Bøger af David Drake

Adults and Young Adults: First book in The Jansen Family Detective Series. A dollop of history, a smattering of humor, a baffling mystery, a wild adventure, and a thought-provoking presentation of the philosophic conflicts which were tearing the world apart in the 1940s, so comparisons can be made with those manifest today. A grandfather and his grandsons - 10 and 15 - find themselves fleeing the city to escape some unknown threat in 1940 America. They arrive in a small, Arkansas, village, where they operate and live in a sawmill. The settlement is run by a religious fanatic, with whom they have disagreements and serious conflicts, which prompts discussions of authoritarian rule, prejudice and the Nazi threat to civilization. It becomes to move to another, more typical, village, where they operate a small hotel. The grandfather must return to the city on a dangerous mission and the boys find themselves in a life and death struggle culminating in a dangerous confrontation as they maneuver a 20-ton steam engine down the rails at 90 miles an hour on a certain collision course with another train.

The loveable main character of this psychological thriller is Jack - a bright 17-year-old, well liked, well-adjusted, good athlete - except for that one thing. He has blackout periods after which he has no recollection of where he has been or what he has done. He finds those periods coincide with the murders of crime kingpins in his city. At first, he links them with the beatings his religious stepfather administers to him - to keep the Devil from meddling with his soul. He decides the problem is too big for him to solve, so he seeks the help of a psychologist. Together, they work to determine whether he is the one out to clean the City of its most evil citizens. The nail-biting climax plays out in a life and death struggle on the observation deck of a 30-story building. (Adults and young adults, fifteen and older.)

For adults and young adults 15 and older. David is a super-bright, loveable, always helpful and compassionate 17-year-old. Everybody in his small town loves him. He pretty well runs the show in his high school. This story covers one week or so of his junior year during which there is a date to the Winter Dance, a band concert, church choir practice, sports, classes, interaction with his family - the usual things in a teen boy's life. The more meaningful story, however, deals with David's struggle to make sense of life - to find some purpose for living and fend off his reoccurring depression. He has lots of meaningful conversations with his best friend. They are different - polar opposites - in almost every way, and yet they share one important trait - the overriding desire to figure things out: why is there hate, how can greedy people just ignore the pain and suffering in the world, are there universally agreed upon standards of right and wrong, good and evil? Their very serious search is woven in among their rather normal teenage lives - the fun, the accomplishments, the associations, the good times and the bad. In the end, for David, he comes to believe that are all his options are bad.

For 9 to 13-year-old readers and their parents. Two 11-year-old boys, both social misfits and different from each other in most ways - one poor as dirt who hated school and one rich as a gold mine who loved it - chance upon each other and begin to form a friendship. As they work together to complete a tree house in the woods, they have wonderful talks about their lives, being eleven, their futures, parents, likes and dislikes and so forth. Ford, the rich kid, helps Jake realize that he's actually pretty smart, improve his grammar and vocabulary, and even enjoy learning new things. Jake helps remodel Ford from a socially awkward, stuck-up rich snob - he didn't know he was one - into a more acceptable and likeable kid. And, oh yes, there's the bobcat that takes up residence in the tree house, a broken bone or two, that near drowning in the creek, and, well, other things. Lots of talk. Lots of excitement. Lots of fun.

Tommy welcomes an unlikely new partner in his fight against evil. This time his foe is a brilliant magician who uses mind control methods to force people all over the world to live according to the will of the Society of the Enlightened - a group of powerful monks whose home is high in the remote mountains of Tibet. They believe they know the only TRUTH and therefore have the right to force it on people everywhere. Along the way comes Tommy's fourteenth birthday, the one time he will be allowed to be with his biological parents. He's note sure he wants to meet them. Tommy teaches the readers one of his super powers - REALLY

A twelve year old boy suddenly finds himself parentless and stranded alone in a lost valley filled with Native American mysteries and magic. Two most unlikely companions join him, one ten and one fourteen. Magically transformed into Native American lads when they don their stunning buckskins, they mount their beautiful Palominos ponies and race off into one 'day-saving' adventure after another. The story demonstrates how positive values and dedication to helpfulness can build a happy and successful life.