Most Popular Books by Jim Lynch

A poignant coming-of-age story and an enchanting primer on the life aquatic. The Highest Tide is as crisp and clean as a cool dip into the water, and just about as refreshing.-Entertainment Weekly

"These three, inter-related stories describe the lives of three generations of the McGowan family and their personal battles to make a living by working on the Boston waterfront. The common thread that runs through them is the challenges presented by the shape-up or pick-up system, a procedure that was archaic and rife with favoritism and was the sole determining factor whether you received a salary that day... The Longshoremen details the working conditions and challenges of working on the Boston waterfront and is based on the real-life experiences of longshoremen.."--page [4] cover.

Brandon Vanderkool’s severe dyslexia and six-foot-eight height give him an unusual perspective on his new job with the American Border Patrol, along the Washington/BC border — just a long, grassy ditch, really, barely dividing neighbours who used to be as congenial as those in any small community. Though his curious mind proves surprisingly adept at intercepting Canadian pot smugglers and potentially dangerous illegals, years of security hysteria and cross-border resentment — and a fascinating young Canadian who has turned her green thumb to a more lucrative crop — complicate Brandon’ s world in ways even he might not be able to see past. Border Songs is that rare delight: a gently satirical portrait, an extraordinary love story and a celebration of the coincidental and the miraculous.

It is 1962, and the city of Seattle is about to be famous. Roger Morgan, an audacious young promoter, wants to pull off the ultimate coup de théâtre: the World''s Fair, rising out of the downtown fog to show the whole nation that the future has arrived. In the run-up to the Fair''s grand opening, Roger is everywhere at once - entertaining Elvis Presley and Lyndon Johnson, dipping in and out of secret card games and smooth-talking his way out of awkward financial questions - all under the haze of many a whiskey and the shadow of a looming crisis in Cuba.Roger dazzles everyone he meets, and is still a backstage power forty years later when, at the age of seventy, he makes a surprise bid for mayor. Helen Gulanos, a journalist new in town and keen to make her mark, sees her retrospectives on the 1962 Fair become front-page news as Roger''s candidacy ignites the public imagination. She resolves to uncover the real Roger from behind the warm handshakes and glossy receptions - because even Seattle''s golden boy must have something to hide.Woven into in this city of dreams is a cat-and-mouse-tale of back-room deals, idealism and pragmatism, the best and worst ambitions, and the aspirations that shape our communities and our lives. Hard-nosed yet profoundly humane, Truth Like the Sun is the most ambitious novel yet from the beloved author of The Highest Tide.

How did the universe and life begin and what are the threats to people and the environment in a pandemic? This book is for anybody with interest in protecting life on the planet. Studies on the origin of life and scientific contributions to safeguarding the planet are examined in light of current thinking on climate change. A major focus is the spread of microbes, put in the context of environmental assessment and management, including descriptions of microbiomes and a consideration of the risks of genetic modifications. Professor Lynch shows how failure to control disease can lead to the collapse of any biotic population. To avoid this, the ethics of management of disease by biological control and by vaccination are discussed, at the practical level and in a moral theological context.

Americans are fascinated by sports. It''s not uncommon for businessmen and businesswomen, or anyone for that matter, to read the sports news before turning to the business pages. Sports terminology has even found a place in the vernacular of the business world with commonly used terms such as "strike-out," "time-out," and "throw a curve." In Coaching for Performance Improvement, authors Jack Ramsay and Jim Lynch link successful coaching in the athletic arena to effective business management. In sports, as in business, the management of people is crucial. The authors have put together an outline for becoming an exceptional leader through their more than twenty years of experience gained coaching in the National Basketball Association, as well as in academic and corporate environments.

A longshoreman has a clue about a murdered bartender from Charlestown, a section of Boston. Rather than endanger his family by going to the police, he joins the force, falls in love with a woman, and works his way up to detective. He uncovers secrets that point to the killer but must work quickly as the Irish Mafia seems to be looking for the same person.

Following The Highest Tide, Border Songs, and Truth Like the Sun, Jim Lynch now gives us a grand and idiosyncratic family saga that will stand alongside Ken Kesey’s Sometimes a Great Notion. Joshua Johannssen has spent all of his life surrounded by sailboats. His grandfather designed them, his father built and raced them, his Einstein-obsessed mother knows why and how they work (or not). For Josh and his two siblings, their backyard was the Puget Sound and sailing their DNA. But both his sister and brother fled many years ago: Ruby to Africa and elsewhere to do good works on land, and Bernard to god-knows-where at sea, a fugitive and pirate. Suddenly thirty-one, Josh—who repairs boats of all kinds in a Steinbeckian marina south of Seattle—is pained and confused by whatever the hell went wrong with his volatile family. His parents are barely speaking, his mystified grandfather is drinking harder, and he himself—despite an endless and comic flurry of online dates—hasn’t even come close to finding a girlfriend. But when the Johannssens unexpectedly reunite for the most important race in these waters—all of them together on a classic vessel they made decades ago—they will be carried to destinies both individual and collective, and to a heart-shattering revelation. Past and present merge seamlessly and collide surprisingly as Jim Lynch reveals a family unlike any other, with the grace and humor and magic of a master storyteller.

The Rhapsody players is a captivating story about how a fascinating group of characters create a springboard to longevity. The story examines the choices they make with respect to their own health, wellness, sexuality and spirituality, even as they build a business that provides these choices to others. The novel is rich with vibrant characters whom you quickly learn to love or to despise. All of this is achieved in a global setting, replete with the issues that face the world during the years 2008 through 2012.

Dans la famille Johannssen, le grand-père dessine les voiliers, le père les construit, la mère, admiratrice d''Einstein, étudie leur trajectoire. Par tous les temps, le dimanche est synonyme de sortie en mer. Les deux frères, Bernard et Josh, s''entraînent avec passion, sous la bruyante houlette paternelle. Ruby, la cadette, écoute à peine. C''est inutile : elle semble commander au vent. Mais lorsqu''un jour elle décide d''abandonner une carrière de championne toute tracée, la famille se disloque et s''éparpille. Douze ans plus tard, une nouvelle course sera l''occasion de retrouvailles aussi attendues que risquées.

Une nuit, Miles O''Malley, treize ans, se faufile hors de chez lui pour aller explorer les étendues du Puget Sound à marée basse. Il fait une découverte qui lui vaut une célébrité locale. Certains se demandent quand même si cet adolescent imaginatif n''est pas un affabulateur ou... peut-être même davantage ? En fait, Miles est surtout un gosse qui s''apprête à grandir, passionné par l''océan, amouraché de la fille d''à côté et inquiet à l''idée que ses parents divorcent. Alors que la mer continue à abandonner des présents issus de ses profondeurs mystérieuses, Miles se débat avec la difficulté d''entrer dans le monde des adultes.

Brandon Vanderkool n''a qu''une passion, les oiseaux. Poussé par son père, il vient pourtant d''entrer dans la Border Patrol, la police des frontières américaine, où il est chargé de surveiller un bout de frontière poreuse - et paisible - entre les États-Unis et le Canada. Est-ce parce qu''il est dyslexique, ou qu''il possède une perception unique du monde, toujours est-il qu''il commence à enchaîner les arrestations. Cette efficacité soudaine fait de lui un héros dans sa petite ville frontière, où les conversations vont bon train. Pendant ce temps-là, Madeline, la voisine canadienne de Brandon, désireuse de fuir cette petite communauté, s''initie au trafic de drogue. Une histoire fantaisiste, avec un héros décalé et attachant.

L''adolescence d''un jeune garçon passionné par la biologie marine. Touchant et sensible. [SDM].

Brandon Vanderkool er en brande av en dyslektiker som trives best alene i skogen. Når han får jobb som grensevakt, sørger det skarpe blikket hans for at han arresterer smuglere, ulovlige innvandrere og antatte terrorister i et antall som skaper panikk. Grensesang handler om lokalsamfunnet i skyggen av verdensbegivenhetene. Brandons mor er på vei inn i Alzheimers, farens melkekyr blir syke, en innflyttet massøse tar opp alt som skjer på video, en pensjonert professor brøler ut sin forakt for alt amerikansk... Et satirisk portrett, en usedvanlig kjærlighetshistorie og en påminnelse om at noen ganger kan de pussigste tilfeldigheter føre til mirakler.

Joshua Johannssen ha pasado toda su vida entre veleros. Su abuelo los diseñaba, su padre los construía y competía en ellos; su madre, obsesionada con Einstein, sabe por qué y cómo funcionan (o no). Josh y sus dos hermanos llevan la vela en la sangre, y su patio de juegos fue el estrecho de Puget, en el estado de Washington. Pero tanto su hermana como su hermano huyeron hace muchos años: Ruby a África, entre otros lugares, para hacer buenas obras en tierra, y Bernard a quién sabe dónde en el mar, como fugitivo y pirata. Con la sensación de haber llegado a los treinta y uno de repente, Josh (que repara barcos de todo tipo en un puerto deportivo al sur de Seattle) se siente dolido y confuso por lo que quiera que fuese mal en su volátil familia. Sus padres no se hablan, su desconcertado abuelo bebe cada vez más y él mismo (pese a su incesante y cómico frenesí de citas en línea) ni siquiera está cerca de encontrar novia. Pero, cuando los Johannssen se reúnen inesperadamente para la regata más importante en estas aguas (todos juntos en un velero clásico que construían hace décadas), encontrarán sus destinos y llegarán a conclusiones reveladoras.

Het zijn zware tijden op de boerderij voor Norm. Het laatste wat hij kan gebruiken is de hulp van zijn zoon Brandon, die is niet geschikt voor het zware en ingewikkelde werk. Daarom regelt hij een baantje voor hem als grenswacht. Want dat is, op de langste onbewaakte grens ter wereld, geen veeleisende baan. Het blijkt een gouden greep. De jaren waarin Brandon weinig meer deed dan naar vogels kijken, betalen zich nu uit: geen ongebruikelijk detail ontsnapt aan zijn aandacht en hij arresteert de ene smokkelaar na de andere. Dan arresteert hij opeens iemand die verdacht wordt van terroristische activiteiten en verplaatst de war on terror zich naar dit zo rustige grensdorp. Noordgrens is een verrassende en humoristische roman die laat zien dat geen plek van de wereld zich kan onttrekken aan de grote verhalen. ''

En uforglemmelig natt sniker 13 år gamle Miles O''Malley seg ut av huset for å utforske fjæra i Puget Sound på jakt etter skalldyr. I stedet oppdager han noe svært usedvanlig: en sjelden kjempeblekksprut. Han blir straks en lokal kjendis, og hans synske venninne Florence spår at enda flere forbløffende oppdagelser er i vente - tegn på at den høyeste tidevannsbølgen på femti år er underveis. Journalister flokker seg nysgjerrig rundt gutten, som tilskrives profetiske evner. Miles er bare en tenåring som svermer for nabojenta og bekymrer seg for at foreldrene hans skal skilles og at alt han er glad i skal forsvinne. Mens havet byr på stadig nye overraskelser, sliter Miles med mysteriet det er å bli voksen.

When sexy singer Gina Struben encourages her husband Senator Josh Struben to run for President in 2020, not only does she miscalculate the impact that Chinese globalist Sun Feng, the world''s wealthiest man, will have on the outcome, but she also underestimates the impact that domestic and global terrorism will have on her family. The Twenty-Twenty Players is a fictitious account of the 2020 US Presidential Election. It deals with three interwoven plots: the election itself; domestic terrorism; and international terrorism. Along the way the plot interlaces the fortunes of several vivid characters, including Presidential candidate Josh Struben and his wife, singer/activist Gina Struben; Chinese industrialist, Sun Feng; CIA Operative, Catherine Cauley; Islamic terrorist, Faraq Hussein; and Kenneth Brady, the bi-sexual host of the network news talk show, "The Brady Focus." Other colorful supporting characters invigorate the plot that covers the 12 months of January through December 2020. There is also a rich back-story that deals credibly with the intervening years between 2011 and 2020. The Twenty-Twenty Players are the characters who each undergo a major personal transformation during the title year. Not only do these four-dimensional characters jump out of the text to illuminate the storyline, but they also permit thoughtful access to their individual spirituality as they cope with conflict or accept opportunity. The final 6 months of 2020 are fast paced, and unpredictable. However when the story ends on New Years'' Eve, 2020, the reader feels hopeful and invigorated about the stretch of years yet to unfold. The Twenty-Twenty Players has appeal to anyone who has ever felt, love, sorrow, fear, regret, lust, hatred, or hope. But there are several more specific audiences who will find additional meaning as the plot unfolds. Political junkies will sink their teeth into debates about Globalism, American Exceptionalism and the ongoing erosion of the middle class. Questions are asked and answers are proffered. Some of these questions include: Will there be a female president anytime soon? Is the US ready for its first gay president since James Buchanan? Will Dictator Dominoes lead to theocratic unification and sovereignty? How long will the USA remain dependent upon others for its energy sources? Can a third party candidate have a fair shot at becoming President? Will Puerto Rico become the 51st State? How will the Hispanic Vote impact the 2020 election? How much of the population will be able to vote via the Internet in 2020? How will the USA/China relationship evolve? Does the media''s role in the political process expand or contract? What is the role of the US military in the Twenty First Century? What is the USA''s new Manifest Destiny? What impact will space exploration have on globalization? Embodied in the back-story of the novel are assumptions about what transpired between 2011 and 2020. Some specifics include; another US based terrorist attack which takes place in 2017; the US military occupation of northern Mexico in 2015; the passing of the 29th Amendment to the US Constitution that has a fascinating and positive impact on the American political process. There are many more surprises, but all of them are plausible; some might even seem probable. However, first and foremost, The Twenty-Twenty Players is a novel about people. What keeps the reader turning the pages at an enjoyable pace is the primitive curiosity at how the lives of the characters will unfold. Will sexy pop icon Gina Alvarez-Struben help or hurt her husband''s chances at election? Why doesn''t incumbent President Elder want to run for a second term? What impact will political pundit Kenneth Brady and "The Brady Focus" have on the election? Who will cause the most chaos in 2020, American terrorist, Robert Day or Islamic terrorist Zafar bin Zahid? And finally, what difference can 12 months make on history?

Patch Munson is feeling queasy. He has killed Aaron Fein, the owner-operator of the Fein Center for Women, in Tampa, Florida. He confessed his sin to a Catholic priest, only to find that the priest is a sinner also. Father Tim Hanlon is leaving the priesthood after learning that he has fathered a child with a black supermodel, Carol Mays. Perplexed, paranoid and petrified, Munson kidnaps Mays and stows her away a bomb shelter on his family''s Alabama farm, while he tries to solve his mounting problems. While authorities in Florida and Alabama tighten down the focus of their investigation to Munson''s home city of Mobile, Alabama, Munson attempts to work out a resolution with his prisoner. As the police and FBI come closer and closer to the Munson family farm, the Alabama coast is battered by a Category 5 Hurricane, colloquially known as Hurricane Jesus. Munson, Mays, Hanlon and two Florida State police officers all end up in the bomb shelter, during the pass over of Hurricane Jesus. Emotions run high, as the ensemble of Seekers, Sinners and Simpletons are threatened by terrifying wind above them and the rising flood waters that seep into the bomb shelter. Throughout the story the characters are faced with extraordinary choices in their own spiritual explorations for meaning in their lives. Some do it with humor and some do it with angst, but they are all forced to come to grips with their own humanity along the way.

When an idealistic young journalist gets pulled into a disgusting political campaign, lives and attitudes suffer greatly in the end. All that''s left is a sense of humor

Flunking Chemistry Class is a parody of the steroid era in Major League Baseball. The novel lampoons the sport as it chronicles some of MLB''s absurd attempts to abort the PEDs abuse scandal, which made a mockery of the national pastime over the last 20 years. The author creates a mythical MBL or Multinational Baseball League that includes domestic franchises such as the Bronx Bloomers, the Hollywood Hedgers and the Metropolitan Mutts. It also introduces some international franchises such as the Sydney Kangaroos and the Seoul Searchers and a global commissioner, Buzz Selout. None of the known cheaters get spared in the book. From Corky Samuels, (the "so so outfielder" for the Chicago Gumballers, ) and Popeye Maloney (the crybaby of the St Louis Scarlets) to A Dork, the sleazy third baseman of the Bronx Bloomers and Barney Bombs the massive leftfielder of the Bay City Mammoths, the characters all have a familiar feel to the avid baseball fan. The author follows the logic that the cover-up is as bad as the crime and ensures that the baseball establishment is appropriately satirized (sodomized?) as well. Bass Sledgehammer the owner of the Bloomers and Buzz Selout the MBL commissioner are the face of that establishment and they take their lumps along with the "floats" who do their work on the diamond. ********** Three separate plot lines weave together in this baseball tapestry. The most sympathetic plot line follows the hilarious travails of pitcher Sam Crockett, a five tool prospect from Texas as he winds his way through the minor league systems of several MBL teams. Crockett spends the better part of ten years trying to make it to The Show, with stop offs in towns such as Moose Butt, Montana and Beaufort North Carolina. He even does a gig in the backwater towns of Japan. Along the way his progress is frequently blocked by players who get ahead by cheating through the use of performance enhancing drugs. This plot line also details the "26th man," multi-billion dollar class action law suit, which threatens the antitrust exemption of the Multinational Baseball League and eventually reinvigorates Crockett''s career. A parallel plot line follows the misadventures of Lester Postal, a sportswriter for the tabloid paper The New York Roast, as he looks to expose the soft underbelly of the conspiracy between the MBL and the players association, the MBLPA. Postal generates tabloid worthy headline stories as he embarks on a mission to ensure that steroid cheaters (a/k/a Floats) never make it to the Corridor of Conceit. He takes on all comers in his relentless attack on steroid abuse and eventually helps his fifth wife - lawyer, Georgette Postal - as she prepares an eleven figure anti-trust suit. The third storyline covers the activities of the many Floats in the MBL during a twenty year period between 1998 and 2018 as they pass through events such as the Earth Series; congressional hearings; The Witchell-Hunt Report and an absurd talk-radio interview, which follows an arbitration hearing. This storyline loosely follows an historical perspective on the game of baseball and the players who do their work on the diamond. Every year seems to bring about a new scandal that exposes still more players to the scrutiny of the fans who want an honest game. The parallel plot lines finally intersect in a surprising ending that allows the reader to speculate about the future of chemistry in the game of baseball.

Democracy by its very nature is a difficult form of government to administer. It is messy. There are many conflicting ideas of how to do things. In order to enact any programs, you must build consensus. There is a lot of give-and-take in the process. In the end few people get everything they want. The democratic process is further complicated by the elected officials who are supposed to administer it. They are not perfect people. They wrestle with the same foibles as all of us. They are easily distracted, are inconsistent, lack the proper knowledge, and in some cases are just downright incompetent. Plus, they possess some of our common moral weaknesses: pride, envy, jealousy, laziness, just to name a few. So in the end American democracy will never be perfect. The best we can hope for is that we can make it better. This should be our ambition and our goal. This is the story of one individual who entered the political arena. It tells what he tried to accomplish, and what he learned.

Which of her three lovers will beautiful twenty-three year old Simone Muirchant chose? Will it be her wealthy blue-blooded fianc�? Could she choose the high school senior who is her passionate secret lover? Will she succumb to the earthy insensitivity of the mysterious third man in her love life? Or will she simply sustain all three lovers?The above encapsulation is the central anchoring plot dilemma for Boomers Bastards & Boneheads: The Wasted Generation, the first of four novels in a fictional quartet entitled The Generations Series. This first book is set on Long Island during the years of 1965 through 1980. The chapters of Boomers Bastards & Boneheads unfold during some of more intriguing events of the period including the Vietnam War; the Moon Landings; Chappaquiddick; Woodstock; Watergate and even the long lines at gas stations during the 1973 Oil Embargo.**********Collectively the four novels that comprise The Generations Series depict the sequential story of two Long Island families throughout multiple generations of intriguing characters. The Babcocks and the Johnsons share more than just a persistent hatred of one another. The ongoing plotline revolves around a carnal reality that there had been a blending of the families back in 1965. That was when the beautiful but enigmatic Simone Muirchant managed to become part of both families. The hatred and hostility between the Babcocks and the Johnsons leads to misogamy, mislaid blame, murder and mayhem. **********One early reader has described the milieu of the 4 volume epic as "Jay Gatsby versus Forrest Gump." Set on Long Island in suburban New York, the epic saga is illuminated by the evolution of thoughts, behaviors and mores in the United States from 1965 through 2016. The fictional all-male Catholic high school - Shenandoah - also plays an essential role in centering the progression of changes that take place for the principal characters over a fifty year period. The bitter hatred between the Babcocks and the Johnsons transcends the timeworn topics of War; Spirituality; Morality and Politics. It also utilizes a fifty year chronology to depict the development of Music; Baseball; Drug Abuse; Sexual Liberation; Political Evolution; Racial Unrest; Feminism and Information Technology across five decades of change in the United States and on Long Island. By the end of the fourth novel the reader will have relived a half century of Americana that may very well serve as a gateway to the exciting future ahead.**********

A non-fiction account of a young Southern boy''s coming of age as a staff member in a Berkshire mountain resort in the 50''s, working as a cook, then as a waiter, with other college students from Alabama to Yale. Staff parties, greenhorn foul ups, Civil war re-enactments, crazy guests; told with often self deprecating humor. Photos.

Even a billion dollars can''t liberate Frank Babcock. He knows that his jealousy has contributed to the murder of Wayne Johnson, the man he once believed had illegitimately fathered his own heir, Fox Babcock. The wrong Johnson was murdered. Mickey Johnson not Wayne Johnson was Fox Babcock''s biological father. The Babcock/Johnson Feud persists in the third volume of the "Generation Series" as the two Long Island families battle through another iteration of generational loathing. The animosity between the Babcocks and the Johnsons escalates against a new backdrop of global instability - a product of racial unrest; radical religious extremism and the technological breakthrough of the World Wide Web. The final decade of the twentieth century brings the Babcock/Johnson Feud into a New York courtroom, even as global economic inequities bring the United States into a global kangaroo court replete with terrorist judges. "Techies, Trials & Terrorists" takes the feuding Long Island families through a decade of desperation and distrust that culminates in the long awaited murder trial of Frank Babcock. The trial itself rehashes a 25 year old love quadrangle that resulted in the ambiguous parentage of Dr. Fox Babcock. Fox Babcock is now married and has children of his own. But just like his mother, Fox Babcock has not remained faithful to his spouse. In fact Fox has parented an illegitimate child of his own. New familial discord lurks in the background as the murder trial unfolds. And while carnal revelations, during seamy trial testimony, recount old erotic discord between the Babcocks and the Johnsons, the more recent sexual liaisons further undermine any possibility of rapprochement. Meanwhile, Frank Babcock has a new Jewish bride, a new Christian son and a new Saudi Arabian mistress. His business takes him throughout the Middle East even as his young wife remains in New York parenting her sister''s child. Life becomes ever more intriguing for the billionaire as the existence of his varied business and personal relationships are compromised by his compelled cooperation with American Intelligence agencies. These agencies are investigating the ties of a certain Saudi Arabian family to the rise of terrorist attacks against the United States. As the twentieth century hurdles toward a close and the dawning of the new millennium awaits, the lives of several generations of Johnsons and Babcocks become ever-more entwined. As the internet age unfolds on a global stage, the financial prosperity of the feuding families blossoms along with the burgeoning technology. The saga of sex, money, murder and mayhem follows the family fortunes from the dunes of Saudi Arabia to the white waters of West Virginia and back again to the shores of Long Island. This third book of the "Generations Series" highlights the transient decade that sets up the new Millennium and the challenges that await all of the characters as they embark on 21st Century and the advent of the Social Media. This in turn will be the subject matter of Book 4 in the Generation Series: "Madmen, Millennials & Malcontents: The Social Media Generation." (Due for Publication in the Fall of 2020)

What happens when a retired couple take matters into their own hands to rid the world of evil

Inmate Encounter is a prison Ministry that has actively gone into prisons for the last 37 years. Read why this unique blend of front line organizations believe God desires unity, not uniformity, to show He is the one true God, even behind prison walls.