Books
"UNUSUAL OCCURRENCES"
My first published E-book is named “Unusual Occurrences.” It is a non-fiction para-normal book of ghost stories my audiences have told me. If you feel you want to inspect the first 20% of this non-fiction book go to Smashwords and type in my name Paul Goebbel in the author window and it will appear. After reading the sample, please email me back and tell me how you liked it.
“UTOPIA” is a Mystery /Thriller
Utopia: A man’s search for self
Utopia is the story of Evan Sacks, a young man that grew up as an orphan who decides to risk it all by accepting a cryptic offer to move to a closed society on an island in the Atlantic. The society began in the seventeenth century, as a rebellion against religious oppression in England.
A mysterious stranger that at first frightens and then intrigues him approaches Evan at a convention for environmental studies. Evan, disillusioned by his job, lifestyle, and his childhood in an orphanage has created a longing to belong. His feelings of inferiority and uselessness have reached a critical point. Will he take a chance, to what he imagines is an island paradise that promises fulfillment of what he has always hoped for in his unsatisfied life.
The island is presented as a throwback to an earlier time. A time that Evan images is a slower, gentler time, a time that allows people to enjoy life, and fulfill dreams without the crush of image, self-promotion, greed and relentless gain. He feels the need for acceptance into what he considers a family. The presentation of the ideals of this community seems to be the fulfillment of all of Evans desires for a place to belong and a true family. His desire to belong blinds him to their real intentions. Evans journey is a journey of self-discovery, for not only himself but also an unexpected ally as he travels the convoluted motives of this island society. Is the offer a life changer, or is it poisoned by ulterior motives?
​
“Ghosts of the Civil War and other Hauntings”, Non-fiction Paranormal genre
Why do spirits of the Civil War dead still haunt the visitors of today? Ghosts of the Civil War and other Hauntings will attempt to answer that and other questions about those occurrences. Using documented ghostly occurrences at Civil War sites, I then report first-person accounts of modern day visitors to those same sites and other sites where visitors have experienced unexplainable occurrences. Read stories involving mysterious chance encounters of the living with long-dead participants at historic sites like Gettysburg, Harpers Ferry, and other Civil War sites. Learn the story behind the greatest ship disaster in American history, greater than the Titanic disaster 47 years later.
People will share first-person accounts of their own very personal experiences involving, in some cases, spirits of long-dead people known to them, chilling stories of visitations from beyond, eerie helping hands, some aiding and comforting loved ones in times of need. Some of these stories involve people tempting fate with Ouija boards, antique mirrors, and other haunting experiences. All these occurrences are personal experiences shared by one person to another. Experienced paranormal investigators have given their insight on these encounters, but still cannot fully explain what is happening and why.
I, like you, am an audience to these people and to be fair to them we must accept the stories at face value, without judging. One thing I can attest to is that the people who told me the stories that I relate here honestly believe their experiences. It is enough that the people sharing these experiences believe that something happened to them. As Joshua Chamberlain, of the 20th Maine, during the Civil War said, “I don’t know what happened. All I know is something happened.” In the end, they are their stories. Moreover, they trusted me enough to tell me about it. I hope you enjoy and are amazed.
​
Civil War Spy, “A series of novels of the American Civil War”, Historical Thriller. Current working titles, “Jonathan Darby, Civil War Spy”, and “William, fugitive slave Civil War Spy”.
Set against the backdrop of the turbulent times leading up to the Civil War, with the Democratic Government of the United States teetering on the brink of calamity. It is the first installment in a five-book Civil War Spy series. Jonathan’s story concerns a man hired as an agent of the Pinkerton’s Detective Agency of Chicago. His assignment is to protect the railroad property of the Illinois Central Railroad, in that capacity, he learns of a plot to kill the President-Elect Abraham Lincoln in Baltimore Maryland. With the success of that mission, Pinkerton summons him to the soldier-inundated city of Washington to work as an agent to ferret out the spy networks that are blooming in the actual departments and offices of the Government.
Bristling with breath-taking adventures, with sweeping events happening daily, the story is deftly grounded in historical fact yet always gripping and poignant. The story follows two diverse men, teamed as partners, one a typical 19th-century white man and the other a fugitive slave. Both men are not agreeable, but as William, the slave says, “I hate slavery more than I hate you.” Together they infiltrate a gritty, and pulsating tangled network of treason and subterfuge featuring a vivid backdrop of Southern Sympathizers bent on nothing less than the defeat of the Union. It is a celebration of the power of the human spirit to persevere in the face of great adversity.
Jonathan like most people of the time finds himself unaware and uncaring about the plight of the slaves in the south. Washington at the time is not only the Capital of the Republic but also predominately a southern city with over 3,000 constitutionally protected slaves in its environs, he like others are confused about the issues facing the Republic.
Jonathan and William quickly learn that there is another enemy to their mission of spy catching. William’s half-brother and ex-slave master and father are involved in the search for him and the plot to overthrow the Union.
The book features a chronical of the everyday events in Washington leading up to the Battle of Bull Run. Jonathan is a confidant of Mrs. Rose O’Neil Greenhow and helps to uncover her and her spy network.
It is through these men that would become spies to defend the nation that they and their fellow citizens love. Historically accurate, rich in character, filled with the drama of the unspeakable sin of slavery, unknown troubles threatening to destroy the Nation that would, in the end, define it.
The series will speak to the hopes, dreams, and the raw power that made them fight to protect themselves and their Nation. It is a close-up, involved experience, and the sort of vibrant glimpse beneath the veneer of history that only the very best fiction can provide.
William Book 1: William, Fugitive Spy of the Civil War: A Slaves Redemption; one man’s Civil War: The Escape
This book traces the same events as Jonathan Darby, Civil War Spy, Book One, From Baltimore to Bull Run, Spring 1861, except it explains the events from the perspective of a fugitive slave. He like the other slaves living in the United States felt the sting and degradation of slavery and had very little interest in involving themselves in what most would call the white man’s war.
Set against the backdrop of the turbulent times leading up to the Civil War, with the Democratic Government of the United States teetering on the brink of calamity. It is the first installment in a five-book Civil War Spy series. William’s story concerns a fugitive slave coerced into becoming an agent of the Pinkerton’s Detective Agency of Chicago.
Bristling with breath-taking adventures, with sweeping events happening daily, the story is deftly grounded in historical fact yet always gripping and poignant. The story follows two diverse men, teamed as partners, one a fugitive slave, the other a typical 19th-century white man. Both men are not agreeable, but as William, the slave says, “I hate slavery more than I hate you.” Together they infiltrate a gritty, and pulsating tangled network of treason and subterfuge featuring a vivid backdrop of Southern Sympathizers bent on nothing less than the defeat of the Union. It is a celebration of the power of the human spirit to persevere in the face of great adversity.
William’s partner Jonathan is like most people of the time is unaware and uncaring about the plight of the slaves in the south. Washington at the time is not only the Capital of the Republic but also a predominately a southern city with over 3,000 constitutionally protected slaves in its environs, he like others are confused about the issues facing the Republic.
William and Jonathan quickly learn that there is another enemy to their mission of spy catching. William’s half-brother and ex-slave master and father are involved in the search for him and the plot to overthrow the Union.
The book features a chronical of the everyday events in Washington leading up to the Battle of Bull Run. Jonathan is a confidant of Mrs. Rose O’Neil Greenhow and helps to uncover her and her spy network.
It is through these men that would become spies to defend the nation. Jonathan loves the Union and is willing to fight to preserve the republic. While William, an ex-slave must overcome the degradation of slavery to find his loyalty to the republic. Historically accurate, rich in character, filled with the drama of the unspeakable sin of slavery, unknown troubles threatening to destroy the Nation that would, in the end, define it.
The series will speak to the hopes, dreams, and the raw power that made them fight to protect themselves and their Nation. It is a close-up, involved experience, and the sort of vibrant glimpse beneath the veneer of history that only the very best fiction can provide.