In the "brilliant novel" (The New York Times) V.S. Naipaul takes us deeply into the life of one man — an Indian who, uprooted by the bloody tides of Third World history, has come to live in an isolated town at the bend of a great river in a newly independent African nation. Naipaul gives us the most convincing and disturbing vision yet of what happens in a place caught between the dangerously alluring modern world and its own tenacious past and traditions.

Michael Archer is nothing if not a man of his word. Though he was unable to save Ben Carstairs, Michael is determined to carry out Ben’s dying wish: to be reconciled with his father. Unfortunately, Sam Carstairs, one of the most ruthless businessmen on the frontier, has no use for his own son, much less a man of God seeking reconciliation. Soon after arriving in Riverbend, Michael meets and falls for the stunning Rachel Stone while waiting for Sam to return from a business trip. Beautiful yet guarded, Rachel seems to be running from a past as dark as Michael’s. When word reaches town that Sam has been kidnapped on the stagecoach home, Michael offers to join the search party formed by the local sheriff. With a budding romance behind him and a dangerous rescue ahead of him, he sets out on the trail, determined to complete his journey no matter the cost.

Riverbend was a quiet little town, the kind of place where one day was just like all the rest and nothing ever happened. Occasionally the stagecoach rolled through, but it never stopped, because no one ever came to Riverbend and no one ever left. The day the stagecoach stood motionless in the center of town, Sheriff Ned Hardy knew something was terribly wrong. What was the mysterious substance on both coach and horses? It would not come off. Soon it was everywhere in the tidy little village. Something had to be done, and Sheriff Hardy aimed to do it.

Murphy's Law by JoAnn Ross released on Nov 24, 1988 is available now for purchase.

River's Bend, a country romance. Leslie Hillerman, an artist in her midthirties devastated by divorce, moves in as the caretaker of River's Bend, a charming old farmhouse set on a river. She comes in search of solitude and healing but finds more than just trees. This is a warm, gently humorous tale of a city woman coming to live in the country about eccentric country people, their dogs, and an unlikely middle-aged love affair. It's rife with ghosts be they broken hearts or the kind that go bump in the night mysteries, and the healing powers of the river. Dreaming of love's return, Leslie discovers that love can be waiting in plain view and yet be completely out of sight.

Josh Crockett, a thirty-three-year-old psychologist and author, travels back home to Melo, Indiana, at the request of his high school best friend, Paul Palato. Having read Josh's book, Living Faith, Paul invites Josh to come for an extended visit and teach the church's youth the concepts found in the book. Because it is the church his father founded and where Josh grew up and because Paul is still one of his closest friends, Josh decides to answer Paul's invitation. Josh involves himself in the lives of several people in Melo, such as Marcy James, who has inherited several businesses in Melo, including the Riverbend Apartments where Josh and Marcy both reside. Their chance meeting and subsequent other meetings grow into a very strong bond of friendship. Desmond Niemeier, the head deacon at the church, believes Josh Crockett is too good to be true. He works to uncover dark secrets from Josh's past and exposes suspicious behavior, such as the hours Josh spends with Marcy since his return back to Melo, Indiana. Josh questions why God allows this to happen. He also struggles with whether his true feelings for Marcy James are love or physical attraction. Josh feels too that God is pulling him in two directions by giving him good opportunities to stay in Melo and equally noble motives to return to his home and practice in Corona, Florida. How will he know which is God's will? What is to become of Marcy and Josh?