A middle-aged woman goes missing after falling in love with a ghost--a soldier from WWII who haunts San Diego's Mt. Soledad, site of the controversial cross/memorial.

REVIEWS: A well crafted, well thought out written work that incorporates a love story into a contemporary, true first amendment issue involving separation of church and state that is relevant not only to San Diegans but to Americans in general. Mr. Roach has "hit the nail on the head" with this insightful thought provoking piece of literature. Don't miss this one folks!!!... (trimmed) -----RICHARD J. BARTHEL JR., ESQ. Well done wordsmith! This work will touch many at fifferent levels of awareness. Spirit is always so "creative" in the way it chooses to open hearts and minds! -----JOYCE LYNN A.BORELL-HENKE ------Great book! Bring on the film. ------MATT MILNE -----Regarding the Screenpley: "Gripping", "Emotional" ! ----- BLACKWATCH PRODUCTIONS, INC. See Other Books By This Author and when finished, Click here to return to www.JPRoach.org

In the New Mexico village of Camposanto, a priest is tied to a cross made from a sacred cottonwood tree. Father Lorenzo Soledad’s adversaries, the impoverished tribe called the Calabazas, observe from below, and Juan Lobo, the head man of the Calabazas, sings the Song of Passage, preparing the priest for his journey by rubbing a white powder across his brow. It’s a chilly April Friday in 1897. In two days it will be Easter, but for Soledad there will be no resurrection. Is Soledad a martyr? A saint? A suicide? This gripping novel by a New Mexico writer who has spent a lifetime pondering the complicated cultures of the Southwest tells Soledad’s story from his boyhood in a Texas bordello to his final day in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.

Josefina Navarro childhood was one of previledge and pampering in the pre-Castro days of Cuba. When she reached adulthood, however, she impulsively marries a poor and reckless young man who will only bring her heartache and grief. During the start of all the political troubles in Cuba, Josefina starts to get a series of letters from her father, whom she thought was dead. These "ghost letters" help her to better understand her distant father and bring some meaning to her otherwise disappointing life.

The ghost towns of Southern California-some dramatic and nearly intact, others devastated-are well worth visiting. Most are remnants of once-colorful mining towns, though there are also railroad towns, a World War II relocation center, a promoter's swindle, and a failed socialist colony. Some excellent attractions remain. One of the best-preserved stamp mills in the West is in Skidoo. Smelters, homes, stores, and the remarkable wooden American Hotel can be found in Cerro Gordo, which the author calls "California's best true ghost town." Seasoned back-roads traveler Philip Varney, who has visited nearly a hundred ghost towns in the area, provides a down-to-earth and helpful guide to more than sixty of the best in Southern California and nearby Inyo and Kern counties. He defines a ghost town as a town with a population markedly decreased from its peak, one whose initial reason for settlement no longer keeps people there. It can be completely deserted, have a resident or two, or retain genuine signs of vitality, but Varney has eliminated those towns he considers either too populated or too empty of significant remains. The sites are grouped in four chapters in Inyo County, Death Valley, the Mojave Desert and Kern River, and the regions surrounding Los Angeles and San Diego. Each chapter provides a map of the region, a ranking of sites as "major," "secondary," and "minor," information on road conditions, trip suggestions, and tips on the use of particular topographic maps for readers interested in more detailed exploration. Each entry includes directions to a town, a brief history of that town, and notes on its special points of interest. Current photographs provide a valuable record of the sometimes fragile sites. Southern California's Best Ghost Towns will be welcomed both by those who enjoy traveling off the beaten path and by those who enjoy the history of the American West.

Jerry Lane is a drunk and troublemaker, so it makes no sense when he is offered a position by a respectable mining company. While attempting to uncover the company's motive, a young woman appears before him in spirit form asking for help, mine security officers vanish and the mine president and his family disappear. As chief engineer now responsible for the mine Lane is pressed to solve these mysteries, and in the process finds the unexpected within himself.