March, 1649. A court in Botolph sentences a woman to hang for supposedly trafficking with the devil. The old governor of Sagadac comes to regret his role in her execution and strives mightily to stop an outbreak of hysteria as a wave of accusations of witchcraft spreads through the colony. This story is based on an isolated case of alleged witchcraft that took place in Boston, Mass.

Daniel and Sonja Morley, both artists, leave their home in Europe to resettle on a university campus in the American Midwest. They are looking for renewal both in their marriage and their professional lives. Along the way, they collide with a devil-worshipping death cult that creates the biggest scandal the school has seen in fifty years. The purpose of the novel is to affirm one of the basic tenets of our way of life -- that people and institutions are resilient and even the worst troubles can be overcome.

The Wakemans live in a large city in the northeastern United States. With many advantages, they have been successful -- a businessman headed for early retirement, a teacher at a university, a musician, a restaurateur who runs for mayor of their city, an eager younger generation. Nothing is perfect, however. The novel tells about their various attempts to pull themselves out of mental, physical, or spiritual low points. Their encounters with a gang of thugs bring them another challenge to contend with. The story includes three interludes that take place in a society that has gone so haywire...

This novel takes place in two environments. The even numbered chapters tell the story of Carl Norberg who decided when he was in high school that he wanted to work as an artist. He dropped out of a college he didn't like and enlisted in the army to avoid the draft. Sent to an Asian nation named Kulon, he continues painting in his spare time. He makes friends with a local artist and his family. As the war builds up, he becomes involved in the perils of armed conflict. After his military service ends, he goes home to recuperate and moves to a large eastern city called Botolph because his older...

Robert Adair, a maverick film director, visits Stilton Fields, a town near the eastern seaboard, in hopes of finding the subject for a movie that will revive his career. He decides to work with a theological dispute in 17th century America and the woman at the center of it. In alternating chapters, "The Opinionists" recounts the making of the film and also, going back to the 17th century, the story of the controversy. This novel focuses on the quest for freedom in North America and also the misery that can result when neighbors dwell on irreconcilable differences.

Loretta Freeman persuades her friend Bruce Drayton to write a play about a 19th century American stage magician-comic-songwriter who got into deep trouble when he strayed from his calling. Her parents, who run a theatre company, produce the play. The bulk of the novel consists of short accounts of people involved in the production or who are interested in it and difficulties they they encounter. The purpose of "Brief Lives" is to illustrate a common feature of human existence: that we compensate for the brevity of earthly life and the inconveniences that occur frequently with acts of...

Guy Ridley runs a second-hand bookstore on the outskirts of a large American university. He faces several challenges. He's separated from the wife he loves. He tries to resolve a scandal that prompted her departure from the school. A mental weakness that takes the form of obsession with demons plagues him. Parts of his life go well, however. Fictional stories and sketches he's written about university life and that are included in the novel satisfy him. People he goes out of his way to help appreciate his generosity and offer moral support. The question is -- will he thrive and flourish or...

Warfare touches the lives of many people. The novel "The Angel of Recovery" explores the experience of ordinary Americans during and in the aftermaths of wars in three different centuries. The novel also tells the story of people in the late 20th century who battled an imaginary destructive cult called "The Scythians." The is the second in a series of novels called "Witnesses."

This novel shows how wars in two different centuries and a battle in the recent past against a pernicious cult affect the lives of ordinary people. The point of the various narratives is to affirm one of the basic tenets of our culture -- that life often brings recovery from misery. This is the fourth volume in a series called "Witnesses."