On a cold February morning in 1908, the ground under Coal Valley, Illinois, trembled as an earthquake opened the earth, collapsed mining tunnels, and created chasms and fissures as deep as five hundred feet below the rolling hills. It would forever be known as Coal Valleys great cave-in. Thirteen men lay trapped for three months as tensions rose among the townspeople, rescuers, and families of the trapped miners. One rescue attempt after another failed due to aftershocks, weather, and just plain bad luck. The dangers were great below ground, but the twisted minds of some of the towns inhabitants made the danger even greater at the surface. A story of adventure, suspense, greed, romance, fantasy, and redemption that will leave the reader wondering who or what was actually trapped under Coal Valley. Was it just the miners, the apparitions that they faced, or was it the underground dwellers whose intelligence was advancing at such a rapid pace that they were preparing for their place in the sun?

A gripping account of the worst coal mine fire in US history—the 1909 Cherry Mine Disaster that claimed the lives of 259 men. "Drawing on diaries, letters, written accounts of survivors and testimony from the coroner's inquest...Tintori's engaging prose keeps readers on the edge" (Publishers Weekly). Inspired by a refrain of her girlhood—"Your grandfather survived the Cherry Mine disaster"—Karen Tintori began a search for her family's role in the harrowing tragedy of 1909. She uncovered the stories of victims, survivors, widows, orphans, townspeople, firefighters, reporters, and mine owners, and wove them together to pen Trapped, a riveting account of the tragic day that would inspire America's first worker's compensation laws and hasten much-needed child labor reform. On a Saturday morning in November of 1909, four hundred and eighty men went down into the mines as they had countless times before. But a fire erupted in the mineshaft that day and soon burned out of control. By nightfall, more than half the men would either be dead or trapped as officials sealed the mine in an attempt to contain the blaze. Miraculously, twenty men would emerge one week later, but not before the Cherry Mine disaster went down in history as the worst ever coal mine fire in the US—and not before all the treachery and heroism of mankind were revealed.

Includes an excerpt from The orphan collector.

One of Americas most dramatic environmental battles is unfolding in the coal mines of southern West Virginia. Shnayerson gives readers a novelistic and compelling portrait of the people who have risked their reputations and livelihoods in the fight against King Coal.

A “compelling” account of the little-known bloody skirmishes that took place in this picturesque part of West Virginia (Civil War Monitor). The three rivers that make up the Coal River Valley—Big, Little and Coal—were named by explorer John Peter Salling (or Salley) for the coal deposits found along their banks. More than one hundred years later, the picturesque valley that would separate from Virginia a short time later was witness to a multitude of bloody skirmishes between Confederate and Union forces in the Civil War. Often-overlooked battles at Boone Court House, Coal River, Pond Fork, and Kanawha Gap introduced the beginning of “total war” tactics years before General Sherman used them in his March to the Sea. Join historian Michael Graham as he expertly details the compelling human drama of the bitterly contested Coal River Valley region during the War Between the States. Includes illustrations

A pandemic rages on Earth. Violence runs rampant in the streets. The U.S. and its adversaries struggle to control the mysterious virus robbing its victims of their memories. The Center for Disease Control and the Environmental Protection Agency represented by the brother and sister team of Nick and Ann Barbeck race to find a cure. Their search takes them on a 4,200-mile journey aboard the EPA’s research vessel, the Bold, as they strive to reach the Center for Disease Control and Prevention located in Seattle. There, they hope to experiment with the gene technology CRISPR. Enemies, both foreign and domestic, attempt to thwart their efforts at every turn. The world’s largest research computer, Stampede2, located at the University of Texas, aids them in their quest for a cure utilizing artificial intelligence. Just when success appears imminent, enemies commandeer the Bold taking the crew and scientists prisoner. Stampede2 predicts World War III. Can the DNA of one of the researchers save humanity? Bold Pursuit, an action packed adventure filled with suspense, reaffirms one’s faith in humanity. Heroes can be found irrespective of territorial boundaries and true love found in the most unlikely places.