Bøger af David Winkler

Four strangers -- three men and a woman -- get thrown together on a road trip from Pennsylvania to California. As tensions mount, they become co-dependent: one owns the van, one has a driver's license, one is an experienced mechanic, and one has money to finance the trip. Each has his or her own purpose for reaching San Francisco. To complicate matters, and unknown to any of them, an object of criminal interest exists inside the van. In hot pursuit is a seasoned killer who will stop at nothing to retrieve what he believes is his. The four meanwhile endure a series of comical and tragic adventures across the country. Not all are destined to complete the journey, but each is bound to the others by danger, illness, sudden death, and a growing sense of friendship underscored by an emerging spirituality. They are vagabonds on a journey of self-discovery.

What happens when your jealousies and insecurities threaten to undermine your life? That becomes the fate of Jack Pine after he falls in love with the free-spirited New York street artist, Oona Slayton. Jack suspects his roommate and best friend, Paris Teal, of trying to steal Oona away from him. As a result, he falls prey to inner demons. Jack commits an act so horrid that he manages to keep it hidden from even himself. When he finally faces the dark truth, he finds, ironically, that the only path to redemption is through his nemesis and former friend, Paris Teal. A man anguished by guilt and moral complexity, Jack Pine's wounded spirit struggles against the backdrops of rural Maryland, New York City, and the First Iraq War to find, at any cost, his lost Lenore. David Winkler is a teacher in Las Vegas, Nevada.

"I think about that summer. I think about it often." It's the summer of 2007. The Iraq War is in full throttle. Fifteen-year-old Leda Townley misses her brother Roark, whom she imagines to be in the crosshairs of every sniper's rifle. Inspired by a mythical band of warriors that he and his friend PeeWee invented in junior high school, Roark's concept of heroism is about to clash with reality, resulting in consequences tragic and irreversible. In addition to worrying about her brother, Leda wrestles with the usual pangs of adolescence: romantic yearnings, parental strife, and a friendship that is both fragile and enduring. At the heart of it all is Leda's wayward, free-spirited Aunt Lucille who upends the Townleys' staid and comfortable lifestyle with music, laughter, illegal drugs, and an attitude that defies conventional morality. Yet it is Aunt Lucille who, in the crucible of her self-destructive ways, brings a sense of salvation to the damaged spirits around her, pointing Leda in the direction of young womanhood.

Neither of Drury Ponshed's parents will talk to him about his family's dangerous past. His great aunt and uncle, first-generation Germans, risked their lives to transport Jews across war-torn Poland and the Baltic Sea into Sweden. Drury's grandfather--his great-uncle's brother--was a notorious Nazi who stole valuable pieces of art from Holocaust victims. Yet the facts may not be as simple as they seem. Drury's best friend, Tommy Fentriss, a borderline juvenile delinquent, discovers a document from Hitler's Third Reich that could make him rich and famous. The document's content, if made public, will hurl Drury and his family into the tragic grip of history. Tough moral choices must be made by Drury and his friend that will leave painful effects on their lives and on each other.