Condemned by Fate. Redeemed by Love

Celia Klein is barely sixteen when the Nazis seize her and transport her to Auschwitz.                                                        Determined to survive, she endures three years of brutal work and starvation.

After Liberation, Celia returns home to Slovakia, only to find her parents are dead, neighbors have taken her house, and everyone views her with suspicion and resentment.  She is alone and friendless.

Then, unbelievably, Celia is arrested by the Soviets and falsely accused of being a German spy!

Again, she is thrust into a filthy boxcar and transported to one of the worst places on earth.     This time, Vorkuta, Siberia, a Soviet concentration camp one hundred miles above the Arctic Circle.

Work in the Vorkuta camp hospital saves her from certain death in the coal mines.                                                        But the guilt of what she did to survive in Auschwitz still torments her soul.

Until one miraculous day, an extraordinary man of courage, intelligence, and compassion is admitted to the hospital.

The bond they form opens Celia’s heart.

Will she find the courage to let go of her past?                                                                                                                                            Or will she cling to her guilt and fall deeper into the darkness of Siberia?

Kirkus Reviews says –                                                                                                                                                                                   “Romance blooms in the cold ground of a Russian gulag in this engaging work based on a true story.”

Love and Redemption is the true story of Cecilia Klein/Kovacova, told by her stepson, George Kovach.                  It is based on intimate, in-person conversations with Celia over many years and on the detailed memoirs of his father, Ivan Kovach.

If you want to know the backstory of why the author, Julia George (Julia Odegard and George Kovach) came to write Love and Redemption, you can find it on the Facts Behind the Fiction Page on this website.

Screwball comedy masquerading as a cozy mystery.

A good-hearted but bossy Russian Mama.

A handsome and hapless but still sexy ex-soap-star.

And a poodle
Who is Sherlock Holmes in a fur coat.

It’s five a.m. in the little California coastal town of Santa Maria del Lobo, and Professor Galya Popoff is waiting for her poodle to finish his rest-stop by the college Campanile.
In the darkness, two hundred feet over their heads, Chancellor Siegfried (“Nazi”) Nottbeck is honing his free climbing skills.

Suddenly, his body plunges out of the night sky.
And hits the bricks only two feet from Galya.
Detective Sergeant Lewis writes it off as a bizarre accident.

But Galya insists it was murder and decides to take charge of the investigation herself.                                                  She drafts her reluctant son, Lance Steele (a.k.a. Pavel Popoff)
A Soap star whose acting career has reached a new low—playing corpses.

He’s fled Hollywood, and bill collectors, to temporarily hide out at his mother’s place
and work on his tan.
The last thing he wants is to play Watson to her Sherlock.
But how do you say no to a feisty, bossy Russian mother?
She once locked horns with the Soviet KGB—and won!

This unlikely trio (two Popoffs and a poodle) swings into dizzying detective action.
Join them, as Galya tracks a shrewd and savvy murderer.
One who will kill anyone to keep the secret of the Dead Souls safe.

Santa Maria del Lobo hasn’t seen this much excitement
since The Great White Shark ate the prize-winning surfer from Australia.

“A great vintage, with an edge of barbaric murder, a hint of romance, and the smooth aftertaste of justice served.” Kirkus Reviews

“Dazzling!” “Suspenseful!”

Napa Valley has never looked more beautiful                    Or more terrifying.” Kirkus Reviews

Inspector Renzo Dante has never witnessed a crime scene as vicious
as the bizarre ritualistic killing at the San Francisco Opera House.
The strangely mutilated victim is the most famous winemaker in Napa Valley.
He’s also an old family friend.                                                                                                                                                                                  For Renzo it’s personal.

The secret lies in Napa Valley—America’s Eden.
Before Inspector Dante can get there, he must cross swords with the politically powerful of San Francisco.

And Inspector Dante doesn’t play well with politicians.

Pressured by time, hounded by the brass, resented by the Valley elites.
Renzo follows his own unorthodox road through a labyrinthof politics, greed and lust
To find a cold-blooded killer in the heat and dust of Napa Valley.
Where wine is thicker than blood.

Somewhere in this intoxicating paradise, the killer waits.
Like a serpent hidden in the vines.                                                                                                                                                          Watching through the scope of his high-powered rifle.

And Renzo is in the crosshairs.

Join The Mars Seven for the most awesome junior year abroad in thehistory of the universe!
Seven lucky kids from around the world are on their way to live with Martian families.
Seven Martian kids will soon discover Earth kids are just like them. Sort of.
Together they’ll eat weird Martian food, race dune buggies on the surface of Mars,
and make lasting friendships they’ll never forget.

But first they have to get there. 

And someone, somewhere, is determined to stop them.

Telepathic twins, Alta and Aaron, are on the trip and on the case.
Using their unique powers, can they track down the culprits?
Will anyone believe a couple of crazy kids?
Just when it looks like they’ve got it solved, the unthinkable happens.

Their Mars rover is sabotaged! With all fourteen Martian and Terran kids on board!

Stranded on the harsh surface of Mars, they must fight their way through a massive dust storm.
Will the air in their suits last long enought for them to be rescued?
Can they find shelter, or will they be swept away fry the fierce swirling winds?

The bond between the Mars Seven and their Martian brothers and sisters is the only thing keeping hope alive as they fight for survival on the Angry Red Planet.

The Hardy Boys meet The Martian Chronicles in this hands-across-the-stars adventure.