This work is a compilation of stories that centers loosely around the theme of men who would be boys, that conflicting combination of behavior that often mystifies both significant others and themselves. Enter the secret world of close friends, free of wives and children, free to their own devices to play or to take up more serious matters.

We all understand that there are people who work with dependent children, children who are physically abused, sexually abused, neglected, or abandoned. We may be familiar with programs such as protective services or foster care. This book concerns one particular group in the dependency continuum less well known, abuse investigators. When a call comes into the Abuse Hotline, anywhere in this country, they are the ones who actually hit the streets, immediately or within twenty-four hours, to go into the home, make an assessment, and need to be right 100% of the time. They carry notepads instead...

Working out of Pensacola, Florida, Beth Jacoby, a child abuse and neglect investigator and her co-workers fly about town in and out of the living rooms of folks accused of hurting their own children. Her path into the private domains of rich and poor alike crosses that of her once teen lover Jack, a California cool cop, and his partner, a thunderous loose cannon who dearly loves the war on crime. Beth begins to realize that she and the homicide detectives are entertwined in the web of a particularly violent marauder who is hunting down salicious creeps who prey on children. But, Casey, who...

In 1967 Rob Hanks, a recent college grad, accepts a counselor position in an isolated work camp for serious delinquent offenders. Within a few days he is personally challenged like he had never been before, as there was little in college that had prepared him for direct, in-your-face, confrontation. Rob learns that he is replacing another guy who had been broken down both physically and mentally by thugs who truly enjoyed watching the man cry. Luckily he is partnered with Jack, a cross eyed, ex-paratrooper, who knows the ropes. Together they wade into the circus, dealing with suicide,...

Description: ""Duende is that place in us where the two halves of our life are conjoined. It is the place where we go down into the self and gather up that opposing force to our immediate nature. It involves the undoing of the 'pretending-everything-is-okay-mechanism' in us and it is an overall waking up to the forces of conflict in life and actually mustering a strength to make abiding choices. Many throughout time have likened this awaking process to dreams and forgetfulness and because of that it seeks to reveal itself in shadows and reflections."" These are poems and images that evoke and...