Author James Osterhaus’s New Book, "Difficult Run: A Novel," is Stirring Tale of a Man’s Attempts to Remember His Past and All He Endured During the American Civil War

Chantilly, VA, November 03, 2025 --(PR.com)-- James Osterhaus, a clinical psychologist and consultant with extensive experience helping individuals and organizations move through change, has completed his new book, “Difficult Run: A Novel”: a gripping novel that centers around Joe Thompson, who is struggling to know what happened to him twenty years before during the Civil War.

“The story opens with a dream that has terrified him since the war—some unnamed battlefield where he is crawling through the smoking underbrush, trying not to get shot,” writes Osterhaus. “After his wife has finally had enough of his abuse, she kicks him out of their house along Difficult Run, and he moves to Alexandria, where a kindly uncle takes him in.

“He then begins his quest to find out just what happened to himself and his three friends. As he is drawn into the jaws of the terrible conflict, the more disturbing the revelations become. He has a talisman, actually half a carving of an oak tree, that he carries everywhere around his neck on a chain. But he can’t remember where it came from or what it symbolizes. It seems to have some strange power over him.

“He interviews several generals and a few veterans to get some perspective on the war and jog his memory. Finally, he learns the awful truth of what had happened and how he was responsible.

“At last, he comes to peace on the banks of Difficult Run when he is able to fashion two tombstones for his brother and his girlfriend after he has learned of their fate and the role he played in their lives and deaths.”

Published by Covenant Books of Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, James Osterhaus’s new book will transport readers back in time as they follow along on Joe’s attempts to remember not only what he has done but who he was. Expertly paced and character-driven, “Difficult Run” is sure to resonate with fans of historical fiction, keeping the pages turning right up until the very end.

Readers can purchase “Difficult Run: A Novel” at bookstores everywhere, or online at the Apple iTunes store, Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

Covenant Books is an international Christian owned and operated publishing house based in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina. Covenant Books specializes in all genres of work which appeal to the Christian market. For additional information or media inquiries, contact Covenant Books at 843-507-8373.