The Lums are cursed. Their early deaths come randomly, strangely, and often, be it by tainted cheeseburger or speeding ice cream truck. The most recent victim is Louis Lum's mother. Now Louis must move back home with his gangsta rap-obsessed father, Sonny, to prevent him from enacting the revenge he promises. But soon Louis's concern shifts to his uncle Bo Lum, who has disappeared in Hong Kong. As Louis's search progresses, the tragicomic story of three generations of Lums in America is revealed. Chieh Chieng graduated from the creative writing program at the University of California, Irvine, and has been published in Glimmer Train, the Threepenny Review, and the Santa Monica Review. * Chosen for Barnes and Noble's Discover Great New Writers Program * "This is a dazzling debut: poignant, prickly, and deliciously absurd."-Booklist "[Chieng is] a fresh comic voice...a touching and auspicious debut."-Orange Country Register

An ambitious man and his adoring daughter are separated and estranged by an ocean and by the tides of history in this “marvelous” novel (Los Angeles Times). For Anna Schoene, growing up in the magical world of Shanghai in the 1930s creates a special bond between her and her father. He is the son of missionaries, a smuggler, and a millionaire who leads a charmed but secretive life. When the family flees to Los Angeles in the face of the Japanese occupation, he chooses to stay, believing his connections and luck will keep him safe. He’s wrong—but he survives, only to again choose Shanghai over his family during the Second World War. Anna and her father reconnect late in his life, when she finally has a family of her own, but it is only when she discovers his extensive journals that she is able to fully understand him and the reasons for his absences. The Distant Land of My Father is a “beautiful” novel “for everyone who has ever felt himself in exile from any beloved place, or a time that can never return” (The Washington Post Book World). “Seamlessly weaves together Anna’s own memories with those of her father, gleaned from the journals . . . An elegant, refined story of families, wartime, and the mystique of memory.” —Kirkus Reviews “Vivid with details of prewar Shanghai and Los Angeles.” —Publishers Weekly “Lush and epic.” —San Jose Mercury News “Remarkable . . . A moving tale of love and the possibility of forgiveness.” —Library Journal

"MATT BRAUN IS A MASTER STORYTELLER OF FRONTIER HISTORY." —Elmer Kelton THREE MEN CONQUERED THE FRONTIER Three Brannock brothers once came West. Now, one of them survives, and Clint Brannock feels the weight of responsibility as he does his job as a U.S. deputy marshal. Hunting down an outlaw in the Indian territories, Clint meets up with two of his nephews—one destined to live or die by the gun, the other to live or die in his shadow. And in southern New Mexico, a beautiful sister-in-law, Elizabeth, presides over 100,000 rich acres—and dabbles in a dangerous game... ONE MAN IS LEFT TO DEFEND IT... A vigilante named Miguel Ortega is using terror to drive out Anglo settlers. A woman of her own proud heritage, Elizabeth has a grown son and daughter, each of whom stands to inherit an empire. But she has forged a forbidden bond with Ortega. With violence spiraling out of control, the government sends Clint to lay down the law. Soon, all the Brannocks must take a stand and risk their lives—for justice, each other, and the land that is now in their blood... "BRAUN IS ONE OF THE BEST!" —Don Coldsmith, author of the Spanish Bit series

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