Showing results by author "Charles Ray" in All Categories

There are very few people you will run into in the US (or the world) who have never heard of Oprah Winfrey or Bill Gates. However very few would be able to tell you who their go-to person is in making things happen (whatever "it" is). This "it factor" is what this book is all about - The Second Man

Born in a one-horse East Texas town near the end of World War II, the author experienced some of the worst the Jim Crow South had to offer. But, taught to read by his mother when he was four, and raised by a fiercely independent grandmother, he never fell prey to the stereotypes that others tried to apply to him, Black or White, insisting instead of defining himself and charting his own course. From pig farm to palace to Pentagon, a journey that could not been imagined when the doctor in a smalltown clinic cut the umbilical cord on July 5, 1945.

Who killed Henry Hawkins? Everyone would like to know.Henry Hawkins was an annoying, bullying man, who had confrontations with just about everyone, so when he turned up dead on the Potomac Valley Community golf course, with his head bashed in, just about everyone was suspect. Ed Lazenby, who barely knew the man, is drawn into the case when Hawkins’ widow, Virginia, asks for his help to prove to the police that, despite statistics that show the murderer is usually someone close to the victim, she is innocent. Matters become complicated when Ed finds himself developing feelings for the ...

Ten-year-old Daniel Waterford and his family join a wagon train heading for Oregon, a grueling experience for the hardiest of people and a boring one for a young boy. The journey is fraught with peril for Daniel, but by the time they arrived in Trinity, their new home, Daniel has aged far beyond his years. Travel with Daniel as he faces unimaginable challenges, and experience the Wild West as it really way, not the way movies and popular TV has led us to believe.

After Alan Fortune and his friends create an accident in which her husband is badly burned, Matilda Rowe takes control of his company and his scheme of political intrigue and decides to play her own deadly game. Living off the grid, and constantly looking over their shoulders, Alan and his friends have to use their wits to stay one step ahead of a woman who is out to prove that the female of the species truly is deadlier than the male. But they are not the only targets in Matilda’s crosshairs. And, when they do finally meet, she has a surprise for them.

Leland Case has been inaugurated, and Alan Fortune and his colleagues at 1621 continue to try and warn the public about the danger he and his administration pose to the freedoms the public too often takes for granted, especially the danger of the support he gets from rich men like Albert Rowe, who was behind an attempt on Fortune’s life that killed an innocent bystander. While they’d been able to provide evidence that resulted in Rowe’s conviction and imprisonment, Case had pardoned the man as soon as he took office, and now Rowe is out to get revenge against Fortune and everyone ...

For decades, the party of the right has sought to consolidate its hold on power and secure permanent control of all three branches of the United States Government. Finally, in the 2052 general elections they seem to be on the threshold of achieving this long-held dream, with the election of Leland Case to the presidency, solid majorities in both the House and Senate, and an 8 – 1 majority on the Supreme Court. The only thing standing against this perfect storm that could finally wash away American democracy for good is Alan Fortune, a columnist for The Daily Ledger. The first thing the ...

Taking Charge Effective Leadership for the Twenty-first Century In the turbulent twenty-first century we need enlightened leadership more than ever before. In board rooms and command centers, from the White House to each state house, we need leaders who are focused on getting the job done. In this second edition of the author’s second book on leadership and management you will find principles and techniques based on his more than half a century of service in the military and as a diplomat, combined with the common-sense philosophy from a rural East Texas upbringing under the tutelage of ...

Born a slave, Bass Reeves never learned to read or write English, but he spoke six Native-American languages and could recall everything someone read to him. Thus, when he became a deputy U.S. marshal working in Indian Territory, he would memorize dozens of arrest Warrants and wanted posters. In thousands of arrests during his 30-year career, he never arrested the wrong person.In Volume 2 of Bass Reeves: The Indomitable Marshal, follow him in more of his amazing adventures.

This is not your ordinary memoir. The author looks at his life through the lens of stories he's told his children and grandchildren for years. Over seven decades of life, not in a recitation of things he did or people he met but of incidents that left a lasting impact on him in the form of stories that hopefully transport the reader back in time. These are not stories of the authors life, but stories from that life. Tales that tell of a journey from a place of deprivation and outhouses to privilege and state houses. One man's journey to realize the American dream.

Private Investigator Harry Hooker is hired by a little old lady to track down her adult son who she fears has fallen in with the wrong company. Calvin Muldoon is a nerdy social misfit who has no friends and despite his high IQ works in the warehouse of a farm supply store. When Harry finally tracks him down he finds himself embroiled in a situation that’s far more than a simple case of an adult child finally cutting the apron strings. Muldoon has gotten himself caught up in some seriously deadly intrigue with people who play for keeps. Harry finds that its more than Muldoon’s life at ...

Captured by pirates at the age of eight when her parents were murdered, Elizabeth Parker has forgotten her past and become one of the most feared pirates in the Caribbean. She and her vessel, The Vixen, prey on all ships, American and British, who sail those treacherous waters. Colin Worth, son of a Boston merchant, ran away to sea, and ended up in the young American navy, the executive officer aboard the frigate, U.S. S. Intrepid. After a confrontation with his tyrannical captain, he is marooned in a ship’s boat—left to die at sea. When Elizabeth and her crew, being pursued by Intrepid...

After assassinations and a coup in the country of Dagastan plunge State Department officials David Morgan, Alison Chambers and Lee Kennedy into the midst of a morass of intrigue, double-dealing and murder, things only get worse when Soviet forces move into the country to ‘stabilize’ the situation. Morgan finds himself the target of a witch hunt as bureaucrats look for a scape goat to blame for the unfortunate death of his former ambassador. When he’s called back to Washington to ‘assist’ the bureaucrats in their inquiry, things really heat up as the mysterious figures who have ...

A brief look at the impact of climate change on the African continent with a discussion of some things that could be done to alleviate the situation.

There’s a reason they call it Dead Man’s Cove - - - Al’s best friend, Quincy Chang invites him and all his friends to join him on his new yacht for a Chesapeake Bay cruise. Not thrilled at the prospect of a week-long boat ride, Al is nonetheless duty bound to accept the invitation, to make up for the fact that his first honeymoon was a total bust. When they accidentally witness a drug smuggling operation, things turn deadly, as the smugglers try to eliminate them as witnesses. As if all this wasn’t enough to upset him, in their flight to elude their would-be killers, they end up in ...

When residents of Potomac Valley Community fall prey to an on-line scam, Ed and his posse spring into action to find the thief who has taken their life savings. Federal authorities, who have investigative jurisdiction, want Ed and his friends to stay out of the way, but these determined amateur sleuths will not be swayed until the thief is caught. A game of cat and mouse ensues, and Ed is never sure if he’s the cat or the mouse.

Another in the Al Pennyback mystery series. When a Chinese gangster that Al helped imprison escapes and returns to DC looking for revenge, Al finds his friends under threat as well.

A pharmaceutical company's pushing a wonder drug that will improve memory. Ed worries about the side effects, and when some of his neighbors start dying after taking the drug, he knows something's terribly wrong, but can he find out what, and stop it before more people die?

American navy captain, Colin Worth, at the outbreak of the War of 1812, is sent back to the Caribbean to link up with pirate captain, Elizabeth Parker, and the crew of The Vixen. His mission is to create havoc for the British in the region to disrupt a suspected British plan to invade America from the south. Outnumbered and outgunned, and with a bloodthirsty British agent and his former captain both looking for his head on a pike, Colin must use his wits to survive. Even more important, he must protect his new family, and his only love.