Books

A riveting tale of two children from different worlds who are trying to survive the evil of both Hitler and Stalin. The time is 1940-1945. The place is war-torn Eastern Europe. A young girl finds herself suffering the retributions from the fallout of Nazi Germany’s “FInal Solution” to rid the world of the Jewish race.  At the same time a young German boy finds himself suffering the brutal retaliation of Stalin’s Russia, who are hell-bent on ridding Eastern Europe of every single ethnic German. Their young lives parallel through these years, and finally cross. What they discover is a kindred spirit that chooses life!

Diane Carey; New York Times Best-Selling Author Karl Manke has an uncanny way of cracking open the movie reels of our minds and finding the gems of America at the dawn of the automotive age. He teases out little places we've never heard before, but that really exist, like Harsens Island, a place with secrets and stains - real ones. He puts a mirror in front of these unheralded closets and makes us look at ourselves as if we're standing there, at that time, feeling the waves of the Great Lakes, living the seamy dangers, bumping into those people, and even smelling the aromas we think we've forgotten. I wasn't there, but I feel as if I were." Anthony Horns; Award-Winning Author, Journalist, Filmmaker Sixteen-year-old 'Frankie' Morgansky was born and raised on Harsens Island, a marshy 19-square mile plot at the mouth of the St. Clair River, 50 miles northeast of Detroit. Being an expert marksman and outdoorsman serves this teenager well as a sniper in World War I France, where he killed the Kaiser's soldiers with precision. Resourcefulness wold also serve the young man well (or would it?) when Prohibition, Formally known as the Volstead Act, goes into effect in 1920. It wold plunge America into unfettered violence for more than a decade. Karl Mane's eighth novel, "Harsens Island Revenge" follows 'Frankie' a first generation Russian Jew, who after the war, chooses a very dangerous career path in search of his fortune. Controlling Harsens Island and flooding Detroit, Chicago, and much of the country with illegal booze, was the infamous and most lethal mob of the era, The Purple Gang. Headed by the Bernstein brothers, the Purples were said to be the only mobsters feared by Al Capone. Meticulously researched and described in vivid detail, Mr. Manke develops a rich, eclectic cast of characters, and he weaves them into a fascinating yarn set against the turbulence of The Roaring '20s. "Harsens Island Revenge" is highly recommended! It very well could be Mr. Manke's best work yet.

This novel reflects the hopelessness of societal constructs. Like Jay Gatsby (THE GREAT GATSBY) my story represents the great American dram and how some people will go to any length to get what they want -- even if that mean getting their wants through criminal acts. With her ambitions never quenched. Roberta Welch. is seen as a delusional dreamer that is prepared to achieve power and use it to acquire even more power. What lends itself to her ruthless corruption is how she has given  herself over to the concept of the end justifying her means and disregarding how corrupt these means and ends may be.

Many of us spend our lives falling short in reaching our true selves, but in this work you will discover it’s never too late to develop into the person whom you have been predestined to become. You need no longer remain a hostage of your past. This story is designed to help you share in the success of discovering whom you are intended to be. Additionally, this piece will help you discover life isn’t about finding yourself, life is about creating yourself. (The best way to predict your future is to create it. — Abe Lincoln) Every reader will find themselves deciding if they will walk in the light of creative altruism or spend their whole life waiting for the storm, resulting in never enjoying the present sunlight. Victory belongs to the most persevering. Enjoy the story and the “you” which you are capable of becoming.