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JAKE & CLARA is based on a true story about scandal, politics, Hollywood--and murder--from the dawn of the Jazz Age. When Warren Harding won the White House in 1920, his campaign received millions from Jake Hamon--"The Oil King of Oklahoma." Harding planned to make Jake the most powerful businessman in America. But Mrs. Harding (some called her "The Duchess") had one condition--Hamon, a married man, had to end his affair with his long-time mistress, a girl named Clara.
Jake and Clara had been together for ten years, since she was seventeen and he was thirty-seven. But Jake coveted the powerful Washington job, and he dumped Clara a couple of weeks after Harding was elected.
A few days later, Clara shot Jake.
By the time Jake died, Clara was in the wind. A headline-grabbing national search was conducted for the beautiful fugitive. Clara "sightings" were reported far and wide. A pair of colorful lawmen found Clara in an unlikely hiding place and brought her back to Ardmore, Oklahoma to face the charge of first-degree murder. What followed was one of the most sensational murder trials of the era. A "dream team" of powerful lawyers surrounded Clara in the courtroom. Soon Hollywood came calling, wanting to put Clara's story on the big screen...starring Clara as herself.
David R Stokes
David R. Stokes is a Wall Street Journal bestselling author, ghostwriter, broadcaster, and retired pastor. His latest book, JFK'S GHOST: Kennedy, Sorensen, and the Making of Profiles in Courage, was released by Lyons Press (Rowman & Littlefield) June 1, 2021. His earlier book, THE SHOOTING SALVATIONIST, appeared twice on the Wall Street Journal Bestseller list in 2011. This story has been recently revised and republished with 30,000 words of new material. David has also written screenplays based on two of his novels, CAMELOT'S COUSIN and JAKE & CLARA, and they are currently being represented for production in Hollywood. Retired FBI Agent and Bestselling author, Bob Hamer, says, "David Stokes combines his meticulous research with a writing style which makes you feel as though you are that fly-on-the-wall witnessing history as it unfolds."David grew up in the Detroit, Michigan area and has been an ordained minister for more than 45 years. Now retired from pastoral ministry, he writes full-time. David has been married to his wife, Karen, since 1976, and they have been blessed with three daughters--all now grown and with wonderful children of their own. There are, in fact, seven grandchildren, a fact verified by hundreds--maybe thousands--of pictures, as well as an ever-growing collection of toys and gadgets joyously cluttering their home.His next book, THE HOPE NOT PLOT: A Novel of Churchill's Final Farewell will be published in fall, 2025. Visit David's website: DavidRStokes.com.
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