In America’s newest colony, innocence is irrelevant and survival equals rebellion.
A corrupt president. A rigged system. An innocent man. And the 51st state of the union…
Though David Parnell grew up on the wrong side of the tracks, the future looks bright for him: his wife is the right hand of a local politician considering her own run for office, his business is thriving, and he has plenty of time to give back to the community services that saved him. Then a disgruntled coworker frames him for a crime he didn’t commit, and everything goes wrong.
In a sane version of America, David would be safe. But in this version, America has claimed the sovereign nation of Greenland as our fifty-first state. Greenland joined the union under the promise America would never drill for oil. However, the crooked President Hale is determined to break that promise. Behind the scenes, he has been turning Greenland into a prison camp. All he needs is free labor—and David and his fellow prisoners are prime candidates.
Now David is stranded in an unfamiliar country thousands of miles from home, barred from contact with his wife and children, and forced to work long, hard hours under the supervision of a cruel taskmaster. David must fight for his freedom, but how can he escape the clutches of an immoral government?
What do you owe your past when you’ve ruined someone’s present?
Mistakes Don’t Fade Away. They Return When We Least Expect It.
Jeffrey Weston and Bridgette Davis once loved each other. They envisioned a life together. But they blew it all up. One small piece of their relationship remained in Bridgette’s belly.
Now, married and living in Seattle, Jeffrey signs up for a genealogy website, looking for his birth parents. Simultaneously, in Baltimore, 18-year-old Catherine, a girl of grit, who has survived several stints in foster care because of her mom’s addictions, signs up to try to find the absentee father that abandoned her mom while she was pregnant.
A “message received” ping changes both of their lives forever.
Jeffrey must confront his past, face unresolved guilt over a failed adoption, and come to terms with how things have unfolded as a result of his actions.
Catherine must reconcile the deadbeat father she has heard about her entire life with the real Jeffrey, and how different his cushy life is, from the one she’s lived, at the mercy of social workers, and the bad hand her mother was dealt.
Can you make something right years later? Would you make the same choices?
Distant Relative explores what family really means, how our loved ones can hurt us most, and the perilous balance between past mistakes and future consequences.
About the Author
Joe Helensky, a native of Baltimore, is a graduate of Towson University in Maryland. He and his wife, Sue, have lived in Seattle for many years, which includes nearly thirty years in insurance.