Islomanes of Cumberland Island

By S.P. Grogan and Stephen Grogan

Book Overview

Lucy Carnegie, wife of industrialist Thomas Carnegie, dreamed of creating on Cumberland Island a home where her children would be safe from the smoke and soot-filled skies over Pittsburgh. Protected by the waters of the Cumberland Sound, the estate she built encompassed nearly the entire island. It was a perfect world, until the outside world intruded. Stone by stone it all came tumbling down. Wild horses now crop the grass around the burnt-out mansion. Rattlesnakes nest among the ruins. A century later, another family comes to Cumberland to walk among the horses and to accept what gifts the island has to offer: solitude, unspoiled wilderness, and wildlife free to roam undisturbed. Returning year after year, Rhamy and her parents explore the island and swim in the ocean. They picnic on the beach where servants once served champagne, shrimp cocktails, and crab cakes to the Carnegie family and their guests. They gaze at the chimneys surrounding Stafford house, all that remain of slave quarters that once housed plantation field hands. They mourn for Zabette, daughter of a plantation owner and his black servant, sold to a man who fathered her six children, then abandoned her. Always, everywhere on the island, the horses graze nearby, unaware of efforts by environmentalists to remove them from the island where they have lived for centuries. Traveling to the north end of the island, the family sits for a quiet moment in the church where JFK Jr. married Carolyn Bessette. Across the pasture is the shack where naturalist Carol Ruckdeschel has lived for fifty years and the porch where her lover lay dead, shot through the heart. In the campgrounds, on the beach, at the Dungeness dock, wild horses graze. For now, they are safe. Rita Welty Bourke is the author of Kylie\u2019s Ark: The Making of a Veterinarian. She\u2019s a regular contributor to literary magazines, including The Southwest Review, Shenandoah, Black Warrior Review, and The North American Review

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0980116457
• ISBN13: 9780980116458
• Release Date: November 2021
• Publisher: Histria Fiction
• Length: 246 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.3" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Best value for your money!

I finished Vegas Die about a month ago but I've become involved in trying to find the hidden "dagger". What a blast. This is the most fun I've ever had with a book. In fact it's taking up a lot of time but with a possible reward of 25,000.00 to whoever finds the dagger, it's well worth it. I've also attended a meeting of fellow "Questors" who are also searching for the dagger. No need to live in Las Vegas as a guess within 15 ft. will be close enough. Buy this book and join the treasure hunt. You won't regret it. The book is rated by me as PG (Parental Guidance 16 or over I'd say in one chapter.) LVsuprstar

Very Entertaining

Fun book. I don't usually read alot but I managed to finish this one off in about four sittings. Toward the end, it is very difficult to lay it down!

Excellent on all counts.

This book is very gripping and the community of Questors surrounding the hunt for the $25,000 makes it even more exciting. You do not need to be a local to Vegas (or need to have ever even been there) to solve the location of the hidden dagger. I am truly hoping this book gives me the excuse I need to buy a ticket to Sin City for a little treasure hunting. If you like mysteries and Vegas (who doesn't?) then you need to read this book. The author, Stephen Grogan, is a former crime-scene reporter and brings to life the attention to detail that investigators have. This fantastic story is riddled with sub-plots, puzzles, and mysteries within the mystery. A sequel is in the works and I am already looking forward to it.

"Hey, this guy's really good!"

A great read from a first time author. Grogan's intimate knowledge of Las Vegas combined with his ability to create memorable characters and unforgettable prose makes me anxious to see his next effort. Discovering Grogan makes me feel like earlier readers must have felt when they picked up the first books by authors like Deaver and Patterson and said, "Hey, this guy"s really good!"

Mystery lovers rejoice!

"Vegas Die" is a truly entertaining must read. Grogan has taken the crime novel genre & given it an innovative new spin: finding the notorious $25,000 dagger hidden somewhere in Vegas. Brilliant! Everyone's always looking for an excuse to come to Vegas; now there's even more reason to: buy the book & come search for this valuable dagger . . . Can't wait for Stephen's next book.