Böcker av Todd Daley

The Maiden MaverickAs a result of Hal's untimely death, Nancy Perez is living alone in a post Covid-24 world, where the country has lost three-fourths of its population. Basic government services like police, fire, sanitation, and post office are nonexistent-along with electric power and phone service. Coal stoves are used to cook food and heat homes. The Elm Park neighborhood has banded together to obtain food, shelter, and security. Reminiscent of the old west, everyone carries a gun - the ubiquitous 22-caliper handgun. On a nighttime walk to the Kill van Kull, Nancy meets Sam Worthington, a husky black man, with a troubled past. He becomes a guardian - stopping abuses of Darren Trupp's Brown Shirts who barge into people's homes - stealing valuables and assaulting women. The Truppers use drones equipped with cameras and lasers to surveille and attack individuals they deem to be rebels. The Resistance is coordinated by Gerald Hopkins from his office in Wolstein's factory. Hopkins and his aide, Mason, provide Nancy and Sam with guns, bullets, grenades and dynamite to fight the Truppers. There's a plan by the Truppers to sabotage a coal-powered generating plant - shutting down power to the North Shore. Nancy, Sam, Freddy, Billy, and others engage the Brown Shirts in a gun battle outside the plant - routing them into the swamps of Travis. After the gun battle at the power plant, Sam moves in with Nancy. Soon, an old Army tank appears on Eggert's Field, the grass-and-flower filled field across the street. A well-aimed grenade takes care of the tank, but a new challenge appears in the form of a refurbished World War Ii destroyer.

Tom Haley, a science teacher, is doing research on the effects of nutrition on maze-learning ability in white rats. He compares the maze-learning ability of malnourished rats with their well-fed peers. While working on his rat project, Tom visits his girlfriend, Joanie, who suffers from chronic headaches. In desperation, he visits the site of his deceased friend, Amon, and begs for his help. When alive, the charismatic young man had extraordinary powers of healing, clairvoyance, and compassion. Soon Joanie is home again, happy and healthy. To earn extra money during his sabbatical leave, Tom works as a Bradford guard at the pollution-spewing Con Ed power plant, guarding the rude tycoon Darren Troop. He also does odd jobs painting and repairing dilapidated houses with Harry the Horse and his close-knit group of blue-collar workers. In between these jobs, Curtis principal Lou Stout calls on him to fill in for absent teachers, covering classes on the presidents, unions, democracy, photosynthesis, nutrition, motion, energy, the elements, and even philosophy. While doing manual labor, Tom meets interesting characters like Billy and his invisible companion and Rosa, who epitomizes the everyday people who keep this country running. Most importantly, he masters the rhythm of work in which time works for you in the course of doing a difficult job.