Neptune's Chariot

Neptune's Chariot is inspired by a true event, a story so compelling that when I first heard about it I knew I had to write a book. As a former journalist, my initial instinict was to write it as it actually happened, a factual nonfiction book. 

I began extensive research into the sea-faring details of the period,  the lives of the main characters, the great ship-building ports of Boston and New York, and  anchorages in San Francisco, Honolulu, Foochow and London. I learned fascinating things about clipper ships and the dangers of rounding notorious Cape Horn. 

But, in the end, my research wound up in a dead-end, stopped abruptly by lack of necessary information, such as the ship's log, which had simply disappeared. Ultimately, I decided to fill in the blanks from my own imagination, converting the book to a novel.

I hope you enjoy your voyage!
~ Irv Sternberg

No Laughing Matter

EVVY Award winner of the Colorado Independent Publishers Assn.
Harvey Award winner of the Colorado Authors' League

Comedy meets murder in the Mile High city

Aging comic and widower Izzy Brand finds a new reason to face his empty life when his closest friend and owner of a comedy club dies after a mugging in a Denver alley. Izzy's search for the killer leads him into an underworld of white collar crime, commercial greed, and politics, as well as troubled street people and runaway teens, all in a city usually known for idyllic mountain views. Through his commitment to justice, Izzy learns what it means to take risks, avenge a crime and, coincidentally, find love along the way. No Laughing Matter is a suspenseful regional mystery warmed by the laughter of Jewish humor.

See five-star reviews on Amazon

Deadly Passage

Writing as Mark Irving, Irv's debut novel introduces Clint Jagger, a Special Ops veteran of Viet Nam now with the National Security Agency, who is assigned to protect the vice president of the United States at the official opening of the English Channel Tunnel.  Teaming with Superintendent Simon Light of Scotland Yard, the pair pursue a former East German intelligence agent determined to wreak havoc.

Sakura's Stratagem

In a sequel to Deadly Passage, Jagger uncovers a terrifying plot masterminded by a xenophobic Japanese industrialist seeking glory and revenge for the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945.

"...takes off with a jolt and doesn't touch down until it reveals the new dangers of international intrigue...a compelling page-turner (written) with authority and confidence." 
~ Stephen White, New York Times bestselling author