Big Woods

Big Woods
Author: May Cobb
Publisher: Llewellyn Worldwide
Total Pages: 243
Release: 2018-07-08
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0738759236

"Stephen King's Stand by Me collides with Gillian Flynn's Sharp Objects in this exceptional thriller. Gutsy, gripping—and pitch-perfect in its resurrection of an era long gone."—A. J. Finn, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Woman in the Window When her sister disappears, the only clue Leah has is a cryptic message: Underground. By the Woods. It's 1989 in the sleepy town of Longview, Texas, when ten-year-old Lucy disappears. Her parents, the police, and the community all brace for the worst, assuming her body will soon be found in Big Woods. Just like the other unsolved kidnappings. But then Lucy's fourteen-year-old sister, Leah, starts having dreams about Lucy—dreams that reveal startling clues as to what happened. Leah begins her own investigation, and soon she meets a reclusive widow who may hold the key to finding Lucy...if only she can find the courage to come forward. Delving into the paranoia surrounding satanic cults in the 1980s, Big Woods is an emotionally wrought, propulsive thriller about the enormity of grief, the magical bond between sisters, and a small town's dark secrets. Praise: "Big Woods is perfectly timed to take advantage of the 1980s horror revival. Its historic details are excellent, down to the songs on Leah's car stereo. Cobb paints in Day-Glo and brings terrors of the night to life."—Foreword Magazine "Readers will be grabbed by Big Woods and sucked into the mysterious story. Hold on tight—it's worth it."—Criminal Element "Cobb's intense, heart-wrenching debut introduces a courageous, determined teen who must find her lost sister amid a disturbing atmosphere of paranoia and fear, crafting a compelling, suspenseful story reminiscent of William Kent Krueger's Ordinary Grace."—Library Journal (starred review) "Big Woods is a nuanced family story and also a heart-stopping thriller with surprising twists. Cobb taps into the fabulous '80s sensibility of Stranger Things and also into our deepest fears about safety, evil, trust, and the power of faith in what we don't understand. I couldn't put it down."—Amanda Eyre Ward, author of The Nearness of You and The Same Sky "Compulsively readable."—Rosamund Lupton, New York Times bestselling author of Sister "Big Woods is brilliant! Cobb has crafted a haunting thriller that dives deep into grief, family connections, and the dreadful power of fear. The novel succeeds as a rich exploration of emotion and a not-so-distant time while also shining as a riveting page-turner."—Owen Egerton, author of Hollow and writer/director of horror-comedy Bloodfest "Big Woods is such a blast—a page-turning thriller with '80s hair, like a Texan Stranger Things."—Amy Gentry, author of Good as Gone "Literally the best thriller I've read in years. Intensely gripping, so evocative of the late '80s, and a brilliant, original storyline. It's blinding."—Clare Empson, author of Him

The 1910 Slocum Massacre: An Act of Genocide in East Texas

The 1910 Slocum Massacre: An Act of Genocide in East Texas
Author: E.R. Bills
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Total Pages: 165
Release: 2014-05-13
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1625848447

In late July 1910, a shocking number of African Americans in Texas were slaughtered by white mobs in the Slocum area of Anderson County and the Percilla-Augusta region of neighboring Houston County. The number of dead surpassed the casualties of the Rosewood Massacre in Florida and rivaled those of the Tulsa Riots in Oklahoma, but the incident--one of the largest mass murders of blacks in American history--is now largely forgotten. Investigate the facts behind this harrowing act of genocide in E.R. Bills's compelling inquiry into the Slocum Massacre.

East Texas Troubles

East Texas Troubles
Author: Jody Edward Ginn
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
Total Pages: 268
Release: 2019-07-18
Genre: History
ISBN: 0806165472

When the gun smoke cleared, four men were found dead at the hardware store in a rural East Texas town. But this December 1934 shootout was no anomaly. San Augustine County had seen at least three others in the previous three years, and these murders in broad daylight were only the latest development in the decade-long rule of the criminal McClanahan-Burleson gang. Armed with handguns, Jim Crow regulations, and corrupt special Ranger commissions from infamous governors “Ma” and “Pa” Ferguson, the gang racketeered and bootlegged its way into power in San Augustine County, where it took up robbing and extorting local black sharecroppers as its main activity. After the hardware store shootings, white community leaders, formerly silenced by fear of the gang’s retribution, finally sought state intervention. In 1935, fresh-faced, newly elected governor James V. Allred made good on his promise to reform state law enforcement agencies by sending a team of qualified Texas Rangers to San Augustine County to investigate reports of organized crime. In East Texas Troubles, historian Jody Edward Ginn tells of their year-and-a-half-long cleanup of the county, the inaugural effort in Governor Allred’s transformation of the Texas Rangers into a professional law enforcement agency. Besides foreshadowing the wholesale reform of state law enforcement, the Allred Rangers’ investigative work in San Augustine marked a rare close collaboration between white law enforcement officers and black residents. Drawing on firsthand accounts and the sworn testimony of black and white residents in the resulting trials, Ginn examines the consequences of such cooperation in a region historically entrenched in racial segregation. In this story of a rural Texas community’s resurrection, Ginn reveals a multifaceted history of the reform of the Texas Rangers and of an unexpected alliance between the legendary frontier lawmen and black residents of the Jim Crow South.

Those Were the Days

Those Were the Days
Author: Neal Murphy
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
Total Pages: 201
Release: 2008-01-28
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1462817556

You are invited to return to the 1940s and 1950s with the author for a look at humorous events that happened in his life. Born and reared in San Augustine, Texas, life was truly in the slow lane. The Early Years – read about his first experience with chewing tobacco, and shooting his grandfather’s shotgun, raising a pet chicken, owning his first dog, and landing his first job. School Days – true stories of attacks by a goose, fishing with his coaches, and his initiation into high school, and a fight at school. College Years – working at a funeral home, a runaway cot, and experience with “white lightning”. Early Married Life – Burning his marriage license twice, a diddler on his roof, and go along on a lost weekend, read about the ditch nurse. Long Arm of The Law – Humorous incidents that happened while working as a police officer. Read about an embarrassing moment for the author, Baptist foxes, and dueling cops. A mail box in a cemetery causes questions. Home Town – Reminisce about a drive-in movie, a mystery drink, and catching a huge fish in a small pond. Finally, selling the old family house.

East Texas Serendipity

East Texas Serendipity
Author: Neal Murphy
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
Total Pages: 444
Release: 2015-09-26
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1514409194

This book explores the answers to lifes many questions, such as the following: Who was Sam Hill? What is Adams off ox? What is the difference between a redneck and a good ole boy? It is a lead pipe since you will enjoy reading this book because it is what it is, a fair-to-middling, rule-of-thumb, bird-in-the-hand explanation of the questions that you have always wanted to ask but never got around to.

Civil Rights in Black and Brown

Civil Rights in Black and Brown
Author: Max Krochmal
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Total Pages: 484
Release: 2021-11-09
Genre: History
ISBN: 1477323791

Not one but two civil rights movements flourished in mid-twentieth century Texas, and they did so in intimate conversation with one another. Far from the gaze of the national media, African American and Mexican American activists combated the twin caste systems of Jim Crow and Juan Crow. These insurgents worked chiefly within their own racial groups, yet they also looked to each other for guidance and, at times, came together in solidarity. The movements sought more than integration and access: they demanded power and justice. Civil Rights in Black and Brown draws on more than 500 oral history interviews newly collected across Texas, from the Panhandle to the Piney Woods and everywhere in between. The testimonies speak in detail to the structure of racism in small towns and huge metropolises—both the everyday grind of segregation and the haunting acts of racial violence that upheld Texas’s state-sanctioned systems of white supremacy. Through their memories of resistance and revolution, the activists reveal previously undocumented struggles for equity, as well as the links Black and Chicanx organizers forged in their efforts to achieve self-determination.

Evil Lives in East Texas

Evil Lives in East Texas
Author: Joseph D. Pate
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Total Pages: 298
Release: 2015-10-30
Genre:
ISBN: 9781515019763

With his son on the ground, Enzor stepped onto his left ear with the heel of his boot resting on Eddie's jaw and pressed him deeper into the gritty black soil. Raising the chain above his head, Enzor tore shirt and flesh with every swing. With every lash Eddie's mouth was filled with the soil he was tasked to work. With every scream of pain he choked on the dirt that invaded his nostrils. Then it stopped and he was able to lift his head from the dirt. Coughing up the earth that filled him Eddie turned to his father who was still standing over him. The sun peeked over Enzor's shoulder as he leaned down. "Now, get up and finish this field." He drops the trace chain and left his son in the dirt. Evil can be found in man, but true Evil resides in the soul of man. Pushing, pulling and gnawing at who you were or who you could become. Follow the true stories of Elbert Ensor Pate and his family, from his wedding day until his last breath. Each chapter can span hours or years and are told by his surviving children. This is a book of fiction but every story inside is true.

The East Texas Connection

The East Texas Connection
Author: Ronald Armstrong
Publisher: Dorrance Publishing
Total Pages: 108
Release: 2022-03-25
Genre: True Crime
ISBN: 1639374310

The East Texas Connection By: Ronald Armstrong The East Texas Connection is about many of the people and friends that make up Ronald Armstrong’s everyday life. The antics and situations that they and he are flung into are sometimes of their own accord and sometimes by accident. There's nothing better than true stories except true stories from Texas and outlaw antics. The outlaw antics range from motorcycles to the Piney woods to the body shop. There are hundreds of thousands of people just like Armstrong and his Brothers and Sisters in this book who can relate to these stories and might even have better ones than he tells. What makes this book unique is that Armstrong is willing to allow everyone a peek inside his world which has a vast range of interests from his Motorcycle Club, his Bigfoot sightings, hunting mishaps, encounters with the LAW, workplace chaos, Jesus and a .45, black powder explosions, haint's and so many varieties of stories that it's like a buffet of entertainment. Armstrong hopes that everyone who reads his book laughs and that the stories help readers disconnect from the everyday struggles and stresses of life.