A novel by
1939. The tenth year of the Great Depression in America. Europe teeters on the brink of war. In Atlantic City, New Jersey - a seashore resort town that springs to life every summer - Jack Laurel comes of age.
At 15, Jack’s life is turned upside down by an almost magical convergence of people and events. A mysterious boardwalk entertainer inspires a love of literature, a feud with neighborhood bullies escalates, and innocence is lost. Jack stumbles into commodities trading with two men: one a reclusive mystic, the other a charismatic pitchman and mathematical savant. The musings of a boardwalk fortuneteller set the three partners up to reap unimagined profits - but a house of cards is about to come down around them and, with it, the wrath of an iron-fisted crime boss.. ... READ MORE
2009 | 488 pp/hardbound | ISBN: 978-0-937548-72-1 | $24.95
The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City
By Nelson Johnson
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A bustling little city by the seashore, totally dependent upon money spent by tourists, Atlantic City’s popularity rose in the early 20th century and peaked during Prohibition. The resort’s singular purpose of providing a good time to its visitors—whether lawful or not—demanded a single mentality to rule the town. Success of the local economy was the only ideology, and critics and do-gooders weren't tolerated. By 1900, a political juggernaut, funded by payoffs from gambling rooms, bars, and brothels, was firmly entrenched. For the next 70 years, Atlantic City was dominated by a partnership comprised of local politicians and racketeers. This unique alliance reached full bloom in the person of Enoch "Nucky" Johnson—the second of three bosses to head the Republican machine that dominated city politics and society... READ MORE
2009 | 300 pp/softbound |
ISBN 978-0-9666748-5-9 | $17.95
A novel by Wil Mara
It’s a beautiful spring morning on Long Beach Island, and thousands of LBI residents are beginning their daily routines, oblivious to the horror that will soon rise from the sea.
High overhead, aboard a 747 bound for the U.S. capital, a terrorist’s plot has gone awry. The plane nosedives into the Atlantic and a smuggled nuclear device detonates, creating a massive undersea landslide. Within minutes a tsunami is born, and a series of formidable waves begins moving toward the Jersey shore. By the time the tsunami makes landfall, the most destructive of its waves will reach a height of nearly 30 feet, with enough power to devastate every structure in its path... READ MORE
2005 | 312 pp/hardcover | ISBN 978-0-937548-56-1 | $22.95True Stories from the New Jersey Pine Barrens
By Karen F. Riley w/Foreword by John Pearce and Illustrations by Andrew Gioulis
“The best book on Pinelands folklife since Beck’s memorable Forgotten Towns of Southern New Jersey series. A must-read for anybody interested in Piney lore.”
— Ben Ruset, NJPineBarrens.com
From true life tales of murder and mayhem to inspiring accounts of triumph over adversity and "Pineys" fighting to protect their way of life, Voices in the Pines brings the storytelling legacy of the Pine Barrens into the 21st century.
Author Karen F. Riley—a South Jersey transplant by way of Brooklyn, New York—roamed the woods, rural communities, and farms of the Pinelands in search of compelling stories. The result is an engrossing human journey into the heart of the Pines. You’ll meet artisans, activists, farmers, educators, local heroes, and regular folks in this collection of true stories—told in the words of those who lived them. ... READ MORE
2009 | 232 pp/softbound | ISBN: 978-0-937548-67-7 | $15.95
50th Anniversary Edition
By Richard Powell
with a new Foreword by Oscar nominee Robert Vaughn
This 1957 national bestseller by the late Richard Powell, a seventh-generation Philadelphian, was touted by its publisher as a “shocking exposé” of Philadelphia and Main Line society. The novel was released to rave reviews and became the 1959 Oscar-nominated film, The Young Philadelphians, starring Paul Newman and Robert Vaughn. ... READ MORE
2006 | 344
pp/hardbound | ISBN 0-937548-62-6 |
$22.95
2006 | 344
pp/softbound | ISBN 0-937548-64-2 |
$15.95
By Richard Powell
The novel that might have been called “ Piney, Go Home!” delivers a fast-paced story, a terrific cast of characters, and dozens of memorable, laugh-out-loud moments. This 50th anniversary edition restores Richard Powell’s New York Times bestseller and includes a previously unpublished preface by the author.
Pioneer, Go Home! ranks among the most entertaining of Powell’s 19 published novels. Originally released by Scribner’s in 1959, it was the immediate follow-up to the author’s best-known novel, The Philadelphian. Like its predecessor, “Pioneer” received rave reviews, spent weeks on the bestseller lists, and was made into a popular movie (1962’s “Follow That Dream” starring Elvis Presley). The similarities end there, for with the new novel Powell chose satirical comedy over high drama—with frequently sidesplitting results. ... READ MOREGrime & Punishment
By Melissa Jarvis
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2004 | 200 pp/softbound
ISBN 978-0-9666748-2 | $13.95
By William Still
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2005 | 592 pp/hardbound with dustjacket
ISBN 978-0-937548-55-4 | $49.50 U.S./$59.50 Canada
A Top-to-Bottom Tour of More Than 50 Scenic and Historic Sites
By Patricia Robinson
The New Jersey Coastal Heritage Trail, established by an act of Congress in 1988, runs from Perth Amboy Harbor in the northeast of the state to Fort Mott State Park in the southwest—a 275-mile stretch of Jersey coast linking more than 50 natural and historic destinations. Whether you plan to visit one or all 54 sites, this well-organized, fully illustrated guide makes it fun and easy. ... READ MORE
2007 | 320 pp/softbound | ISBN 978-0-937548-58-5 | $19.95
An Ecosystem Threatened by Fragmentation
By Howard P. Boyd
In his fourth book about the New Jersey Pine Barrens, Howard
P. Boyd presents a fascinating study of the natural forces that created
this unique ecosystem and a timely review of human development in the
region.
Following a concise introduction to Pine Barrens ecology, Boyd delves
into distinctive abiotic factors (physical processes and
characteristics such as geological evolution, soils, climate, water,
and wildfires) and biotic factors (plants and animals), emphasizing
their interrelationships. He lists hundreds of species of Pinelands
flora and fauna, surveys threatened and endangered species, explores
man’s industrial and agricultural industries and their
impacts, and
offers an important discussion of the dangers current human activity
presents to the survival of the ecosystem. ... READ MORE
2008 | 240 pp/hardbound | ISBN 978-0-937548-65-3
| $27.95
2008 | 240 pp/softbound | ISBN 978-0-937548-69-1 | $19.95
By Bob Birdsall
Nature photographer Bob Birdsall (Seasons of the Pines) celebrates the people and traditions of the Pine Barrens of New Jersey in this stunning coffee table book—an instant Pinelands classic. Picking up where John McPhee’s The Pine Barrens left off, Birdsall combines his brilliant color photography with an informative text to profile more than two dozen individuals and their ways of life—many of which are fast vanishing. ... READ MORE
2007 | 160 pp/hardbound | ISBN 978-0-937548-63-9 | $39.95
By Barbara Solem-Stull
The Pine Barrens of New Jersey contain more ghost towns, some say, than the entire American west. In Ghost Towns and Other Quirky Places in the New Jersey Pine Barrens author Barbara Solem-Stull tells the story of the towns that rose up around the iron furnaces, glass factories, paper mills, cranberry farms, and brick making establishments of the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries... READ MORE
2005 | 368 pp/softboundISBN 978-0-937548-60-8 | $19.95