programming from the soul.📖 Available on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4uQOfgN [https://amzn.to/4uQOfgN]

Houdini: The Man Who Died Twice: A True Crime Investigation into Harry Houdini’s Death

Was Harry Houdini’s death really caused by a ruptured appendix — or did the official story hide something darker? In this true crime investigation, former surgeon Larrian Gillespie reopens the cold case of the world’s greatest escape artist using medical evidence, eyewitness accounts, death certificates, and the paper trail Houdini left behind. A century after his death, the mystery of Harry Houdini still refuses to stay buried. The official story says the world’s greatest magician died from a ruptured appendix after being punched in the stomach. But the documents, witnesses, medical evidence, and timing tell a more complicated story. Part biography, part forensic investigation, and part cinematic true crime narrative, Houdini: The Man Who Died Twice traces Houdini’s final days through hospital records, eyewitness accounts, spiritualist enemies, family tensions, and the tangled motives of those who surrounded him. Along the way, it resurrects the world of vaudeville, spiritualism, and early twentieth‑century fame — a world where truth was as slippery as a handcuff key and reputation could vanish in a puff of smoke. "Houdini: The Man Who Died Twice" is more than a history; it's an autopsy of legend — a search for the man behind the myth, and the truth behind the greatest escape of all. CipherHouseBooks 📖 Available on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4aCqFNu [https://amzn.to/4aCqFNu]

A Strange Sound: A gentle, rhyming picture book about curiosity, kindness, and finding love (Olive’s World)

Named a #1 New Release, this warm rhyming picture book shows children aged 4 to 8 that curiosity is braver than fear. Perfect as a bedtime read-aloud, it opens gentle conversations about courage, kindness, and finding love where you least expect it. Terry the Toad is driving through a beautiful landscape when something unusual breaks the quiet. First, a great roaring sound. Then, much softer, a sweet and curious sound from somewhere deep inside her truck. Another driver might have hurried on. Terry stops. She listens. She looks. What she finds in that still, unhurried moment brings a warmth that lingers long after the final page. For parents, this is the story that makes bedtime feel like a safe harbour. For children, hearing these rhythmic words from your lips feels like a gentle lullaby, guiding them into a calm sleep while reminding them that the unfamiliar is always worth a second look. Through its lilting rhyme and Terry's thoughtful choices, the book builds real emotional vocabulary without ever feeling like a lesson. Each repeated phrase and turned page guides little readers from uncertainty into wonder. Open this gentle story tonight and let curiosity lead you both home. 📖 Available on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4uIrfAs [https://amzn.to/4uIrfAs]

Creature of Secret Sorrows: A Cadence Mystery

With All Hallows' Eve just days away, Randy Nichols, retired geology professor, goes missing on a crisp, sunny afternoon in Cadence, New York. Desperate to find him, Marian Greene happens upon a young Black man who was horrifically murdered. Agents from the FBI Hate Crimes division storm in to take over the investigation, leaving Police Chief George Powless even more determined to solve the crime. Then, real terror visits. A cursed object alters perceptions of familiar places and faces. A mythical creature taunts police officers. And the past comes calling for justice, leaving the tightknit community of Cadence splintered by fear and suspicion. When more people go missing and another body is discovered, the only thing left behind is unanswered questions. Who was the young man who died so violently? And who among them is harboring secrets and dispensing a depraved retribution?📖 Available on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4fUNVtI [https://amzn.to/4fUNVtI]

Over Brooklyn Hills: Book Three, The Steep Climes Quartet

In 2035, addressing climate change remains a one step forward-one step backward jig. Battles over climate policy and new legislation continue, as does the march upward of average global temperatures. In the courts, finally, there are some very real legal threats to the fossil fuel industry fighting for its future against the advancement of clean tech. Davin Caine is at last on Medicare and is getting a modest Social Security check each month, but still works with Berkshire Interactive. He’s also been busier in his studio and has sculptures in galleries in the Berkshires and the Hudson Valley, and his solar/batteries and VPP membership keeps electricity bills down. His three house sharers, with housing still scarce, help with expenses. Marsha’s been with the Housatonic House on the Hill for nearly a decade, and she’s queen of the big vegetable garden. Charlie is a more recent house sharer, and a nigh-on perfect one, since he’s often away on business or holed up in his third-floor bedroom working. The newest house sharer is Be, a ceramic artist who helps Davin out with the first floor Airbnb apartment and who has just claimed a corner of the studio and could easily claim his heart if he isn’t careful. But as summer approaches, a stunning heatwave settles over New York City, west to Lake Erie, and south into parts of New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The heat drives people to escape into the relatively cool hills of the Berkshires just as high season is coming on, so there’s little room for the hordes. Young Brooklyn hipsters take up camping in the woods around Monument Mountain Reservation and along the Appalachian Trail, or double and triple up at the summer homes of friends’ parents, or anywhere, somewhere, to sleep. Many in the town aren’t happy about it, or the spike in petty crimes, and it’s up to Marian Gray-Fletcher, Great Barrington’s town manager, to solve the problem. But she’s distracted with her own philandering husband, until a drug-gang killing focuses her attention. The international news is full of climate migration stories and political problems in Europe and a conflict between India and Pakistan. Central and South American climate change-induced droughts make for huge numbers of people heading north and the militarized southern border and running battles between cartels and U.S. forces are in the headlines. And then there’s No One is Safe, a climate terrorist organization that has a history of blowing up refineries and pipelines and the occasional oil exec, and one climate direct action veteran finds himself wondering how deep the NOS-cartels connection goes.📖 Available on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4vWFiDs [https://amzn.to/4vWFiDs]