Showing results by author "KEVIN GROTE" in All Categories

THE MOUNTAIN IS INDIFFERENT. THE EMPIRE IS RELENTLESS. 1758. The Ohio Country is a furnace of shifting alliances and brutal warfare. To the west, the French "Star," Fort Duquesne, sits like a crown upon the rivers, guarded by the fiercest warriors of the Seneca and Delaware. To the east, the British Empire is bleeding. After the humiliating slaughter of General Braddock, the wilderness has become a graveyard for European ambition. Enter Brigadier General John Forbes, a man dying in a litter, driven by a cold, mathematical fury. He will not follow the old, blood-soaked paths. Instead, he ...

In the unforgiving winter of 1781, as the American Revolution struggles in the South, two very different commanders are on a collision course. On one side is the ruthless and ambitious British Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton, who believes that speed and overwhelming force can crush the rebellion. Opposing him is the ailing but brilliant Brigadier General Daniel Morgan, a master of unconventional warfare who understands both the land and his diverse forces of Continental regulars and militia. The narrative details Morgan's calculated retreat, which draws Tarleton into a perfectly ...

Little Turtle: The Rising in Ohio plunges into the brutal and relentless struggle for the Northwest Territories in the decades following the American Revolution, from 1785 to 1813. This historical novel offers a raw, immersive journey into a pivotal chapter of American history. The nascent United States, barely out of its swaddling clothes, finds itself a collection of squabbling states, bound by a weak central authority, attempting to claim the vast Northwest Territory ceded by Britain. Against this backdrop, American pioneers like Thomas and Elara MacGregor brave the untamed wilderness, ...

Sacrifice: The Maryland 400 during the Battle of Brooklyn by Kevin Grote A rivalry forged in the tobacco fields. A love caught in the crossfire. A war that demands the ultimate sacrifice. In the humid summer of 1776, as the drumbeat of revolution stirs the ancient dust of Maryland, cousins Elijah and Thomas Bowen find their lives, once as entwined as the tobacco vines, now twisted by discord and their shared desire for Annabelle Mattingly, a woman whose spirit is as unyielding as the summer sun. When the call to arms echoes through the colonies, Elijah, fueled by idealism and a desperate ...

This book serves as a contemporary spiritual companion, modernizing traditional liturgical forms and ancient wisdom for a diverse audience. It aims to revitalize prayer, reflection, and worship by using fresh language and relevant themes, making these practices accessible for individuals and communities alike. The book encourages spiritual growth, social engagement, and personal well-being, fostering humility, awe, flexibility, and forgiveness. Rooted in a Christian tradition, it maintains an ecumenical spirit and is designed to inspire readers on their personal journey of transformation ...

The Kings Mountain Boys is a historical fiction novel set during the American Revolution, exploring the pivotal Battle of Kings Mountain through the eyes of three fifteen-year-old boys. Elias, a silent woodsman, must trade his peaceful life for a rifle to defend his home. Thomas, an impulsive farm boy, sees the conflict as a chance for glory, only to find the brutal reality of war far from his romanticized dreams. Samuel, a loyalist clerk, grapples with his family's allegiances and becomes a quiet witness to the truth of the conflict. As their paths converge in the unforgiving wilderness of...

In the unforgiving spring of 1755, two young men with romantic notions of glory join a grand expedition into the American wilderness. Silas and Jeremiah, weary of their quiet lives in rural Virginia, enlist with Major General Edward Braddock's formidable army. Their objective: seize the French stronghold of Fort Duquesne. But the road is a crucible of bone-deep exhaustion, blistering heat, and the ever-present, unseen threat lurking in the dense forests of western Pennsylvania. As Braddock’s road grinds to a halt on the banks of the Monongahela River, the dreams of fortune give way to a ...

In the tumultuous birth of the American republic, a new breed of hero emerged—and a new kind of villain. Founding Scoundrel plunges into the dark heart of one such figure: General James Wilkinson, a man of dazzling charisma and ruthless ambition who rose to the highest ranks of the nascent United States. A veteran of the Revolution, a commander of the United States Army, and the Governor of the Louisiana Territory, Wilkinson was, by all outward appearances, a paragon of patriotism. Yet, a profound "deformity of the soul" drove him to see every person as a tool and every situation as an ...

Uncommon Sense: A Soldier's Tale of the American Revolution by Kevin Grote offers a visceral and unflinching look at the American Revolution through the eyes of the common Continental Army soldier. The narrative follows Thomas White, a young Connecticut farm boy whose romanticized notions of glory are quickly shattered by the brutal realities of war. Alongside his comrades—Silas Croft, the pragmatic frontiersman; Jasper Cobb, the meticulous observer; and Richard Coffren, the eager novice—Tom endures the squalor of camp life, the gnawing hunger, the biting cold, and the pervasive threat ...

In the brutal summer of 1763, the fragile peace on the American frontier shatters as Native American tribes, united under the formidable Chief Pontiac, rise up against the encroaching British forts. Caught in the desperate struggle for survival is Molly, a young woman whose life is irrevocably changed by the conflict. As the world she knows collapses, she is forced to confront the violence and trauma of war firsthand, bearing witness to a "brutal collision of worlds." When a daring British relief column, led by Colonel Henry Bouquet, marches to aid the besieged Fort Pitt, Molly's fate is ...

A kingdom is torn by the brutal War of the Roses, raging from the fields of Barnet in 1471 to the decisive clash at Bosworth in 1485. Amid this conflict, Lord Thomas Montrose, a principled Yorkist knight, finds his loyalties fractured by the ruthless acts of his own side. He crosses paths with Lady Elizabeth DeVere, a fiercely independent Lancastrian driven to protect her family. Their connection, born of shared disillusionment and forced proximity, blossoms into a forbidden love—a "crimson thorn". As Richard III seizes the "serpent's crown" and plunges the realm into fear, Thomas and ...

In the tumultuous wake of the 1746 Battle of Culloden, a Jacobite exile flees a broken Scotland to seek sanctuary in the New World. Arriving in the bustling chaos of Philadelphia in 1750, he finds himself a reluctant immigrant, his soldier's past a source of bitter shame. But as tensions rise between the British and French empires over control of the Ohio Country, a new opportunity arises. Recruited to join the newly formed Pennsylvania Rangers, he is thrust onto the savage American frontier. This is a world of brutal survival, where loyalties are tested, and the rules of Old World warfare ...

In the crucible of the American Civil War, Fitzwilliam Harrison, son of a revered general, faces a terror more profound than any battlefield: his own debilitating fear of combat. When his visceral dread compels him to resign his commission on the eve of battle, he is branded a coward by his closest friends, fiancée, and even his formidable father. The ultimate mark of his perceived shame? Four stark white feathers, symbols of a honor squandered and a future betrayed. Yet, this is not a story of surrender, but of a quiet, desperate, and anonymous redemption. Stripping away his identity, ...

In the closing years of the 19th century, New York City is a metropolis of innovation and burgeoning crime. A new kind of detective, known as the "Irregulars"—including the street-smart Jack O'Mara, the scientifically brilliant Rachel, and the stealthy Ellen—operates from the city's hidden corners. Their paths converge when they are recruited by New York City Police Commissioner Theodore Roosevelt. He tasks them with investigating a series of unusual occurrences: erratic power surges, strange flickering lights, and a peculiar hum. These events are linked to the mysterious disappearances...

A dying magic. A fading world. A cosmic race against time. In the hidden realm of Aethelgard, the vibrant energy that once pulsed through shimmering forests and liquid-light rivers is flickering out. The "Thin Spots" connecting this magical land to the quiet town of Oakhaven are growing cold, and even the stars in the human world seem to be losing their luster. Leo, Maya, Sam, Chloe, and Noah—the seasoned Oakhaven Keepers—soon realize they aren't facing a new monster or a dark sorcerer. Instead, they are witnessing the slow unraveling of the Celestial Tapestry itself. To save their ...

In a sleepy town, boredom is the biggest monster... until now. Leo is desperate for real adventure, not the kind he finds on a screen. But when strange things start happening—from inexplicably dying petunias to a ghostly silence in the local woods—he realizes the quiet town he hates is slowly unraveling. Ignoring the adults who dismiss the oddities as mere coincidence, Leo and his four unique friends—Maya (the bookworm), Sam (the tinkerer), Chloe (the empath), and Noah (the observer)—venture into the forbidden forest. There, behind a curtain of shimmering air, they stumble into a ...

The novel details the tragic and futile Crawford Expedition of 1782, which marked one of the American Revolution's most brutal defeats on the western frontier. In the spring of 1782, the western settlements are being ravaged by Native American raids, fueled by the British and spurred by the recent, horrific Gnadenhutten massacre. Brigadier General William Irvine, despairing of getting a professional army from a war-weary Congress, reluctantly authorizes a punitive expedition led by a volunteer militia—a "mob of vengeful men". The protagonist, Colonel William Crawford, a respected veteran ...

In the brutal American frontier of the 1740s, a land where beauty collides with savage ambition, young frontiersman Nathan Miller's world is shattered when the girls he secretly loves, Abigail Wilson and her younger sister Rebecca, are abducted in a brutal raid. What begins as a desperate pursuit fueled by innocent love quickly descends into a years-long odyssey, a relentless hunt through an unforgiving wilderness. As Nathan and his companions, including the quietly competent Renard LaFontaine, are relentlessly whittled away by the land and brutal conflict, Nathan undergoes a chilling ...

The year is 1806. The young American Republic is a nation of boundless ambition and profound uncertainty. Lieutenant Ethan Caldwell, a rising star in the U.S. Army, embodies this spirit, believing in the ideals of the new nation and his role in securing its borders. He finds a kindred spirit in Elizabeth Sterling, and their future together seems as promising as the vast Ohio Valley. But ambition breeds envy. Major Phineas Blackwood, coveting both Ethan's position and Elizabeth's affection, conspires with the shrewd Judge Jeremiah Hayes and Elizabeth's socially ambitious cousin, Genevieve ...

One hundred and forty pounds of tension. Ten years of slaughter. One chance at redemption.Thomas of Loxley is a machine of muscle and yew, a master of the longbow whose "English Song" has silenced thousands across the battlefields of France and Spain. But after the gore-soaked victory at Nájera, the machine breaks. Haunted by the eyes of the innocent and the weight of a stolen silver icon, Thomas abandons his unit and the "White Forest" of his lethal trade.He is now a deserter on the Road of Stars, the ancient pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. With the Black Prince’s Provost on his ...