Seth Hubbard is a wealthy man dying of lung cancer. He trusts no one. Before he hangs himself from a sycamore tree, Hubbard leaves a new, handwritten, will. It is an act that drags his adult children, his black maid, and Jake into a conflict as riveting and dramatic as the murder trial that made Brigance one of Ford County's most notorious citizens, just three years earlier. The second will raises far more questions than it answers. Why would Hubbard leave nearly all of his fortune to his maid? Had chemotherapy and painkillers affected his ability to think clearly? And what does it all have to do with a piece of land once known as Sycamore Row?

Sycamore Tales brings you new stories of murder, crime and a surprise ending that may twist your way or not. This new collection of stories enhances your curiosity of what’s next. The stories will keep you deeply involved and at any given moment things will turn around in a different direction, with a pleasing ending.B-4John Allen leaves his apartment for a walk to get some cigarettes. Little did he know that night would determine the direction his life would take. Accused of murder, he spends twenty-five years in prison. With the help of a young energetic lawyer right out of law school, his case is reopened. John Allen is set free from a murder he didn’t commit. Or, did he?THE VOYAGE OF DEATHWho in the world would ever imagine a weekend outing, a simple cruise around the Gulf of Mexico, would end in such a tragic way. Three families leave the coast of Florida to relax in the sun and enjoy the gulf, a getaway from it all. But, unaware of what lurked in the bloody waters. Not only is the breeze of the gulf waters fragranced with salt, but also with the stench of death. All seems well at first, but when the storms began to rise, no one could turn back.FERGUSON’S TRESTLE AT SWINDLER’S POINTOllie, a young boy at the time, witnessed the murder of his mother and father. After several years on the run, he returns back home. Strangely enough, when he comes back, murders begin to happen. Is it a coincidence or has the murderer of his parents returned also. As the story unfolds, it leads you to the truth. When the truth is revealed, will it set you free?OTHER SIDE OF NOWHERE (A Parable)The Other Side of Nowhere is a short-short story of the adventures of an old man who goes out from the land of Wuz to seek the other side of nowhere. It is a fun piece, a play on words and entertaining, breaking up the rut of life. Instead of drinking black coffee each day, it’s good to add a little cream and sugar at times. That’s what nowhere is about. Change!THE GARDEN OF THE SEVENTH TRELLISThis is a short-short story with a little different layout of events. A man buys and old antique mirror trellis. When he takes it home, he admires the fine craftsmanship of this piece of furniture. But, he soon finds out that what you see in the mirror may not be you. Is what you see real or not? He may not have gotten a bargain after all.PLEA OF NOT GUILTYJeremiah is a good man, hard worker and dedicated to his family. Unfortunately, one night a murder takes place on his property; he and his family will never be the same. As the story unravels, you find that the KKK is working in the background and protecting their own. Jeremiah is found guilty and sent to prison. Butterfly, his daughter, knows her daddy well and sets out to clear his name from all the lies and mess that has come against him. Butterfly takes on a big job. Can she do it?

As the character of a woman may be accurately deduced from her handkerchief, so a man’s mental status is evident from the way he opens his mail. Curtis Keefe, engaged in this daily performance, slit the envelopes neatly and laid the letters down in three piles. These divisions represented matters known to be of no great interest; matters known to be important; and, third, letters with contents as yet unknown and therefore of problematical value. The first two piles were, as usual, dispatched quickly, and the real attention of the secretary centred with pleasant anticipation on the third lot.

Lauren Hall has one wish for Christmas this year—raise money to build a new, no-kill animal shelter for the town of Sycamore Cove. And she is prepared to do anything to make it happen. Even dare a man she just met to perform a strip tease for the local knitting society. Gabe Nicholson has one wish too—obtain the job of a lifetime to launch his career. Only his wishes get snowballed when his best friend's little sister hands him a pair of stripper pants and a bottle of eggnog-flavored body oil. It’s all sugar plums and mistletoe until a scandal caused by Lauren’s fundraiser threatens to ruin it all. With Gabe's work opportunities disappearing before his eyes and Lauren's fundraising efforts tanking, their game of dares stands to burn them both. Unless it ignites a spark of Christmas magic.

On the broken world of Urdezha, Wendal Finn died on the hostile plains of the wasteland, one more casualty in the endless war between the city-dwellers and the clansfolk. But now Wendal has returned to his home city of Old Castle, possessed by something he brought back from the wasteland, something old and best left forgotten. The spirits are calling it Sycamore, an ancient entity out to avenge all victims of murder. And in a city like Old Castle, no one is innocent. 
 
With his mind trapped inside a dead body, Wendal can do nothing but watch as Sycamore turns him into a serial killer. Until the magicians take an interest in him. Preserving Wendal's body and trapping Sycamore inside it, the magicians now have the perfect assassin at their disposal. Whenever they need an enemy removed, they can set the killer loose on Old Castle. Between these moments of horror, Wendal struggles to piece together the remnants of his former life. He wants to know why his wife died while he was fighting in the war, but no one will tell him, no one wants him to know. Left to his own devices, Wendal picks at the scabs that cover the dark secrets of the magicians and reveals a threat to every city on Urdezha. 
 
The clans are massing. A supernatural storm is raging across the wasteland. It has already destroyed one city, and now it is heading for Old Castle. And the only one who might prevent oblivion is the murderous entity who the spirits are calling Sycamore.

Autumn in Sycamore Park - The first in a new romantic comedy series from CP Ward, author of Christmas at Marshmallow Café and Summer at Blue Sands Cove. Having fled a relationship and a previous life she would rather forget, young teacher Jennifer Stevens throws herself into a demanding new job at Brentwell Primary. Charged with marshalling a group of unruly eight-year-olds to the autumn harvest festival, her only solace is the peace of nearby Sycamore Park. As the evenings draw in and the leaves begin to fall, will new friends, delicious autumn treats, and a possible new man on the orange-tinted horizon help Jennifer finally come to terms with her past and begin to look forward into the future? Autumn at Sycamore Park is another delightful romantic comedy from CP Ward, author of several popular seasonally themed novels. Set against a backdrop of warm autumn days, it offers everything fans of CP Ward's...

"Sycamore kicks mainstream literature in the teeth."—The San Francisco Bay GuardianMattilda Bernstein Sycamore's exhilarating novel is about struggling to find hope in the ruins of everyday San Francisco—battling roaches, Bikram Yoga, chronically bad sex, NPR, internet cruising, tweakers, the cops, $100 bills, chronic pain, the gay vote, vegan restaurants and incest, with the help of air-raid sirens, herbal medicine, late-night epiphanies, sea lions and sleeping pills. So Many Ways to Sleep Badly unveils a gender-bending queer world where nothing flows smoothly, except for those sudden moments when everything becomes lighter or brighter or easier to imagine.Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore is the gender-bending author of the highly praised novel Pulling Taffy and the editor of the anthology Nobody Passes: Rejecting the Rules of Gender and Conformity. Sycamore writes regularly for a variety of publications, including Bitch, Utne Reader,...

Victoria was supposed to be supervising her late father's excavations in Egypt. But nobody there would take a woman seriously, and the problems began to grow. The mysterious Tariq suggested a solution; but it seemed a rather drastic one.

Sketchtasy takes place in that late-night moment when everything comes together, and everything falls apart—it's an urgent, glittering, devastating novel about the perils of queer world-making in the mid-'90s. This is Boston in 1995, a city defined by a rabid fear of difference. Alexa, an incisive twenty-one-year-old queen, faces everyday brutality with determined nonchalance. Rejecting middle-class pretensions, she negotiates past and present traumas with a scathing critique of the world. Drawn to the ecstasy of drugged-out escapades, Alexa searches for nourishment in a gay culture bonded by clubs and conformity, willful apathy, and the specter of AIDS. Is there any hope for communal care? Sketchtasy brings 1990s gay culture startlingly back to life, as Alexa and her friends grapple with the impact of growing up at a time when desire and death are intertwined. With an intoxicating voice and unruly cadence, this is a shattering, incandescent...

When the Sycamore corporation releases the ultimate gadget -- an implantable microchip designed to replace smartphones -- society rapidly descends into dystopia. Augmented reality contact lenses act as the new system's display, simultaneously recording everything in the user's field of vision. The potential applications are limitless. So are the surveillance opportunities.  Soon after gaining access to Sycamore’s inner circle and learning the corporation’s plans for the future, the chip’s young creator painfully regrets ever giving them the idea. Power like this has never existed...

THE EXPLOSIVE SEQUEL TO THE UK #1 BESTSELLER *HOLY ISLAND* The past never stays buried for long... Detective Chief Inspector Ryan believes he has put his turbulent history behind him. Then, in the early hours of the summer solstice, the skeleton of a young woman is found inside the Roman Wall at Sycamore Gap. She has lain undiscovered for ten years and it is Ryan's job to piece together her past. Enquiry lines cross and merge as Ryan is forced to face his own demons and enter into a deadly game of cat and mouse with a killer who seems unstoppable. Murder and mystery are peppered with a sprinkling of romance and humour in this fast-paced crime whodunnit set amidst the spectacular scenery of Hadrian's Wall country in Northumberland. **About the Author Born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, LJ Ross graduated from King's College London with undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in Law and continued her studies in Paris and Florence. After working in the City as a regulatory lawyer for a number of years, she realised it was high time for a change. The catalyst was the birth of her son, which forced her to take a break from the legal world and find time for some of the detective stories which had been percolating for a while and finally demanded to be written. She lives with her husband and young son in the south of England, but will always be a northern girl at heart. Her first book, "Holy Island", has consistently been listed as an Amazon bestseller since its release in January 2015 and hit the Amazon UK Kindle #1 position in May 2015. Its sequel, "Sycamore Gap" was released in September 2015 and is already a #1 bestseller. She is currently working on the third book in the DCI Ryan series, which should be available in early 2016. If you would like to connect with LJ Ross, she would be very happy to hear from you: https://www.facebook.com/LJRossAuthor https://twitter.com/ljross_author http://www.ljrossauthor.com www.lovesuspense.com lj_ross@outlook.com 

Somewhere west of Kokomo, Indiana, in a contained and isolated area, NASA is conducting a secret study on human behavior... Given a set of rules and the promise of a generous compensation package at the end, can several hundred people govern themselves and live in relative harmony for six years? The experiment, designed to mimic future colonization on a distant planet, appears to be a huge success. Until something goes terribly wrong… Two undercover operatives from The Circle are sent to investigate. When Diana Dawkins and Nicholas Colt discover the shocking truth, it’s clear the experiment must be stopped. What isn’t clear is if they’ll make it out alive. **

Two undercover operatives from an ultra-clandestine government agency called The Circle are sent to investigate a secret town set up by NASA. The town, totally isolated and contained, was designed to mimic colonization on a distant planet. But something has gone terribly wrong, and when Diana Dawkins and Nicholas Colt discover the shocking truth, it’s clear the experiment must be cut short. What isn't clear is if they'll make it out alive.

As intriguing as it is relatable, Paige Roberts' compulsively readable novel delves into the secrets and ties that lie between friends—and neighbors. When Amy Kravitz opts to leave Washington, D.C., behind in favor of a less stressful life in the Philadelphia suburbs, she has a certain kind of house in mind. And on a charming street in a family-friendly neighborhood, she and her husband Rob find it. It's a perfect brick colonial with plenty of space, a beautiful yard, and great schools nearby. The sellers, Julian and Grace Durant, are eager to make a deal. In an unexpected bonus, the Durants' young son, Ethan, strikes up a friendship with Amy and Rob's introverted four-year-old, Noah. Soon, Amy is unpacking boxes in her new home and arranging playdates for Noah and Ethan. But as weeks go by, Amy suspects something isn't quite right. Julian's mail keeps arriving at their old address, and Amy can hardly miss the "Final Notice" stamped on the...

"In this masterful performance, Bryn Chancellor explores the loss around which an entire community has calcified with humanity and wisdom. Chancellor digs deep in these pages, unearthing broken hearts, secrets, betrayals, passion and—most impressively—grace. What a joy to find a book that is both propulsive and perfectly composed."—Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney, author of The NestAn award-winning writer makes her debut with this mesmerizing page-turner in the spirit of Everything I Never Told You and Olive Kitteridge.Out for a hike one scorching afternoon in Sycamore, Arizona, a newcomer to town stumbles across what appear to be human remains embedded in the wall of a dry desert ravine. As news of the discovery makes its way around town, Sycamore's longtime residents fear the bones may belong to Jess Winters, the teenage girl who disappeared suddenly some eighteen years earlier, an unsolved mystery that has soaked into the porous rock...

A young couple leaves Ohio for the promise of a new life on the Kansas plains. They settle a prime tract of farm land near Lawrence, Kansas. A second young couple slips the bonds of slavery in Missouri. Circumstance brings them together. Set against the backdrop of a nation divided over the issue of slavery, the young settlers fight to hold their land and realize the future that unites them. Opposed by powerful forces they face human treachery, hostile Indians, prejudice, and a bloody, burning prelude to war as they battle to hold a hard-won home and fulfill the promises of their future. Sycamore Promises is a sweeping personal saga told with attention to history so as to both entertain and inform.

After discovering the truth behind Sycamore, tech pioneer Kurt Jacobs rejects the corporation’s offer of a new identity and chooses to fight to expose the truth.But with an overt threat against his family hanging over him, Kurt must act without being seen.In Sycamore’s hyper-connected dystopian world full of palm-based microchips and augmented reality contact lenses, this is easier said than done...