Books published by Bancroft Press

What would happen if a respected American corporation agreed to develop chemical warfare on behalf of an anonymous client who turned out to be enemy terrorists? That's the central question in Morris' second novel, which blends high-end finance with international intrigue. At the centre of it all is Tim Mack, a trader who left a New York firm to begin anew in San Diego. Just as his life is starting to feel on track again, his new firm suffers a monumental blow when the research lab of a key client explodes, apparently exposing survivors and clean-up crew to a mysterious virus. San Diego detective Bob Moore senses there's more behind the explosion than a mere lab accident, and he and Tim unite to try to unravel the mystery.

When seventeen-year-old Sophia dares life to prove to her she should stay alive, her suffering is at its climax, her predicament at its worst, and her adolescence at its most difficult.

Music, television, cigarettes, junk food. In the world of Matthews's bitingly satiric novel, these industries all rely on and take advantage of teenagers for a large proportion of their incomes. High-school senior Todd Noland has grown tired of it and develops a unique idea. Stop buying it. Stop buying the products, the hype, and the peer pressure. All of it. With the aid of fellow senior Joel Karstan, he organises a protest against the neighbourhood convenience store that is effective enough to attract the attention of Annie McCullough. A 20-something executive for R2Rev, a music video cable channel boasting edgy and offensive hosts, she is young enough to appreciate the protest yet savvy enough to help carry it and her career forward. As the media attention builds, the teens set their sights on a new cause -- electing their history teacher to a seat on the town council.

In precisely the same spirit as Abelard and Heloise and Romeo and Juliet, Paul and Juliana are a fresh young couple who embody the near-impossible notion of perfect love. In this elegant, timeless, and lyrical love story, they walk the fine line between forbidden romance and tragic disaster that is the stuff of ageless myths. Paul is a sloppy genius who would rather sing and play his guitar on a street corner than take the SATs and have his pick of Ivy League schools. Juliana is a lovely musical prodigy kept under the thumb of her old-fashioned, Viennese-born parents. Author Richard Hawley revives the classical romance in order to ask age-old questions: Is true adolescent love possible? What is perfect love? And what is perfection? Paul and Juliana leave the answers up to you, while promising to take you on a magical journey of both personal and epic proportions.

"Meet Hank Collins, an astute, gutsy, and funny 13-year-old who's just finished the seventh grade at a public school in Baltimore's affluent suburbs. But all is not trouble-free for Hank. He must contend with a troubled family, an alien school, and a world otherwise booby-trapped with alluring but perilous possibilities.Hank is a page-turning, contemporary, coming-of-age story of growing up amidst this wreckage of a dangerous and suspenseful summer. From him, we hear the events of his life. We stand by him on the baseball field and at the dinner tables of his remarried parents. We walk with him into an epic, appalling, yet believable teenage party. We share with him an astounding encounter with adult weekend warriors. We see not just his confusions and dismays, but his grit, his honesty, and his vulnerability. We like him, and root for him, and care about him.Through a raw, real, and rewarding storyline, recounted with an understated elegance, and dialogue that is witty and captivating, we watch as he manages to evolve into a courageous, undaunted human being.As The Harvard Crimson observes, Hank is so authentic that one sometimes feels the need to check for that standard disclaimer reminding us that these characters are only fictitious. Hank bursts from the pages, vibrant and flawed. We feel his pain, share his sorrows, and rejoice in his triumphs.There is no holding back here, notes Pulitzer-Prize-winning writer Buzz Bissinger. There is no political correctness. The world that Hank sees and tells us about--a world fraught with pitfalls, potholes, protagonists, antagonists, decency, and deceit--is the world of the American pre-adolescent.Author Arch Montgomery never shies away from important issues, adds The Harvard Crimson, and never takes the easy way out in dealing with them. With a few deft strokes, he manages to compress every in-between shade of gray into the dialogue and actions of his characters. Like the state of the world it reflects, good and evil are not always so clear-cut. Part of Hank's journey of growth entails understanding and dealing with that realization.No wonder The Harvard Crimson concludes: ""Few novels have succeeded in capturing the essence of adolescence, but the likes of Tom Sawyer and Holden Caulfield are about to welcome the newest member to their ranks a 13-year-old boy named Hank... Arch Montgomery, impressive in an incandescent debut, shows a mastery of his craft and an unusually perceptive insight into the human heart."""

Small-town lawyer Shep Harrington should have known nothing good could come of a sudden visit from a stranger. When former soap-opera star Sydney Vail lands on his doorstep all keyed up, Shep figures he should help the damsel in distress, going so far as to agree to baby-sit her companion, a very intelligent chimp named Kikora. Problem is, Sydney doesn't return, and soon Shep learns that she stole Kikora from a drug-testing laboratory and is being sought in connection with the murder of the lab's head scientist. With the help of close friends, a very persistent investigative reporter, and one crotchety old attorney, Shep decides to help defend Sydney, all the while becoming enlightened about the plight of laboratory animals.

For Whom the Minivan Rolls is a family comedy and mystery about Aaron Tucker, a freelance journalist/screenwriter and work-at-home dad in suburban New Jersey, who's selected by his town's richest resident to find his missing, then murdered wife, and who bumbles his way to connecting the dots and sniffing out the killer and why.

Using a ''novel approach'', Susan Laubach painlessly and engagingly explains the basics of investing through the story of Missy Kitt. An investment novice, Kitt lands a job at an over-the-hill brokerage firm headed by the somewhat stodgy Mr Caboodle. As Kitt learns the basics of investing from the inside, you will absorb useful concepts such as the Ten Commandments for Investing and the Four-Season Portfolio Plan. Includes investing worksheets. A successful portfolio manager and 15-year veteran of a major brokerage firm, Laubach teaches investment basics to groups and individuals across the USA.

Wilber Winkle, an idiosyncratic nebbish with a peculiar focus on the odd and unlikely fact, has corresponded for years with America's major corporations. Fueling his complaints and comments is a single overriding premise: that the rights of consumers - his rights - are under siege, and he must do what he can to defend them. Employing the exasperating curiosity of a six-year-old and far-fetched notions which only he can devise, Wilber will have readers laughing aloud, trying to read their favorite Wilber letters to friends and relatives without cracking up.

In this book, his first as movie critic, Hunter does what no one else has done - identified the most important or notorious 100 movies released since 1982, organized them by topic, and analyzed them for how they uniquely deal with, and what they say about, violence. Because it deals with a subject on the minds of many Americans and American politicians, Violent Screen is thus extraordinarily timely. Yet, as a serious book by a serious reviewer, it is timeless, too. It's also entertaining. Hunter's movie-reviewing is rife with energy, humor, sharp-edged analysis, and intensity. He's a man who loves the movies so much he can't walk away from a reviewing job at a daily newspaper despite earning substantial sums on each of the novels he now writes. His first book of non-fiction will appeal to the millions of film and video lovers whose idea of entertainment is a regular trip to the movie theater or the video store, and whose idea of a good discussion is one centering on a recent or important movie they've seen at home or in a theater.

Aaron Tucker, aspiring New Jersey screenwriter and occasional freelance journalist, puts on his sleuthing hat after a young man with Asperger''s syndrome is arrested for a senseless murder. Despite damning evidence, including the accused''s confession and possession of the murder weapon, Tucker, who has an autistic son, finds the nature of the crime incompatible with his understanding of the suspect''s symptoms. Persisting even after a local mobster warns him off, the amateur detective uses his son to pursue the truth.