Books with author J.M. Johnson

Ancient and glorious Krona is at last in sight, its majestic domes of copper and bronze glowing like gold under the setting sun.Yet within sanctuary's bosom a den of vipers readies to strike, the warmest of masks but a serpent's guise. Brooding clouds and the cries of dying men are but harbingers of the storm to come. A city falling to the darkest of dreams, the edge of Hell but a nightmare away.Oblivion's Blade is pulled free of paradox, and all of Dawn trembles as Death's Handmaiden awakens, gods of Fire and Shadow by her side.The Void howls its eternal hunger. The final hour is at hand.

2019 IAN Outstanding Fiction Winner for LGBTQ Fiction **Not a Cliff Hanger**His world was water and rhythm. Hard work and drive kept Royal O'Connell one step ahead of his competition. His spot on the swim team, keeping his scholarship, was the only plan that mattered. His world was ebony and ivory. Natural talent and ambition set Camden Morgan apart from the other music majors. His dedication scoring him a full ride. Normally, their paths would have never crossed….But when Royal meets his best friend's new roommate, his big plan and Camden’s controlled environment faces a variable that could destroy it all. Attraction. The world they live in had no room for error. That undeniable pull between them was dangerous and neither one of them could've prepared for the choice they'd have to make. Love isn't always an easy road and, when everything they've worked for is on the line, they'll have to decide if being together is worth the risk.

A time of revelry and celebration as dark dreams give way to dawn is but a memory.A circle of young mages saved and a doom averted is only a single countered move in an ancient game of deception and betrayal.A new piece moves forward, and all of Highrock spins into living nightmare, hundreds of desperate children now trapped in the most horrific of dreams, even as enemies stalk the keep to assure that those students who don't perish in nightmare will instead fall to their wicked blades.Horror and butchery are but the opening moves in a gambit to secure a pair of ancient artifacts that could catalyze the destruction of Dawn itself, the world entire doomed to the most hideous of fates, if Jess and her companions do not act in time.But first they must survive the perils of living dream, and the demon that waits for them below.

Four young dragons embracing the world of trade. What could possibly go wrong?Waking up in a land exotic and strange after his foolproof plan backfires, Sorn and his cousins discover a realm where trade is king and wily merchants, clever captains, and powerful nobles are all in the game. After rescuing a grateful noble from a band of cutthroats, Sorn is given a unique opportunity to learn the rudiments of trade and secure admittance into the Royal Arcane Academy, a life of prestige and comfort then all but assured.Sorn instead dares a perilous sea voyage that will have him and his cousins battling for their lives against ships of war as they face down an empire bent on world conquest, all for the sake of making a little extra gold.Sorn was sure everything would be okay. Four young dragons embracing the world of trade. What could possibly go wrong?

“A fitting biography of one of the most brilliant, acerbic, and under-appreciated astrophysicists of the twentieth century. John Johnson has delved deeply into a rich and eventful life, and produced a rollicking account of how Fritz Zwicky split his time between picking fights with his colleagues and discovering amazing things about our universe.”―Sean Carroll, author of The Big PictureFritz Zwicky was one of the most inventive and iconoclastic scientists of his time. He predicted the existence of neutron stars, and his research pointed the way toward the discovery of pulsars and black holes. He was the first to conceive of the existence of dark matter, the first to make a detailed catalog of thousands of galaxies, and the first to correctly suggest that cosmic rays originate from supernovas.Not content to confine his discoveries to the heavens, Zwicky contributed to the United States war against Japan with inventions in jet propulsion that enabled aircraft to launch from carriers in the Pacific. After the war, he was the first Western scientist to interview Wernher von Braun, the Nazi engineer who developed the V-2 rocket. Later he became an outspoken advocate for space exploration, but also tangled with almost every leading scientist of the time, from Edwin Hubble and Richard Feynman to J. Robert Oppenheimer and Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar.In Zwicky, John Johnson, Jr., brings this tempestuous maverick to life. Zwicky not only made groundbreaking contributions to science and engineering; he rose to fame as one of the most imaginative science popularizers of his day. Yet he became a pariah in the scientific community, denouncing his enemies, real and imagined, as “spherical bastards” and “horses’ asses.” Largely forgotten today, Zwicky deserves rediscovery for introducing some of the most destructive forces in the universe, and as a reminder that genius obeys no rules and has no friends.

The Runner – the first book in the young adult dystopian Avi Bloom series…Ten years ago the president of the United States declared that global warming had reached a tipping point from which it would not recover. In answer to this dilemma, modern technology was shut down. The elderly and other volunteers could opt to live out the rest of their lives in a virtual world, but all others were left to fend for themselves.Avi Bloom lives in a world in which each family must contribute one child as a runner. A runner risks life and limb to travel from village to village delivering news and other small items. Avi is one run shy of retiring when she discovers that whole villages are disappearing, leaving only a few dead bodies and the youngest children behind. Now, Avi must find out who or what is responsible for these missing people as she goes on a journey and discovers friendship, love, and betrayal. She also discovers that the forces behind these disappearances are much larger and more frightening than she could ever have imagined. This is a young adult novel with mild violence.

**Stand Alone**Her world was color. Canvas and paint. Indie O’Connell lived inside her head. Her voices the muse. And as a freshman at St. Peter's College, all she wanted, was to create a name for herself with the brush in her hand.His world was over. Despite his humble upbringing, Kai Carter seemed to have it all. Captain of the swim team and a full scholarship. His golden boy status a mask he had to wear to keep his dream and his family afloat. All the pieces of his life dangled precariously from his fingertips.Forced to fight a battle he’d never signed up for, Kai’s loyalty turned out to be his undoing, and like a good captain, no matter what the cost, he’d gone down with the ship. They never planned for their worlds to collide.He was her brother's best friend.She was supposed to be invisible.Off limits.Being together, regardless of how much they wanted it, was a line they'd never cross. But when lives get messy, lines get blurred, and in love, nothing is ever black and white.

New World Island is the second book in the Avi Bloom series.How has one island remained virtually untouched by the shift away from technology? Avi Bloom and her friends will do anything to uncover the truth.After learning that the missing villagers have been forced into a virtual world—a world where they no longer have control over their minds or bodies—Avi Bloom and her friends decide the best way to get some answers, and stop this unknown force, is to pretend like their minds are still inside the program. When a boat docks in front of their group and the others plugged into the program line up to board this vessel, the group is taken away from the world they know. They’re taken to an island that has somehow been left untouched by the shift away from technology. The island forces the group to question everything they once thought to be true.

Asking for help is only the first step.Jennifer can’t go on like this―binging, purging, starving, and all while trying to appear like she’s got it all together. But when she finally confesses her secret to her parents and is hospitalized at the Samuel Tuke Center, her journey is only beginning.As Jennifer progresses through her treatment, she learns to recognize her relationship with food, and friends, and family―and how each is healthy or unhealthy. She has to learn to trust herself and her own instincts, but that’s easier than it sounds. She has to believe―after many years of being a believarexic.Using her trademark dark humor and powerful emotion, J. J. Johnson tells an inspiring story based on her own experience when she was hospitalized for an eating disorder as a teenager. The innovative format using blank verse and prose, changes in tense and voice, and forms, workbooks, and journal entries mirror Jennifer’s progress toward a healthy body and mind.

Islandia had been without a High King for a generation. Eloy, the last High King, embarked upon a journey shrouded in mystery after a cryptic warning found from a long lost prophet promised a return of ancient dark forces. Eloy had placed the rule of Islandia and the five kingdoms in the hands of his closest friend, King Richard. After thirty years most have long since stopped looking for Eloy's return or the darkness foretold. Many under Richard's rule have grown discontent and jealous of his appointment. All hope for peace is lost and chaos reigns after the icy hand of an assassin takes the life of King Richard and plucks him from the throne. What now? Will Prince Titus, Richard's son, have the strength to hold Islandia together, or will it descend into war over the High King's throne! The kingdom is divided by the sword as each must decide where their loyalties lie.

Having retired to the bucolic splendor of the Calenbry holdings, Jess tries to make peace with the horrors she has endured, the stains upon her soul. But coming back home has its own risks, and if she doesn't think of something, her mother will see her in dresses, lace, and finishing school before the year is out, all hopes for knighthood and freedom put forever out of reach.Seeking diversion, an invitation to a gala is accepted. What Jess had hoped might be a momentary respite becomes poignant with the possibilities of love. And horror, as skies turn to rot and screams fill the air, vile abominations stalking panicked nobles as an entire holding slowly slips into darkest nightmare.Now Jess must embrace the madness of living dream once more if she is to have any hope of rescuing hundreds of souls desperate for salvation, and the one girl whose smile had touched her heart.

A fisherman’s daughter.That was all she wanted. That was all she needed. Her parents wanted more.Shipped off to study with the greatest magicians of all, the Red Robes, Lacey is set on a path, not of her own making.“DW Johnson is a gifted writer, and I’m impressed by his debut novel. He has an eye for character development and action, keeping the plot moving along and the pages turning. The Xenkur Chronicles is off to a great start with this debut novel. I’m looking forward to the rest in the series. Strongly Recommended!” – Sky RaeCan Lacey find the answers she needs in a war-torn country? Will her friends pay the ultimate price to help? Scroll up to pick up your copy of DW Johnson’s ‘Darkwater,’ right now.