When terrorists attacked on September 11, 2001, Lieutenant Brian Murphy rescued seven people from the World Trade Center. Even as steel girders buckled and groaned, Brian rushed back up the stairs of the North Tower in search of those in need. He died a hero, one of more than four hundred police officers, firefighters, and other first responders who perished that fateful day. Three years later, Vietnam veteran and retired NYPD detective-sergeant Jimmy Murphy is on a mission to find the truth behind his son's death. Why was Brian in the tower that morning? Had he anticipated the attack? Suspecting a cover-up of a deeper truth, Jimmy must confront his family, friends, and old colleagues in the police department to discover what happened to Brian and who his eldest son really was. Murphy's investigation takes him from his home turf in the Irish American enclave of Rockaway Beach to Muslim Atlantic Avenue and beyond in order to find his own truth about 9/11. Dry-eyed and determined, Murphy battles barstool patriotism, the NYPD blue wall of silence, and a ticking clock—all the while haunted by his own secrets and the raw memory of his difficult relationship with his dead son. Written by author and musician Larry Kirwan, Rockaway Blue is a thrilling and poignant story of a family struggling to pull itself together after an unthinkable trauma.

Timmy and Chowderhead and Peg are lifeguards. They spend summers sitting in those tall chairs, smoking dope and staring at the waves, swatting insects, tormenting seagulls. Winters they work shit jobs like unloading trucks at Mickey's Deli. At night, winter and summer, they drink. Drink and get rowdy. Then there's Alex, the girl who gets away, not only from old boyfriend Timmy but also from "Rotaway"-on scholarship to a rich-kid's college in New England. One midsummer night when the four are reunited, tensions erupt in feats of daring and self-destruction during the wild, cathartic, near-sacred lifeguard ritual known as the Death Keg. Brilliantly capturing the restlessness and casual nihilism of working-class youth with no options, Jill Eisenstadt's acclaimed first novel startles in its power and originality, its depth of feeling, its bright and dark comic turns.

Let the music take you into another dimension as Blue Opera Rock introduces Jarod, a sensitive man of the arts. As Jarod is flying home to Barcelona, he hears some music and reflects back on his life, including life in London in the raucous 1980s. Although Jarod loves music and literature, he is also sensitive to social problems. He opposes exploitation of any kind and dreams of a future free from all forms of tyranny. Jarod envisions a world united for all people, no matter where they come from, as long as they are willing to build a socially just society. Driven by musical magic and narrated with stunning rock lyrics, Blue Opera Rock sings the praises of living a joyous life, while enjoying the fruits of peace and freedom, all to the beat of a world existing in perfect harmony. Political intrigue, philosophy, economics, history and social issues are set to a beat where rock music is truly the central character. Author Bob J. Zehmer was motivated to write this novel about rock and roll and its implications in social issues because democracies are frail and always at risk. He based many of the characters on acquaintances. Zehmer lives in Spain and Italy and has started on his next book. Publisher's website: http: //www.eloquentbooks.com/BlueOperaRock.htm

“How tragic that this book--set in a Queens, New York, beach town that in real life was devastated by Sandy--has a new relevance. Sarah is a California painter who’s come east for a retreat she hopes will revive her artistic passion. It’s a sheer joy to stay in the company of Ison’s voice. There’s an unlikely relationship at the center, the kind of encounter that could happen only in the summertime suspension of ‘ordinary’ life.” --Karen Russell, O Magazine Rockaway Beach, 2001. Sarah, a painter from southern California, retreats to this eccentric, eclectic beach town in the far reaches of Queens with the hopes of rediscovering her passion for painting. Sarah has the opportunity for a real gallery showing if only she can create some new and interesting work. There, near the beach, she hopes to escape a life caught in the stasis of caregiving for her elderly parents and working at an art supply store to unleash the artist within. One summer, a room filled with empty canvasses, nothing but possibility. There she meets Marty, an older musician from a once-popular band whose harmonies still infuse the summertime music festivals. His strict adherence to his music and to his Jewish faith will provoke unexpected feelings in Sarah and influence both her time there and her painting. Rockaway is a time capsule love letter to a quirky, singular town, in a time before an entire community was brought to its knees in the events about to occur in September 2001, and to an entire town that faced tragedy again when it was summarily devastated eleven years later by Hurricane Sandy.

In one of the most illuminating portraits of police work ever, Chief Charles Campisi describes the inner workings of the world’s largest police force and his unprecedented career putting bad cops behind bars. “Compelling, educational, memorable…this superb memoir can be read for its sheer entertainment or as a primer on police work—or both” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review). From 1996 to 2014 Charles Campisi headed NYPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau, working under four police commissioners and gaining a reputation as hard-nosed and incorruptible. During Campisi’s IAB tenure, the number of New Yorkers shot, wounded, or killed by cops every year declined by ninety percent, and the number of cops failing integrity tests shrank to an equally startling low. But to achieve those exemplary results, Campisi had to triple IAB’s staff, hire the very best detectives, and put the word out that corruption wouldn’t be tolerated. Blue on Blue provides “a rare glimpse inside one of the most secretive branches of policing…and a compelling, behind-the-scenes account of what it takes to investigate police officers who cross the line between guardians of the public to criminals. It’s a mesmerizing exposé on the harsh realities and complexities of being a cop on the mean streets of New York City and the challenges of enforcing the law while at the same time obeying it” (The New York Journal of Books). Campisi allows us to listen in on wiretaps and feel the adrenaline rush of drawing in the net. It also reveals new threats to the force, such as the possibility of infiltration by terrorists. “A lively memoir [told with] verve, intriguing detail, and a generous heart” (The Wall Street Journal) and “an expose of the NYPD’s Internal Affairs Bureaus [that is] enlightening and entertaining” (The New York Times Book Review), Blue on Blue will forever change the way you view police work.