Book picks similar to
Until the Curtain Falls by David Ebsworth


historical-fiction
fiction
hst_semi-fic_biographical-fic
setting-eu_spain_portugal

The Ever Open Door


Glenice Crossland - 2008
    Jim's only complaint is that Sally is too soft hearted for her own good, always at the beck and call of any neighbour, friend or even stranger. Sally, on the other hand, accuses Jim of being a soft touch for anyone after a drink or two at the Rising Sun. Both accept that neither will ever change and they love each other and their daughter Daisy deeply. Theirs is a close-knit family in a close-knit community where gossip - both good and bad - abounds and neighbour looks out for neighbour and friend for friend. And when Sally's generosity leads to an inheritance it should mean a change of life for the better, instead it brings danger and difficult choices for them all...

The Eagle and the Tiger


Tim Davis - 2015
    The deceptive, crooked path that led him to today began a few months back. Born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, nineteen-year old Fleming was a professional baseball pitcher with the Chicago White Sox. His successful first year in the minor leagues was waylaid when he received his draft notice. Through a series of misadventures, he ended up enlisting for four years in an elite unit called the A.S.A. or Army Security Agency; the army’s equivalent to the N.S.A. or the National Security Agency. Once in the army, Fleming learned that the recruiter had manipulated him with a host of untruths. Then, to his dismay, he learned that the army had lost his orders and he was placed in an infantry unit. Once in Vietnam, Platoon Sergeant, Levine questioned Fleming and dragged out of him the sad story of how he had enlisted for four years and ended up in an infantry unit. He became the butt of the platoon’s jokes and underwent vicious ribbing by the other platoon members. That day, the platoon was ordered back to their base camp: L.Z. English. Before leaving, they endured a mortar attack and then a ground probe. Fleming’s foxhole mate was critically wounded. Fleming did everything he could to save the man but his wounds were too severe and he died in Fleming’s arms. Repulsed by the ordeal, Fleming was left wondering if he could endure a whole year of this. Twelve-year old Van Phan Duc and his two friends twelve-year old Hoi Anh Vanh and Dan Tri Quang lived happily in their village until the day a N.V.A. invaded and forced them to join their struggle and fight the invading Americans. They were then assigned to a Viet Cong unit where they met Sergeant Chi, the man who would train them to be soldiers for the revolution and lead them into battle. Three American soldiers had been captured. Chi ordered the three boys to participate in brutally torturing the Americans. Dan embraced the torture and it turned him into a brutal fighting machine, much to Chi’s satisfaction. On the other hand, Hoi was repulsed by the events and a part of him died that day. He performed the torture but it wasn’t to Chi’s satisfaction. Van, a devout Buddhist, was also repulsed. He realized that life, as a soldier was three hundred and sixty degrees opposite of Buddha’s spiritual path. The 173rd’s area of operations was the Central Highlands. The 173rd’s home base was in and around the town of Bong Son, but they patrolled all over the province of Binh Dinh. For the next few months, Fleming and Van’s units met on numerous occasions. The first time they engaged each other in combat was in a simple ambush that lasted only two minutes. Both men were left repulsed by the carnage that could take place in only two minutes. Right after the ambush, Fleming’s company was deployed in a battalion-sized operation located in the Dak To mountain range. It was an area where numerous North Vietnamese soldiers infiltrated into South Vietnam from neighboring Cambodia and Laos. Fleming’s company was dropped into an area far from Dak To and the men were forced to march (hump) to their final destination. During the trek, they had to carve their way through impenetrable jungle and cross leach infested rivers to reach their destination, all the while suffering under Vietnam’s oppressive heat. Van’s Viet Cong unit was sent to the Dak To mountain range to do battle with Fleming and his company. Months passed with Van and Fleming’s units constantly meeting. Both men had similar personalities. Both men overcame their initial shock at war’s brutality and became highly competent soldiers who bravely fought the enemy. Both men were ultimately made into squad leaders. Both men continued to hate the war, yet were entrapped in the insanity that was war. They both recognized what war was—a brutally insane series of events where lives were lost and where dreams died.

Promise of Dreams


Cecelia M. Chittenden - 2017
    Her father has gone to bring home a son missing because of the war. Loyal servants give her support and comfort and are at her side when she learns of her father’s death. She promises to fulfill her father’s dream but someone doesn’t want her to, the one person she should be able to trust. He sets out to defeat her until another man, a Northern stranger, comes to her aid.

The Replacement Chronicles


Harper Swan - 2016
     Two Lives… separated by millennia but nevertheless linked irrevocably. What possible link could Mark Hayek, an introverted twenty-first century research scientist, have to Raven, a young healer who lived during the late Pleistocene? It has everything to do with an injured Neanderthal man taken captive by Raven’s band while he and his brothers were hunting bison. After Raven heals the captive, he leaves for his tribe, and she tries to forget him as she struggles to remain within the band. But it’s not possible to stay when several band members make her life with the group untenable. Seeking the Neanderthal man she’d helped and facing her fear of being alone on the dangerous steppes, she begins crossing that grassy land—but a woman like Raven isn’t destined to be by herself for long. In the future, Mark Hayek is forced into making his own journey when his uncle dies in the Levant. His travels place him firmly in the footsteps of his Neanderthal and Early Modern Human ancestors, crossing the same ancient lands as he struggles against the fate a wayward kinsman has imposed. He’s been made a pawn in a cruel game, but when he encounters a woman being held prisoner in a cave, he seeks a way to save her. Help arrives for the pair, flowing from an unexpected, ancient source, igniting a struggle deep within Mark to accept that the illogical as well as the logical make up existence. Peoples come and go, one group replacing another over time, and echoes from ancient events have always affected the future, but Mark and Raven discover that in certain environments echoes are able to bounce back and forth, blurring their origins.

Mayhem, Murder and the PTA


Dave Cravens - 2019
    When a key source vanishes on a politically toxic story, this single mother of three finds herself at the center of a media storm and out of a job. Ready to reset, Parker moves her family back to the rural town where she grew up. But a gossip-filled PTA, a tyrannical school principal and a gruesome murder make adjusting to the "simple life" anything but. Parker Monroe is about to chase the story of her lifetime...

The Book of Andy


Timothy Browne - 2021
    We compare our life with the snapshots of happy faces posted on social media and feel terrible about our situation—often hopeless. What if we can live our lives, not defined by the trappings of this world, but by discovering contentment in the simple things and in what we are given?In this modern-day Book of Job, Andy sits at the bottom of life’s pecking order. Working as a honey-dipper (a septic truck driver) and living in a single-wide trailer in small-town Montana, Andy longs for love and a better life. His only solace is found on the wild side of the river amongst the ponderosa and bull trout.But when Andy is granted all that he desires, the peace he once found in his simple existence, and the serenity of dipping a dry fly into the Blackfoot River evaporates. A family secret that seems like a cruel betrayal emerges as a great blessing in disguise.The Book of Andy is for everyone who feels that life has beat them down…for anyone who prays for a breakthrough. Fans of Walter Mitty, A River Runs Through It, and Forrest Gump will enjoy this humorous family saga of finding faith, love, and contentment.

From the White House to the Amish


Katrina Hoover Lee - 2020
    Though Tom never makes it to the moon, his journey through life takes him to places just as unique. But not even the prestige of working in the Eisenhower White House and the CIA can take away Tom's disillusionment and despair when he loses the most important person in his life. Convinced that God has turned his back, Tom buries himself in his work and turns his back on God. Or does God even exist? Then an unexpected voice and an unpretentious Amish man change Tom Kirkman’s life. This biographical fiction echoes the true story of Thomas E. Kirkman, White House artist, CIA spy, engine designer, and Amish man.

Second Son (Hostile Takeover Thrillogy Book 2)


Derek Blount - 2016
    His name is Silas Kane.Dr. Grant Armstrong has returned home from his medical work in Africa. His grandfather is dead. His remaining family has gathered on Armstrong Island where a billion dollar inheritance is in play. And he’s just learned from his best friend, NYPD Detective Eric Johnson, that the old man may have been murdered.When Silas Kane—the ruthless second son of an infamous serial killer—escapes police custody, Eric embarks on a mission to recapture the monster. Following a bloody trail through the streets of New York, Eric races against time to stop Kane before he strikes again.Meanwhile, Grant is left alone to investigate his grandfather’s death with each clue leading him further down a path he doesn’t wish to follow.A violent storm envelopes the State of New York as Eric and Grant each pursue a killer. Will either succeed…or survive?Brimming with tantalizing mystery, pulse-pounding suspense and unexpected twists, Second Son is a complex, exhilarating thriller and an electrifying follow-up to the stellar Hostile Takeover.

The Time of Thunder


Greg Barron - 2020
    Yet what begins as a field assignment becomes a journey into Jamie’s own identity.Danny Carter was a schoolboy during the Korean War, growing up with the mystery of his airman brother's disappearance. As Danny comes of age in a rapidly changing United States, he is determined to locate his brother's lost plane in the face of murder, intimidation and loss.Danny and Jamie, coming together from opposite sides of the world, will find that revenge extracts a terrible price, and reveal a shocking truth that will shake the world.

A Haunting In Wisconsin


Michael Richan - 2017
    They soon discover that sleeping in the building unearths the spirits of people long dead, reviving a haunted mystery that has waited many decades to be solved. Eliza and Robert’s plans to relax are put on hold while they try to help the owner of the B&B salvage his business.Eliza and Robert both have the “gift,” but using it is difficult in the old building; something is wrong here, something that obscures their ability to see what’s truly happening. They discover a fiendish child who has taken diabolical secrets to the grave, intent on harming others. Their harrowing search for her — and the surprises buried with her — is filled with danger, as they discover much more evil and malevolent forces at work. A Haunting in Wisconsin is a fast-paced paranormal mystery with an enjoyable cast of characters. It is full of twists and turns, as Eliza and Robert fight to save the B&B — and themselves. It is a stand-alone novel. No prior reading is necessary to enjoy this title.

House Maid: A story behind the suffering of a Sri Lankan Migrant worker in Saudi Arabia.


Indika Guruge - 2017
    She thinks migrating to a foreign land would be the only hope. The only qualification she has to migrate to a foreign country is to be a housemaid. That salary would be way better than in Sri Lanka, flying to Saudi Arabia as a housemaid would be a dream come true.Yet day after day, Kamala comprehends her mistake and regrets her stupid actions of leaving her beloveds. She is trapped by the secured walls of the Arabian house and by the rules, regulations and her negligence on working. She gets punished by horrific physical and mental abuse by the hands of her employer. Finally trapped her in a room as a punishment with nonpayment of her salary.When she tries to escape she is being physically tortured by the employer with nailing her body feet beating her with chains and sticks. Finally, when she escapes and returns to her mother land, everything what she worked have gone on a waste by her husband and leaving it all for nothing.Why I wrote this book.Labor migration to the Middle East has become a main feature of Sri Lankan economy strategies making it the second biggest foreign exchange earnings. Migration is likely to continue in the future. Foreign embassies continued to receive many reports that employers abused foreign women working as domestic servants. Some embassies of countries with large domestic servant populations maintained safe houses to which their citizens may flee to escape work situations that included forced confinement, withholding of food, nonpayment of salaries, beating and other physical abuse, and rape.These are few stories... "One particular day I dropped a saucer which broke into pieces. My employer was angry and he heated up five nails and drove them into my hand. When I shouted out in pain my employer's wife held a knife to my neck," she said.Why you should read this book?When you Google Sri Lanka all you see is a beautiful island with beautiful sceneries and nature surrounded by lovely sandy beaches, diverse landscapes ranging from plains to highlands, rainforests, wildlife and exotic food.But not many know how the Sri Lankan lower middle class suffer. How everyday is a challenge for them to make their ends meet. How much they suffer to keep their families alive, insufficient money to feed their children and to spend for their education.I was inspired by so many stories about how these migrant workers suffer. I have been fortunate enough to help these people and listen to their stories.This shows us how cruel the world is. Another side of life which many has not seen, or even think about, simply a nightmare. Why cannot the governments take any action about this? Non-government organizations? Is there anyone at all? When they send their hard earn money with high hopes, most of the time husbands waste money on alcohol and gambling, children go astray and get abused. These women and families fall of from the frying pan into fire. Time, money, pain all gets wasted. Everything end up in tears.This story will give you the inner aspect in depth about the middle class migrant workers and their lives, how hard they work, how much they sacrifice, how hard they hide their feelings and pain, suffer and struggle to survive every day.This book is a story about a family that went through this horrific abuse and torture. Hope you enjoy this book.Scroll up and grab your copy now.

Shadows of the Past


June Francis - 2019
    Fifteen-year-old Annie Anderson was adopted by Sylvia and Hugh after the death of their own daughter. Annie is told that her own mother in childbirth and her father died before she was born.A chance encounter introduces Annie to local lad Andrew Fraser. Their friendship blossoms, but once Annie’s adoptive parents learn of it they forbid her from seeing him. When Annie asks why, it sets her on a path to discover more about her origins – but will what she learns bring heartache or joy? Don’t miss this rich and vivid saga by one of Liverpool’s best-known novelists, perfect for fans of Kitty Neale and Katie Flynn.

The Gathering Clouds


Andrew Wareham - 2019
    Young Thomas witnessed the atrocities that the Nazis had carried out in Spain and trained his pilots to show no mercy when towards the end of the book, he breached the rules to attack German planes. Published by The Electronic Book Company

Born a Workhouse Baby: Victorian Romance


Dolly Price - 2021
    Deserted by a selfish man, and driven to the workhouse, young Annabel and her midwife mother face a harsh and hopeless future.A critical situation for the workhouse governor then opens a door of deliverance for them both, but it seems that revenge and bitterness hound their every step.A harrowing story of stolen love, rich and poor, faith, family, and fearful odds, Born A Workhouse Child, will keep your heart pounding and your hopes soaring to the end.Join Dolly Price for her most heart-warming Victorian romance yet, and follow Annabel’s courageous quest to discover the real meaning of love, faith, and family.

And One for Luck


Lynda Page - 1996
    The more time Grace spends with Bessie, her six boistrous children and her loving husband Tom, the more she realises what has been missing from her own loveless marriage. As the war takes its toll on Leicester, and one by one the men folk leave to join the fighting, Grace finds comfort in helping others. Each day, as she takes on another new challenge, Grace realises that her daughter might have been right all along - it's time to break out, really make something of her life, and possibly find true love, before it's too late...