Popular Books
Jerkwater
“The novel is by turns harrowing, comical, and heartwarming.”- BlueInk Reviews (starred review)
Plot
When 64-year-old Kay O’Brien hears her young Ojibwe neighbor, Shawna, scream out on the lake behind her house, she wants to help. Kay knows thegirl’s mother was killed years ago by a white man. What she doesn’t know is that Shawna may soon be in trouble herself. But Kay and her son, Douglas, are both fighting ghosts of their own. Kay keeps her husband’s ashes on top of the TV and talks to him every day while drinking stiff Manhattans and trying to ignore the onset of Alzheimer’s. Douglas, too, is carrying around the guilt of having ignored his father’s last request which may have been the cause for his heart attack.
These three lives become intricately woven together in a small Wisconsin town where racial tensions are churning just beneath the surface of what often appears to be placid, everyday life. JERKWATER is, ultimately, a story about the damage we sometimes do on the difficult journey toward healiing.
The Korean Word for Butterfly
“Very occasionally you pick up a book and from the very first page you know you are reading something quite special.” -Book Viral
Plot
Set against the backdrop of the 2002 World Cup and rising anti-American sentiment due to a deadly tank accident involving two young Korean girls, The Korean Word For Butterfly is told from three alternating points-of-view:
Billie, the young wanna-be poet looking for adventure with her boyfriend who soon finds herself questioning her decision to travel so far from the comforts of American life;
Moon, the ex K-pop band manager who now works at the English school struggling to maintain his sobriety in hopes of getting his family back;
And Yun-ji , a secretary at the school whose new feelings of resentment toward Americans may lead her to do something she never would have imagined possible.
The Korean Word For Butterfly is a story about the choices we make and why we make them. It is a story, ultimately, about the power of love and redemption.
The Cloud Seeders
“The structure is so beautifully complex; I can see teachers of creative writing using it as a model.” -Amazon Breakthrough Novel Expert Review
Plot
SERVE YOUR COUNTRY, CONSERVE YOUR WATER, OBSERVE YOUR NEIGHBOR
After nearly twelve months without rain and the hinges of the world barely still oiled, Thomas and his younger brother, Dustin, set out across a drought-ridden landscape in search of answers. What they discover along the way will change their lives, and their country, forever.
The Cloud Seeders weaves humor and heartache, as well as poetry and science, into a unique novel that defies categorization.
Water is good. Water is great...
The Roadrunner Cafe
“Zerndt’s jewel-like tale of a family grieving after the father’s suicide strikes every note right. The novel deserves rich praise and many readers.” – from Publisher’s Weekly’s The BookLife Prize in Fiction
“Every character has his or her particular preoccupations and Zerndt handles them with aplomb, using his large cast to shine varied lights on the themes of family, grieving, and hope after loss.” – Kirkus Reviews
Plot
One year after the suicide, Carson Long still hates his father. He hates him for abandoning his sister, Georgie, and for turning his mother into a young widow. And he hates his father for leaving behind his stupid tree. Four of them are planted outside the restaurant, one for each family member. That is until Carson’s mother hires a local landscaper to remove them in the middle of the night. This seemingly unremarkable act soon sets in motion of series of events that leaves more than just young Carson groping in the dark for answers.
Set in a small Colorado ski town, The Roadrunner Café is a unique novel told from multiple points of view about loss and the lengths some will go to heal the human heart.
