The Yukon Grieves for No One


Lynn Berk - 2012
    A skiff is rammed by a large power boat and an old, Inuit seal hunter sinks into the icy waters of the Arctic Ocean. Four hundred miles away Frank Johnson, a Yukon Territory homesteader, is killed and buried in his own trash pile. When American Lydia Falkner returns to her Yukon River cabin, she is unemployed, broke, and grieving for her father. She is seeking the peace and solitude that only her special sanctuary can offer. But her friend Frank’s death and the frustrating riddles he leaves behind make her a witness to an ever-widening conspiracy born of greed, deceit, and betrayal. Lydia’s search for answers carries her many miles through the magnificent landscapes of the Canadian north. She and her battered skiff ride the waves and riffles of the Yukon River. A remote gravel road carries her into the high Arctic of the Northwest Territories and into the orbit of an unscrupulous and dangerous business man. Each of Lydia’s journeys yields new revelations and each revelation puts her in greater danger. When she finally uncovers the piece of evidence that ties everything together, she is forced to run for her life.The Yukon Grieves for No One invites the reader to revisit the land of Jack London. There are Mounties and mountain men, grizzlies and wolves, Inuit and people of the First Nations, impostors and predatory entrepreneurs. But this is a thoroughly modern story with a little sex, lots of humor, a sidekick with a Brooklyn accent, and a plot that twists, turns, and deepens much like the mighty Yukon River.

The Thirty-Nine Steps (Oxford Bookworms Library)


Nick Bullard - 2008
    Retold for Learners of English by Nick Bullard.'I turned on the light, but there was nobody there. Then I saw something in the corner that made my blood turn cold. Scudder was lying on his back. There was a long knife through his heart, pinning him to the floor.'Soon Richard Hannay is running for his life across the hills of Scotland. The police are chasing him for a murder he did not do, and another, more dangerous enemy is chasing him as well - the mysterious 'Black Stone'. Who are these people? And why do they want Hannay dead?

Papillon


Henri Charrière - 1969
    Sentenced to life imprisonment in the penal colony of French Guiana, he became obsessed with one goal: escape. After planning and executing a series of treacherous yet failed attempts over many years, he was eventually sent to the notorious prison, Devil's Island, a place from which no one had ever escaped . . . until Papillon. His flight to freedom remains one of the most incredible feats of human cunning, will, and endurance ever undertaken.Charrière's astonishing autobiography, Papillon, was published in France to instant acclaim in 1968, more than twenty years after his final escape. Since then, it has become a treasured classic -- the gripping, shocking, ultimately uplifting odyssey of an innocent man who simply would not be defeated.

The President's Plane Is Missing


Robert J. Serling - 1966
    Aboard is the President of the United States, Jeremy Haines, an idolized leader whose image combines the best qualities of John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson - but whose inner thoughts remain a dark secret even to his closest aides. The flight is normal - until the plane is high over Arizona. Then, suddenly, before a horrified controller's eyes the plane vanishes from the radar screen.