In 1998, Congressman Sonny Bono, who came to fame as part of the singing duo Sonny & Cher, died while skiing alone near South Lake Tahoe, Nevada. After his music career ended, Salvatore Phillip “Sonny” Bono became mayor of Palm Springs, California, and in 1995 was named congressman for California’s 44th district. As a freshman congressman, he tried to shake things up in Washington. Former policeman Thomas Lee Gorzynski’s new investigative book Like Sonny Hit a Tree probes into whether his death was really an accident. The author also delves into the mysterious death of writer Danny Casolaro, who was about to reveal a massive government plot. He was found dead in a Martinsburg, West Virginia hotel in 1991 with his wrists slashed ten to twelve times. Are these two deaths connected? Joseph Daniel Casolaro’s cause of death was controversial because he was in Martinsburg to meet a source on a story he called “the Octopus.” His investigation involved an international government collaboration concerning the Iran-Contra scandal and other business plots. Before heading for Martinsburg, he told his brother that if something happened to him in Martinsburg, it would not be an accident.

Terror in the Shadows: Sometimes the one thing that frightens you the most is the one thing you have been looking for all your life. The Terror Is Here! Terror in the Shadows, a new suspense thriller by Horror Novelist Lecy McKenzie Pritchett, will keep you riveted and promises to be filled with bone chilling terror and heart stopping surprises until the very end. Four couples begin a dream vacation that very quickly spins into a nightmare. One of them is in for some life altering changes, and the realization that horror can be watching for you from the shadows, or maybe not? Alicia Martin was forewarned. A premonition, a sixth sense, a warning from some inner most human desire for survival, an uneasy feeling that this trip could very well be their last, a revelation of doom coming from deep within her soul, but unable to share these feelings for fear of her inability to tell anyone where they were coming from. Choosing to ignore these warnings, instead following her husband and friends to a mountain paradise, she will soon find the beauty that surrounds them is the mask for evil that is more terrifying than anyone could have imagined or foreseen. Finding themselves the prey of four demented brothers, who seemed to have crept up from the depths of hell, inhuman, and twisted beyond compare, languishing in the humiliation, deprivation, and horror they inflict on others, with a thirst for blood that is unimaginable, and a lust that will stop at nothing to quench that desire. The group soon finds themselves stalked and tormented, the pawns of a deadly twist of fate, being led into a wilderness that none may have the ability to survive. Unable to defend themselves against a formidable foe, with their only hope a mysterious shadow watching from a distance. Alicia is about to realize that the one that could be their salvation is the one thing that nothing could have prepared her for. A must read, hang in for the spine chilling ending that will prove a nightmare is only a dream of things that are meant to be.

Newslore is folklore that comments on and hinges on knowledge of current events. These expressions come in many forms: jokes, urban legends, digitally altered photographs, mock news stories, press releases or interoffice memoranda, parodies of songs, poems, political and commercial advertisements, movie previews and posters, still or animated cartoons, and short live-action films. In Newslore: Folklore on the Internet and in the News, author Russell Frank offers a snapshot of the items of newslore disseminated via the Internet that gained the widest currency around the turn of the millennium. Among the newsmakers lampooned in e-mails and on the Web were Bill and Hillary Clinton, George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein, and such media celebrities as Princess Diana and Michael Jackson. The book also looks at the folk response to the September 11 attacks and Hurricane Katrina, as well as the presidential elections of 2000 and 2004. Frank analyzes this material by tracing each item back to the news story it refers to in search of clues as to what, exactly, the item reveals about the public's response. His argument throughout is that newslore is an extremely useful and revelatory gauge for public reaction to current events and an invaluable screen capture of the latest zeitgeist.

A New Mexico PI tries to stop a cult leader’s murderous rampage in “a fascinating hybrid of detective story, adventure yarn, and shamanistic magic.” —Kirkus Reviews The world-famous International Balloon Fiesta of Albuquerque is one of the city’s most eagerly anticipated annual events and its biggest moneymaker. But when a woman plunges to her death from one of the balloons—foreshadowed by Sonny Baca’s vision of a body plummeting from the sky—Sonny’s sure it’s murder. The dead woman was the chief witness to testify against the cult implicated in the murder-for-hire of Sonny’s cousin Gloria, whose death still haunts him. In addition to motive, Sonny finds means and opportunity: a homeless family who saw someone push Veronica Worthy out of the hot-air balloon. Worthy was one of the four wives of Raven, leader of the sun cult, and a dangerous, shamanlike criminal who’s supposed to be dead. But the four black feathers found on the corpse are his calling card—clues to let Sonny know he’s alive and kicking. And his murder spree isn’t over. Now, led by his spirit guides, Sonny must race to stop a vengeful madman and save the woman he loves. From the American Book Award–winning author, this is “a completely entertaining mystery novel [that] offers two parallel lands of enchantment” (Booklist).

Four suspenseful southwestern mysteries featuring a Chicano PI in New Mexico, by the “extraordinary” author of Bless Me, Ultima (Los Angeles Times Book Review). These four novels starring detective Sonny Baca are set against the terrain of the American Southwest, blending its Spanish, Mexican, and Native American cultures. Zia Summer: Sonny Baca’s cousin Gloria is brutally slain, her body found drained of blood with a Zia sun sign—the symbol on the New Mexican flag—carved on her stomach. His quest to find her killer leads Baca across New Mexico’s diverse South Valley to an environmental compound and a terrifying brujo. Rio Grande Fall: A woman plummets to her death from a hot air balloon during Albuquerque’s famous Balloon Fiesta—and Baca recognizes it as no accident. Shaman Winter: Baca, confined to a wheelchair after a violent encounter, is haunted by chilling dreams, but has no choice but to go to work when the Santa Fe mayor’s teenage daughter disappears and the trail leads to a charismatic and dangerous shaman. Jemez Spring: A high-profile murder ignites a hotbed of political treachery and terrorist threats that take Baca to Los Alamos, pitting him against a formidable foe—and a nuclear bomb. Unrelentingly suspenseful, with vivid details of the physical and spiritual landscape of northern New Mexico, these mysteries are perfect for fans of Margaret Coel or James D. Doss and star “a fascinating hero” (Edmonton Journal).

As a teen, Samantha learned how few of lifes choices would be hers, if she did not achieve independence in her thinking, as well as financially. However, while endeavoring to be independent, forces worked against her, used her, victimized her. Samantha was forced to retaliate, and found that the taste of revenge, although sweet indeed, was horrifyingly costly.