With the same piercing vision that distinguishes her novel The River Beyond The World, Janet Peery unveils a stunning collection of stories. Settled mostly in the American Southwest, her characters-men and women caught between two places, literal and figurative-try to understand the mysteries that overarch or undergird their lives.

Saving wildlife is an everyday, ever-changing challenge. Early summer is nesting time for the alligators in Florida's Manasota State Park. Head Ranger Seth Grayson takes a group of visitors to eon a two-mile hike to Gator Hollow, a gathering place for hundreds of gators. The group makes a horrible discovery. Partial remains from an alligator attack are found along with several nests empty. It's evident. Poachers have invaded the park. Grayson, a Seminole Indian, values his heritage but chooses to live in the white man's world. Alligators and all wildlife have special significance for him. He knows he will need help to catch whoever sent this young victim to his death. Officer Liz Corday of Florida's Conservation Commission arrives to help catch and prosecute the poachers. A devoted officer, her trust issues with men pose a possible relationship barrier between her and Seth. Tracking down the head of the huge interstate poaching operation, Seth and Liz risk all, even their lives, to bring these criminals to justice. Seth goes undercover at the Myakka alligator Farm, hoping to learn more about the operation and find evidence Liz can use to bring charges against the poachers. Meanwhile, Liz is harassed and threatened. A large rattlesnake is found in her vehicle, and a dead raccoon is left dripping blood on the hood a night later. Things get complicated, as they find there is more on their mind than catching the poachers but don't know how far to go with their feelings.

People have long been fascinated by the American alligator. Ever since humans arrived on the continent more than 15,000 years ago, the American alligator has been both feared and revered, celebrated and scorned, and often hunted for food and hide. Once tourism began to take hold in the South as a real industry, especially in Florida, the alligator took on iconic and even mythical status. “One of the most picturesque features of Florida has always been that uncouth and fierce-looking reptile called the alligator,” wrote Nevin O. Winter in 1918. “Everybody who comes down here to the peninsula has an ambition to see one in the wild.” Seminole Indians wrestled alligators for show. Alligator souvenirs and mascots often took what people feared—a sharp-toothed predator—and made it into something cute and cuddly. Alligator-themed songs were recorded and released, including “See You Later Alligator” by Bill Haley and His Comets. Hollywood into created alligator-themed movies such as Alligator People. Alligators were also reportedly kept in the White House under two presidencies. And perhaps the most unusual alligator story was one that helped to nab Ma Barker and her son Fred when they were hiding out along Florida’s Lake Weir. America’s Alligator examines the colorful and sometimes conflicted relationship our species has had with Alligator mississippiensis. Doug Alderson explores the country’s rich alligator mythology and how it inspired various forms of art, stories, photography, tourism and even humor.

DANCE FOR THE ALLIGATOR is a window into the minds of key characters in a grisly murder. The story is set in a small town on Floridas west coast. LOVELY KNIGHT is a bawdy but beautiful, nude, dancing girl. As ELLIE ROSSI, she goes home to a quiet, middle class, lakeside, residential development from a nights work at the local, sleazy, exotic dancing lounge known as the Death Valley Lounge and Liquor. NEIL BARNES, a senior detective in the Sheriffs office, Town of Newport, has a difficult time reconciling the story of the lovely wife and mother, with the dancer notorious for her horse and rider routine. The guys play galloping music, make neighing sounds, and paw the floor with one foot when I do the horse with my hands on my knees and my ass facing the crowd, blonde pony tail swinging. ALISON COOPER, an attractive tourist from London who is also a detective back home, arrives on the scene and is pleased to help Neil with his case. The moment he looked at her he hoped she would play and even more important part in his life. Meanwhile a cunning, sociopathic murderer, is laughing up his sleeve because his impeccable reputation and his ingenious method of getting rid of the body is shielding him from suspicion. He is depending on his friends, the alligators, but whose side are they on? The first-person presentation of DANCE FOR THE ALLIGATOR enables the reader to look into the psyche of all the characters, showing places where meanness, fear, jealousy, and aberrant sexual desire hide. What is the clue that finally makes Neil think the unthinkable? In which arena will he find the murderer? Will it be the boisterous, sweaty, smokey, lounge or the quiet, neighborhood around Orange Lake?

Authors Vynola B. Newkumet and Howard L. Meredith culled traditional lore and scholarly research to survey the major landmarks of the Hasinai experience--the Caddo Indians of the American Southwest.

Historical fiction account written for children about a Seminole Indian known as Alligator Warrior (Halpatter Tustenuggee). Follow him from the time he is a child living peacefully along the banks of Big Lake in Alligator Town (Halpata Tolophka) later known as Lake City throughout his lifetime. Trace his steps through the First and Second Seminole Wars, through his capture and being forced to move to the Indian Territory – only having to share the land with another tribe, and then secretly escaping from the territory to Mexico where it is believed he passed away.