Rosemount Area Arts Council
Literary and Art Events

Winter/Spring 2025

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Mike Faricy

"The Big Gamble"

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February 20

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Dev Haskell receives a phone call from an old friend. It's feared Dev's old high school flame, Maddie McGuire, has fallen through the ice along the Mississippi River and can't be found. Dev hasn't seen her since she married ne'er do well, Colton Ferral. After attending the memorial service and reconnecting with her sisters, he comes away with more questions than answers.

 

Local crime lord, Tubby Gustafson, has some questions for Dev, too. Amazingly, Colton Ferral's name comes up. Of course, what better time to offer a spare bedroom on Airbnb, not to mention a surprise guest who arrives on the scene back and enjoy another delightful Dev Haskell tale.

A wonderful read to remind you that, actually, your life is pretty good! As always, Morton, Dev's Golden Retriever, provides a dose of sanity.

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Barb Geiger

"Paddle for a Purpose"

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March 20

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"You want to what?"

Barb regards her husband with incredulity at the prospect of paddling down the entire length of the mighty Mississippi River in their recently completed tandem kayak. Paddle for a Purpose sweeps the reader into a journey of faith and personal discovery, as Barb and Gene feel called to volunteer with charity organizations in quaint river towns along one of the most scenic and powerful river systems in America. Against a backdrop of picturesque settings and the river's changing moods, exciting and often humorous accounts of adventure and mishap intermingle with inspiring stories of healing, renewal, beauty, compassion and trust in God.

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Catherine Lyon

"Dark and Deep"

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Apri 17

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Don't dwell in the past—you might just die there.

Rosie has finally found a way to use her memory-stealing powers for good, extracting traumatic moments from the minds of veterans suffering with PTSD. But the turbulent memories keep clawing their way out of her subconscious: Night after night, she’s been tormented by visions of a red-lipped woman in sunglasses murdering her in a series of brutal scenarios. Just nightmares, she tells herself, phantoms born from the horrors her soldiers witnessed.

But the moment she sees the woman in the real world, arm-in-arm with young army vet Kyle Lockwaite, everything changes.

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When Kyle plummets off a cliff to his death just minutes later, the police are eager to declare it a suicide. After all, the last thing Sugarwood needs is another murderer. But Rosie knows the woman in sunglasses is responsible. She delves into Kyle's most traumatic memories for clues, finding plenty of people who might want him dead—but the mysterious woman is nowhere to be found. As Rosie and her boyfriend Noah chase the murderous phantom into the web of lies that led to Kyle's death, they find themselves tangling with crooked CEOs, devious ex-girlfriends, and missing memories, all woven together by a shadowy contractor known only as the Raven. Each step they take toward learning what happened to Kyle puts them further in the Raven's crosshairs. With their own lives hanging in the balance, they must decipher the truth before it's too late.

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Betty Passick

"Gangster in Our Midst"

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May 15

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Marshal Sweeney Delaney was just a rookie in his small Iowa town when Congress ratified the 18th Amendment. Prohibition threw the whole nation into a tailspin. Even teetotaling Christians jumped on the bandwagon and began making panther piss in a still behind the barn. Then—a Chicago gangster came to town. His name: Louie La Cava. Sweeney followed the adage: Keep your friends close; your enemies closer. Two old friends are part of his inner circle: Walter Bierkoff, a farmer and man of keen curiosity, and the perspicacious Father John Halpin, priest at the I. C. Catholic Church. BETTY BRANDT PASSICK is married and a grandmother, retired from a Fortune 500 Company, and spends her days with their bichon “Butters” at her side, while writing books renowned for their infusions of earthy soul, faith-isms, and Midwestern values. In early 2016, she decided to research the “mystery man” who first came to her Iowa hometown around 1920. Locals believed he had links to Al Capone, but no one knew for sure. Through FBI and police reports, newspaper accounts–and the embellished tales of those who knew the gangster best, she weaves this unique and sometimes wacky story. Gangster in our Midst is her third book.

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