A Hero Dreams has garnered the following awards:

• National Indie Excellence Awards – New Fiction (Winner) and Visionary Fiction (Finalist)
• IBPA Benjamin Franklin Awards – Popular Fiction (Silver Winner)
• Next Generation Indie Book Awards – First Novel (Finalist) and Inspirational Fiction (Finalist)
• Best Book Awards – Best New Fiction (Finalist) and Visionary Fiction (Finalist)

Devastated by his father's sudden death eight-year-old Ricky begins to see things-a ghostly silhouette in his bedroom window a gruesome train accident involving four local teenagers a terrorist attack that won't occur for another twenty-five years. After a traumatic incident at a New England summer camp the visions become more frequent more vivid and more disturbing. A mysterious voice assures him everything will be okay if he crosses the "threshold." But just what is the threshold? And what lies beyond?

An inspiring tale of hope faith courage and profound self-discovery A Hero Dreams takes the reader on an epic journey along the furthermost frontiers of human consciousness and into a miraculous realm where anything is possible.

Mark Ristau took a giant leap of faith when he left his career as a corporate attorney to tell a story that had burned inside him for years. Selling his house and most of his personal belongings he packed his car and migrated from Minnesota to the Gulf Coast of southwest Florida the setting for the story's prologue which recounts an actual event from Mark's childhood. Five years later A Hero Dreams the first novel in the Hero's Path series was ready for publication.

An avid reader and film buff Mark is particularly fond of stories that dare to fill hearts with hope and minds with dreams of possibility. His favorite book is To Kill a Mockingbird and his favorite movie is The Shawshank Redemption. He credits his daily yoga practice with keeping his head clear and his life in balance during the writing process. Born in Chicago and raised in South Orange New Jersey he currently lives in St. Paul Minnesota.

"A Hero Dreams is a stunning blend of the all-too-real life of little Ricky not yet ten years old and the surreal world he creates for himself to survive . . . Beautiful images and scenes contrast with the hardness and brutality of real life to create a montage of what existence and survival is like for one lonely little boy. A fine read for the drama and the poetry will stay with you for a long time."- Judith Koll Healey, author of The Canterbury Papers The Rebel Princess and the forthcoming Becket: The Murder Book

"An elegantly written and heart-wrenching tale that transports readers to a time not so long ago and yet a lifetime away. Ristau leaves us wanting to devour the next installment in the series." - Stephen Yoch, award-winning author of Becoming George Washington

"A Hero Dreams takes us from the relatively normal childhood of Ricky Williamson-to a point where he must decide whether to allow the sorrows of the world to burden him or whether to step free into a magical place where all is possible. Mark Ristau has written a lovely book that tantalizes us with the line between reality and all that might be beyond." - Mary Logue, author of the Claire Watkins mysteries and Sleep Like a Tiger