Showing results by author "Steven K. Smith" in All Categories

In the Golden Age of Piracy, none was more dreaded than Blackbeard. Sam, Derek, and Caitlin head for a week’s vacation at Virginia Beach, where 300 years ago, pirates sailed the waters off the Atlantic Coast. As the kids explore the beach, they find suspicious activity from the neighboring military base that points to the discovery of a historic shipwreck - maybe even lost pirate treasure!

The last place 10-year-old Harry and older brother Randy want to be is stuck in New Jersey with their kooky Grandma DeLuca and her wonder dog, Mr. Muggles. But when she wakes them for a break of dawn train ride into New York City to watch her favorite singer, Neil Floggins, in concert on the Today Show, things go down hill fast.

This box set includes the first three books in The Virginia Mysteries series!

Spies at Mount Vernon - When Sam, Derek, and Caitlin visit Washington, DC, spies are lurking. What starts out as a fun game of pretend on the National Mall turns all too real, when they follow a mysterious man to a meeting deep within the Capitol. To keep government secrets from falling into the wrong hands, the kids must work with federal agents and travel to historic Mount Vernon for a state dinner with the president and his son. Dead drops, cyphers and spy chases are all part of what might be their most dangerous adventure ever - if it isn’t their last.

Secret of the Staircase: Something's lurking beneath the famous staircase at The Jefferson, Richmond's historic downtown hotel. Back in 1895, when the hotel opened, real alligators roamed free in the courtyard fountains. That was ages ago...or was it? When young brothers Sam and Derek arrive at The Jefferson for an elegant wedding weekend with their parents, they love exploring the old hotel. But when the wedding rings go missing and Sam is blamed, the boys and their friends must hunt down the truth no matter where it leads.

When Sam and Derek join Caitlin and her parents on a weekend trip to the southwest Virginia town of Abingdon, they can’t wait to watch their favorite actor perform at the historic Barter Theatre. But in the middle of a performance of Red Riding Hood, something goes terribly wrong.

When 10-year-old Derek and 8-year-old Sam move with their family to Virginia, they have no idea what adventures the summer will bring. As the brothers explore their creaky old house and the deep surrounding woods, they uncover a 60-year-old mystery of a valuable coin collection stolen from the local museum.

In 1959, the Prince Edward County, Virginia, public schools closed. For five years. Back then, it wasn’t over a health pandemic, but because county leaders refused to desegregate white and Black schools. So when long-hidden photographs surface from the student protests along Main Street in Farmville, Sam, Derek, and Caitlin are on the case to help identify the brave teenagers who stood for justice nearly 60 years ago.

Letters in a mysterious journal between two sisters describe a lost collection and a missing treasure. As Sam, Derek, and Caitlin realize the letters were between Thomas Jefferson’s granddaughters, they set out to do what they do best: solve the mystery! When the journal is stolen, the kids are forced to hunt down clues by following Jefferson’s footsteps to the University of Virginia, his mountaintop home of Monticello, and a little-known retreat called Poplar Forest.

Sam, Derek, and Caitlin love solving mysteries, and when they visit Washington, DC, spies are lurking. What starts out as a fun game of pretend on the National Mall turns all too real when they follow a mysterious man to a meeting deep within the Capitol. To keep government secrets from falling into the wrong hands, the kids must work with federal agents and travel to historic Mount Vernon for a state dinner with the president and his son.

Sam, Derek, and Caitlin can't believe their luck when they are invited by Professor Evanshade to help with the archaeological digs for a week at Jamestown's Field School. Maybe they'll uncover something spectacular tracing all the way back to Captain John Smith and Pocahontas! But when one of the priceless artifacts dug from the Jamestown Fort is labeled a fraud, it threatens to upend the entire archaeological project. Can the kids expose the secret conspiracy, or have they finally gotten in over their heads?

Sam, Derek, and Caitlin have encountered many mysteries together, but when they visit Maymont, Richmond's historic estate, danger is lurking at every turn. A chance meeting with a mysterious stranger leads to a frantic chase and a desperate message to save Maymont's bald eagles. When Sam receives an eerie warning in the middle of the night, Derek and Caitlin devise a plan that leads them high into the Blue Ridge Mountains. To save the eagles, the kids must find a secret abandoned palace, survive the wilds of the Appalachian Trail, and avoid capture by criminals, all before midnight.

Something's lurking beneath the famous staircase at The Jefferson. Back in 1895, when the hotel opened, real alligators roamed free in the courtyard fountains. That was ages ago... or was it? When young brothers Sam and Derek arrive at The Jefferson for an elegant wedding weekend with their parents, they love exploring the old hotel. But when the wedding rings go missing and Sam is blamed, the boys and their friends must hunt down the truth no matter where it leads.

Legend says that the haunting lights over the rapids on the James River at night are the ghosts of long-dead soldiers still fighting the Civil War. Just past the water lies historic Belle Isle, the former Union soldier prisoner-of-war camp, now a city park filled with crumbling ruins and dark wooded trails. When brothers Sam and Derek explore the island and local monuments to Richmond's past on the 150th anniversary of the Civil War with their friend Caitlin, some ghosts may be more alive than they expected!

Young brothers Sam and Derek have a knack for uncovering mystery and adventure. When they visit Richmond's St. John's Church for a reenactment of Patrick Henry's famous liberty speech, they stumble upon a hidden piece of history. As the boys and their friends dig deeper, they find clues from America's founding fathers and a secret plot to steal a treasure from our nation's past. Join in the mystery as the search races from the cemeteries of Richmond to the streets of Colonial Williamsburg.

Randy seems to delight in making Harry’s life difficult. Sometimes it feels like he’s in a war at his own house. When Randy locks him and his art project in the pitch-black dark basement with the fire-breathing furnace, Harry vows to get even. But revenge may not be as sweet as he hoped when Randy blackmails him into a perilous canoe ride down the river. Has Harry followed his brother one step too far?

No one from Cabin Eleven has ever won the camp-wide competition, but that's exactly what Harry and his friends set out to do. To break the curse, they'll have to survive the overnight hike, win Capture the Flag, and face the mysterious figure who lives across the lake. But Randy isn't going to make it easy. When disaster strikes, this might be one brother war too many for Harry.

Buckle up for an explosive ride into the heart of battle with 'Contested Landing' – the ultimate anthology of military science fiction that'll leave you on the edge of your seat! Get ready to dive headfirst into the fray as fearless defenders clash with relentless invaders in heart-pounding actions across the cosmos. From pulse-pounding firefights to jaw-dropping heroics, these adrenaline-fueled tales will thrust you into the heart of interstellar conflict like never before.

A billionaire’s rocket. A dangerous truth. Three kids who know too much. When Sam, Derek, and Caitlin witness something they shouldn't at a high-stakes rocket launch at Virginia's Wallops Island Space Center, they stumble into a deadly conspiracy that reaches the highest levels of the space industry. A tech billionaire's hidden agenda, unexplained drone sightings along Virginia's Eastern Shore, and a brilliant engineer's mysterious disappearance all point to one chilling conclusion: someone will do anything to keep their secrets buried.

In compiling this anthology, it was my intention to focus on stories of crime motivated by hate. Not racially, politically, or religiously motivated violence, even though these are labeled ‘hate crimes’ in contemporary media.