Category Archives: Lewis, Tom

Tom Lewis. Zena’s Law. New Bern, NC: McBryde Publishing, 2009.

Zena Carraway has every reason to question her decision to move to the little town of Tryon’s Cove.   The single mother of two, a nurse, moved to this coastal North Carolina town to work for Dr. Jim O’Brien, a general practitioner and town native.  Dr. O’Brien has lived elsewhere, so he brought new ideas with him when he moved back to Tryon’s Cove, but he knows how to gently work those ideas into the mix without upsetting people.  Not so Zena.  Her involvement in the PTA and Little League causes people to resent her and when she rebuffs some of the men in town, she makes a few very dangerous enemies.  Jim tries to protect her, but after she experiences violence and intimidation once too often, Zena takes matters into her own hands.  This novel portrays small town life in an unflattering way that leaves the reader wondering how much the twenty-first century South is like earlier, unhappy times.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2009, Coast, Lewis, Tom, Novels Set in Fictional Places

Tom Lewis. Sons of Their Fathers. Swansboro, NC: Tease Publishing, 2008.

In this the final volume in the Pea Island Trilogy, it is the late 1970s. Dieter Bach, a concert violinist, has been shot during a mugging.  Dieter’s hands have been so injured that he will not be able to resume his career. His manager, Sy, directs Dieter down a new path–that of conductor.  To prepare for that, Sy sends Dieter to his summer house on Roanoke Island where Dieter can study and practice.  Dieter soon meets the beautiful Susan Everette who is working as a waitress at a restaurant that Dieter frequents.  His attraction to her is instantaneous.

This is is story of Suzi and Dieter’s love. The couple move from the Outer Banks to Virginia as Dieter learns his new craft.  Dieter is undeterred by Suzi’s mixed race heritage, but when he meets Suzi’s parents he discovers an obstacle to their happiness that forces him to return to Germany, the land of his birth.  Characters from earlier novels in the trilogy–especially Horst von Hellenbach–figure in the plot, and remind the reader that the past is not really so far behind us.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2008, Coast, Dare, Lewis, Tom, Novels in Series

Tom Lewis. Sunday’s Child. Rocky Mount, NC: VP Publishing, 2006.

When Sunday’s mother dies in childbirth, she is handed over to a father who was unaware of her existence. Slick Everette is a gambling man, but a good cook, and he has been the cook for the surf men on Pea Island.  Sunday grows up among these men, nurtured by them, and learning to fish, hunt, swim, sail, cook, heal with herbs and roots, and see the beauty and dangers of the natural world.

The man-made world is something else.  In her teen years, as Sunday interacts with the white community on Roanoke Island and the mixed lot of men who do conservation work on Hatteras Island as part of the New Deal public works programs.  Sunday’s strength of character impresses everyone, but she is nonetheless victimized.  Her life takes an unexpected turn when German sailors on a special mission come ashore.

This is the first book in the Pea Island Trilogy.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2006, Coast, Dare, Lewis, Tom, Novels in Series

Tom Lewis. The Pea Island Trilogy.

This trilogy presents elements of the North Carolina’s coastal past in a new ways.  Sunday Everette, who grew up among the African-American community on Peas Island, displays the strength, heroism, and sea-knowledge of her community.  However, her world changes when the coast off Cape Hatteras becomes a battleground as American and English ships try to protect the ships bringing supplies to the armies fighting World War II in Europe.  German U-boats threaten the Allied ships, but one U-boat has a different mission: to transfer Nazi gold and a few special Germans to a new life in America.  Sunday becomes involved with one German, and their lives play out in a world of war, greed, and betrayal.

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Filed under 2000-2009, Coast, Dare, Historical, Lewis, Tom, Novels in Series, Series, Suspense/Thriller

Tom Lewis. Hitler’s Judas. Rocky Mount, NC: VP Publishing, 2007.

The second novel in the Pea Island Gold trilogy, Hitler’s Judas takes place during the same time period as series’ first novel, Sunday’s Child. However, this story is told from the perspective of two Nazis. One, Horst Van Hellenbach, is a celebrated U-boat captain, while the other is one of Hitler’s closest confidants. The other is Hitler’s right-hand man, Martin Bormann, who sees the end of the Third Reich coming and plans to escape to Pea Island, NC with a fortune in Nazi gold. After the Germans arrive on the North Carolina coast, Von Hellenbach’s story becomes entwined with that of Pea Island resident Sunday Everette.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2007, Coast, Dare, Historical, Lewis, Tom, Novels in Series, Suspense/Thriller