G. P. Schultz
G. P. Schultz
G. P. Schultz

Books


Gully Town
The Ghost Dancers
Incident at Simms Center
The Kennedy Club
The Girl Who Loved to Run
The Bradens of Kansas City


Gully Town

GULLY TOWN

Available in hardcover and ebook

Come along on an action-packed journey back to the 1860's, where you'll experience pre-Civil War border raids, Quantrill's sacking of Lawrence, and the Battle of Westport before moving to early-day Kansas City and the colorful people and places that figured in its rise.

In settings ranging from Kansas City's West Bottoms to Quality Hill, you'll follow the lives and fortunes of five very different men, the women they love, and the families they create in G.P. Schultz's historic saga about the settlement and growth of one of America's great cities.


"G.P. Schultz has polished Kansas City's past and placed it on his mantel like a treasured antique clock."
   —Art Brisbane, Kansas City Star

"Gully Town portrays Kansas City much like a vintage yearbook and offers a rare sense of satisfying completion."
   —Pat Anthony, Sun Newspaper

"With considerable insight and romance—G. P. Schultz has caught the flavor of a robust, thriving, conniving, American city of the nineteenth century."
   —Fred Slater, Saint Joseph News/Press Gazette

"A sincere, old fashioned, sentimental novel that flows as smoothly as the wide Missouri and could well make the charts."
   —Isabel Merriam, Wednesday Magazine

"Gully Town can best be described as heartwarming because the characters are such likeable folk."
   —Jerry Heaster, Kansas City Star

"[G.P. Schultz] has the finesse and skill to present scenes of rapid fire action, mind-numbing rejection and loss, violent battle, and intense passion so that the reader smells, hears and sees the action before he feels it—it's as if the reader is reveling in his own memories..."
   —Goodreads

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The Ghost Dancers

THE GHOST DANCERS

Available in hardcover and ebook

Shorty is just a scrappy fun-loving kid when he and Katie and their gang witness the infamous Union Station massacre in 1933. That incident starts him on a path that leads to small time crime, run-ins with the Mafia, and an association with the powerful Pendergast political machine that controls Kansas City.

Shorty's profession as a number's runner and his Dutch Hill rough and tumble Irish immigrant upbringing don't stop him from courting the beautiful, headstrong Emma, who has defied her upper crust family to study at the Art Institute and pursue her own dreams.

Then there's Katie. Shorty's spirited younger sister tries to rescue her brother from a life of crime. She also wants a life of her own with Joe, who dreams of being a writer and is deeply in love with her.

The gang enters adulthood, sharing moonlight swims, practical jokes, and first love. But World War Two intervenes, and suddenly life turns deadly serious. On the beaches of Guadalcanal, Shorty, Joe and their friends must face the most difficult moments of their lives, when courage and luck will change their destinies forever.


"You don't have to go far from home for a good read. The Ghost Dancers highlights Kansas City's Pendergast era and the Union Station massacre."
   —Terri Bumgardner, Kansas City Star

"When it comes to recreating the wide-open Kansas City scene of the 1930s and 1940s, you can't beat G.P. Schultz's The Ghost Dancers."
   —Fred Slater, Saint Joseph's News Press

"Anybody wondering why the bistate cultural tax passed overwhelmingly can find the answer in G.P. Schultz's novel, The Ghost Dancers. The novel spans 10 years and moves from Kansas City to Hawaii to Guadalcanal, but the linchpin is Union Station. It's where the action begins, with children witnessing the Union Station Massacre and where the soldiers leave for war."
   —Barbara Shelly, Kansas City Star

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Gully Town

INCIDENT AT SIMMS CENTER

Available in hardcover and ebook

Come along on and action-packed adventure filled with romance, murder, and mystery, as the U. S. Government tries to gain control of a political crisis in a small Kansas town.

From the battlefields of Vietnam to the wheat fields of the nation's heartland, you'll be swept up by the lives and fortunes of two boyhood friends, the women they love, and the crisis that threatens to destroy them.


"G.P. Schultz is the winner of the Thorpe Menn Award for literary excellence, for his novel, Incident at Simms Center. The award is named after the longtime literary editor of the Kansas City Star."
   —George Gurley, Kansas City star

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The Kennedy Club

THE KENNEDY CLUB

Available in hardcover and ebook

When Emily and Jack meet by chance on a Cape Cod beach, it's the beginning of a tumultuous twenty-year romance that takes them into the eye of war and the heat of politics. Along for the ride are four Harvard University friends who are members of The Kennedy Club. Aspiring to the ideals of former president John F. Kennedy, the group's goal is to get Jack elected President of the United States. Emily and Jack fall in love, but will his ambition to be president outweigh his love for her, and will she be able to set aside her own career to help him achieve his dream? And will the bond of their relationship withstand betrayal and the lust for power as Jack fights to become the chief executive of the country?

Coop, Jack's best friend and trusted campaign manager gets caught up in the fight to stop the destructive practice of mountaintop mining devastating his home state of West Virginia. He becomes a terrorist activist against the coal companies, putting Jack's political career in jeopardy, and threatening Coop's relationship with the beautiful Adriana.


"Ideals are a great thing, and it is all too hard to stick to them when times get tough. The Kennedy Club is the story of the titular club, a group formed in Harvard university, hoping to live up to the ideals of JFK. They decide to rally behind their Jack, to one day earn him the highest office in America. But the road to the presidency is one of betrayal, as Jack must juggle love, his ambitions, and navigate the nasty world of politics, and answer the question of if it's worth it. The Kennedy Club is a riveting read that should prove hard to put down."
   —Midwest Book Review

"Mr. Schultz has written a novel that is engrossing, entertaining and filled with 'edge of your seat' excitement...Taking each step with the characters brings the gamut of emotions to the reader. I recommend this Goodreads novel as a great summer trip..."
   —Darlene Ferland; Goodreads

"This is one of the few books that literally brought me to tears. Gripping, moving, inspiring, and poetic, The Kennedy Club is a "must read". I look forward to reading more of G.P. Schultz's work and highly recommend this book."
   —Kristin; Goodreads

"A magnificent portrait of a time beset with tumult and tragedy and its effect on several people. Mr. Schultz uses his razor sharp narrative skills to make the reader feel as if they are experiencing these events along with the novel's protagonists...G.P. Schultz has so brilliantly managed to blend human drama, political intrigue and adventure to produce a book the reader will not soon forget."
   —Rick Friedman; Goodreads

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The Girl Who Loved to Run

THE GIRL WHO LOVED TO RUN

Available in ebook

The Girl Who Loved to Run is a lyrically written love story full of heartache and heroism, mystery and romance. This poignant tale is set primarily in the Kanawha Valley of West Virginia, in the heart of the Allegheny Mountains. It begins in the 1950s. Greg Benner is 10 years old when he meets Beth Olsen and her brother Jack, and the three forge a friendship that will last a lifetime. Benner falls instantly in love with Beth, but he is never quite sure of her love for him. Their budding relationship is set against a backdrop of tension and suspense. Someone is setting explosions in the chemical plants surrounding their small town of Mayville and putting lives at risk. A personal tragedy ensues and the three comrades set out to find the bomber before their peaceful hamlet is destroyed. The mystery unfolds, and there is deep suspense as well as lighthearted fun as their oddball group of friends keeps them laughing from one misadventure to the next. A new set of challenges awaits them as they head off to college and careers in Washington D. C., where the Kennedys have come to the White House. Ultimately, Greg, Beth and Jack are swept up in events that will lead them into the war in Vietnam.

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The Bradens of Kansas City

THE BRADENS OF KANSAS CITY

The historical background is Kansas City, Missouri, in the 1930s, during the Great Depression. Unemployment, segregation, and injustice are the order of the day.

LIZABETH BRADEN wants to become the nation's top fashion designer, and with limited resources she launches her business. She faces one crisis after another as the leading department stores try to price her out of business, a natural disaster happens, the union tries to force her to join, and her life is threatened. She is determined to succeed and makes savvy business decisions, while she also juggles aging parents, independent siblings, and a potential romance. More challenges lie ahead as World War Two approaches and her company is asked to make and supply uniforms for the military.

WALTER, Lizabeth's brother, is her main supporter, but he's also the "wild" one in the family. He is fun-loving but often manages to find trouble of one sort or another. Walter starts out as an agent for political boss TOM HANNON and his corrupt organization, which controls city hall and the business arena. Because of Walter's connections to the Negro community he becomes the link between Hannon and the Negro community, and as a result he becomes a target for the KKK.

EILEEN, Lizabeth's sister, is an amateur actress in Kansas City until she is discovered by a Hollywood agent. She is torn between her loyalty to help Lizabeth with her fashion business and her own dream to become an actress.

CAM, Lizabeth's oldest brother, represents the "golden" child in the family who can seem to do no wrong. He's self-absorbed with a personality the opposite of Walters. Despite the love displayed in the Braden home, the father's obvious choice of Cam as the preferred son is a source of constant tension.

This novel reflects a time during the Great Depression when family members depended on one another. The Braden family is an example of this dedication, despite their differences. In the 1930s, the lines between blacks and whites is clearly drawn, and men and women, like Walter and Lizabeth, address the challenges of racism, inequality, and financial insecurity.

The story begins and ends in 1971 with Lizabeth reflecting on her life. The Epilogue brings the narrative to a conclusion by providing a summary of the main characters and what happens to them. The ending confirms that Lizabeth achieves the success that consumed her life, but she will never forget the heartbreak of what she loses along the way.

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