Books

** Note: To order from Amazon, Chapters/Indigo, Goodreads, iTunes, Kobo, Borealis (publisher) or directly from me ($5 discount if purchased from me), see links below under each book **

RUNNERS OF THE WOOD: HARNESSING TENACITY AND ENDURANCE THROUGH ADVENTURE, WAR, LOSS, AND AGAINST CRIMINAL MINDS (Release Date: 2024 est)

Synopsis: (Non-Fiction) Book currently being written.

Based on a true story.

Official synopsis will be available on website when book is released.

In a nutshell – an untold story commencing in the early stages of adolescence, a most interesting journey begins to unfold. An understanding of tenacity and endurance is needed and, of course, both themes will play a crucial role in the overcoming and managing of life’s challenges within the general areas of adventure, family, war and loss – all the while, a cat and mouse game plays out involving criminal elements.

* Links for ordering this book (Amazon, Chapters/Indigo, etc.) will be inserted here pending future book release date

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THE CORDUROY ROAD: 17,000 KMS, 63 DAYS, 4 ABBA CDS, 3 KIDS (2020)

Synopsis: (Non-Fiction) 17,000 KILOMETERS, 63 DAYS, 4 ABBA CDS, 3 KIDS, 1 VAN… AND 0 TRANQUILIZERS. Such words elicit unimaginable fears in the minds of parents. Strangulations, padded walls, adoptions, divorce.

Before the age of 22, Michael had travelled over 65,000 kilometers (the equatorial circumference of the earth is 40,075 kilometers) – much of it on the road involving countless adventures. Now in their forties, he and his wife would offer up an abundance of pent-up wanderlusting energy to the vagabonding gods on a journey across the breadth of Canada – to enjoy some family bonding, to live on the edge by courting risk and adventure through fun and spontaneity, to grab those bull horns and live freely, not knowing when or where the next meal was coming from or which town they’d fall into sideways.

But life has a funny way of throwing curveballs when you least expect it. Murphy’s Law 101. Or more seriously, Sod’s Law – when anything can go wrong and when it does, it’s the worst possible outcome.

Here is their raw, uncensored journey filled with amusements, anecdotes, dangers, Canadian facts, drama and philosophical quandaries showcasing the good, bad and ugly on the corduroy road.

(Note: The title, as explained in the book, comes from a famous Tragically Hip song, At The Hundredth Meridian. It’s in honor of Gord D., Gord S., Rob, Paul and Johnny, and the magic they created with The Hip)

Order from Amazon, Chapters/Indigo, Goodreads, Kobo, iTunes, my publisher (Borealis), or myself personally ($5 discount if book purchased from me). (* Note: Because this book has just been released by the publisher in Feb 2020, it takes a bit of time for the outlets listed above to get the books set up for sale)

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THE LEAF CUTTER (2015)

Synopsis: (Fiction) Within a labyrinth of intrigue, one man’s shocking revelations from the past lead to a greater understanding of life’s universal values during a heroic but traumatic journey of redemption.

A body is recovered from a river in April 1990. Months earlier, a young John Lennon fan and an elderly Irishman met in a U.S. hospital. A groundskeeper completed the triad. Before long, the past begins to unravel and a connection to WWII is uncovered. Secrets flourish but nothing is what it seems.

Through tragedy, a disease and a modern literary masterpiece, an extraordinary twist of fate awaits all three.

(Note: Most of the character/place names are anagrams – when the letters of a word or phrase are rearranged to create a new word or phrase. Why? To add another layer of intrigue)

Order from Amazon, Chapters/Indigo, Goodreads, Kobo, iTunes, my publisher (Borealis), or myself personally ($5 discount if book purchased from me).

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DARK SIDE OF THE SUN: GEORGE PALMER AND CANADIAN POWS IN HONG KONG AND THE OMINE CAMP (2010)

Synopsis: (Non-Fiction) The journey into horror at Hong Kong and the untold story of the reign of terror at the Omine POW camp in Japan.

8th December, 1941. The Battle of Hong Kong begins. Less than eight hours after the attack on Pearl Harbour, George Palmer from PEI and 1,973 other Canadians from the Royal Rifles of Canada and the Winnipeg Grenadiers (C Force) began their desperate defence of Hong Kong against the advancing Imperial Japanese Army.

It had only been three weeks since the Canadians arrived. The Hong Kong defenders were only 14,000 strong with virtually no navy, air force, heavy artillery, or reinforcements to assist them.
Facing them were approximately 60,000 battle-hardened, mechanized, fanatical, tenacious Japanese troops, fresh from battles in China.

Palmer and the other Canadian defenders would be the first Canadian army units to engage the Axis in the Second World War. Their harrowing struggle to survive would continue on for 45 long months.

(Note: I usually incorporate many musical references within my books. In this case regarding the title, It’s an ode to Pink Floyd and their famous album, Dark Side of the Moon)

Order from Amazon, Chapters/Indigo, Kobo, Goodreads, my publisher (Borealis), or myself personally ($5 discount if book purchased from me).

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BENEATH: U-107 AND THE TRAGIC SINKING OF THE SS MAPLECOURT DURING WWII (2009)

Synopsis: (Non-Fiction) February 6, 1941. 5:32pm. While travelling in Allied convoy SC-20 involving 46 ships, the Maplecourt and it’s crew of 38 men vanished. Later on, their family was told it had sunk without a trace. It remained a mystery for almost seventy years before details emerged on the tragedy which involved an interesting connection leading all the way up the Nazi hierarchy to Admiral Karl Doenitz, Adolf Hitler’s successor as the Head of Nazi Germany.

The author had two PEI relatives serving on the ship – his Great Uncle, Earl O’Hanley (brother of his grandmother, Catherine Jeanette O’Hanley Palmer), and Earl’s first cousin, Albert O’Hanley. They joined the Canadian merchant marines during the Battle of the Atlantic.

During the war, Canada had built 410 merchant ships involved in 25,000 merchant shipping voyages (before the outbreak of WWII, Canada only had 38 merchant vessels measuring 1,000 tons or greater). “67 Canadian merchant marine ships were sunk during the war, mostly by German U-boats in 1942. Of Canada’s 12,000 mariners, approximately 1,146 were killed. One in seven merchant mariners died at sea – a higher casualty rate than any of the other armed forces [Army, Navy or Air Force].”

This is the untold story of the events leading up to the Maplecourt’s tragic demise during the dead of winter off the coast of Northern Ireland.

Order copies from myself personally. (this is a dossier and not a published book)