Books

On October 8, 1956, New York Yankees pitcher Don Larsen threw the only perfect game in World Series history against the Brooklyn Dodgers. But the story you have never heard, a story that, had it not happened the way it did, might have changed the very history of baseball is the story of the man in the mask and blue umpire suit standing behind the plate and Yankees catcher Yogi Berra. That man was Ralph "Babe" Pinelli. Had it been any other umpire that day other than Pinelli, Larsen's perfect game might never have happened, if not for how Pinelli grew up in early 20th Century San Francisco, how he overcame losing his father in the 1906 Quake, how he overcame his hot temper to become a major league baseball player and umpire. Perfection's Arbiter looks at the amazing life and career of Ralph "Babe" Pinelli, the man fate chose to be exactly where he needed to be on one of the game's greatest days.

This second edition of From The Fields provides an updated narrative account, written by award-winning sports journalist Richard Paolinellim of the first century of high school football played in Turlock, California - including stats, rosters, and interviews with former players and coaches. Starting with the first team of 15 players from the 1920 Turlock High football team all the way through to the 2019 season. Players spotlighted include former pro football players from Turlock - Bob Mitchell, Paul Larson, Jeff Winans, Jonathan Quinn, Tom Brandstater and Colin Kaepernick - along with moments in the history of Turlock connected to the football program.

In the thrilling conclusion to the Jack Del Rio series, Endgames, the former FBI Special Agent has fallen off the grid and is content to let the rest of the world believe him dead. He has taken the name John Rivers and lives a secluded life on the Navajo Reservation. But the shades of his past are not yet done with him yet. Surviving elements of his enemies from London and Washington D.C. want to see him actually filling out a grave and are coming for him. Compounding matters, a newspaper reporter from Phoenix is also on his trail and a former flame is coming from England and is bringing news that will change everything for Del Rio. A pair of deadly ambushes just outside his new home proves to be the last straw and Del Rio returns to the fight with a vengeance. By the time he is done he will dispatch enemies on U.S. and foreign soil and be named an international terrorist. But even as the world turns against him, Del Rio uncovers one last gasp effort by the conspiracy he has fought for so many years to overthrow the U.S. government. As his final battle draws to a close, Del Rio makes his final moves in an endgame no one will see coming.

In the second book of the series, Betrayals, FBI Special Agent Jack Del Rio is still recovering from the dramatic conclusion of the events on the Navajo Nation and quickly finds himself as the only man in America who can stop the strings of assassinations and conspiracies that threaten to topple the entire government administration and bring the United States under the thumb of evil dictatorship. Unable to trust even his closest friends and allies in the Bureau, Jack must first survive multiple attempts on his own life then sort out the evildoers who have wormed their way into top positions and do this in time to save the President of the United States - who may just be one of the conspirers himself. It's a race to the finish with the free world hanging in the balance and Del Rio soon finds that no one can be trusted not to betray everything he holds dear.

DEATH STALKS THE RES Who – or what – is killing members of the Navajo tribe? RESERVATIONS, the first book of the Jack Del Rio political mystery/thriller series, is set near Gallup, New Mexico, where the Navajo, Hopi and Zuni reservations lie adjacent. Three tribal leaders have been murdered - murdered in a fashion that suggests the deeds were carried out by COYOTE, a legendary supernatural evil trickster feared by many Native Americans. The tribal president contacts an old friend in the FBI for assistance in solving the crimes and preventing more murders. Star agent, Jack Del Rio, is dispatched to New Mexico where he finds a situation tangled in political intrigue. Jack must work his way through those issues on his way to solving the mystery. Sparks fly as Navajo police officer Lucy Chee is assigned to assist him in his quest. Question is can Del Rio and Chee solve the mystery and find the killer before he strikes again? Because the killer is on the hunt and he has his sights on Del Rio himself.

Interstellar thief Duchess Moran continues her assault on Earth's history. This time she travels back to ancient Egypt in search of a deadly secret: A gem that can raise an army of the undead to wipe out every living creature on the face of the Earth. But to find the stone, she must first locate a scroll hidden away deep within the Sphinx. Captain Rock Congo, his First Mate Little John Singapore and the crew of the Timeless remain hot on her trail through time and space. From the Library at Alexandria during Caesar's siege of the city to the construction of the Sphinx and even further back as the legendary architect Imhotep tries to steer his Pharoah, Djoser, from disaster. When Moran arrives looking to gain possession of the Eye of Anubis all of Egypt, and the entire planet will find itself on the brink of annihilation! The second book of the six-book series is sure to please any reader from age 10 to 100.

Earth's Past Is Under Attack! In the far distant future, with the galaxy locked in an area of dark space where electronics will not work, Little John Singapore sits in a prison cell on Pluto awaiting execution. Singapore is the First Mate of the pirate ship, the Timeless. As he awaits his fate he agrees to tell a young author one story each day about his ship and his Captain, Rock Congo. Singapore tells how the Governor of the Sol system Garabaldi enlisted the ship and her crew to pursue Duchess Moran. Moran is an infamous interstellar thief tired of her plans being interfered with by the Earth-led Alliance. She has stolen the Amulet of Geraint, allowing her to travel through time at will. Her target is ancient Greece, where she plans to prevent democracy from ever taking hold by stopping King Leonidas from reaching the famed Battle of Thermopylae. By changing Earth's past she hopes to prevent the Alliance from ever forming. The Timeless, a ship that can sail through space, air and water with equal ease, is the only ship capable of time travel, and Earth's only hope to save its past, present and future. Despite being crewed by pirates, Garabaldi sends them through time in pursuit of Moran. When the Timeless arrives in ancient Sparta, the find Moran has already been there and has kidnapped Leonidas and his Queen. Now they have just a matter of days to find her and the King to keep his appointment with King Xerxes of Persia and preserve Earth's history. The first book of the Timeless series, a middle grade/YA science fiction/steampunk hybrid, is sure to be a hit with readers of all ages. As well as fans of historical fiction as the Timeless and her crew will be very busy in Earth's storied past in future books in the series.

Reaching out with his right hand he snapped the curtain away from the pane…and came face to face with a hell Dante could never have imagined. “Where am I?” he asked, trying to comprehend what he was seeing. “You’re still in San Francisco, Dr. Collins, just one hundred and two years later. A lot has happened since you last saw the city.” “You have a talent for understatement.” - Maelstrom Steve Collins was just trying to save the world from the next killer asteroid. He wound up killing over seven billion people instead. A century later, he's now the only hope to save the surviving one million humans left alive in the entire universe.

“I have waited for this day for many millions of your years,” the woman continued. “I feared that you would not come in time.” “Who are you?” Matsuo asked, the first of the two men to find his voice. “My name is Oracle Veritas,” she replied, “I am of the House of Delphi in the Caste Olympia. I have been tasked to tell you our story. There is much to tell and precious little time to tell it.” “Why?” Buffa asked. “Because a dark force is rising up once again,” the strange woman replied. “And I fear that this time it will destroy us once and for all.” - When The Gods Fell The first mission to Mars discovers our origin stories were wrong. Earth's gods, led by Zeus, Odin, Ra, and Lucifer, waged a terrible war on the Red Planet millions of years ago; but the final battle still looms, and Earth will be the final battlefield.

“As we crossed the threshold the temperature difference between the air outside and the building we were entering was slight. But for some reason I felt a harsh, icy shiver travel the length of my spine.” Lost on a dark desert highway, Pete Childress just wanted a good night's sleep. Now he must find a way back out of a hotel with no exits and where tomorrow never comes. Worse yet, the fate of a ruined world, and the future of all humanity, hangs in the balance. Working with the lovely, yet mysterious, Hotel Desk Clerk, Liz, and under the ever-watchful eyes of the hotel manager, Pete explores the many mysteries that lay within the walls of The Infinity seeking the answer to the mystery and the way back to the outside world.