Jack Regan

Jack Regan

About

Jack W. Regan has writing in his blood. His mother being a writer and English teacher, it wasn't long before Jack was trying his own hand at creative writing.At sixteen he won 2nd place in a national essay contest and was editor of his high school newsletter. At college he served on staff at the campus newspaper and, the next year, was promoted to editor-in-chief.Once out of college he continued his love affair with words and in 2004 began a popular online book review service. In 2007 he withdrew from reviewing to focus all his attention on writing.The next year he published Duke Dookums, Frontier Hero, a zany western for young boys, and contracted out for some non-fiction works. Regan is also an annual judge in Baker Trittin Press’s Tweener Time International Chapter Book Competition.T’Aragam is Regan’s first juvenile fantasy novel.

A Shadow in Yucatan

A Shadow in Yucatan

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Description

<p>A mythical jewel of a story… A true story told on a beach in Yucatan, A Shadow tells Stephanie's story but it was also the story of the golden time. Its nostalgia sings like cicadas in the heat.</p><p>An American ‘Under Milkwood’, this distilled novel of the Sixties evokes the sounds, music and optimism on the free-wheelin streets and parks of Coconut Grove. You can hear Bob Dylan still strumming acoustic; smoke a joint with Fred Neil; and Everybody’s Talkin is carried on the wind.</p><p>Stephanie, a young hairdresser living in lodgings finds herself pregnant. Refused help from her hard Catholic mother in New York, unable to abort her baby, she accepts the kindness of Miriam, her Jewish landlady, whose own barren life spills into compassionate assistance for the daughter she never had.</p><p>The poignancy of its ending, its generosity and acceptance, echoes the bitter disappointment of those of us who hoped for so much more, but who remember its joy, and its promise, as though untarnished by time.</p>

Story Behind The Book

Reviews

<span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:16px;line-height:normal;"></span><p><strong><em>Alex McGilvery </em></strong><em>(<a href="http://www.armchairinterviews.com/">Armchair Interviews</a>):</em> <span class="style9" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:14px;">I enjoyed reading this book. Max is a believable thirteen year old. Jack W. Regan has given his young protagonist just the right mix of teen-aged confidence and uncertainty. He doesn’t magically transform into a hero with adult sensibilities and talents, but he does grow and mature during the course of the story. The cast of supporting characters is a mix of creatures and people. Regan does some unexpected things with his characters. There is a great deal of humor in the story, but no one is present only for comic relief. On the other hand, even the most powerful have weaknesses that make them human.</span> <strong><em><span class="style11" style="font-size:16px;">Read the entire review at <a href="http://reviews.armchairinterviews.com/reviews/t-aragram-the-max-ransome-chronicles">Armchair Interviews</a></span></em></strong></p><p><strong><em><a href="http://kcsbooks.blogspot.com/">Kristin Callender</a> </em></strong><em>(author of </em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Truth-Lies-Dark-Kristin-Callender/dp/1604520140/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1243963662&amp;sr=1-1">The Truth Lies in the Dark</a><em>): </em><span class="style9" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:14px;"><em>T'Aragam: The Max Ransome Chronicles</em> by Jack W. Regan is a great new Juvenile/Fantasy novel. It is a story of medieval meets magic and is packed with adventure. The characters will have you laughing, cheering, and some you will just love to hate.<br /><br />Max Ransome is thrust into a dangerous adult world at the young age of 13 after he witnessed his father's death and then is forced to fight to save his own. As the story progresses he realizes that it is not just his own life that is at risk, but all of the lives in T'Aragam. His father, Lord Ransome was a great and powerful ruler, but with him gone there is no stopping the evil Zodak and his army of Phantors from taking over the land and imprisoning the people. Is a boy of 13 any match for an evil empire? To find out he must learn who to trust and, most importantly, he has to learn to trust himself. <br /><br />Max is befriended by some interested characters along the way. A pair of monster brothers, named Doom and Gloom, who are reduced to tears at every new obstacle. A clumsy medgekin, named Gramkin, who is motivated by his addiction to cheese, and a loyal wizard, named Zohar, who just happens to be the brother of the evil Zodak. Then you add the dark assortment of enemies like the beautiful Ariaal, whose magic and looks prove to be a treacherous combination and, of course Bob, the sea ever hungry sea serpent.<br /><br />I recommend T'Aragam. It has everything to captivate the imagination; danger, excitement, humor, and endless adventure.</span></p><p><em><strong>Booker Looker</strong> (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/TAragam-Jack-Regan/dp/1442114592/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1245075616&amp;sr=8-1">Amazon.com</a>):</em> <span class="style9" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:14px;">I was teased with the beginning of this book before it was published. Then I had to wait to read young Max out of the trouble I had read him in to. As soon as I started reading, it happened again. Me and Max in and out of one thing after another. I couldn't stop and I enjoyed every minute of it too.</span></p><p><em><strong>Amazon Expert Reviewer: </strong></em><span class="style9" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:14px;">Great imaginative details. I loved the chuckle bugs and the description of the phantor. The interaction between Max and Gramkin is amusing. A story featuring them as foils to each other would be interesting...a story that could have wide appeal -- from young adults on up...</span></p><p><em><strong>Amazon Expert Reviewer: </strong></em><span class="style9" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:14px;">This is a bit like <em>Lord of the Rings</em> but has some elements of <em>Inkheart</em> to it. I like stories with wizards in them, so this is an obvious good start. Gramkin reminds me somewhat of a hobbit, or one of the brownies from <em>Inkheart</em>, perhaps a combination of the two. The description of the phantors is quite eerie and I am interested to know more about the dark woods. I also like the fact that Gramkin is willing to risk his neck for cheese. It adds humor to the story without seeming out of place. This is...very good.</span></p><p><em><strong>C. Sparks </strong>(reader from Huntington, WV):</em> <span class="style9" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:14px;">This was a well written fantasy fiction. It had an interesting collection of characters and a good story line with lots of humor throughout. I enjoyed this book very much and am looking forward to reading other books by this author.</span></p><p><em><strong>Tim Nies </strong>(reader from Chicago, IL): <span class="style9" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:14px;">T' Aragam</span></em><span class="style9" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:14px;"> by Jack Regan is fantasy fiction through and through. The story…slowly lets the arch of tension build. Something is afoot and it’s coming from the Dark Wood. This is a fine adventure story that's well written and fast paced. I enjoyed it and look forward to see what...Jack Regan will bring next.</span></p>