Kathleen Walls has 4 audiobooks on Listento.it, narrated by 3 narrators. The most-rated is For Want of a Ship.
Under a Black Flag
Summary
In Kansas and Missouri, the War Between the States started long before Fort Sumter and continued on throughout the war. Some say it is still being fought. My first book in this series, Under a Bloody Flag, deals with that early conflict. Shortly after Kansas was admitted to the Union as a free state, these two states and the nation as a whole were plunging into a declared war. Too much had happened for either side to see a peaceful way to solve sectional differences. For Daniel Fitzgerald, a Southerner who had not found peace in Kansas, the question was could he find it in Missouri or anywhere in these war-torn times. Massachusetts-born Rebecca Styles came to Kansas to insure freedom for slaves. She met and married Daniel after saving him from hanging for being a Southerner. Daniel's half-brother and former slave, André, found a home and family in Kansas, but he still shared a bond of brotherhood and friendship with Daniel. Could that bond withstand the issue of freedom versus slavery that stood between them? As the conflict between North and South erupts, you will meet larger-than-life characters who played a part in the nation's bloodiest war, and you will witness all the drama of the era. You'll meet William Quantrill, Joseph Shelby, James Lane, General Kirby Smith, Frank and Jesse James, Cole Younger, Bloody Bill Anderson, and the other men and women who took part in this tragic era. You will never look at any of them as just characters in a history book again. This is a historical novel unlike any you have ever read before. It is a blend of history, action and romance. Facts read like fiction, and fiction could have been fact. This is a story of a time that changed a nation and a handful of people who lived and died in our nation's most colorful era.
©2011 Kathleen Walls (P)2014 Kathleen Walls
Under a Bloody Flag
Summary
In Kansas and Missouri, the War Between the States started long before Fort Sumter. Daniel Fitzgerald, a Southerner who tries to settle in Kansas and leave behind his tormented Louisiana roots, soon finds that in Kansas Territory, you have to take sides or die. Taking sides doesn't lessen the chances of a violent death, it just determines who is going to try and kill you. For Massachusetts-born Rebecca Styles, who comes to Kansas to insure freedom for slaves, the choice is easy. Or is it? When she meets Daniel, she is forced to take a new look at all the ideas she took for granted, such as all Southerners are evil and all abolitionists are good. Daniel's half-brother and former slave, Andre, knows his first loyalty belongs to his friends and family, not a lofty ideal, but he can't sit by and do nothing when injustice stares him in the face. Throw into the mix all the larger-than-life characters who played a part in the sectional violence which led the nation into its bloodiest war and you have a novel with all the drama of the era.
©2011 Kathleen Walls (P)2013 Kathleen Walls
Missing
Summary
Based on an actual abduction that has never been solved, filled with drugs, violence, and lies. Missing - Gone but Not Forgotten is about the abduction of a little girl in a rural Florida community. Drugs, family feuds, underage sex, and lots of lies abound. Since this is a fictionalized version, my biggest challenge is to keep it exciting and still true to the real life case upon which the story is based. Excerpt: Jon unsnapped his gun from its holster but didn’t remove it. Clair reached toward the Colt Official Police Pistol strapped at small of her back and nodded at her partner to let him know she was ready and prepared for anything. Jon rapped hard on the door, “Sheriff's Department responding to your call. Please open the door.” When the trailer became silent and the door swung open, Clair's first thought was this was another child in the family. The person standing in the doorway was about five foot three or four, thin to the point of emaciated, with long brown hair straggling in her face. She was wearing a rumpled tee and a pair of skinny jeans and tennis shoes. Her large blue eyes with a totally blank expression gave the only hint that this was 17 year old Autumn Daily, the person reporting the missing child. She looked like she was stoned out of her mind on some strong chemicals. Behind her loomed a man a bit over six foot in his mid-20s. He had dark short hair, a small mustache, and weighing about 160 with enough muscle to take on either detective. His knuckles were bloody as if he had been punching something, or someone. He clarified that by slamming his fist into the trailer's side. “It's about damn time you get here. Some fucker took my daughter! If I find ‘em, I'll kill 'em so you better get them first.” “Calm down, Mr. Shatner. We're going to find whoever took your daughter but we need some background...."
©2020 Kathleen Walls (P)2020 Kathleen Walls
For Want of a Ship
Summary
In Under a Bloody Flag and Under a Black Flag, it was all about the Confederate Army. For Want of a Ship focuses on the navy. The fall of New Orleans was the beginning of the end for the Confederacy. John Roy, a Scottish immigrant to New Orleans, fights an unwinnable battle to save his adopted state.
©2020 Kathleen Walls (P)2021 Kathleen Walls