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Books By Shawn P. McCarthy

Wreck of the Gossamer

Victor Marius, an inspired scientist and budding entrepreneur, is lost in a shipwreck off the coast of Cape Cod in the summer of 1891. But before he disappears beneath the waves he manages to release a strange box that he hopes will protect his legacy.

Amanda Malcom, a young woman enduring a troubled marriage, is about to make a discovery that will lead her on a dangerous odyssey – one that takes her across the country, and into the heart of a rapidly changing America. Along the way, she meets Plains Indians, ex-slaves, riverboat charlatans, and secretive workers who champion the U.S. labor movement. At a time when electric lighting is spreading across the country like a wave, she also meets inspired engineers and Montana miners who dig deep to feed the country’s insatiable demand for copper.

Amanda has survived many things in her short life, but it’s not clear if she will be able to survive the first year of the last decade of the 19th century.

The Lost, The Found and the Hidden

Amanda Malcom (or is she really Amanda Grant?) retreats to Boston after escaping from a failed marriage. She brings along a strange and delightful puzzle box, found washed up on the shore of Cape Cod. But opening that box has proven to be as challenging as untangling the multiple layers of her own life.

Amanda finds sanctuary with a kindly older couple as she tries to reestablish herself, remaining blissfully unaware that the man she left behind is trying to find her.

At a raucous July 4th celebration, Amanda meets Jeb Thomas, a powerful but secretive labor organizer who travels where he wants and remains beholden to no city. For all his charm, Jeb does not seem to be her type. But as the ghosts of her past close in, he may be her only escape.

America in the 1890s isn’t a welcoming place for a separated woman, especially one who grew up in the poorest part of town. Some see her as a victim. Some as a predator. What she wants them to see is a woman who longs for a quiet normal life, even as past failures conspire to bring her down.

Those Who Wander

It’s the summer of 1891. After a tragedy at sea, a once-bold scientist lingers on – only a shell of his former self. Rather than return to his work, he’s happy just stringing wires and bringing electricity to the masses of Boston. What he doesn’t know is that his life and words have provided great inspiration to a woman he’s never met. Amanda Grant, on the run from an unfair attempted murder charge, finds herself strangely drawn to union organizer Jeb Thomas, but his presence only turns her life upside down. First, a strange box that she salvaged from the sea is stolen from her, then she is kicked out of the house where she found temporary sanctuary. With few other options she boards a train heading for Chicago and beyond. She’s never left New England before, but she knows this escape will either bring her closer to Jeb, or she will escape yet again, maybe to find a distant home in the West. Those Who Wander takes a tour through private luxury train cars and seedy back alleys. Even the sparks created by a “War of the Currents” can’t fully illuminate their path.

WIRES AND WINGS:

Amanda Malcom has stood by her friend and lover Jeb Thomas through some harrowing times. But their arrangement grows strained as they head west. When they reach the rugged copper mines of Montana, she comes face to face with violence and decadence. It quickly sinks in that she may have made a terrible choice. In Boston, aging Confederate soldier Devlin Richards has fallen into a pattern of petty crime and subtle revenge against the people he blames for the downfall of his once great family. But when he takes on a beautiful new partner, the success of his operation starts to grow. Meanwhile, a reclusive scientist who survived deadly shipwreck is growing strong again and starting to rejoin the world. But his new life of drugs, obsessive work and occasional brawling threatens to undue his progress. This fourth book of the sprawling Puzzle Box Chronicles is a cross-country journey of fear and hope set in the early 1890s. Electrical and telephone wires are bringing young America closer together. But other forces seem determined to pull things apart, leaving the world empty and desolate.

NORTH OF ANGEL FALLS:

It’s the late summer of 1891. After fleeing Montana to escape a corrupt lover, Amanda Malcom finds herself lost and abandoned on the plains of Wyoming. She must deftly avoid those who pursue her, while attempting to return to civilization. That will mean forming strange partnerships to carry her through some very dark moments – especially when flood waters pull her deeper into the unknown. Victor Marius, a Boston scientist, amateur boxer and man with a damaged plan, tries to get his life back in order. He has a new shot at love, but when asked to trade away his integrity, he finds himself fighting a battle between his ideals and his desires.Meanwhile, ex-soldier Devlin Richards longs to return to his beloved South Carolina, but not without milking more money out of his corrupt New England ventures. He has found a partner and lover in the Mysterious Madam Irene, but trust among thieves can be a precarious concept.This fast-paced fifth book of The Puzzle Box Chronicles is set in the last decade of the 19th century. It’s a story of danger, abandonment, survival and hope, at a time when new technologies and ideas are changing the very fabric of society.

THE BECKONING SPARK:

In the autumn of 1891, four lives are on an intersecting course, and the results could be deadly.
After being swept away by a flood, Amanda Grant tries to find shelter in a strange wilderness. She is offered refuge in a place called Angel Falls. But the dream-like landscape is not what it seems.
Union organizer Jeb Thomas is floundering. He is on a cross-country quest to find Amanda, who broke off their relationship. But when he can’t find her, he tries instead to locate the valuable puzzle box she left behind in Boston.
Former Confederate soldier Devlin Richards knows Amanda’s puzzle box was originally owned by a scientist named Victor Marius. He believes Victor hid valuable items inside the box. Devlin is willing to kill to obtain it. His uneasy alliance with Jeb will only survive long enough for the two of them to track down the mysterious container.
Meanwhile, Victor, a brilliant but troubled scientist, has no idea the wooden box he originally lost at sea has been found. Victor has reluctantly abandoned his scientific research. Instead, he works as an electric lineman and part-time police officer. But those are choices that may lead him toward tragedy.
The Beckoning Spark is the final volume of the sprawling six-volume Puzzle Box Chronicles, set in a time when new technologies and rapid social change are helping alter the very nature of the American Landscape.

Five provocative stories from the award-winning author of The Puzzle Box Chronicles. Each tale raises questions about how external influences sometimes can have a huge impact on the trajectory of people’s lives.
– The Strand: A man driving into the sunset is reminded of the choices he made, and the tragedy he’s left in his wake. But the one thing he thought he left behind, may still be riding with him.
– My City of Ghosts: Written during a pandemic, this is a story of a plague that takes a darker turn. As the global population dwindles, some people take heroic measures – while others protect only themselves.
– The Last Walk: A weary soldier comes home from war and takes his ailing dog Max on what will likely be his final walk. But as they head deep into the woods, the dog has his own ideas of why they’re there.
– John of the Earth: A young quantum entanglement researcher leaves his job as a military contractor, to find solace in the woods. There, an old man named John offers stunning insights into the reality of the natural world.
– The Sea Glass Empire: A mysterious man from far away arrives at a harbor, hoping to help a woman known to dive deep to recover sea glass. But he has another agenda. The glass is the medium he needs to bring forward a new kind of life.

As a group, these stories paint a picture of alternatives. And intriguing possibilities.