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Restless Hearts


Mona Ingram - 2014
    Denied her dream of attending medical school, Sarah Howard is desperate to leave Boston far behind. Determined to prove that she can make it on her own, she poses as a married woman and boards a schooner bound for San Francisco. Stuck working in his family’s merchant bank, Jamie Thompson eagerly accepts the challenge of setting up a branch in San Francisco. He’s been restless for some time now, and barely escaped the clutches of the woman determined to marry him. The attraction between Sarah and Jamie is instant and powerful, yet each has something to prove, if only to themselves. Will their single-minded determination derail a blossoming romance?

The Butchered Man


Harriet Smart - 2010
    When workmen make the shocking discovery of a mutilated corpse in a ditch outside the ancient walls, Giles Vernon and Felix Carswell are charged with solving the case. Intelligent and practical, Chief Constable Major Vernon has transformed the old city watch into a modern police force, and he throws himself into the investigation with the same energy. But as he probes a murky world of professional gamblers and jilted lovers, he is drawn into a dangerous emotional game that threatens to undermine his authority. Newly-qualified police surgeon Felix Carswell is determined to make his way in the world on his own terms despite being the bastard son of prominent local grandee Lord Rothborough. Called to treat a girl in an asylum for reformed prostitutes, what he uncovers there brings him into conflict with his new employer, Vernon, and throws the case into disarray. Together they must overcome their differences and find the brutal truth behind the mystery of The Butchered Man. The Butchered Man is the first Northminster Mystery featuring intrepid early-Victorian detectives Vernon and Carswell.

The Mechanic


Tom Fowler - 2020
    He’s a single dad to Lexi, who’s about to enter college. Life is looking up.Then, everything comes crashing down.Tyler’s former commanding officer is out of prison and hellbent on revenge. Their mutual hatred has been simmering for years. When it finally boils over, everyone and everything in Tyler’s life is threatened.He wanted to be a father and a mechanic. To save himself and his daughter, he’ll need to use the deadly skills he thought he left behind.Can Tyler stop a monster without becoming one himself?The Mechanic is the first gripping novel in the John Tyler series. It’s perfect for readers who like action thrillers with a little humor and a little heart.

The Old World


Roy M. Griffis - 2011
    Original ISBN: 1492731420Lieutenant Robert Fitzgerald has managed to retain his sanity, his humanity, and his honor during the hell of WWI's trench warfare. Charlotte Braninov fled the shifting storm of the impending Russian Revolution for the less-threatening world of field camp medicine, serving as a nurse in the most hopeless of fronts. Their friendship creates a sanctuary both could cling to in the most desperate of times. Historical fiction about life, loss, and love, By the Hands of Men explores the power that lies within each of us to harm - or to heal - all those we touch.

Of Windmills and War


Diane Moody - 2012
    Growing up in Chicago, his world revolved around after-school jobs, a rescued beagle, his pen pal in Holland, and the Cubs' chance to go to the World Series. Then, in December of 1941, news of the attack on Pearl Harbor hit much too close to home. In a few years, Danny found himself in the co-pilot seat of a B-17, stationed with the 390th Bomb Group in Framlingham, England. Anya Versteeg had been just a teenager when Hitler's troops invaded her homeland of Holland in May of 1940. Forced to grow up much too fast, the feisty preacher's daughter eagerly immersed herself in the Dutch Resistance. Certain that God had turned His back on Holland, she did whatever she had to do to save her country before it was too late. By 1945, the people of Occupied Holland were starving. Thousands were dying every day. Then, just days before the war ended, help came to the Netherlands like manna from heaven. Operation Chowhound held special meaning for Lieutenant Danny McClain. Somewhere below in the battered land of tulips and windmills was the girl who needed rescuing, and he would move heaven and earth to find her.

The Miracle of Dunkirk (Wordsworth Collection)


Walter Lord - 1982
    Hemmed in by overwhelming Nazi strength, the 338,000 men gathered on the beach were all that stood between Hitler and Western Europe. Crush them, and the path to Paris and London was clear.Unable to retreat any farther, the Allied soldiers set up defense positions and prayed for deliverance. Prime Minister Winston Churchill ordered an evacuation on May 26, expecting to save no more than a handful of his men. But Britain would not let its soldiers down. Hundreds of fishing boats, pleasure yachts, and commercial vessels streamed into the Channel to back up the Royal Navy, and in a week nearly the entire army was ferried safely back to England.Based on interviews with hundreds of survivors and told by “a master narrator,” The Miracle of Dunkirk is a striking history of a week when the outcome of World War II hung in the balance (Arthur Schlesinger Jr.).

Once Night Falls


Roland Merullo - 2019
    Luca Benedetto has joined the partisans in their fight against the German troops ravaging the shores of his town on Lake Como. While risking his life to free his country, Luca is also struggling to protect Sarah, his Jewish lover who’s hiding in a mountain cabin. As the violent Nazi occupation intensifies, Luca and Sarah fear for more than their own lives.In the heart of their village, their mothers have also found themselves vulnerable to the encroaching Nazis. But Luca’s mother, undeterred, is devising her own revenge on the occupiers. With Mussolini deposed and Allied armies fighting their way up the peninsula, the fate of Italy hangs in the balance, and the people of Lake Como must decide how much they’re prepared to sacrifice for family, friends, and the country they love.The most trying of times will create the most unexpected heroes and incredible acts of courage in this stirring narrative as seen through the eyes of those devastated by war-torn Italy.

Telegram For Mrs. Mooney


Cate M. Ruane - 2018
    The last thing he says to his little brother before leaving home is, "Don't forget me, kid." Two years later a telegram arrives: Jack, now a Spitfire pilot flying for the Royal Air Force, is missing in action somewhere in German-occupied Europe. With only the telegram to guide him, 12-year-old Tommy Mooney arms himself to the hilt: with a sling-shot, a boomerang, a bow and arrow set, and an indomitable sense of youthful optimism. Mounting his Schwinn bicycle, he heads for the Brooklyn Harbor, setting a course for London, England, where he plans to recruit Jack's British fiancée before continuing on to Nazi-occupied Belgium. Thus begins a journey that one reader calls, "A rattling, high concept, wartime adventure--with a wonderfully quirky and incredibly brave hero-narrator." Soon enough, hope turns to foreboding--as it begins to look as though Tommy is being deceived by the Gestapo, used in a plot to expose a Resistance network created to help downed airmen. "Bravery," he realizes, "is like teeth plaque. It takes time to build up." Hearkening back to the Hitchcock film, Saboteur, and the WWII era mysteries of Eric Ambler and Helen MacInnis, Telegram For Mrs. Mooney will introduce you to a truly likable, sometimes irascible, archetypal "everyman" hero. It's a edge-of-your-seat, hair-raising, nail-biter of an adventure. A novel with the power to invoke the fearless child within you.

Ardennes Sniper


David Healey - 2015
    As German forces launch a massive surprise attack through the frozen Ardennes Forest, two snipers find themselves aiming for a rematch. Caje Cole is a backwoods hunter from the Appalachian Mountains of the American South, while Kurt Von Stenger is the deadly German “Ghost Sniper.” Having been in each other’s crosshairs before, they fight a final duel during Germany’s desperate attempt to turn the tide of war in what will come to be known as the Battle of the Bulge. Can the hunter defeat the marksman? Even in the midst of war, some battles are personal.

Those Who Dare


Phil Ward - 2010
    soldier - "Those Who Dare" is sure to appeal to avid military fiction fans. By May 1940, panzer divisions had decimated Belgium and reached Calais. Lieutenant John Randal of the U.S. 26th Cavalry Regiment volunteers his expertise to help slow their advance. What unfolds is a blend of military guerrilla tactics, suspense, humour, cultural and social commentary, and war buddy camaraderie - plus a little romance between the American GI and the widowed Lady Jane Seaborn. Along the way readers meet such colourful characters as Captain David Niven in MO-9 and Captain 'Geronimo Joe' McKoy with his Travelling Wild West Show and Shooting Emporium. The author - a decorated combat veteran - covers the details of war extensively, from the five points of contact of a parachute landing fall to descriptions of a British raider's A-5 flinging ferries before the first 12-gauge shell casing hits the floor. As the novel ends, Major Randal's men, fresh from Operation Tomcat in France, learn they will deploy via sea transport within 48 hours on their next mission.

Kill Game: A Cold Poker Gang Mystery


Dean Wesley Smith - 2014
    Retired Detective Bayard Lott hosts the weekly poker games at his home. The group calls themselves the Cold Poker Gang. And they succeed at closing old cases. Lott’s very first homicide case as a brand-new detective had gone cold more than twenty years earlier. But retired Reno detective Julia Rogers, new to the Cold Poker Gang, suggests they look at that case again for personal reasons. From that simple suggestion spins one of the strangest and most complicated murder mystery puzzles the gang has ever seen. “Dean Wesley Smith does for poker what James Patterson does for serial killers.” —Sheldon McArthur, former owner of Mysterious Books in Los Angeles “[An] exhilarating political poker thriller.” —Harriet Klausner, Genre Go Round Reviews on Dead Money

Winston's War


Michael Dobbs - 2002
    Two men meet. One is elderly, the other in his twenties. One will become the most revered man of his time, and the other known as the greatest of traitors.Winston Churchill met Guy Burgess at a moment when the world was about to explode. Now in his astonishing new novel, Michael Dobbs throws brilliant fresh light upon Churchill's relationship with the Soviet spy and the twenty months of conspiracy, chance and outright treachery that were to propel Churchill from outcast to messiah and change the course of history.

The Girl from the Mountains


Chrystyna Lucyk-Berger - 2020
    As she stepped back, she heard the slamming of doors, voices shouting in German and the sound of dogs beginning to bark…When the Gestapo arrive to arrest Magda’s kind, Jewish employers—clever Dr Tauber and his talented wife—she has only moments to save their tiny newborn son Samuel by placing him in a makeshift hiding place beneath the floor in her room.With the Taubers gone, their alpine villa is taken over by a brutal Nazi commander, who is determined to hunt down Resistance fighters in the mountains. Trapped in the house, Magda manages to get Samuel into hiding with her friends in the Resistance. Magda supports the cause, passing coded messages about the commander and smuggling much-needed supplies to their secret network.Magda is playing a dangerous game and it isn’t only her life on the line. And she will need to risk more than she ever thought possible to keep Samuel safe...A heart-breaking wartime epic of love, bravery, survival and one young woman’s exceptional courage, set against the backdrop of wild and beautiful forests and mountains. Perfect for fans of My Name is Eva, The Alice Network and The German Midwife, this novel will stay with you long after you have turned the final page.Previously published as Magda’s Mark, this edition has substantial editorial changes.Praise for The Girl from the Mountains:“Fantastic!!! There wasn’t a moment when I wasn’t gripped!... My heart really ached… Incredibly gripping!” Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐“Kept me up all night and I finished this book with tears in my eyes after I read the ending!... Powerful, gripping… Unputdownable… Five stars!” Tropical Girl Reads Books, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐“A gripping story that will stay with you long after you have put it down… I highly recommend.” NetGalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐“I could barely put down the book. I smiled, cried… I recommend it to all history lovers!” Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐“What a story!... I loved the ending!” NetGalley reviewer“Grab a few tissues… Such a powerful story you must read.” Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐“I loved Magda… A unique and gripping novel. It was hard to put it down.” NetGalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐“Gripping read… Magda is a compelling heroine … The authenticity of time and place was captured so well.” Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐“Wonderful intense read… So vivid you will feel you are there. I could not put this story down. I loved the book.” Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐“Riveting, intense… From the very beginning you feel like you're amidst the chaos, the heartbreak, the despair but also the incredible bravery and spirit of the people in WWII.” Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Madness in the Ruins


John A. Connell - 2015
    The only clue, a message, “Those who I have made suffer will become saints and they shall lift me up from hell.” Winter, 1945. Munich is in ruins. Though the war is over, murder still flourishes.U.S. Army investigator Mason Collins enforces the law in the American Zone of Occupation. This post is his last chance to do what he loves most—being a homicide detective.But he gets more than he’s bargained for when the bodies start piling up, the city devolves into panic, and the army brass start breathing down his neck.Then the murderer makes him a target. Now it's a high-stakes duel, and to win it Mason must bring into deadly play all that he values: his partner, his career—even his life.

Star Sand


Roger Pulvers - 2016
    Alongside it are the remains of three people.The journal reveals the story of Hiromi, a sixteen-year-old girl who’d grown up in the United States before living in Japan in the midst of World War II. One day, while collecting star sand—tiny star-shaped fossils—Hiromi finds two army deserters hiding in the seaside cavern—one American, one Japanese. The soldiers don’t speak the same language, but they’ve reached an agreement based on a shared hope: to cause no more harm and survive. Hiromi resolves to care for the men—feeding them and nursing their ailments—despite the risk that, if caught, she’ll die alongside them as a traitor. But when a fourth person joins in on their secret, they must face a threat from within. The diary abruptly ends, leaving everyone’s fate a mystery.Decades later, in 2011, a young female university student decides to finally determine who died in that cave and who lived. Her search will lead her to the lone survivor—and bring closure to a gripping tale of heroism at a time when committing to peace was the most dangerous act of all.