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Baer Charlton
Baer Charlton holds a degree in Social-Anthropology from the University of California at Irvine. His many interests have led him around the world in search of the different and unique.
As an internationally recognized photo journalist he tracked mountain gorillas, was a podium for a Barbary Ape, communicated in sign language with an Orangutan named Boolon, kissed a kangaroo and many other wild experiences in between--or he was just monkeying around. Whether it is dragons and bears that are people; a Marine finding his way home as a civilian, or a tow truck driving detective and his family, there is no more complex and wonderful story than ones that come from the human experience. Mr. Charlton's stories are all driven by the characters you come to think of as friends. |
*Click on the cover for more information and to purchase via Amazon.com.
Hooker, an affable young leather jacketed tow truck driver rules the nights in South San Jose. He reigns from high in the cab of a custom-built giant tow truck that is as powerful as the heart that he keeps hidden under his "rebel without a cause" skin.
Cruising the highways and streets in the heady days of the early Silicon Valley, Hooker lives out his life with one hand on the steering wheel, one hand on the gearshift. Four radios, two of which are illegal, are his ears. Life is cherries as he tours his fiefdom with a one-eyed battle-torn oversized orange cat named Box. Named for the box Hooker found him in, as well as the box between the seats of the cab that he spends his time in. The only three people Box lets touch him are Hooker, Manny the retired Detective and the love of Box's life; the 500lb owner of the Night Dispatch: Dolly.
Spring is coming on in the valley, and it's is rapidly becoming t-shirt under the leather jacket weather; Hooker's favorite time of the year. The police, have long turned a blind eye to his "rapid response time", and the waitress at his favorite midnight eatery is warming up to him. Life is going just great.
That is until he witnesses the first of several cops shot to death by an unseen assailant. The killing spree is executed on Highway Patrol, city cops as well as sheriff deputies. San Jose is paralyzed as everyone searches for answers. Only Hooker has his ear close to the evil that walks the streets at night taking the city and county's finest.
But when it becomes personal, can Hooker find the killer; before the killer finds Hooker.
DEATH ON A DIME
A SOUTHSIDE HOOKER NOVEL #1 |
A psychopatic, sociopath mutilator is leaving cut up bodies in the south Bay Area—again.
This time around, everything becomes very personal as Hooker is dragged into things, but can't drive with a cast on his arm. Mae West has a blown engine, and the Squirt is still in the hospital recovering from "Dime Poisoning".
Then Hooker gets word from his sister that she needs help. She can help him—but he has to pay the price she is asking....
How do you save someone—by killing them.
It is going to take everything Hooker's strange extended family can do to pull it off....
And even then, it may be too late.
NIGHT VISION
A SOUTHSIDE HOOKER NOVEL #2 |
Life is splashing along for Hooker, as he cruises the South end of San Jose in his custom built 1959 Marmon tow-truck with his trusty side-kick Box, snoring between the seats. The serious end of fall has settled into a myriad of jumpstarts and drivers re-learning how to park in the middle of rain washed freeways.Blood ally is working overtime on its name. A rash of “suicide by oncoming car” takes over as IBM starts another round of layoffs that runs a cold blade through the lower ribs of the indentured Santa Clara valley. Mudslides make recoveries of wrecks over cliffs—dicey; and the unusual cold has done unkind things to many people.But for Hooker and the local police—it is just another fall with colder rain. A car recovery over a muddy cliff turns up a dead body; or more exact—four skeletons, and bags of curious jewelry and gold statues.It would all be a “walk away” for Hooker, but one of the skeletons is sporting a watch and dog tags that make it personal; very personal.And then Hooker desperately wishes for the warmth of summer.The Squirt is back and gets some hot attention, as some old bones heat up a cold case that never saw the light of day.
This could change everything.
UNBIDDEN GARDEN
A SOUTHSIDE HOOKER NOVEL #3 |
"Milpitas was a thug town.
Felix hadn't always been a thug, and he hadn't grown up in Milpitas. He had found Milpitas because of its reputation, and he had worked hard to fit into the reputation."
Trouble continues to find Hooker and the Squirt. Through the slow drizzle of spring, business is just enough to prevent much needed maintenance on Mae West. Hooker and the Squirt both know in their guts—her cables are stretched and worn. They should have been replaced long ago.
But will they still hold when their lives depend on them the most?
Boomtown starts 1974 in the south Bay Area. As the Squirt makes his way and reputation at the police academy, and Candy continues to work on becoming a nurse, Hooker slogs his way around south San Jose. But things aren't right as business after business experience freak explosions that defy explanation.
BOOMTOWN
A SOUTHSIDE HOOKER NOVEL #4 |
It wasn't Hooker's first recovery wreck from water. At least this was in the sunny summer instead of winter in freezing water and rain. Everything was routine until the officer pulled a skull out of the water.Someone is killing the street walkers of downtown San Jose. As Hooker investigates, it becomes personal, and dangerous.
DONE DAY UNDER THE GRASS
A SOUTHSIDE HOOKER NOVEL #5 |
"Death isn't always about dying."
Gunnery Sargent Perceval Stone, a third-generation Marine, is suddenly medically retired.
After all of the collective damage of many wars and actions, an IED leaves him with TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) and PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder).
Stone is a walking mental time-bomb like so many others who have lost their compass. If he can't find his center and path, he may never get back.
Walking away confused. from the only home and family he has ever known, he has a phone in his pocket that he does not know how to use, a pesky yeoman stalking his every move, and is on an $800 motorcycle, headed west from Bethesda, MD searching for what it means to be a civilian, and what makes home, home.
In an effort to find his peace, he ends up beside a tranquil lake, watching a perfect sunset.
And then the phone rings . . .
.
.
Thousands of military have come back--but couldn't find their way home. If you ever served, had a loved one who did, or just know someone--this is the book for you and a gift for them.
Through the power of the internet, you can buy today, a gift for someone serving this country--somewhere else in the world. And they can start reading it tonight. Add that person to your cart now--they will thank you tomorrow.
STONEHEART
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Thorny Wallace returns to her hometown for the peace and quiet. WWII is distant thunder in the small rural town, but Los Angeles is always a clear and present threat. As she begins to look into an old death, she finds that there is always more going on in the small quiet town. When she thinks she has the players figured out the FBI shows up.
DEATH IN THE VALLEY
A THORNY WALLACE NOVEL #1 |
"Diamonds are a girls best friends…
…unless they're covered in blood."
Thorny Wallace is being pressured by old ghosts, both mountain ranges, and the women of the town who are looking for answers. An expected refuge isn't what it seems, and the rest of the world is holding its breath as the two motorcycle companies go head-to-head with "The Race of the Century." And it's right through her jurisdiction.
Bodies turn up—without a mark on them.
The summer heat turns up when the FBI comes calling.
And it doesn't help when it's Sunday and the Barefoot Posse has work to do.
If the Owens Valley seemed too tight for comfort before, the summer of 1943 was shaping up to be a doozy.
Now, if only Thorny could give away some of her jobs.
LIGHT TO LIGHT
A THORNY WALLACE NOVEL #2 |
As Los Angeles comes of age in the 1960s, two undercover cops struggle to maintain their balance in the growing drug trade. Boundaries are broken and borders are crossed in an effort to do good—while doing bad.
Newcomer Gabe learns from the masters. "Normal" is a meaningless word civilian society makes up, and the books (on being a cop) don't know squat. The irreverent, unconventional approach gets results.
And then he must learn to deal with the frat house and the very large snake.
A phone call in the night brings it all into focus—for a battle to save a life.
ANGEL FLIGHTS
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Tink, a young dragon on the verge of adulthood, who struggles with being different.
His life is simple and unambitious. That is until he is called on a great adventure. He will only survive with the help of family and friends.
Embarking on a hero's journey, he comes to the realization that being himself is the best way to be. The Very Littlest Dragon is a story that delicately describes the acceptance of being one's self and is a parable compatible with Hans Christian Andersen's The Ugly Duckling.
It is written for all of us who grew up or will grow up believing they were or are—different. May we all find our inner dragon.
THE VERY LITTLEST DRAGON
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As the salt begins to win the battle over pepper, Marsha finds herself, once again, sitting in a hospital with her father. This time is the last.
The walls are the same white, but now they begin to reflect on her life.
Always the dutiful daughter, and then the supportive wife, she was there. Mother, wife, daughter—but now she is facing a crisis of identity. As the daughterhood is closing, the wife was thrown aside long ago, and motherhood…
Marsha examines what is and what could have been…
In life, the road not taken is sometimes just another left turn.
Popular lesbian romance writer, Shye Ryder, teams up with Pulitzer Nominated, Baer Charlton, to bring a fresh telling of a very old refrain. With the combined introspection of Shye, and the gritty storytelling of Baer, the power of this subtle story will hit you in the gut and make you examine your own life. This is the book which will be talked about for years.
WHAT ABOUT MARSHA?
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Set in current time, about one thousand immortals known as Ever Kind live among us mortals.
They identify and locate the others through senses, except for a singular anomaly, whom they call the Black Hole or the Black Sheep. Their immortality derives from their ability to flow into another living host when the original host dies. This ability allows them to have a renewed body or escape detection as they take over a host of a different species.
Over the millennia, they have lived out lives of both sexes and animals as varied as cockroaches, whales, three-legged blind goats, camels, birds, and fish. They have killed each other and married among themselves.
They have lived apart or intertwined. They have fought on both sides of the same battle on the same day. They have been partners, lovers, friends, or enemies. The stories they love to tell are past exploits with each other. Their bonds are fleeting moments in long lives, but one anomaly has held true within their kind. One of them is evil incarnate—and cannot be eradicated… until now.
Manfred believes he has found a way. But he needs help from his former wife, husband, partner, friend—Blake. If he can get her on board, others will follow.
He recruits the others to help in a project which will require many centuries of labor and skill. His long view of the world, and of man’s impact on the world, has turned his eyes toward the pollution of the ocean. Specifically, his attention is toward what is known as the Northern Pacific Garbage Patch.
The Patch is bits of broken plastic. Among the garbage, gold, silver, platinum, and other precious things bait the trap to catch the most evil and powerful person on the planet.
Immortals live on the fringe of society. Whether preying on unsuspecting caravans in a high desert pass or sailing hard against the wind in tall ships on the Caribbean—they are pirates.
But some days, to save the world, it takes—
A pirate’s heart,
A good sword,
Strong backup,
And a great pair of boots.
PIRATE'S PATCH
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This is the second book of Laura Reynolds dragons. This is a book for colored pencils. The level is young adults to adults who enjoy the fantasy art and especially dragons. There are over forty images to color in.
HERE BE DRAGONS
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Colored pencil coloring book.
DRAGONS
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Zephy is a six-year-old gryphon, who is like any other young, active, creative, intelligent yet stubborn little boy. He lives with his mother and father in a small Craftsman bungalow. His favorite stuffed toy, Stuffy, is a fantasy gryphon his mother sewed him--and his constant companion. His favorite uncle is a Colonel in the Air Force who flies an F-15 Strike Eagle. He has a matching Stuffy who has his own adventures.
These coloring books have finer detail and are intended for colored pencil use. The front covers are line art intended for gel pens or colored pencil.
HERE'S ZEPHY!
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Colored pencil adult coloring book based on the life of a 6-year-old gryphon named Zephy. The illustrations are the Fantasy Art of Laura Reynolds. Each illustration has been adapted specifically for this book series
D'EUX ZEPHY!
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