Book One: Axton Landing, 2011

In the winter of 1858, disease and death stalk the lumberjacks at Axton Landing in the Adirondack Mountains. Cyrus Carter and Jared Mason forge a lasting friendship despite disagreeing on how the plight of the jacks can be improved. An unusual love triangle and the kidnapping of a fugitive slave add to the suspense.

“The rough-and-tumble days of Adirondack logging in the mid-19th century come to life…We experience the hardships, the dangers, the treachery that the lumberjacks faced daily. And we encounter the moral dilemma brought on by the arrival on the scene of a fugitive from slavery. …A picture of Civil War-era life, love and tragic death in the backwoods of the Adirondacks…”—Neal Burdick, Adirondack writer/editor

Book Two: The Railroad, 2012

The Carter family enters a new phase as the railroad advances inexorably across the Adirondacks in the 1880s, further destroying forests as it transforms the way logging is done. Tragedy lurks as the Carters grapple with improving their own lives and the lives of those around them.

“…deftly addressing the environmental effects of unregulated logging and railroad operations, the budding movement for workers’ rights, and women’s suffrage... so seamlessly that you don’t realize how much you are learning until you finish reading...” —Nathalie Thill, Executive Director, Adirondack Center for Writing

Book Three: Forever Wild, 2013

Cyrus Carter teaches himself the law and is elected to the New York State Assembly where he votes for 'Forever Wild' legislation to preserve State land. To prevent his reelection, the lumber companies’ attempt at blackmail threatens to derail his marriage. A few years later, tragedy strikes when his sons John and Tommy take the law into their own hands to protest a wealthy landowner’s prohibition of hunting and fishing on his property.

“…a stand-alone novel of love and conflict at the time of the creation of the Adirondack Park and a fitting conclusion to a story carried forward by its two engrossing predecessors. Holtzman takes the East's last great frontier and brings its history alive. The characters in Forever Wild are so real you feel that you know them, and you miss them after you read the last page.” –Ed Kanze, Adirondack guide and author

blame, 2016

When Jason Pearce’s research falters, a venture capitalist’s support turns him toward finding a gene to prevent Alzheimer’s Disease. Mouse experiments succeed and a clinical trial in humans is launched. When an African-American woman enrolled in the trial develops leukemia, a young investigative reporter takes a closer look. Her story shatters Jason’s marriage and career, sparking a protest from the African-American community.

“…Holtzman’s scorchingly realistic novel asks who is responsible when today’s scientists put profits before patients.” —Lori Andrews, Distinguished Professor, Chicago-Kent College of Law

"By integrating themes of genetic research, ethical conundrums, unlawful death, and racial discrimination, this multifaceted novel delivers a brisk, riveting tale of greed and clinical malfeasance." —Kirkus Reviews

The Bethune Murals, 2018

A harrowing novel of deceit and intimidation based on the actual theft of papers on asbestos from the Trudeau Saranac Laboratory and on controversial murals drawn by Dr. Norman Bethune while a patient at the Trudeau Sanatorium in Saranac Lake, NY.

“…captures the ways in which cold war anti-communism, interacting with corporate greed, environmental degradation and much else, infected the culture, not to mention the lives of its victims…" —Victor S. Navasky, Former editor of The Nation and author of Naming Names

“…effectively portrays the truly frightening aspects of the Red Scare. Does the federal government really have a right to tell you what to sign and can it ruin your career if you refuse?...” —Kirkus Reviews