Böcker av Steve Bartholomew

San Francisco, 1906. Broderick McRae, reporter for the Morning Call, has discovered he's two people. A different person inhabits his mind and body. The Other is a dead Italian soldier named Abramo. He tells McRae they are both on a mission to save the city. Their task involves a murdered opera singer and a killer on the loose. There's also Enrico Caruso, who's coming to town. McRae doesn't even like opera.Worse yet, McRae's dear wife Julianna has just left him. After all this, things start getting complicated.

Waters of Doubt, third tale in the DiPaolo trilogy, a novella. Theodore Roosevelt has invited Martino DiPaolo to an exciting vacation in the Brazilian rain forest. The trip nearly proves the last of both men, as well as the rest of the expedition. They have chosen to follow the course of an unmapped river, the River de Duvidas, River of Doubt. But DiPaolo is shown an ancient, secret world.Meanwhile at home, DiPaolo's arch enemy Kwanyin Luk is hatching his own plans. He has created the greatest confidence game of his career: the di Paolo estate con. He is making millions of dollars and can't be touched. Then he decides to go after DiPaolo himself, with a gun.

1901: Pinkerton op Martino DiPaolo is working as bodyguard. He's guarding the Hong Kong consul general and family on their voyage to San Francisco aboard the S.S. City of Rio de Janeiro. The consul's in a hurry to get to the U.S. president's inauguration. That's because he know of a threat on the president's life. There's also a threat against the consul. DiPaolo has failed once before. He fears he may fail again. Meanwhile, the man assigned to kill the president is alone and running loose. And the Rio is running late. Who succeeds or fails in this race against death?

McRae, reporter for the San Francisco Call, awakens one morning in 1906 to find he is two people. Another mind inhabits his brain, that of a dead Italian soldier. The soldier wants to avenge his own murder. He also bears a warning of coming disaster to the city. As if it couldn't get worse, McRae's wife has left him. Two more spirits await. The first is a ghost of the living, a live woman in a coma. She begs McRae to save her life. And next comes an actual demon. Or is it a demigod? As if an earthquake and fire were not enough. This trio of stories is the complete McRae series.

This is a collection of trunk tales. A trunk tale is a story which I dug out of my trunk. I wrote it years ago, it didn't get published, so I filed it away in my trunk and forgot about it. Recently I began winnowing my papers and found several that I think are not too bad. The first story, "Cheops," I first published as a stand alone short. It's now included. Cheops is an angry elephant, and you can't blame him. The other stories are a varied mix, from love to horror. I hope you will read them and decide they are not too bad.Steve

When Geraldine Halloran arrives at the Central Pacific end of track in the winter of 1866, she's resolved not to be terrified. After all, she has a right to be there. She was hired on as regular telegraph operator, though they thought they were hiring a man. She's the only other woman at Tunnel 6, except for Mrs. Strobridge, the superintendent's wife. Tunnel 6 was said by some to be impossible. Nothing like it had ever been done. It was to be a railroad tunnel linking California with Nevada, over 1700 feet long and 6000 feet altitude, dug through solid granite using black powder, nitroglycerin, and more than 5000 Chinese laborers.Geraldine was to discover many things to terrify. There were explosions, landslides and blizzards. However there were some compensations. She got to run her own telegraph key, without being required to wear corsets. And then there was that nice, funny looking boy, Stetson Applegate, whom she might, perhaps, fall in love with. And then a third woman showed up, a strange lady named Georgette Dupriest. Though she claimed to be writing a book, no one could quite understand why she was at a railroad camp. Georgette did seem quite taken by that nice gentleman, Mr. Asa Turner. Geraldine begins to have second thoughts when it gradually becomes clear that someone is trying to sabotage the railroad. And also trying to kill the man she loves.If you read this book, secrets may be revealed.

Sometimes finding the truth can reveal more than you want to know. Dana Reynolds came to Nevada after losing his job in San Francisco. Now he's a newspaper reporter assigned to investigate this so-called Indian prophet, Wovoka. Along the way, he learns some things about corrupt Indian agents. That knowledge earns him a beating, and makes him mad. Now he's more determined than ever to find out if Wovoka is another swindler, or a prophet. And he wants to know the connection between him and the white men robbing Indians. Wovoka is teaching his tribe some dangerous ideas - Don't lie, cheat or steal, and try to get along with the Whites. He will become Dana's instructor without Dana knowing it. Dana knows only that if he can not arrive at the truth and tell it, he must return to the kind of life he no longer wants. His search will lead him to a vision of ultimate horror. Now travel to a time past, which haunts us yet today.

Hyram and Lisbeth have been living in San Francisco since it was called Yerba Buena. They have been here long enough to meet some strange and sometimes desperate folks. Hyram likes telling their stories. He hopes you will like reading them. The tales are short enough to read while waiting for your horse-drawn streetcar. The first one is about a starving boy who turned up one morning looking for work.

San Francisco, 1880. Jeremy Fantom dislikes his job as reporter for The Bulletin. He dreams of joining a circus or going to sea. That all changes when he meets Worrell the inventor. Worrell has a machine that will run forever without fuel. Or so he claims. Jeremy soon finds himself involved in city politics, crime, swindling and riots. Then the inventor's daughter is kidnapped. Jeremy embarks on a mission to rescue her and see justice done. Miss Hollyhock is Worrell's daughter. Devoted to her father, she befriends Jeremy and reveals some of Worrell's secrets to him. She hints that powerful circles in New York are intent on suppressing her father's inventions. Jeremy Fantom writes articles for his paper about some of the wonders he has witnessed. Then he begins to have doubts, until Hollyhock disappears. He soon learns that the line between truth and humbug is not always clear cut.

Here it is, my newest tale, The Driver. It concerns a streetcar driver by name of Georg Vintner. Georg was born in Norway, came to the U.S. at a young age and went to sea. Somehow he washed ashore in San Francisco in 1877. He has given up the sea and now drives a tram. These days most streetcars are pulled by horses. Georg's job is not an easy one. He works a 16 hour shift, six days a week. The horses don't have it much better, though they only work four or five hours a day. They last about five years on the job. That's bad enough, but now a man is murdered on Georg's car, in the middle of a riot. Georg is suspected of the killing, for lack of anyone else to blame it on. Now he finds himself with the job of trying to solve the murder. I think this book is my first murder mystery, though I'm not sure about that. With most other mysteries, the detective actually solves the crime. Read the tale, and you decide.

Sometimes the only path to sanity is through madness. San Francisco, 1859. Joshua Norton, desperate to survive, sees madness overtaking America. He has lost his fortune and believes the country is losing its mind. In a flash of insight, he finds the answer to both problems. He will become Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico. He will issue proclamations to make things right.Now imagine young Marina. She wants only to sing. Because she allows Joshua into her theater she allows him into her life. Soon she is caught up into the madness of Civil War, a conflict making no sense. In a world turned upside down, the insanity of Emperor Norton becomes her only anchor to Reason. And in defiance of death, there is new life.Read the book and travel to a time past, which haunts us yet today.

The only path to safety is through the most dangerous place in this world. Men pursue Benjamin for his wild talent, which he doesn't understand. His path will lead him to imprisonment, to a gay biker chick, a gypsy, and a certified lunatic. Among his allies is a woman from another world. His enemy wants his lunch money. Now come on a journey to the Chapel Perilous.

Liam O'Malley was just looking for an honest job. The California Gold Rush wasn't paying off for him, and he was tired of living in tents. In San Francisco he did find employment, but he wasn't sure how honest. He found himself assistant to a Daguerreotype photographer who specialized in photographing ghosts and departed spirits. Of course the pictures were all fake. Liam became sure of that when he learned to make the pictures himself. He didn't know he was about to get involved with Prince Susslov, self-appointed Witch Hunter. Or with Delia, daughter of an escaped slave and the most fascinating woman he'd ever met.

Nathaniel had his reasons for making his journey to Rhyolite. Rhyolite was the greatest boom town in the west, with a population of ten thousand and growing fast. Nathaniel hoped to find what had been taken from him-taken by the snallygaster, that old legend from the back hills of Maryland. Snallygaster was that four legged flying snake that would snatch away whatever you most valued when you turned your back. It took away Annabelle, the love of his life. At least, that was the way he felt. Now he was here in Rhyolite, to make his fortune, to find Annabelle-and to look up the man he had murdered back in Baltimore.

Sometimes real sanity is found only in a mad house.San Francisco, 1879. Georg Vintner, A.K.A the Driver, has returned after two years at sea only to discover that the woman he loves is still confined to a lunatic asylum. Only by rescuing her, can he discover if he wants a life with her. Only then can he learn the truth.Wealthy investor, Nathan Foster Casco, must keep that woman locked away. She is Genevieve Sutliff, confessed murderer, and if she gets loose she will interfere with his schemes - or so he believes.Driver finds himself deep in the middle of plot and intrigue, trying to unravel Casco's tangled web of lies, save the woman he loves, and gain true justice for Murphy - the slain stagecoach teamster. If he fails, everyone will lose.And then there's the matter of the teamster's ghost...You may read the tale now.

Year 1901 Martino DiPaolo is hired as a Pinkerton bodyguard for Rounsevelle Wildman. Wildman, U.S. Consul General in Hong Kong, wants to reach Washington D.C. in time for President McKinley's inaugural. DiPaolo and Wildman sail on the S.S. Rio de Janeiro for San Francisco. But there have been threats against both Wildman and the president. As the threats become more real, DiPaolo doubts his own ability to protect the Consul. He has failed before and may fail again. He doesn't like this ship. DiPaolo doesn't know she is sailing toward disaster.Meanwhile, an assassin is on the loose.

When Black Bart left prison he figured he'd had enough of crime and Wells Fargo. After all, he'd got time off for good behavior, and only had to do time for robbing one stage coach out of the twenty-eight he held up. Bart thought he would try his hand at mining once again, and maybe settle down later by running a pharmacy. He also had plans for the woman he loved, Magdalena Ramos. Those were his plans. What he didn't figure on was the man who had put him in San Quentin to begin with, Detective James Hume. Nor did he plan on meeting his old nemesis, Jason Sutliffe who had started Bart on his life of crime.A month after leaving prison, Bart was determined to vanish from the Earth and from history. The official records say he did. This book is a tale of where he might have gone, and what he might have done. It is not history. It is a story. Read it yourself and see.

Sometimes a magic lute is more than a magic lute. Minions of an evil ogre have stolen Rymer the troubadour's lute. The lute's name is Ariella. Rymer needs her for his livelihood. He thinks of Ariella as Her, not It. In fact he believes his lute is his wife. He sets off to find the ogre and recover Ariella. He will encounter Swine Girl, who will help him. But he first must pass by the Black Duke and Castle Grey, where Swine Girl's brother is held captive. How will he get past the castle and find his ogre? The Black Duke stands in Rymer's way. No one knows where he came from, or the source of his power. He has taken Castle Grey for his own, and drained all color from it. He throws Rymer in the deepest dungeon, next to Swine Girl's brother. The troubadour has only a single dragon's scale to help him escape. Where is he to find an army to overthrow the Duke? If Rymer should fail in his mission he will not see Ariella again, and Castle Grey shall be buried in gloom forever. Now travel to an imaginary time past, which haunts us yet today.

"You are the only one who saw a president assassinated. That makes you the expert."¿Having failed to protect McKinley, Martino DiPaolo, hesitates to accept the assignment to safeguard his successor. Elsewhere, John Flammang Schrank believes that McKinley's ghost urged him to kill Roosevelt. That sworn commitment of a madman persuades DiPaolo to once again risk his own life to lead a president's security detail.Meanwhile, DiPaolo is haunted by consequences of the sinking of the Rio di Janeiro. A friend turned enemy is out to kill the protector. Will DiPaolo succeed in keeping Roosevelt and himself safe?¿¿¿Spanning the first decade of the 20th century and the events leading up to the attempt to assassinate Theodore Roosevelt, DiPaolo and the Colonel is the captivating sequel to Requiem for the Rio and the second novel in the historical trilogy about former Pinkerton agent Martino DiPaolo.In this psychological thriller, Steve Bartholomew gives insightful glimpses of a disturbed mind while masterfully weaving together historical events into a credible and very human story. Book length: 51000 words.

They say Bradshaw's crazy just because he talks to his cat and eats roadkill. They say that's why he was kicked out of MIT. He knows better, but he's not saying. Now he's come across a Government secret, a super weapon. Who can he trust to share it with? There are all these agents running around looking for it. To make matters worse a beautiful woman turns up seeking revenge. Now even the Sheriff is worried and there are rumors the President himself might be coming to calm the hysteria. This whole thing could be embarrassing. Take a look inside these pages and see what a tangled web we weave!

San Francisco, 1880: Driver, after a year at sea, returns to the city, only to be shot down and nearly killed. The main suspect? A mysterious Russian known only as The Scratch. It's up to Driver's wife Genevieve to hunt him down, since the cops seem without clues. With Driver still recovering from wounds, things can only get worse when Robert, the ex cabin boy, is abducted. Where is The Scratch, and what of the shadowy mastermind known only as Mr. Smith?

Ira Beard hunted Joaquin, the mountain bandit. In the Civil War he chased Confederate rebels. Now he's settled down with a family and business, hoping for some peace and quiet. He has seen San Francisco through riots, fires, earthquake and war. It's time for a change. Then a banker sends him on a mission to inspect a new silver mine down in the Mojave, where not many men will go. The job sounds like a nice break from routine. What Ira doesn't expect is a Paiute curse, swindlers, double dealers and murder. The problem comes down to how to get out alive. Later, he won't even talk to his son about it. This is Ira Beard book 3.

Ira Beard came west to escape war.War has found him. He'd hunted for JoaquinMurietta, the bandit. Now he's supposed totrack down Confederate rebels stealingCalifornia gold. He's become desperatebecause his wife Octavia found them first.Read the tale for yourself, and wonder.

Joaquin Murietta, the most notorious bandit in gold rush California. Rangers hunt him in hope of reward. Friends protect him as romantic hero. Ira Beard, bounty hunter from New York, decides to pursue Joaquin. He brings only two men in his posse, but meets a Spanish lady who will save his life three times. Who will get to Joaquin first, and whose head is that in a bottle?

I must admit that of my published novels, Gold, a tale of the California gold rush, is in many ways my favorite story. This is in part because of personal, sentimental reasons. I greatly enjoyed researching it, discovering how much literature I could find on the subject of sidewheel steam ships, and the sea route to California. Gold was an Eppie awards finalist for 2009. Imagine you're living on a small, isolated planet where you have to work twelve or sixteen hours a day just to earn enough money to stay alive, and where it's freezing cold in the winter and too hot in the summer. You're sharing rooms with maybe several other people you barely know; the future seems to offer only more of the same. Suddenly you're given a chance. You can travel to a far distant world, if you can come up with about two hundred dollars for the ticket. This new planet is warm all the time, uncrowded, with limitless opportunity. And you can become fabulously rich by just picking up gold off the ground. Why, even the servants there are rich. Oh, there's a couple of drawbacks: You will have to travel in a ship using radically new and untested technology. You will be crowded in with a thousand other passengers and crew, but out of contact with the rest of humanity for weeks at a time. During the passage you will be eating mainly dried meat and beans, no fresh fruit or veggies. Oh, and one other thing: the ship might possibly explode at any moment. That was the situation emigrants to California found themselves in when they shipped aboard a steam ship from the east coast. Thousands more traveled that way than came by wagon train. Gold is the story of a few of these emigrants, and how their lives were changed by the journey.

December, 1906. For the third time, McRae finds himself conversing with a disembodied spirit. The first time, before the San Francisco Quake, it was a dead Italian soldier. The second, A.Q. (After Quake), she was a live woman lying in a coma thousands of miles distant. Now McRae, reporter for the San Francisco Call, gets sent to cover a story not Quake related. There has been a mining disaster in Bakersfield. Five men are dead, one still living, but trapped underground. Can he be rescued? A great human interest report, dramatic and easy to write, what could go wrong? Until McRae finds himself talking to an actual demon. Or is it a god? Its name is Yama, and it says it wants Justice. Then Crazy Mollie shows up to help.