Fraidy Hole by Staci Andrea

Staci Andrea, 2024 Killer Nashville Claymore Award Recipient for Best Southern Gothic and 2024 Maxy Award Winner for Best Thriller, is a psychological thriller author from the Midwest whose goal is to pull back the curtains from the family down the street because perfection is just an illusion, and we all have something to hide. 

Her latest heart-stopping endeavor, Fraidy Hole, immerses the reader in a thought-provoking trifecta of grief, love, and the slippage of time.

The mind is a curious thing. It allows us to reach back into our memory banks and retrieve emotions, thoughts, smells, and feelings that can act as filler for our sometimes empty lives, warming the spaces in our hearts that are sometimes left void and broken. It can also completely drop memories, forcing us to forget the painful chapters so that we are able to cut ties and move on. 

What happens, though, when the lines are blurred . . . when reality and the nightmares of your past collide? Can the mind make sense of it all? Can the brain and heart sort out the drama and the subtext? What happens to the soul when the mind cracks, even just a little? 

Fraidy Hole, the fictional dark suspense thriller that centers around a grandfather trying to save his granddaughter from herself, plays upon exactly that line of questioning.

Told from a grandfather’s perspective, Fraidy Hole follows the unconventional life of his Granddaughter, Arlo, as she navigates the pitfalls of adolescence into adulthood, paired with the unfortunate events that unfold while an unusual leader is influencing her into her darkness, her best friend, Bast. Together, they are torn between hiding in and trying to escape the Fraidy Hole. 

2024 American Legacy Book Awards Finalist – Psychological Thriller

2024 BookFest Awards Second Place – Thriller/Psychological 

2023 Hollywood Book Festival – Honorable Mention 

2024 American Bookfest International Book Awards Finalist – Horror 

“Fraidy Hole promises to be a riveting journey that will leave you stunned and pondering long after the final page is turned. In essence, it is an enthralling read that demands to be devoured, one startling revelation at a time.”
–Literary Titan (Gold Award Winner)

“The Fight of Their Lives is a great gift in so many ways — accessible, thorough, and accurate. Andy Kutler has done a superb job!”
–Nicholas Reynolds, author of Need to Know: World War II and the Rise of American Intelligence.

The Fight of Their Lives: A 21st Century Primer on World War II by Andi Kutler

September 1939. To fuel his hate-filled quest for global supremacy and an eternal Third Reich, German dictator Adolf Hitler ordered a blitzkrieg attack against Poland, a gateway into the East where prized lands and economic resources await. A sea of tanks and troops storm across the border, prompting Polish allies Britain and France to declare war on Nazi Germany. The conflict soon widens, consuming the European continent and beyond. In late 1941, Japanese forces struck American naval forces at Pearl Harbor, drawing the United States into a blistering Pacific brawl. For the second time in the 20th century, the world is at war, and the consequences will prove devastating, pushing humankind to the brink of utter catastrophe.

The Fight of Their Lives: A 21st-Century Primer on World War II is a riveting account of the peril and resiliency that marked the darkest chapter in human history. From blood-soaked clashes across farm fields and jungle islands to the code rooms and factory floors that powered the Allies to final victory, the fast-paced narrative fully documents the epic struggle that claimed up to sixty million lives. Styled to appeal to all audiences, The Fight of Their Lives is a timely read, from the legacies that remain supremely relevant today to the lessons humanity cannot afford to learn again.  

Andy Kutler is a strategic communications professional and an award-winning writer and author. His books include Honorable Profession, The Batter’s Box, and The Other Side of Life, and his articles have appeared in the Baltimore Sun, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, and the Huffington Post. Over a 30-year career in government and industry, Andy has worked for two US Senators, the US Secret Service, and the national security community. A Wisconsin native, Andy lives with his wife and two children in Arlington, Virginia.

MAC – The Wind Beneath My Wings by Sherry Hobbs

Sherry Hobbs adored her father. As a child, Mac would bring Tarzan and Jane to life at bedtime, telling her fantastic stories about their exploits and adventures. He took the family on their explorations across the country and encouraged her curiosity and love of learning by surrounding her with good books. When she was eight, her father, Colonel H.G. McNeese, was appointed the Air Attaché of Indochina, and the family moved to Saigon, Vietnam. She lived with him in Paris while stationed at NATO during her teenage years.

The author always knew that her father served as a pilot in WWII, that he got shot down, and that he and his remaining crew managed to survive three weeks in Japanese-held islands. She knew he had received two Distinguished Flying Crosses, the country’s second-highest medal for extraordinary bravery, two Distinguished Service Crosses for heroism, and a Purple Heart, among other medals. But there is much that she didn’t know and would not discover until years later.

In this stunning biography of her father’s exploits, the author weaves combat tension with historical airpower history – Like Laura Hillenbrand’s Unbroken meets Malcolm Gladwell’s The Bomber Mafia. Mac was among the first few select men to pilot the new and accident-prone B-24s and later the newer B-29s that were designed to carry the atomic bombs from Guam to Japan. Shot down on his first combat mission, incredibly, he survived to fly another 83 missions in the Pacific.

In MAC – The Wind Beneath My Wings, Sherry brings to life the story of Mac’s valor and distinguished career and his life as a father, officer, and gentleman. Students of history and fans of the unconquerable spirit will want to climb into their library cockpits for this must-read book.

This post is a sponsored collaboration with Black Rose Writing.