Bøger af Tom Corcoran

Three short stories by Tom Corcoran, the author of the Florida Keys-based Alex Rutledge mystery novels - although Alex does not appear in these tales. These crime stories are set in Miami, the Upper Keys and Key West. Good and bad weather, good and bad people and questionable judgments all lead to surprising twists and endings.

A pleasant Key West Sunday in January turns into a tropical nightmare. It's early. The tourists are still asleep. Freelance and part-time crime photographer Alex Rutledge bicycles near-vacant streets, taking pictures for his own enjoyment. But he's challenged at a restoration district construction site, accused by a developer of snapping photos for an expose. An hour later, the city police request Rutledge's forensic photo expertise. A murder victim has been found - at the same work site. Detective Dexter Hayes, Jr., is caustic and inept, and Rutledge is dismissed before he completes his work. An hour later, the county sheriff, Chicken Neck Liska, asks Alex to photograph another murder victim, this time on nearby Stock Island. Rutledge soon suspects that the murders are linked - illogically, through him. He can't divulge the link to his lover, Teresa Barga, for fear of compromising her police media liaison job. Alex questions the detective's blundering, while the cops begin to link him to the crimes. A powerful real estate broker offers Rutledge an odd, lucrative job. Friends are threatened. He and Teresa dodge gunshots. Yet there is no identifiable antagonist, no motive, no reason for Rutledge to be a hub for evil. To protect himself and his friends, to avoid arrest - unsuccessfully, at first - he must scratch for information on an island where few tell the truth. At the core of Bone Island Mambo is betrayal, retribution, and revenge. The plot twists in surprising directions, and Corcoran's characters are true characters, never as laid-back as they first appear. Visit Key West, and hang on for dear life.

Gumbo Limo marks the next Alex Rutledge mystery from critically acclaimed author Tom Corcoran. Key West has never been so deadly....Alex Rutledge, freelance and part-time Key West crime scene photographer, awakes to his first day off in months. Late August, the off-season, the dog days. Everything's okay until his phone rings. His old navy buddy, Zack Cahill, now a successful Chicago banker, is in town and, at 8:00 a.m., drunk in Sloppy Joe's. Zack demands that Rutledge join him for a celebratory beer. When Alex arrives at the bar, eight minutes later, Cahill is gone. The day continues downhill. A high-noon murder in the tourist district, the ransacked apartment of a local bartender, and the chance encounter of Abby Womack, Cahill's ex-mistress, combine to convince Alex that Zach Cahill's disappearance may be linked to all of these events. An overnight fire and a drive-by shooting the next morning amplify the strangeness and danger. By calling in favors from a crew of Key West characters, stepping aside of law enforcement, and traveling to New Orleans in an attempt to help his friend, Rutledge will fall deep into a mysterious range war, a fight for the profits from a twenty-year-old smuggling deal.

This story of two immigrants from Ireland takes you on a journey of perplexing hardships, isolation, and rejection as you witness faltering decision-making processes. You marvel as each relies on the other for support and discover how they learned to detach their perception of self-worth from their choices. You become exposed to the choice of living in ambiguity instead of certainty and observe how persistence and sheer will can gradually allow an enduring faith to replace pride with gratitude. When their lives become inextricably linked with another immigrant family, you witness how these families change their perspective. You''ll be encouraged to spin rejection into invitation and to thrive rather than cringe as you develop a life of blessing others.

Michael White and Tom Corcoran sparked a firestorm in 2013 with their first book, Rebuilt, the story of how they brought their parish back to life. In Rebuilding Your Message, the award-winning authors now share their carefully honed communication practices to help priests, staff, volunteers, and parishioners better proclaim the irresistible and life-changing Gospel of Jesus Christ at every level. A parish doesn't just communicate its mission from the pulpit. Teaching and preaching also happen in classes and small groups, in bulletins, on the church website and social media, and through volunteers who welcome visitors through its doors. In Rebuilding Your Message, Michael White and Tom Corcoranauthors of the bestselling books Rebuilt and Tools for Rebuildingshare dozens of strategies to help Catholic parishes establish and sustain excellent communications. White and Corcoran believe that every parishioner should be engaged in communicating the Good News of Jesus Christ. The authors push Catholics beyond the status quo with practical help for creating a welcoming church, practicing homilies, and preparing lessons, as well as more complex strategies such as developing a message series that connects all forms of communication to both the liturgical year and the seasons of the local community.

Fr. Michael White and Tom Corcoran know that the fundamental work of the Church is to evangelizeto introduce people to Christ and make them disciples. Still, they're the first to admit: ';the difficulty comes when we reach down into the details and get to work.' In their barn-burning first book, Rebuilt, White and Corcoran shared their story and vision of building better Catholic parishes. Now, in their eagerly anticipated second book, Tools for Rebuilding, they lay out seventy-five proven tactics for getting the job done. In Tools for Rebuilding: 75 Really, Really Practical Ways to Make Your Parish Better, White and Corcoran share seventy-five foundational tactics that helped to rejuvenate their parish. Their candid, hands-on advice gives a clear way forwardone that will make church matter to the people in the pews and that anyone working in parish ministry can implement.Principles/tactics include:Get the Right People on the BusChristmas Is Over, So Throw Out the Dead PoinsettiasStop Advertising (Other People's Stuff) in Your BulletinDon't Let the Insiders Take All the Good SeatsJust Because It's Slow Doesn't Mean It's HolyWhen It Comes to First Communion, Just SurrenderFunerals Are Scud MissilesPreach the AnnouncementsStart Getting Rid of FundraisersEverything Takes Longer (Than You Think)Pastor, It's Not All About YouStop Trying to Make People Go to Church and Make Church Matter