The women in Acts of Contrition face society's devaluation, from parents, from elders, from all who assume authority over them. They battle oppressions as simple as gender stereotyping, as complex as prerequisites to friendship or love. Some can look back and laugh, some find luck in their escape from harm, some engineer their own good fortune, all the while riding a wave of dark humor. What all the characters come to understand is that silence places them at greater risk than speaking out. They progress toward freedom through the telling of their stories.

Act of Contrition focuses on the intimate relationship between Regina, a widow, and Michael, a young doctor whose wife left him for another man. Having found happiness in one another, they desire nothing more than to be together. Yet in the eyes of the Catholic Church, Michael is not free to divorce his wife and marry Regina. In an emotional climax Regina must decide if she loves Michael enough to give him up or if she'll force him to choose between her and God. By modern standards, Giles's love scenes are tasteful, and the general atmosphere of ecumenism within today's Catholic Church renders moot many of the tensions in the novel. Yet in 1957 Giles's agent and publisher feared the work would cause "irreparable harm" to her reputation. As late as 1972 Giles was revising in the hopes of seeing the novel published. Finally her wish is fulfilled. Janice Holt Giles (1905-1979), author of nineteen books, lived and wrote near Knifley, Kentucky, for thirty-four years. Her biography is Janice Holt Giles: A Writer's Life.

An original novel set in the universe of Star Trek: Voyager—and the sequel to the New York Times bestseller Protectors! Admiral Kathryn Janeway has now taken command of the Full Circle Fleet. Her first mission: return to the Delta Quadrant and open diplomatic relations with the Confederacy of the Worlds of the First Quadrant, a civilization whose power rivals that of the Federation. Captain Chakotay knows that his choices could derail the potential alliance. While grateful to the Confederacy Interstellar Fleet for rescuing the Federation starships from an alien armada, Voyager’s captain cannot forget the horrors upon which the Confederacy was founded. More troubling, it appears that several of Voyager’s old adversaries have formed a separate and unlikely pact that is determined to bring down the Confederacy at all costs. Sins of the past haunt the crew members of the Full Circle Fleet as they attempt to chart a course for the future. Will they learn much too late that some sins can never be forgiven…or forgotten? ™, ®, & © 2014 CBS Studios, Inc. STAR TREK and related marks are trademarks of CBS Studios, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

World War II was over, and it was a time when Southern California enjoyed prosperity. Lynn Horvath was ten-years-old. But in spite of movies, parties, and good friends, she must confront the brutal death of a woman she and her friends had loved. The novel, Acts of Kindness, Acts of Contrition, begins with the murder of Jeanne French in 1947 and describes the long-lasting effects of that murder on ten-year-old Lynn Horvath as she becomes an adult. As Lynn and her friends become women, the novel reveals the quiet heroism in ordinary lives and explores the radical changes that took place in American society between the 1940s and the present time.

LAPD Homicide Detective Rick Sandler and Katie O'Hara are back in this sequel to The Movie Murderer. Someone is leaving a trail of working girls strangled in motels along Sepulveda Boulevard, his signature a dark blue scarf. As Rick and John search for the killer in the Gentlemen's Clubs of the San Fernando Valley, they encounter a panoply of night people, a Russian who loves Bullwinkle the Moose, a duo of pole dancers whose act features their impersonation of The Jersey Shore's Snooki and Luscious Lily whose resemblance to Katie captivates John.Meanwhile, with the help of her friends, the Bravo brothers, Katie is investigating a series of suspicious suicides, tied together by a Catholic parish led by a pair of very different priests, the charismatic Father Jonas, who Katie privately believes is too attractive to be celibate, and Father Mark, an old testament cleric who believes in an eye for an eye.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 540-542) and indexes.