Exotic stories for curious minds
and forgotten hearts
These BFFs know,
if they don’t stop the fentanyl being smuggled through the mill, they’ll lose their dads.
Book a School Visit . . .
Never Less is a treasure trove of
inquiry-based lessons for middle graders!
Click HERE for information.
“Gripping, entertaining,
and impactful…”
The day Mindy and Pablo stumble across an old Prohibition tunnel leading to an abandoned mill is the day they start to save their dads from the pills being smuggled out of there.
Mindy’s father, Dr. McKay has become a ghost of himself after a car accident became the catalyst for his painkiller addiction. Her mother is in denial as headlines scream about fatal overdoses, and Dr. McKay keeps his dark secret to himself.
For Pablo, it’s hard enough being in middle school without being tagged an illegal. But spirited and creative Pablo is a DACA kid, a Dreamer, and always aware of the potential for the deportation of his family.
An elderly farmer becomes their mentor and warns them to stay away from the abandoned mill. However, the old man can’t resist showing Pablo around the mill, and while there they witness a murder over street drugs. The pills closely resemble what Mindy’s dad is taking. Not wanting to incriminate his father, Pablo becomes a runaway . . . and runs into trouble. When he’s captured, Mindy is his sole connection to the outside world. She desperately needs him back to help keep her dad off drugs. The intrepid pair hope to break the dangerous fentanyl supply chain, but can they do it in time to save their dads?
“Never Less” will vicariously take older middle-grade readers and their parents through the fear of this existential threat to communities everywhere. Never Less soars in its power to remind readers that loyalty and an unwavering bond of a true friend can overcome even the most difficult grown-up problems.
With each turn of the page, whether you’re 12 or 112, you’ll be captivated by this gripping, empowering, and timely novel that is safe to read with the family.
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From the Prairies Book Review: Sept 19, 2023
The Drug crisis and murder add a thrilling allure to this middle-grade drama as two pre-teens find themselves entangled in a dangerous conspiracy in Wells’ engrossing debut installment in The Pablo & Mindy Mysteries. Mindy comes from a well-off family while Pablo is the son of immigrants. Despite their different backgrounds, the twelve-year-olds share a close bond of friendship. Set in the North Fork of Long Island, this contemplative, character-driven story examines weighty topics, including the opioid crisis and immigration issues, with compassion and understanding. Throughout the narrative, both Mindy and Pablo show meaningful growth, and the secondary characters are nuanced in their development. Wells’ expert prose keeps both the tension and the suspense high, resulting in a mystery that expertly builds to a shocking, satisfying reveal. A gripping middle-grade drama, grounded by serious themes of drugs and immigration.
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This would be a wonderful book to read aloud as a family and could lead to good discussions about important issues teens or their family and friends may encounter. Never Less offers just the right amount of suspense and mystery for young readers and a satisfactory conclusion that shows a model of a family walking through a dark time and coming out closer and stronger. I love the message that family is worth fighting for–no matter what the cost.
~Reedsy Discovery reviewer
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A great book for readers of all ages:
After reading and thoroughly enjoying Geoffrey Wells’s Trilogy for Freedom, I was eager to read Never Less, a thriller centered around the opioid crisis and aimed at middle-school readers. This novel explores themes of friendship, family, and crime through the eyes of two thoroughly engaging twelve-year-olds, Pablo and Mindy. You don’t have to be a young teen to love this terrific book. ~ Amazon 5-star review~.~
“Never Less deals with a difficult and highly-charged subject in a thoughtful way. Author Geoffrey Wells has taken great care to craft an empathetic novel that will spark important conversations with middle school students.”
~Jeannie Moon – Librarian and USA Today bestselling author of adult fiction.
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“Never Less is a compelling story
told through the eyes of two engaging and very likable
12-year olds. Their bravery and friendship made me want them to succeed against a truly evil villain and kept me reading until the riveting ending.”~Dr. Lawrence Walser, M.D.
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“Nicely paced with a few unexpected twists which kept the momentum going. I comfortably read it in one session. It has an interesting take on the drug scene . . .
It is certainly a thought provoking novel.”
~Laurie Robertson
Reviews!
What I liked best about this story is how much these kids value their friendship. Though they are from different backgrounds, they are, in every sense of the word, simpatico. In an ideal world, young people shouldn’t have to deal with adult problems. But we know better. Sometimes, they have no choice. And in Never Less, they do not shy away from their responsibility.
~Steven Ramirez~.~A MODERN DAY “HOLES”. This refreshing book for young readers brings two characters from different worlds together to face serious problems that most American communities are grappling with; the opioid problem and the perennial problem immigrants face regarding their citizenship status.”
~ cassie.m.thomas
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“This is not just a story about addiction, but a story about two teens who care so much about their fathers that they are willing to do anything to keep them safe. Pablo and Mindy are wise beyond their years, and their tenacity and big hearts showcase the importance of family, biological or chosen.”
~Lindsay Larris, MSW, LCSW, LCADC,
licensed therapist and alcohol and drug counselor
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This refreshing book for young readers brings two characters from different worlds together to face serious problems that most American communities are grappling with, the opioid problem and the perennial problem immigrants face regarding their citizenship status.
Mindy comes from a well-healed family, the father a doctor but also an addict. Pablo is a child of immigrants who could be deported at any time.
When the two friends discover suspicious goings-on at an old mill on the Long Island Sound, they decide to investigate with the help of an old timer who knows the history of the place. They face heart-stopping danger, keeping those pages turning.
NEVER LESS treats the young readers as if they have the brains to face the problems in their world. The main characters, Mindy, and Pablo are relatable, an essential in a good book for this readership.
Don’t miss this one. You will want to hear more about Mindy and Pablo.
~ Linda Frank
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“I found this to be a unique book, allowing our family to look at the opioid epidemic. (It was) a safe way for our kids to discuss what was happening in their schools. I cannot rate this novel high enough. We all need to look at this epidemic, and what our parts are in this. If we join together like these two kids did can we help to curb it?”And her daughter said . . .“After talking and knowing that someone else understands, Pablo and Mindy begin to see a way to help their families. I really liked this novel. We shared it together as a family. ” ~SRR.
For information on my previous novels, please scroll down.
Will a war heroine turned activist drown in a Long Island wetland? Delve into her psyche as she weighs her choice to care against her freedom to belong.
Gida works for the shipping company and knows too much. Three warring factions on the verge of revolution want the name of the ship with a cargo of guns. Raf, a student on vacation, helps her escape across the border by faking her death. But the lovers split up, disagreeing about their commitment to freedom. Loveless years slip by until Raf gets a blackmail note. Facing ruin, he must prove he did not murder Gida in Mozambique. As if destined to be forever caught up in a fado, his regret and melancholy from the Portuguese folk song compels him to find her. Yearning to be liberated from his emotional apathy, he must uncover her treacherous life—as a double agent.
Passionate to regain her online status with composers she refuses to be a victim. In New York, they team her up with a Tanzanian street vendor but this no place to track down warlords who fund their wars by killing elephants. Drawn deeper into the mission they go undercover to infiltrate the black markets of Dar es Salaam. The mission quickly falls apart when she’s captured and forced to witness the poisoning of elephants at a waterhole. Her handlers can no longer be trusted. However, a clue in her music helps her partner to spring her from the warlord hideout. They run. They go dark and fall in love on a dhow headed for Mombasa. Are they headed into oblivion or will they return to New York changed forever?
To stay free Allison must keep a secret from a young refugee boy: his activist mother is never coming home. With the hacking skills that sent her to prison, she has, on her release, discovered the activist’s unpublished blog. She’s left her family and her adopted boy, to fight for the bay.
My books draw from my involvement in the environment. I have observed elephants in Botswana, farmed oysters with the Cornell Cooperative Extension, and have videotaped five seasons of Long Island Grown, a lecture series with farmers and chefs for the Peconic Land Trust. I participate in triathlons and swim the open water of Peconic Bay.
