Solomon City runs on secrets, and Jake Bishop has made a profession out of finding the ones people would rather keep buried. Justice, Or Something Like It, the second installment in Doc Blalock’s The Jake Bishop Files, drops its private investigator into a murder that appears almost insultingly simple: an old drunk is discovered with a corpse and the weapon that killed him. The problem is that Bishop knows appearances rarely tell the whole story. What begins as a suspiciously convenient arrest opens into blackmail, organized crime, divided loyalties, and the uncomfortable question at the heart of noir fiction—how far can a man bend his own rules before justice becomes something else entirely?

A private eye with a badge, a bottle, and a little bit of magic…

Justice, Or Something Like It

The Jake Bishop Files Book 2

by Doc Blalock

Noir Paranormal Sleuth Suspense

In Solomon City, everybody keeps secrets. Secrets are Jake Bishop’s job. 

When a harmless old drunk is caught standing over a corpse, murder weapon in hand, the case looks open and shut—but he won’t say why he pulled the trigger. Just that it had to be done. 

Bishop knows better. Digging deeper, he uncovers a blackmail scheme, a shadow war in the Irish underworld, and a threat aimed at the one person his old friend has left to lose—forcing Bishop to bend the law, and his own conscience, to see something like justice done.

The intriguing tension in Justice, Or Something Like It comes from placing a classic private-eye problem inside a world where the supernatural belongs alongside guns, blackmail, and organized crime. The central mystery is not simply who committed the killing—Bishop begins with a suspect standing over the body—but why it happened and what that apparent certainty is hiding. That reversal lets Blalock concentrate on secrets, motive, loyalty, and the moral compromises behind Bishop’s search for answers. 

As the investigation reaches into Solomon City’s Irish underworld, the question shifts from whether Bishop can solve the case to what he is prepared to do once he understands it.

“Secrets. Everyone has them. Some folks keep them for good and noble reasons, others, not so much. All kinds of secrets. Personal, professional, valuable, harmful or embarrassing. People will go to extremes to keep them safe. Some folks have been willing to die for them. Some will kill to protect them. I’m Jake Bishop, private investigator. Secrets are my job.”

Justice, Or Something Like It is aimed squarely at readers who like their paranormal elements served with hard-boiled detective fiction rather than sweeping fantasy. Bishop’s world mixes private investigation, criminal organizations, morally complicated choices, and supernatural abilities, making the series particularly suited to readers who enjoy noir atmosphere with an urban-fantasy edge. Those who prefer mysteries in which uncovering the motive creates a harder ethical problem than identifying the culprit should find Bishop’s latest case especially appealing.

A Damned Dirty Thing

The Jake Bishop Files Book 1

The explosion should have killed him . . . 

Jake Bishop is back on the streets of Solomon City, ten months after a mob bombing destroyed his office and murdered his partner and secretary. But Bishop isn’t just any private detective—he’s a “ditch wizard” able to step through shadow and bend reality to his will. 

When the beautiful and mysterious Portia Vance answers his ad for a new secretary, Bishop thinks his luck might finally be changing. Together, they begin hunting Vito Morelli, the mob boss who ordered the hit that nearly ended Bishop’s life. 

Their investigation leads them through the city’s darkest corners—from strip clubs to shadow banking operations, from corrupt cops to magical wards. But in a world where bullets and spells are equally deadly, and where everyone has secrets worth killing for, Bishop discovers that the line between hunter and hunted is thinner than he thought. 

Some cases require a gun. Others need magic. This one demands both. 

In the shadows of Solomon City, justice comes with a price—and revenge wears a beautiful face. 

A gritty noir fantasy that proves sometimes the most dangerous magic is the human heart.

Christopher “Doc” Blalock is a US Navy veteran Corpsman and retired counselor. He is a prolific fine artist, illustrator, musician, sculptor and writer, cursed with the itch to create. He draws inspiration from sources ranging from JRR Tolkien to Tom Clancy. He additionally draws from his love of classic black-and-white noir films, infusing their moody aesthetic and storytelling into his writing. A helpless coffee addict, he lives in the Atlanta suburbs with his childhood sweetheart and a dog of dubious moral character.

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Justice, Or Something Like It

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Jake Bishop occupies the kind of territory where a clean solution would almost feel dishonest. Justice, Or Something Like It begins with a crime that appears solved and then uses everything hidden beneath it to complicate what “solved” should actually mean. Blalock’s combination of noir investigation and paranormal ability gives Bishop unusual tools, but none of them eliminate the harder problem of deciding what justice demands when law, loyalty, and conscience point in different directions. That moral friction, set against the secrets and shadows of Solomon City, gives this second Jake Bishop case its strongest hook.

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A childhood ambition to become a rocket scientist might sound like the beginning of a carefully plotted career, but Ken Kisco’s route to aerospace began somewhere much closer to sea level. In No Straight Lines to the Stars: An Unlikely Journey from Lifeguard Tower to Launchpad, the lessons he learned watching Southern California beaches—preparation, composure, quick judgment, and acting despite fear—become part of a much larger story about entering America’s space and defense programs. Kisco’s path is compelling precisely because it refuses the tidy trajectory its title rejects, connecting lifeguard rescues, engineering, professional setbacks, personal disappointments, and a decades-long determination to keep moving toward a dream first imagined at ten years old.

No Straight Lines to the Stars

An Unlikely Journey from Lifeguard Tower to Launchpad

Narrative Nonfiction / Inspirational

Date Published: August 4th, 2026

Publisher: Acorn Publishing

No Straight Lines to the Stars is the inspiring true story of a young lifeguard who dared to believe his life could reach far beyond the horizon. 

On the beaches of Southern California, Ken Kisco learned that preparation saves lives. From rip-current rescues to split-second emergencies, he discovered that courage is not the absence of fear, but the decision to act in spite of it. Those early lessons in resilience and composure pushed Ken to believe he could accomplish anything . . . including his lifelong dream of reaching the stars. 

Through relentless perseverance and unwavering faith, Ken rose into the heart of America’s most advanced space and defense programs, contributing to human spaceflight initiatives and supporting groundbreaking technologies. His unusual start as a lifeguard helped advance his career, distinguishing him from his Air Force and Navy peers. Yet, his toughest challenges were personal—he faced deep disappointment when a space mission was canceled and learned lessons about trust and integrity from a romance-turned-ruse. 

Ken’s journey reveals that success is rarely linear. Setbacks became launchpads, adversity became refinement, and purpose became a compass. Part memoir, part inspiration, and part behind-the-scenes look at America’s quest for the stars, this is the unforgettable story of a man who proves that bold dreams, combined with grit and heart, can launch an ordinary life into an extraordinary one.

Kisco’s story is built around an unusual connection: the habits that mattered while guarding a beach later followed him into highly technical aerospace work. That gives No Straight Lines to the Stars more to explore than the achievement of a childhood goal. The book looks at what happens between ambition and accomplishment—the preparation before an emergency, the resilience required after a professional disappointment, and the personal judgment shaped by experiences that have nothing to do with engineering credentials. 

Readers also get a behind-the-scenes perspective on a career connected with human spaceflight and advanced defense technologies, but the larger focus remains on the unpredictable route Kisco took to reach that world.

No Straight Lines to the Stars should appeal to readers who enjoy true stories about unconventional careers, especially those interested in aerospace, human spaceflight, engineering, or the people working behind major technological programs. It also has a clear place on the shelf for readers drawn to memoirs about persistence rather than effortless success. Kisco’s progression from Southern California lifeguard to aerospace systems engineer gives career-minded readers a particularly interesting angle, while the canceled mission and other personal setbacks keep the story focused on how a dream changes when real life refuses to follow the expected route.

At ten years old, Ken Kisco dreamed of becoming a rocket scientist, a goal that shaped his life. He earned multiple degrees, including master's degrees from the University of Southern California in systems management and from San Jose State University in industrial psychology. 

As an aerospace systems engineer for NASA, Rockwell International, and Boeing, he developed new technologies and earned recognition as an American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Fellow. 

Ken now shares his passion by mentoring USC engineering students, inspiring them to dream boldly. When not traveling, he and his wife enjoy San Diego's beaches, where they live.

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The title No Straight Lines to the Stars captures more than Kisco’s career path. His story repeatedly returns to the idea that useful preparation can come from unexpected places and that a setback can change the route without ending the destination. The lifeguard tower and the launchpad may appear to belong to entirely different lives, yet Kisco connects them through the decisions, discipline, and resilience he carried from one stage into the next. For readers interested in the human story behind technical achievement, that unlikely continuity may be the most revealing part of his journey.

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Rose and Lily begin with the recognizable rhythms of childhood—school, rainy days, sibling squabbles, and time at home—but their mother soon gives them an unusual assignment: read a story she has written and tell her what they think. In Mum’s Story, Vlora Morina uses that premise to place one tale inside another, moving from the sisters’ everyday world into Alexander’s imaginative adventures. The result connects family storytelling with the creative possibilities children discover when an ordinary moment gives them permission to imagine something much bigger.

Children's Book

Date Published: March 7, 2026

Publisher: Publishing Push

When their mother entrusts them with a special task, the girls are whisked into a world of imagination through the story of Alexander, a boy who discovers friends on magical planets and learns the wonders of creativity, courage, and kindness. From ordinary afternoons to extraordinary adventures, this enchanting story celebrates family, imagination, and the little moments that make growing up magical.

The story-within-a-story structure gives Mum’s Story two different kinds of childhood adventure. Rose and Lily’s experiences are rooted in sibling life and the small incidents of an ordinary day, while the story their mother asks them to read opens the door to Alexander’s much more fantastical world. That contrast gives young readers a tangible example of how storytelling can transform familiar surroundings into a place for invention. It also places the act of reading inside the story itself, making imagination something the characters share rather than simply something that happens to them.

Mum’s Story is a natural match for children who like seeing everyday family life mixed with make-believe, particularly stories involving brothers or sisters, playful disagreements, and imaginative adventures. The relationship between Rose and Lily gives sibling readers something familiar to recognize, while Alexander’s experiences provide the more fantastical side of the book. Families who enjoy reading together may especially appreciate a story in which a mother sharing her own writing with her children becomes part of the adventure.

My name is Vlora, I am an Albanian from Kosovo and work as admin for Whittington Hospital in London. 

My inspiration and idea to write this book comes from my nieces and nephew who I love them dearly.

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At the center of Mum’s Story is a simple but meaningful exchange: a mother has created a story and trusts her children enough to make them its first readers. Morina builds outward from that moment, connecting Rose and Lily’s relationship with Alexander’s imaginative experiences and showing how stories can become part of family life. For children, the adventures offer room for play and fantasy; for families reading alongside them, the book also offers a reminder that creativity can begin with something as ordinary as sitting down together and sharing a story.

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A cipher from the closing days of the Civil War becomes the first clue in a threat that has spent 160 years learning how to survive. In Echoes of Fortune: Knights of the Golden Circle, David R Leng brings Professor Jack Sullivan into a conspiracy where buried history is only the beginning. The trail stretches from Washington archives and New Orleans back alleys to Mexico and Arkansas, while weapons trafficking, a cyberattack, and political ambition turn an old secret into an immediate danger. The question driving the story is especially unsettling: what happens when a group no longer needs to seize power because it has learned how to make people hand it over?

Historical Thriller, Conspiracy Thriller, Political Thriller, Action Thriller

Date Published: August 18, 2026

༺ ABOUT THE BOOK ༻

 

What if the Civil War never truly ended, and no one noticed who is now winning?

 

A standalone thriller. New readers can start right here.

 

When Professor Jack Sullivan is asked to decode a cipher from the war's final days, he expects a historical curiosity. Instead, he uncovers a thread Jefferson Davis died protecting, a secret never meant to resurface.

 

Jack, his fiancée Emma Wilson, and former SEAL Steve Johnson are pulled into a hunt more dangerous than any battlefield. From Washington's archives to the back alleys of New Orleans, from the coast of Mexico to the shadowed ridges of Arkansas, every trail leads deeper into the world of the Knights of the Golden Circle, a brotherhood long believed defunct. 

 

But the Knights didn't disappear. They became patient.

 

For 160 years they studied what force could never win. They embedded themselves in the institutions Americans trust, and waited for the moment when they wouldn't need to seize power. They would be invited to take it. 

 

Now their heirs have risen. A cartel is running weapons north while a cyberattack probes the power grid, and a senator climbs toward power on the fear both create. Jack begins to realize he was never hunting the treasure. He was being led to it. 

 

Joined by Homeland cyber analyst Priya Patel and hunted by enemies he cannot see, Jack has four days to break a design older than anyone imagined before the trap closes around everyone he loves.

 

"The high-stakes, of-the-moment, infiltrated-America suspense simply does not let up." 

— BookLife by Publishers Weekly

 

Some secrets don't stay buried. They grow roots.

Great for fans of Steve Berry and Clive Cussler.

 

Praise for Echoes of Fortune: Knights of the Golden Circle

 

"One part Jack Reacher, one part Indiana Jones... an impressively entertaining action thriller." 

— Kirkus Reviews ("GET IT")

"Leng lets history press against the present, sometimes like a warning and sometimes like a buried fuse." — Literary Titan

 

༺ WHY READ THIS BOOK ༻

 

The conspiracy at the center of Echoes of Fortune: Knights of the Golden Circle is built around patience rather than a single buried secret. The Knights have supposedly spent generations embedding themselves inside trusted institutions, which allows the Civil War cipher that begins Jack Sullivan's investigation to connect naturally with cyber warfare, weapons trafficking, and political maneuvering in the present. That combination gives the historical puzzle consequences far beyond finding treasure. Jack also has only four days to understand what he has uncovered, so decoding the past and stopping the current threat become parts of the same race.

 

༺ WHO WILL LOVE IT ༻

 

The strongest fit is for thriller readers who like clues hidden in history but want the consequences to unfold in the present. The Civil War cipher and Knights of the Golden Circle mystery provide the historical framework, while the cartel operation, cyberattack, political power struggle, and four-day deadline push the story firmly into contemporary suspense. The changing locations—from Washington and New Orleans to Mexico and Arkansas—also suit those who prefer conspiracy stories with a broad geographic canvas. And because the tour material identifies this as a standalone thriller, Jack Sullivan's earlier adventures are not required reading before beginning this one.

 

༺ ABOUT THE AUTHOR ༻

David R Leng is the award-winning author of the Echoes of Fortune historical conspiracy thriller series, winner of three PenCraft Awards, including Thriller of the Year and back-to-back Best Thriller honors, two Literary Titan Gold Awards, and a Kirkus Reviews "GET IT" selection.

 

A lifelong resident of Southwestern Pennsylvania, David grew up in the shadow of the same battlefields his characters explore. He spent summers near the Shades of Death wilderness in western Maryland and has kayaked the Youghiogheny River, where a chance encounter with a stranger carrying a metal detector and asking about Braddock's gold planted the seed for the series.

 

His debut novel, The Search for Braddock's Lost Gold, follows historian Jack Sullivan into the unsolved mystery of General Braddock's vanished army payroll from the 1755 Battle of the Monongahela. The series has since expanded to the sunken Confederate secrets of Cozumel and the shadowed world of the Knights of the Golden Circle.

 

When he is not unraveling centuries-old conspiracies, David can be found scuba diving, boating, or in his woodshop. He lives in Pennsylvania with his wife and family.

 

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༺ LAST WORD ༻

 

The most distinctive idea in Echoes of Fortune: Knights of the Golden Circle is not simply that an old conspiracy survived—it is that survival gave it time to change tactics. Jack begins with a Civil War cipher and ends up confronting a design that reaches into technology, politics, and the institutions people depend upon. That makes the historical mystery more than background decoration; everything buried in the past has a purpose in the present. With the book positioned as a standalone entry, this is also an accessible place to encounter Jack, Emma, Steve, and the larger Echoes of Fortune world.

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Michael Leppert places The Edge of Motherland inside one of the most unsettled periods in recent American memory, but the novel keeps its attention on something intimate: a friendship between two Indianapolis coworkers whose differences in age, race, and experience might ordinarily have kept their lives separate. Music, poetry, memory, and place become part of the language through which they begin to understand one another, while the upheaval of 2020 forces both men to reconsider what they believe about home, identity, and belonging.

Literary Fiction

Date Published: May 14, 2026

Publisher: Manhattan Book Group

༺ ABOUT THE BOOK ༻

 

A moving literary novel about friendship, identity, belonging, and the search for home in a divided America.

 

In the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic and the racial reckoning of 2020, two unlikely friends are forced to confront what home really means.

 

A young Black man and a middle-aged White man meet through the Indianapolis tech company where they both work. Though separated by age, race, and life experience, they discover a powerful connection through music, poetry, and the emotional landscapes that have shaped them. What begins as an unusual friendship becomes something deeper as both men find themselves questioning the world around them—and their place within it.

 

Disillusioned by their state’s response to the pandemic and shaken by the racial strife unfolding across the country, the two men leave Indianapolis on a transformative journey. Against the eerie backdrop of a fractured America, they face isolation, grief, uncertainty, and the complicated truths that define love, loyalty, friendship, and identity.

 

As the road carries them away from everything familiar, they begin to reevaluate their beliefs, their histories, and the meaning of belonging. Through shared adversity, conversation, art, and memory, they forge a bond that challenges them to see themselves—and each other—with greater honesty and compassion.

 

The Edge of Motherland by Michael Leppert is a moving work of cultural heritage fiction for readers who appreciate character-driven literary fiction, contemporary historical fiction, stories of unlikely friendship, and novels that explore race, resilience, connection, and hope during uncertain times.

 

“Motherland is a poignant story about love, friendship, identity—and the music, poetry, and places that shape us.”

—Lesley Weidenbener, Managing Editor, Indianapolis Business Journal

 

༺ WHY READ THIS BOOK ༻

 

What makes The Edge of Motherland especially interesting is the way Leppert brings the enormous social upheaval of 2020 down to the scale of two people trying to understand each other. Their friendship develops across differences in age, race, and lived experience, while music, poetry, memory, and place give them ways to communicate that extend beyond the circumstances that first brought them together. The novel's emphasis on belonging adds another layer: both men must examine not only where they feel at home, but what home means when familiar assumptions no longer feel secure.

 

༺ WHO WILL LOVE IT ༻

 

Readers who prefer literary fiction built around conversation, character, and complicated relationships should find much to consider in The Edge of Motherland. It is also well suited to those interested in fiction about the social and emotional consequences of 2020, particularly stories that examine race, identity, and belonging through individual lives rather than from a distance. The importance of music and poetry to the friendship may also resonate with readers who appreciate novels in which art becomes part of how characters make sense of themselves and one another.

 

༺ ABOUT THE AUTHOR ༻

Michael Leppert is an award-winning lecturer, columnist, essayist, and author based in Indianapolis, Indiana. A longtime communicator, public affairs professional, and educator, Leppert brings decades of experience in government, policy, business, and storytelling to his work.

 

He teaches speech and writing at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business and serves as an adjunct professor at IU’s O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs. He earned his B.S. in Public Affairs from Indiana University and his M.S. in Communication from Northwestern University, building a career rooted in the two fields that have shaped his life: government and communication.

 

Before entering academia and writing, Leppert spent thirteen years in public service for the State of Indiana. His career began at the Indiana Boys School, where he worked for five years and later served as program manager in the Intensive Treatment Unit. He then spent eight years at the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission, ultimately serving as Executive Director of the IURC. In that role, he became known for his ability to explain complex and often controversial issues with clarity, insight, and accessibility.

 

After leaving state government in 2002, Leppert spent two decades as a private-sector lobbyist, public affairs consultant, and communications advisor, working with corporations, nonprofits, government leaders, community organizations, and business executives to help advance strategic priorities. His experience with public policy, political systems, and institutional decision-making has deeply informed his fiction and nonfiction writing.

 

Leppert began writing a weekly column in 2014, with his work appearing in newspapers throughout Indiana. His first book, Contrary to Popular Belief: A Chronicle of a Progressive in Indiana, was published in 2016. His novel Flipping the Circle, published by Greenleaf Book Group in 2021, is a political thriller that draws from his deep knowledge of Indiana politics, lobbying, and government culture. His fiction explores power, corruption, identity, morality, and the complicated human stories behind public life.

 

At the heart of Leppert’s work is a passion for helping people understand complicated ideas through story. Whether in the classroom, in public commentary, or on the page, he is driven by the belief that storytelling can bring clarity, challenge assumptions, and create meaningful connection.

 

Michael lives in a historic neighborhood in downtown Indianapolis with his wife, Amy Levander, and their rescue dog, Birdie. He has two adult children, Alex and Jack. He and Amy are competitive golfers, beach walkers, and enthusiastic lovers of live music, comedy, and theater.

 

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༺ LAST WORD ༻

 

At the center of The Edge of Motherland is a question that becomes increasingly difficult for its two friends to answer: what makes a place—or another person—feel like home? Leppert approaches that question through the specific pressures of 2020, but also through the quieter forces that shape identity over a lifetime: memory, art, conversation, geography, and the assumptions people carry into relationships. That emphasis gives the novel room to explore a divided moment without losing sight of the individuals trying to live through it, making this a thoughtful choice for readers interested in friendship, belonging, and the complicated work of understanding someone whose life has followed a very different path.

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