A JAKE EATON MYSTERY A strange letter, signed "William," sets in motion a series of gruesome events that paralyzes the island of Nantucket—terrorizing both island families and summer tourists. The Fourth of July is William's deadline—the day he promised to exact his final revenge. Private detective Jake Eaton has two days to stop him. Who is William, and why does he hate Nantucket? How has he chosen his victims, and why has he targeted Gloria Gorham, headstrong heiress and manager of the exclusive Island Basin marina? What is the key to his warped mind? As fear grips the island, Eaton and his canine partner Watson search for answers—answers that lie hidden beneath 200 years of Nantucket's history, back to its days as a whaling port. In the pulse-pounding conclusion, the entire island is held prisoner, at the mercy of one man—a man who has no mercy. The action moves at breakneck speed in this compelling debut mystery novel, an inventive blend of fiction and historical fact. Steeped in the nautical lore of old Nantucket, the novel also paints a vivid picture of the island today—a place where trendy clashes with quaint, and deep resentment bubbles beneath an idyllic surface. Nantucket Revenge launches a series of mysteries starring detective Jake Eaton and canine sleuth Watson set in New England. Nantucket Revenge is the first novel. "Attention mystery fans! There's a hot new P.I. in the game with a most unique partner, a big, black, wondrous, mixed-breed canine. Jake Eaton and his dog, Watson, are destined for a spot at the top of the genre. Nantucket Revenge gets off to a fast start and keeps up the pace, with one surprise after another, becoming impossible to put down until the reader reaches the totally satisfying climax. All of the many characters are well drawn and completely believable, and every background detail about Nantucket rings with authenticity."—Stanley Cohen, author of Angel Face "In writing so vivid you smell the sea, Larry Maness infuses Nantucket with mystery and murder. His Cambridge-based investigator, Jake Eaton, is my kind of P.I.—tender, tough, and with a past. A terrific debut!"—Dave Daniel, author of The Heaven Stone and The Skelly Man "A thrilling combination of Robert Parker and Alistair Maclean! Maness mixes detection and action into a 'literally' explosive cocktail, and this page-turner cranks up the velocity like the summer-movie crowd pleaser it's bound to become!"—Austin Tichenor, scriptwriter, Reduced Shakespeare Company "Nantucket Revenge is a fascinating murder mystery that everyone should enjoy. I hope to see a lot more from Larry Maness!"—Lucy Freeman, author of Fight Against Fears

A strange visitor to Nantucket sets in motion a series of bizarre events that paralyzes the islands families and summer tourists. The Fourth of July is this strange visitors deadlinethe day he promised to exact his final revenge. Jake Eaton has two days to stop him. As fear grips the island, Eaton searches for answers and finds them hidden beneath 200 years of Nantuckets history.

An ailing mother, the death of his son, and a divorce all converge on Lino Cardosa, forcing him to leave his insurance investigator life and return home to Provincetown. Not long after his return, a fire burns Provincetown's St. Peter the Apostle church to the ground, church funds are stolen, and the priest, Father Jeremiah Dunn, disappears. When Lino is told that Father Dunn has answers to Lino's son's suicide, he sets out to find the priest and the truth. "Driven by crisp prose, fascinating characters, and a crisis that challenges historical—and personal—faith, the novel dives deep into Provincetown culture, family dynamics, and secrets as dangerous and violent as a riptide. ... a master class in fiction."—Kathryn Mackel, co-author, To Know You (with Shannon Ethridge, HarperCollins)

Before 11 priceless pieces of art were stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, a respected Italian violin maker visited the museum to inspect a rare musical instrument requiring restoration. He took measurements and photographs and reported his findings to the museum’s director. Then, he disappeared. Was the innocent invitation to the violin maker the first step in a complex plot to rob the Gardner? The museum director thinks so and hires Theo R. Perdoux, an expert in worldwide art thefts, to investigate. Inspired by the actual unsolved robbery of Boston’s Gardner Museum, Maness spins a plausible web that races ahead like a shot. The brisk pace and clever twists offer an intriguing explanation why masterpieces worth millions have never been found.

This book highlights obedience as an American cultural motif by examining the ways in which citizens understand and dramatize the struggle between autonomy and allegiance. Willing Obedience tells the story of Americans who worked out the simultaneous demands of liberty and obedience in fiction, military memoir, and political writing from the Revolution through the nineteenth century. In contrast to the European model of a subject's blind obedience to a monarch, Americans imagined an allegiance that preserved autonomy even as they consented to the constraints of a new republic. In particular, the book considers the case of the soldier, whose surprisingly complex relationship to authority is in fact representative of the situation of all citizens in a republic.