BOOKS
Books by Rae Richen
Historical Romantic Suspense, Young Adult Historical Thrillers, and Nonfiction titles available below
Scapegoat: The Price of Freedom
When the Price of Freedom is More than You Can Afford…
Fourteen-year-old Gilbert (Gib) Evans is caught in the anti-communist hysteria of 1953 when he writes an essay for his English class calling for loyalty oaths. His teacher is so impressed he sends the essay to the local paper.
The essay by a ‘concerned child’ is printed and becomes a catalyst in the decision to require all teachers to sign loyalty oaths that are known to be a trap for future perjury accusations.
Gib fears that his favorite teacher and his Quaker parents will refuse to sign the oath and lose their jobs. When local leaders use threatening tactics to force people to take the oath, Gib struggles to understand the powerful manipulation of emotions that creates public fear.
As panic about communism grows into hatred and rage, can Gib and his friends undo the disaster he has helped create? But Gib learns that turning off, or even deflecting mass hysteria is nearly impossible—and very dangerous.
Sign in to preview the first chapter free.
Scapegoat: The Hounded
Scapegoat a Coming of Age Political Thriller
Seventeen-year-old Alexander Evans-Lloyd and his friend Haroon Qubadi fight for Haroon’s father who is unjustly accused of supporting terrorism. The teens are helped by Alexander’s grandfather, Gilbert Evans and his friends (first met in The Price of Freedom). The Hounded creates a timely exploration of prejudice and the intersection of media, politics and religion. Richen weaves a tale of friendship and family that proves love and justice can prevail. A terrific choice for a book club and the classroom.
Sign in to preview the first chapter free.
Without Trace
A Glyn Jones and Grandma Willie Mystery
A Gripping, Page-turning, Kidnapping Mystery Crime Thriller (Oregon Mysteries)
Abducted teens. The cops don’t care. Can a grandma solve the crime?
Seventeen-year-old hip-hop drummer, Trace Gowan is abducted from a street corner, after a drug deal goes downhill. His friend Glyn Jones, and the rest of the band work the underground to find their friend but they soon find that there is way more going on than they ever guessed.
The band is afraid to go to the police, so they turn to Glyn’s Grandma Willie. She teaches report writing at the Police Academy and the prisoners at the Federal prison, so she knows which cops can be trusted to help them.
Things get worse when two girls, including Glyn’s sister are stolen from a bus enroute to college. Unlikely sources reveal a connection to a secret child trafficking ring under the guise of a respected transportation corporation, who will stop at nothing to protect their multi-million dollar business.
When the traffickers realize that Glyn knows too much, the danger for everyone heats up. Can Grandma Willie convince the cops to follow the trail that her prison students have suggested and save the kids and bust the ring?
Sign in to preview the first chapter free.
Uncharted Territory
Mountains, Missteps, and Mending Bonds…
During his junior year, high school track star and mountain climber Jack embarks on a climb with his famous but demanding father on Mount Tecumseh in the Oregon Cascades.
What begins as a bonding adventure turns into a disaster, nearly costing Jack his life and threatening to destroy his family.
As Jack recovers from the traumatic experience, he must find the courage to confront his emotionally distant father and build a deeper relationship with him. This heart-wrenching yet uplifting story delves into the complexity and fragility of families, relationships, and life itself.
Follow Jack and his father as they face physical challenges with great skill and strength and learn to do the same with the people they love, including each other.
With fast-paced, engaging prose, this story pulls the reader along from one adventure to the next. It’s heart-wrenching, funny, profoundly real, and unforgettable—a book that will linger long after the final page.
Uncharted Territory is a compelling coming-of-age novel perfect for young adults and anyone who loves stories of overcoming fear and adversity. It’s a great read for teens and parents alike, especially when shared.
Sign in to preview the first chapter free.
Those Who Curse You: A Gripping, Page-turning, Murder Mystery Crime Thriller (Oregon Mysteries)
A Murder Mystery of Unlikely Bonds and Unrelenting Peril
Inner city architect Sarah Rohann takes on four street kids as apprentices creating an extraordinary makeshift family. But when Kevin, the newest apprentice, mysteriously disappears, Sarah’s world is shaken.
Fearing he’s returned to the dangerous gang life he once led, she searches his old haunts. In a derelict house Sarah makes a chilling discovery. Her moment of horror turns to terror when she realizes she’s trapped in a burning inferno.
Abe Hallowell, a chaplain for the police and fire department, arrives on the scene and discovers Sarah dazed, suffering from smoke and burns. From this harrowing event, the destinies of two extraordinary families become irrevocably entwined.
But vicious threats loom in the shadows, targeting both families through graffiti messages. As dangers close in, Sarah and Abe must summon their inner strength to protect the children.
Rae Richen’s gripping crime thriller weaves a tale that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the final twist.
Sign in to preview the first chapter free.
Sentinels of Solitude: A Suspense Thriller of Love, Land, and Legacy (Oregon Mysteries)
Who Hates Douglas MacGregor and Why?
When landscape architect Bronwen Llewellyn takes on the renovation of property around the beautiful home on the MacGregor ranch in Oregon, she is pitched into a land battle for ownership of the MacGregor Ranch.
A sniper has attempted to kill Margaret Macgregor’s son, Douglas, and his old ranch hand and friend George. Then Bronwen and Douglas are nearly killed by a bear trap. Bronwen is sure whoever is behind the attempted murders must be closer to the MacGregors than the land company that wants fifty of the MacGregors’ hundreds of acres.
Each new attack shows an intimate knowledge of what is most important to Douglas. Yet Douglas MacGregor refuses to believe any of this is the work of someone he considers a friend.
Can Bronwen convince Douglas to look beyond the land company for the true threat? How can she save the man she has come to love from the one who wants him dead?
Sign in to preview the first chapter free.
In Concert: A Symphony of Danger, Ransom, and Redemption (Oregon Mysteries)
One Kidnapped Boy. Two Musicians. Three Priceless Manuscripts.
Six years after escaping the captivity of a powerful and greedy Hungarian gang lord, world-class violinist and music collector Rebecca Gregory lives a quiet life, teaching at the local college and playing a few recitals in Portland, Oregon.
But the peace is shattered when her six-year-old son Benjamin is kidnapped and held for ransom.
The kidnapper’s demand? Rebecca must secretly deliver three original Johan Sebastian Bach music manuscripts, each worth millions to him on Oregon’s Mount Hood.
The problem is … she doesn’t have them.
When Rebecca’s colleague Lewis James discovers the plot, he must convince Rebecca to trust again so they can rescue her son together. Only trust, courage, and love can save the boy and his mother from this ruthless kidnapper who will stop at nothing to recover the priceless manuscripts.
Sign in to preview the first chapter free.
A Fool's Gold: A Historical Novel of Suspense, Mystery, and Romance
She Expects Derision and Dismissal, but Not Death
In the 1880s, women were not allowed to be mining engineers, so Caroline Trewartha pretended to be a man and enrolled in Pennsylvania’s most prestigious mining school.
By 1888, at twenty-four—too obviously a lady— her company Allied Mines, sends her to the Anthracite mine in By-Gum Mines, Colorado to improve operations.
Hostile mine owner Gryffith Williams doesn’t believe her credentials and thinks she’s come to By-Gum to destroy him and take over his company. But then, he doesn’t trust many people because someone has flooded the mine and killed three good friends.
Can Caroline convince him to accept her help to rid his mine of water and discover the murderer?
As the women of By-Gum come to welcome her into the tight-night community, Caroline feels she has finally found a possible home. It’s looking up … until she discovers too much.
How will Caroline save herself, the mining community, and the man she has come to love?
Sign in to preview the first chapter free.
Frozen Trust: A Historical WW2 Novel of Espionage and Romance
A U.S. Nazi Spy Network Threatens the Course of WW2
Colorado, Spring,1942. After her father fails to show at their regular Tuesday meeting, Laura Atweiler discovers him close to death on Longs Peak.
General Arthur Atweiler had been scouting for a new training camp location for the mountaineers of the Tenth Mountain Division of the Army.
Seven officers are dead. The General has been tortured because of something he knows. His last words to Laura implicate high-level U.S. Army officers in his murder.
Laura searches for the murderers but can trust no one. Two days later, COI agent Ian McKay shows up at her door. He seems to know more about General Atweiler than he should, certainly more than Laura knows. She cannot trust McKay, but she also cannot get rid of him.
Laura learns that her father’s death is related to race riots in Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York. His death also reveals sabotage in U.S. munitions and ship-building factories – all the work of Nazi sympathizers and Nazi spies led by Werner Arndt, a man her father had trusted to teach climbing techniques to the U.S. Tenth Division mountaineers.
Can Laura learn the truth and trap Arndt before his network destroys U.S. morale and preparations for the war? How can she succeed when Agent McKay puts up barriers at every turn?
Sign in to preview the first chapter free.
The Palmse Music Box: Historical Stories & Humorous Tall Tales
Where History, Mystery, and Miracles Collide
A blackened, broken music box stands forgotten in Estonia’s Palmse Manor, a relic of survival after decades of soviet rule. Why was it spared? What stories does it hold?
From the echoes of Estonia’s Singing Revolution to the first oceanic explorers reaching the western coast of America, The Palmse Music Box explores the nature of miracles – both the explainable and the mysterious. In these captivating stories, human resilience, science gone awry, and the ripple effects of courage and fate intertwine.
Do miracles require magic, or do they arise from the choices we make? Step inside The Palmse Music Box and decide for yourself.