This place called Winterthur….
The DeWinters are an illustrious family going back to the Normans…a line of warriors, knights and decorated agents to the Crown, their family sigil a snowflake comprised of spears. The modern-day House of DeWinter is a more motley lot on the surface...Gwendolyn, the sharp-tongued, bewitching iconoclast…Gabriel, the brooding young scion with the skillset of an assassin…and Galen Palladin, their battle-toughened steward with a mysterious past. The world is teetering on the brink of catastrophic change. Can the DeWinters carry forward their celebrated legacy by safeguarding a remnant of civilization before everything descends into chaos?
Something about the grounds surrounding the ancestral enclave—the “numinous airs” as described by family physician and confidante Alastair Wyndham—draws the right people for the needs to come. Often, these individuals arrive unwittingly on Winterthur’s doorstep…some rescued from injury, some sensing they’ve been guided there, others drawn by romantic notions that will be tested. Each will discover skills and strengths they didn’t know they possessed—along with a sense of Purpose they never dreamed possible.
David Farreday, a young architect based in Cambridge, England, is striking forth on his own after a stint at a corporate design firm in London. He and wife Ella, a botanist, dive into the environmental movement—he, into green architecture; she, into fostering heirloom crops and local food networks. Although things have been tight, they’ve gained a sense of fulfillment, seizing this opportunity for unbridled creativity and a chance to focus on the Big Picture. Then, one idyllic afternoon in the Yorkshire Dales, their trusty old Range Rover is forced off a country lane, sending them crashing into a ravine. They awaken to find themselves cared for in a secluded enclave called Winterthur, thrown into a world of intrigue and surrounded by an odd assemblage of individuals united in a larger-than-life mission. It is a mission the couple finds themselves joining, to their surprise, with heartfelt passion and a sense of camaraderie they have never known.
This band of futurists faces opposition and the transformation of their world head-on. From reclusive scientists to seductresses plying ancient arts; monastic secret agents to young aristocrats turned shadowy operatives, all strive to save what they can, while they can.
The Preserve at Winterthur—fountainhead of the sustainable community to come, ambitious experiment in the ingenuity of one small group of individuals to face the rigors of a rugged new age—is taking shape. No longer a concept on paper, the jumbled dreams of a roundtable discussion five years hence, efforts have ramped up.
David Farreday has proven himself as an architect in both corporate and private practice for twelve years—and Ella, his young wife of seven years, declares him the perfect husband, a scholarly and artistic man who’s not afraid to get his hands dirty. He should feel at the top of his form. But can he cut it as the new Second at the Winterthur Estate and Preserve? This brave new world asks more and more of them. And new health concerns emerge that require adjustment as well.
The workings behind the walls of Ravensgate are revealed in greater depth. Despite rumors that the occupants there are witches-in-training, Lady Gwen’s students emerge with their own personalities, skills, and quirks to add to the mix. Newlyweds Gabriel and Darrah DeWinter adjust to married life and face unforeseen challenges. The American-born bride with stars in her eyes soon learns it’s not all romance in the majestic but secretive enclave that is Winterthur. Both she and Gabriel have duties to see to. His are often of a clandestine nature, requiring long absences. She takes on the job of being Galen’s assistant and chronicler of the grand endeavour unfolding in their midst.
The network shows signs of vigorous growth. New personalities bring a new dynamic to the Collective—but distraction comes in the guise of a charismatic young Irishman who, despite his best intentions, is destined to turn Winterthur on its head.
Mysticism overlays the endeavors of the Winterthur Preserve, as unseen forces from the outside continue their assault on the young Irishman in their midst, striving to claim his gifts for their own. Slowly, he makes the transition from his powers controlling him to him controlling them. What is the origin of this double-edged legacy—these premonitions and unsettling dreams of a distant past and a frightening future?
A letter, long held in safekeeping, yields a clue to his background—not what he thought at all. Shattered at first, determination wells up in him to search out his true past. Astonishment and sorrow await him in the discovery, along with keys to his strange abilities. But how far will he take this newfound knowledge, knowing how it destroyed the sanity of another in his lineage? He is tempted to push the bounds of his body and mind as he experiments for answers—and the patience of those at Winterthur…threatening, too, the loss of the love of his life.
What is the significance of this for Winterthur? Is it only a distraction from their larger Work, or tied somehow to its salvation—an integral piece of a larger puzzle, possibly with revelations that will guide it into the uncertain future?
In the meantime, there is much stumbling ahead for the young Irishman as he comes to grips with his burgeoning powers, a process not without some dangerous fall-out—and a transgression that brings him and Gabriel DeWinter to blows....
All Ranger Shane MacLeod wants for himself and his young daughter is a change of scenery and a chance to leave behind painful memories when he transfers from Yosemite National Park to the Smokies. Little does he suspect the complications to come when his life gets tangled up with a distracting young woman named Andie Carson—not to mention the fireworks when he adds old friend Ben Morgan to the picture.
Hiring on the maverick with the ladykiller looks could cost Shane his career—if not his life. Just goes to show what can blow up in your face when you try to do a favor for an old friend....
Set against the deceptive serenity of the Great Smoky Mountains, RANGERS depicts the dramas that arise when nature, hordes of visitors—and the rangers sworn to protect both—clash in America’s most heavily visited national park. This behind-the-scenes portrayal illustrates the excitement and humor, the danger and fulfillment experienced by the men and women of the National Park Service. It celebrates their service while addressing the trials of starting over, testing the bounds of friendship, and what defines true heroism....
The saga continues as the resourceful Winterthur crew carries on preparing for a future fraught with unsettling changes while their resident Irish wizard navigates the ups and downs of a life that seems both charmed and cursed. The seductive world of the mystical opens up to him with ever-increasing wonders.
This installment of the Winterthur Chronicles launches with a foretaste of trouble to come—a forced exodus to Ayr Castle to ride out a blizzard of epic proportions. Each of the plucky Brits learns something new about themselves, for better or worse.
Lady Gwen sends her budding young Druid off to start his education in earnest—at a monastery in Ireland. There he finds an unlikely ally in the person of a young monk eager to be his guide in rediscovering lost sites and hidden treasures of the Ancients on the Emerald Isle. Behind it all, Kevan gets his first glimpse of a secluded Brotherhood working in concert to unravel the same answers he seeks.
Kevan and May experience both joy and tragedy as the year progresses, even as he is thrust upon the world stage at a massive summer concert. Darrah gives birth with consequences that could ring down through the generations at Winterthur. Through it all, David and Ella Farreday provide steady counsel and diplomacy even as they too navigate new parenthood.
Kevan's transformation from poor, blind farm boy to rock star comes with a price. Will he remain true to Galen Palladin’s stalwart little band or shift his loyalties? Only time can tell.
The Winterthur crew continues to prepare for the fall-out from global climate catastrophe while maintaining a plucky hope for the future. Their Irish mystic's fame as a musician spreads even as strange forces thrust themselves into his life, threatening not only his young family but the Winterthur Network itself.
The glowing afternoon of a harvest festival at Ravensgate is shattered by violence as an angry mob descends upon it, threatening death by hanging at the Witch's Tree.
More entities, dark and light, come to the fore, some presenting new dangers, others bonding with the Winterthur Network...a Druid brotherhood on an ancient isle...ninja monks from a storied monastic fortress...enemies hiding among family....
Issues of loyalty and integrity are brought into question as new revelations--on the knife's edge of belief--are uncovered. Can these be resolved before Winterthur's future is torn apart?
