In the year 2000 I thought I had life pretty much figured out, at least for a guy who had spent the last 16 years paralyzed and permanently confined to a wheelchair. As the survivor of a horrific car accident at age 19, I had rolled through some pretty rough territory, enduring not only hostile physical landscapes, but hostile attitudes of those around me as well. I was tougher than most, or so I thought; but all of that changed the day I became a step parent. It is the year 2000, and I have become the Master of my disabled realm: I can pop up and down steep curbs in my wheelchair and make it look like childs play. I can disassemble and pack my wheelchair into my car in under 30 seconds flat. I can swim 1000 yards non-stop in under thirty minutes using only my arms for propulsion. I can push on these wheels longer and harder than anybody, all day long, for as long as I need to without uttering a single complaint. Yet how in the world am I going to change the diaper of this kicking, screaming two year old that Ive been left alone with for the first time? How on earth am I supposed to chase this tender Kindergartener up the stairs after he has just made off with my $200 pair of Oakley sunglasses? And what will I do the day they figure out that they can take me out of action completely by tipping me over backwards in my wheelchair? They Call Me Wheels is my story, how I fell in love with my future wife Elizabeth and virtually overnight became a wheelchair-bound stepparent to her two young sons, Josh and Ben; embarking upon the most arduous, terrifying, and at the same time the most extraordinary and satisfying adventure Ive had yet to experience. Wheels (the nickname given to me by the cocky, disbelieving cronies of Elizabeths ex husband) chronicles a three year span where I literally roll slap-dash and headlong into the unknown; at times Im frustrated, foiled and ready to throw in the towel, but in the end I am actually beginning to believe that I just might be making a difference in the lives of my newly acquired family - that is, until its my turn to give Josh the dreaded Puberty Talk.

By using Jesus, or Carpenter as Sinclair calls him, as a literary figure, Sinclair exposes the new and upcoming culture of 1920's Southern California, namely Hollywood. The story takes place in the fictional city of Western City, and begins with a man named Billy being attacked by a mob outside of a theater after watching a German film. Billy then stumbles into a church and is visited by Carpenter, a.k.a. Jesus, who walks out of a stained glass window. Carpenter is shocked and appalled by the upper-class culture. The story then roughly follows the biblical account of the Ministry of Jesus Christ. In the end, Carpenter decides to escape the corroded culture by jumping back into the stained glass window from whence he came.

Pamela lost her dad when she was three. Later she begins a search to find a grandfather presented by such a loss. Armed with a mission to find him, the facts start to skew. Clues twist and turn; and then entwine to such a degree she bumps into her dad's story. and learns the only way to find the man fate chose to leave behind is that first she must go through her dad. Both in the search, both on the same path, but forty years apart, do the gods lead them to the one they want so desperately to find. Fourteen and growing up in the streets, Sonny cant wait to leave; he lives for the day he can put all the shame behind him. But with the hard times that have hit the country and the fact all the kids depend on himwhere would he go. Its not as if he has a direction. All he has in this world is his brother Paul. and even though Paul has him by a few years, the big guy depends on him too. Naw, labeled bastards since as far back as they can rememberits just he and Paul against the rest of them. Forced to be the responsible one, he will bide his time and deal with the chaos and turmoil as it comes. That is until he finds out the secret kept; one that ignites a fire so strong that without thought leads him on a journey that will take him to all but two of the forty-eight states in the Union. Join him on his mission. Share his thoughts. Share his dreams. Life now his school, meet those that help shape the man he grows up to be. Travel with him through a period of time when millions of Americans are on the same path. A period of history now known as the Great Depression, they're all looking for a better lifeall that is except one. Sonny isnt looking for a better lifehe is looking for his life. but they call me Sonny is a book based on a real life. Does he have a dad? If so, where is he? Why would the man take off and leave him alone with Susie? Can he fill the void that aches in his heart? and is it true, was he robbed of the life he was born to live? Who are these strangers standing over your grave; ... not knowing your story and you not knowing theirs. We are the ones that know where you lie; ... yet we are the ones that wont let you die. Maybe this story will comfort our hearts; ... to bring us closer and not so far apart. We always wondered, we were always sad; ... and all we could do is call you Dad.

Set during Prohibition this is one of Buffalo, New York's most blood-soaked crime tales. This is the story of the bloody reign of Polish gangster John "Korney" Kwiatkowski, which ended with one of his friends in the electric chair. Before the end came, Korney masterminded robberies all over the city, leading a gang of violent thugs, dubbed the Korney Gang, while he maintained a facade of gentility. With names like Ziggy, Bolly, and Smithy, these bootleggers, murderers, and robbers introduced Buffalo to violent crime with the introduction of the machine gun. No one was safe, including law enforcement, as the Korney Gang blasted their way out of every incident. Through careful research of newspapers, court transcripts, and genealogy, the story of this gang slowly emerges.

Although Sinclair had written very critically of organized religion in his book The Profits of Religion, in this novel he takes a more human approach to the story of Christ. Of course, the Christ character is repulsed by the show of wealth he finds in 1920s California culture, which ultimately contributes to his leaving. In that sense, They Call Me Carpenter fits well into the canon of Upton Sinclair.

Iliad, my main character who suffers from amnesia after being shot by a pervert, is now pursued by another. Toerch is his name a man who will go to any extreme to get his way and his sights are on Iliad. So far she' managed to best him at every encounter they've had. But with every set-back, he's found new ways of retaliating. The last incident was especially hurtful for Iliad because the man shot two of her friends. One of them was Diana's brother, a policeman from California visiting her. The other was Trixie, a friend, who in the ensuing death struggle managed to put them both in the river. The raging waters separate the struggling duo and Toerch is picked up by Mahogany, an acquaintance of his. She takes him to the nearest hospital, but when he realizes she's done, getting out of there becomes a priority. He devices a clever plan and with her help, he's gone long before the law discover his whereabouts. Every officer in Athens wants to get their hands on Toerch, as does Iliad.