The Ties That Do Not Bind

by Mark Jarvis

Roberta Winston told everyone who asked, even her children, that her mother was dead. She lied. Now, thirty years later, her family secret threatens to destroy family ties and possibly her son's political career. The Ties that Do Not Bind is the first in my planned series of novels about the Winston's family dynamics and political intrigue. Roberta's youngest daughter Wendy is dying from a super strain of cancer cells for which there is no proven cure. Dr. Nathan Jones has high hopes that his experimental stem cell transplant treatment will save her if the right donor can be found among family members, especially those on her maternal grandmother's side. Roberta must decide if she will risk revealing her secret to save her daughter. Woven into this story, readers will find intrigue as son Howard Winston pursues his run for the U.S. Senate, driven by his vain hyper-manager Marty Volcker, and funded by an international organization intent on taking over the United States government. They will also meet Elliott Parker whose life and family ties were irrevocably altered with a decision he made thirty years ago. As Roberta's life begins to unravel, she is forced to rexamine her long held beliefs about the ties that bind.

457 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 26, 2013