Bookmarks
I'm a fan of all of David Weiss's novels, but Bookmarks is my favorite. It is his most ambitious story, the one with the widest vision. Mican Reinbow is an engaging character about whom the reader cares deeply. We experience his triumphs and failures, his efforts to overcome the racial disadvantages that might have destroyed or embittered another person. The novelist's passion for equality and social justice is strikingly evident on every page. The novel is tightly constructed, and the many settings are fully realized: Fort Myers, St. Augustine, Savannah, Columbia, and Schenectady. The minor characters are also memorable: Abbey, Grover, Walter, Noah, Mr. Wright, Hopkins, Lucinda, Izzy, Edison, and Steinmetz. In addition, the novel is meticulously researched and informative: I learned so much about nineteenth-century and early-twentieth-century American history, especially Reconstruction and the Jim Crow South. Even the footnotes are fascinating, a treasure trove of knowledge. Bookmarks is a treat, a story about love, loss, and resiliency.
-- Dr. Jeffrey Berman
Distinguished Professor of English, University at Albany-SUNY
-- Dr. Jeffrey Berman
Distinguished Professor of English, University at Albany-SUNY
Oases
Unseemly complications unfold when a drunk driver steals the life of one of four inseparable college buddies. Flash back six years to the quartet's graduation from William's College, and trace the distinct, but intersecting paths their lives take. Join with them as they confront life's demons, some of which come from within. Endure an encounter with a dodgy college classmate who converts a long-coveted venture into a trek to Hell. Travel the bumpy road back from the abyss, and experience a romantic's ecstasy when reality and art become congruent.
Reason, Treason and Tyringham Tea
Rugged, but baggage-ridden individualist Thomas Webster anguishes as his neighbors pass by en route to the wedding of Polly Winslow. Just a year earlier, Thomas had proposed to Polly, only to see her father veto the planned nuptial. Journey back to the 1770's to the town of Tyringham in southwestern Massachusetts and learn whether Thomas, a victim of an abusive childhood, can overcome the emotional and physical challenges of life in colonial America. See how this self-educated Renaissance man confronts the social, political and religious dilemmas that come his way. Join with him and his neighbors as they face the challenges of an overbearing, mercantile Mother Country. Experience their frustration and ambivalence amidst the events leading up to the Revolution and the fledgling experiment we know today as America. Discover if childhood cruelties and a hidden past, including a year spent in an English jail, will come back to haunt Thomas; whether his neighbors will welcome him into their fight for freedom; and if he can find acceptance and love in a rural Congregationalist community.
Farewell to Jack
Trial attorney Skip Maynard, once the rising star of the Cooperstown Courthouse, has been hired to defend Harley Morehead, chairman of the Populist Party. The charge is murder, and the case against Morehead is rock solid.
Ever since the hit-and-run driver killed Skip’s wife Megan a decade earlier, his career has spiraled downward. Alcohol dominates hours once enthusiastically devoted to law books. With Megan, his soul mate, gone, a new friend, Jack Daniel’s, rules Skip’s life. Even if he could stay sober, defending Morehead would be daunting. The arrogant politician seeks to recant a confession admitting he killed Squeaky Grimes.
Travel back to the turbulent late 1960’s to the sleepy village of Cooperstown, New York, home to baseball’s birthplace, and discover whether Skip can resurrect his legal career and life. Can he stand up to the curve balls life has hurled his way? Or will Skip, shackled by alcohol, strike out?
Ever since the hit-and-run driver killed Skip’s wife Megan a decade earlier, his career has spiraled downward. Alcohol dominates hours once enthusiastically devoted to law books. With Megan, his soul mate, gone, a new friend, Jack Daniel’s, rules Skip’s life. Even if he could stay sober, defending Morehead would be daunting. The arrogant politician seeks to recant a confession admitting he killed Squeaky Grimes.
Travel back to the turbulent late 1960’s to the sleepy village of Cooperstown, New York, home to baseball’s birthplace, and discover whether Skip can resurrect his legal career and life. Can he stand up to the curve balls life has hurled his way? Or will Skip, shackled by alcohol, strike out?
Links and Chains
Adopted with roots unknown, Michael Goldman yearns to find his birth parents. He also yearns to find a long lost identical twin who years earlier absconded to Canada to escape the law. Michael embarks on what promises to be a stellar legal career. With a great job at a skyrocketing technology company he hits the jackpot when the CEO takes Michael under his wing. But all may not be exactly as it appears. And what folly would prompt Michael to allow Eddie King, the childhood chum who tried to frame Michael, back into his life. Will Eddie make up for past wrongs, or might he once again sabotage Michael? A tangled web links past and present as Michael charts his life, all the while searching for his family and roots.
Cedar Creek
Why would Lauren Worthington, reporter for the Cedar Creek Chronicle, trade romance, a good job and a bright future for controversy and peril? The year is 1983, and the western South Carolina village of Cedar Creek with its racially embittered past and depressed economy has begun to change, but far too slowly for Lauren. Her father, whose mansion was built more than a century before on the backs of slaves, plans to construct a shopping mall just off the nearby interstate. Her boyfriend, a black attorney and a member of the village board, is the project's staunchest opponent. And her boss, a savvy taskmaster who favors political pragmatism over ethical principles, is on her back. Determined to prove herself an objective journalist, Lauren takes a stand. Arson strikes her boyfriend's home. Compelling evidence points an incriminating finger at her father. But a shocking disclosure about her boyfriend's past, coupled with revelations he had been giving money to an Aryan separatist, spawns new suspicions. Accusations run wild. Threats abound. Tensions with both her father and boyfriend magnify until bizarre courtroom theater forces all concerned to reexamine not only their positions but also themselves.
Paralegal... Paramour
Cynical attorney Peter Lambert, choking on a tedious diet of estates and closings, has finally landed a case to challenge his courtroom skills. Jack Boyland has been charged with robbing his business partner, and murder looms as a possibility. Only a corpus delicti is missing. An artist who knows too much, an insurance agent with too many angles and a bearded mystery man shroud the case with questions. A growing mountain of evidence against the double-dealing Boyland gradually dampens Peter's enthusiasm. Complications ensue when Peter becomes romantically involved with an Amish witness. Amidst conflicting desires and obligations, courtroom cunning produces surprising rewards. But personal disappointment prevails until a paradoxical lesson enables Peter to move on.
Secret Agenda
Vengeance on his mind, millionaire Herbie Dalley has returned to the upstate New York village of Marble Falls for his fifteenth high school reunion. Pretending to be the down-and-out nerd who left for California years before, he sabotages his childhood tormentors while helping others in need. Dollars, discreetly spent, become his means to every end. Romantic, business and political possibilities, which dovetail with his scheme, have Herbie flying high. But unforeseen events turn his world upside down and impose challenges that demand soul-searching and a whole lot more.
Beyond the Tree House
Why would Michael Goldman, a brilliant college senior, jeopardize his future by committing a felony in broad daylight? If innocent, why would he remain silent? Adopted, with roots unknown, Michael provokes a myriad of questions among his friends and neighbors as he searches for his identity. Go back in time, a decade before the crime, and share the youthful experiences of Michael and his friends. See how these seemingly disconnected events create a puzzle of mismatched pieces, one colored by issues of bigotry, loyalty, friendship and love. Learn how, after a dicey game of courtroom charades, the strange puzzle finally comes together, and discover whether Michael resolves his inner conflict and avoids the nightmare of prison. Along the way, observe how a strong conscience, coupled with a loose tongue and capricious judgement, complicates Michael's life in the simple 1950's. Then again, war those years really so simple?