|
Mountain Lake Press was founded in 2008 by two author-editors with long experience, both of whom cherish fine writing – fiction and non-fiction alike. Our aim was to offer high-quality but reasonably priced books and multimedia products. We published our first title that year: the deeply thoughtful debut novel Requiem for the Bone Man by R.A. Comunale, M.D.
Then we published our first non-fiction offering, the fourth edition of Safe Young Drivers: A Guide for Parents and Teens by Phil Berardelli. In print since 1996, this renowned book on driving instruction has been highly praised by a host of experts and reviewers.
Also in 2008 we released the second and third books by R.A. Comunale: the delightful Berto's World, a collection of short stories about the youthful days of Robert Galen, the protagonist of Requiem for the Bone Man; and The Legend of Safehaven, the second installment of the trilogy The Safehaven Chronicles, which began with Requiem for the Bone Man.
In 2009 we released on CD the unabridged narration of Berto's World as well as Dr. Comunale's second short-story collection, Dr. Galen's Little Black Bag. The book outsold the works of 90 other authors, including celebrities and bestsellers, at the annual National Press Club Book Fair in Washington, D.C., that year.
In 2011 – after a year of editing and production – we published, as our first hardcover and electronic editions, The Craft We Chose: My Life in the CIA by Richard L. Holm. The Craft We Chose is an outstanding memoir by a legendary member of the intelligence community, and it immediately received rave reviews. We followed, in paperback and ebook, with Clover, the concluding volume in Dr. Robert Comunale's The Safehaven Chronicles trilogy. Just as Dr. Galen's Little Black Bag had done in 2009, Clover topped all sellers at the 2011 National Press Club Book Fair.
Also in 2011, we released electronic versions of Safe Young Drivers and The Driving Challenge: Dare to Be Safer and Happier on the Road, Phil Berardelli's audacious blueprint for reforming aggressive drivers. We then published Dr. Comunale's other four novels as ebooks. And in December, we debuted Phil's Favorite 500: Loves of a Moviegoing Lifetime. The title, available at first only in ebook form, presented a wealth of movie recommendations based on Phil Berardelli's years as a TV movie critic and his lifelong affair with motion pictures. Phil included many links to clips, previews and selected featurettes covering nearly every movie on the list, so readers could sample the recommendations instantly.
Breaking new ground in 2012, we released, simultaneously, the hardcover, downloadable audio and electronic versions of Adventures in the Scream Trade: Scenes from an Operatic Life. A frank, insightful and frequently uproarious memoir by Charles Long, the book presents a vivid, behind-the-scenes look at the world of opera made accessible to all adult readers. The author personally recorded the excellent and captivating narration. Also in 2012, we released downloadable audio versions of R.A. Comunale's five books, all beautifully narrated by Ron David, whose voice has been familiar to viewers of the Discovery and History channels, and many other TV outlets.
And 2012 marked the beginning of D Street Books, our imprint for an eclectic range of electronic and audio titles. First was the ebook version of The Caliphate, a tense spy thriller by André Le Gallo, former senior intelligence officer with the CIA.
2013 saw our next new title and another audio version. Among Enemies: Counter-Espionage for the Business Traveler, by Luke Bencie, an internationally known expert on the topic, provides essential advice on protecting yourself and your proprietary business information while abroad. The downloadable narration of The Craft We Chose: My Life in the CIA represented the seventh addition to our growing audio library.
Our 2014 releases included two more André Le Gallo ebooks featuring CIA operative Steve Church: Satan's Spy, in which Church and Kella Hastings – his partner and significant other – attempt to thwart an impending Iranian cyber attack against the United States, and The Red Cell, a spy thriller that begins in downtown Washington, D.C., then sweeps across Europe and climaxes in San Francisco Bay. We also released, in hardcover and as an ebook, Hillwilla, a fascinating story from veteran writer but first-time novelist Melanie Forde. Set mostly in West Virginia during a bleak Appalachian winter, Hillwilla will bewitch you from its abrupt opening to its life-affirming conclusion. The National Press Club selected Hillwilla as one of only two literary novels at its 37th annual Book Fair in November, an event featuring more than 100 authors.
2014 also included Luke Bencie's second and highly acclaimed book, Global Security Consulting: How to Build a Thriving International Practice, which we released in hardcover and as an ebook.
In 2015, the Library of Congress selected all five audio versions of R.A. Comunale's novels, as well as Charles Long's narration of his superlative opera memoir, for the national Books for the Blind program, a singular honor. New print and electronic releases included our most important title to date, Inside Jihad: How Radical Islam Works, Why It Should Terrify Us, How to Defeat It, Dr. Tawfik Hamid's brilliant analysis of the worldwide terror network; and On the Hillwilla Road, Melanie Forde's excellent sequel to Hillwilla.
In 2016, we released a unique and valuable resource for the nation's exploding population of senior drivers. Published as an inexpensive paperback and as an ebook, Drive On! Preserve and Prolong Your Time on the Road contains essential information compiled by editor Phil Berardelli and an exceptional group of journalists and experts.
In 2018, we published paperback editions of all of our hardcover editions plus two new novels by Melanie Forde. Reinventing Hillwilla provides the satisfying conclusion to her trilogy involving the residents of fictional Seneca County, West Virginia. And in Decanted Truths, Forde explores her own ethnic roots in a sprawling saga about an Irish-American family in the first part of the 20th century. We also published an update of Phil's Favorite 500, in paperback as well as an ebook. We released the long-awaited, updated paperback edition of The Driving Challenge. And we released Small Wonders, a most entertaining and insightful compilation of reviews and commentary by Jessie Thorpe, former book critic for United Press International.
In 2020, we released seven new products, including three already in our catalog but not previously available in paperback. They include Phil's 2nd Favorite 500, which continues his inimitable commentary on the movies; Jessie Thorpe's hauntingly beautiful novel Bolton Roper, the saga of a young wife of a spy; The Driving Doctor, Phil Berardelli's concise guide to developing good habits behind the wheel; and quality-paperback versions of The Caliphate, Satan's Spy and The Red Cell, André Le Gallo's riveting and exquistely detailed spy trilogy. And we published, posthumously, Raven 5: An Airman's Story, Edward Connor's personal account of his four decades in military aviation.
For 2021, we released two updates of perennials: the 25th Anniversary Edition of Safe Young Drivers, still considered the best book on driving instruction ever written; and the 20th Anniversary Edition of The Driving Challenge, aimed at improving the habits of all adults on the road. Much more voluminous but an essential guide nevertheless, we published Phil's 1001 Nights at the Movies, a streamlined follow-up to Phil's Favorite 500 and Phil's 2nd Favorite 500.
Still in production is Mr. Bridges, Jessie Thorpe's fine second novel, the deceptively simple, captivating story of a middle-age man's crisis of conscience; and The Quarryman’s Girl, Melanie Forde’s fifth novel, chronicling the life and ordeals of two Quebecois sisters who settle in Quincy, Massachusetts, in the early 20th century.
For 2022, we plan to publish Phil’s 3rd Favorite 500, completing Phil Berardelli’s trilogy of movie loves. We plan to update both Inside Jihad and Among Enemies to cover world developments since their original releases. And we are working on In the Stars, a fascinating collection of essays and reports about the cosmos.
Please check this page periodically for more updates.
For ordering information on our titles as they become available, please visit the Buy Our Books page.
We began our business with an audacious slogan: "Home to some of America's best booksTM." As the lengthy and impressive list of endorsements and reviews on our homepage demonstrates, we think we have honored that commitment – and we will continue to work hard to maintain our reputation.
|