Book picks similar to
The River Is Home by Patrick D. Smith
fiction
historical-fiction
southern
not-at-audible
One Mississippi
Howard Littleson - 2012
. . to have your life change forever.Joplin Missouri, 1933, Kathryn Nash believes that her life has finally changed for the better. Her abusive husband of eighteen years, Clayton, has passed away suddenly and she has met an intriguing handsome stranger, John Stevens. Will a dark secret from Kathryn’s distant past surface and place Kathryn at odds with everyone in her world and set her life on a collision course with destiny that threatens her very life and the lives of those she loves the most? The Great Depression, The Great Midwestern Crime Spree, and the early incarnations of the Ku Klux Klan all converge on the small town and shape not only history, but the very course of Kathryn’s life. One Mississippi is a fast paced work of historical fiction that will keep you wondering what could possibly happen next and eager to find out just what can really happen in the time it takes to say the word “Mississippi.”
The Eagle Has Landed, Touch the Devil, and Confessional
Jack Higgins - 2016
In The Eagle Has Landed, the inspiration for the film starring Donald Sutherland, an audacious Nazi plan to kidnap Winston Churchill threatens to tip the scales of World War II. In November 1943, an elite team of Nazi paratroopers descends on British soil with a diabolical goal: Abduct Winston Churchill and cripple the Allied war effort. The mission, ordered by Hitler himself and planned by Heinrich Himmler, is led by ace agent Kurt Steiner and aided on the ground by IRA gunman Liam Devlin. As the deadly duo executes Hitler’s harrowing plot, only the quiet town of Studley Constable stands in their way. Its residents, including a beautiful widow, are the lone souls aware of the impending Nazi plan, and they must become the most unlikely of heroes as the fate of the war hangs in the balance. In Touch the Devil, in the shadow of the Cold War, two rugged IRA veterans must crush a ruthless mercenary before his deadly scheme can bring Europe to its knees. Terrorist-for-hire Frank Barry has been wreaking havoc in Germany and France with backing from the KGB. But his next mission might be his deadliest: Barry plans to steal a state-of-the-art missile and sell it to the highest bidder. Only Barry’s longtime rivals, retired IRA gunman Liam Devlin and his ally Martin Brosnan, can prevent the missile from falling into the wrong hands. But first, Devlin must stage a thrilling jailbreak to free Brosnan before the men set off on a gripping race against the clock to eliminate Barry and end his reign of terror. In Confessional, a rogue terrorist in Northern Ireland prepares for his final deadly strike. Trained by the KGB, the assassin known as Cuchulain has cut a path of violence throughout the region for over two decades, leaving a trail of bodies in his wake. Now he has set his audacious sights on his highest profile target yet: the pope. Desperate to stop the terrorist, British Intelligence enlists an enemy Irish gunman, Liam Devlin, to accomplish what they never could. He must put an end to Cuchulain, once and for all. Jack Higgins is, without a doubt, “the master” (Tom Clancy) of well-crafted World War II espionage thrillers. These three novels featuring Liam Devlin are required reading for lovers of intrigue, action, suspense, and adventure.
The Last Queen of Kashmir
Rakesh K. Kaul - 2015
A lifetime ago. Before the murder of her father. Before she became Kota Rani, the wise regent who rules over Kashmir with a firm hand.As invaders and immigrants disturb the tranquillity of her land, Kota must find a way to protect her people. But at what personal cost? Can she weather the political intrigues and power-play of the court? Will she succeed in preserving the splendour and diversity of her society? Will social hypocrisy and notions of what a woman should be keep Kota from being the sovereign she knows she is?Set in fourteenth-century Kashmir, The Last Queen of Kashmir is the sweeping saga of a civilization in peril. It is also the tale of one of the greatest queens of the land - one that will speak to the men and women of today.
For the Love of Scott!
Jo Hamilton - 2011
She taught her family how to read Scott’s medical chart and to ask pointed questions, no longer leaving his care to the medical professionals who had overdosed him with drugs to the very brink of death in less than three days.“Jo, you have to tell people what they’ve done to me. You have to tell them!”pleaded her little brother, as he lay writhing in agony.In “For the Love of Scott!”, the author recollects her family’s poignant story of love, bewilderment, and lingering frustration when faced with catastrophic medical mistakes. Read the experiences of Scott Hamilton’s family members as they struggle through a storm of horrific medical errors that could have been prevented and recognize what you need to do when someone you love is faced with life-threatening circumstances created by health experts.It took Jo 27 years to put this heartbreaking event down on paper. Writing opened old wounds and required hours of research and documentation. It forced her family to relive a chapter in their own lives that they desperately wanted closed. Yet, they rallied together to help Jo with her mission to keep that promise.To help further her goals, Jo Hamilton will be donating a portion of the proceeds from the sale of her book, to the 1984 Olympic Gold Medal Winner, Scott Hamilton's foundation, The Scott Hamilton CARES Initiative. The Scott Hamilton CARES Initiative was created to help with cancer research, support cancer patients and their families, and find a cure cancer.
The Girls in the Stilt House
Kelly Mustian - 2021
But now, after running away to Baton Rouge and briefly knowing a different kind of life, she finds herself with nowhere to go but back home. And she knows there will be a price to pay with her father.Matilda, daughter of a sharecropper, is from the other side of the Trace. Doing what she can to protect her family from the whims and demands of some particularly callous locals is an ongoing struggle. She forms a plan to go north, to pack up the secrets she's holding about her life in the South and hang them on the line for all to see in Ohio.As the two girls are drawn deeper into a dangerous world of bootleggers and moral corruption, they must come to terms with the complexities of their tenuous bond and a hidden past that links them in ways that could cost them their lives.
The Forgotten Pharaoh
David Adkins - 2017
The ancient civilisation is enjoying unprecedented prosperity during the 18th Dynasty under some of Egypt’s most famous Pharaohs – Ahmose I, Hatshepsut, Thutmose III, Amenhotep III, Akhenaten and Tutankhamun. But every empire has its rivals – here the Hittites, the Mittani, Nubians and Assyrians – and every royal family its enemies. Smenkhkare is the youngest son of Amenhotep III and brother to Akhenamun – later to become the ruler Akhenaten – and Thutmose, plus three older sisters. The scheming Akhenamun dismisses Smenkhkare as a mere stripling, but the wise warrior Thutmose takes the boy under his wing and sets out to make a man of him. This is crucial for Smenkhkare whose father has decided that the only role for the boy will be through a marriage of convenience to the beautiful Mittani princess Taduheppa. The bride is ravishing – but older and more worldly – and refuses to consummate the coupling. Full of sympathy for his little brother, Thutmose advises patience and also invites Smenkhkare to accompany him on a raid to hunt down bandits who have attacked a caravan in the desert. It is a fateful moment. Thutmose is killed by an arrow through the neck, igniting a calamitous chain of events as Smenkhkare discovers the arrow did not come from a bandit’s bow. Who, then, did fire the fatal missile? Who would benefit most from the death of the man next in line for the pharoah’s throne? Could the murderer be within his own family? Or was someone else close to the family plotting to seize power? Can Smenkhkare trust his favourite sister Nebetah with his thoughts? Can trusted general Coreb help him in his bid to avenge the death of Thutmose? Who would try to eliminate Smenkhkare by placing a deadly cobra in a basket under his bed? And what are the ghastly contents in two other baskets thrust under Smenkhkare’s nose? David Adkins’ absorbing historical re-imagining The Forgotten Pharaoh, explores the extraordinary and dangerous life and times of a real but little known figure from history – from his child-marriage to exile and then reinstatement in Thebes as pharaoh of one of the most influential dynasties of the ancient civilised world. David Adkins is a retired civil servant who worked for many years at English Heritage. He lives in Letchworth Garden City with his wife. His other historical fiction books to date are The Eagle’s Nest and the Wolf’s Lair, The End of a Dynasty and Season of the Gladiatrix.
Sweet By and By
Ramona Bridges - 2009
An invalid mother whose health continues to fail. A son banished from home. Thirty-three-year-old Addie Coulter is certain life can't get any worse. But after a series of tragedies and losses that challenge her will and test her faith, Addie is forced to leave the only home she's ever known and travel with her daughter to live with her brother and sister-in-law in Golden Meadow. It is here, on the road to recovery, that she meets the dashing Hiram Graham and begins to believe it's possible to love again. Set during a time when life itself was filled with strife and hardship, author Ramona Bridges weaves an unforgettable story about unfailing love, deceit, and forgiveness in her debut novel, Sweet By and By. When the revealing of a horrible secret and the arrival of a dangerous criminal threatens to disrupt everything Addie's built and destroy her chance at true love, she's left with only one option: trust in her Savior to bring her safely to the other side. With a cast of characters that will capture your imagination and your heart, Sweet By and By celebrates God's promise of faith and hope amidst life's inevitable disappointments.
Jazz Baby
Beem Weeks - 2012
Taken in by an aunt bent on ridding herself of this unexpected burden, "Baby" Teegarten plots her escape using the only means at her disposal: a voice that makes church ladies cry and angels take notice. "I'm gonna sing jazz up to New York City," she brags to anybody who'll listen. 'Cept that Big Apple--well, it's an awful long way from that dry patch of earth she used to call home. So when the smoky stages of New Orleans speakeasies give a whistle, offering all kinda shortcuts, Emily soon learns it's the whorehouses and drug joints promising to tickle more than just a young girl's fancy that can dim a spotlight . . . and knowing the wrong people can snuff it out. Jazz Baby just wants to sing--not fight to stay alive.
Shattered
Donna Ball - 1997
a desperate mother... a frantic call in the night... is this a cruel hoax, or the work of a maniacal serial killer? The peaceful resort town of St. Teresa-by-the-Sea on Florida's Forgotten Coast is known for its low crime rate, pristine beaches, and great fishing. But tragedy can come even to Paradise, as Carol Dennison found out two and a half years ago when her fourteen-year-old daughter, Kelly, disappeared on her way to a Tallahassee concert. Now, just as Carol as beginning to rebuild the pieces of her shattered life, she receives a midnight call from someone who calls her "mama" and begs for help. Is this a cruel prank designed to terrorize and punish Kelly's father for the role he played in bringing a recently paroled criminal to justice? Or is it possible that Kelly is still alive?A grim investigation uncovers a connection between Kelly and other girls who have gone missing along the Gulf Coast in the past few years. When the body of one of those missing girls washes up on the shores of St. Teresa-by-the-Sea, the police are forced to admit they may have a serial killer in their midst. And with over three thousand college students poised to descend on the tiny community for spring break, their only hope for stopping him before he strikes again is the frightened voice of a teenage girl on the telephone... and the desperate determination of the parents who love her.Shattered is Donna Ball at her best: spine-tingling terror, chilling realism and unforgettable characters. No parent will ever watch her child leave the house in the same way again.Praise for the work of Donna Ball:"A maelstrom of suspense… gripping, intense”--Rendezvous“[Ball] knows how to keep a story moving”--Kirkus Reviews“A major talent of the genre”--Publisher’s Weekly“A must read”--Examiner.com
Where the Crawdads Sing
Delia Owens - 2018
Kya Clark is barefoot and wild; unfit for polite society. So in late 1969, when the popular Chase Andrews is found dead, locals immediately suspect her.But Kya is not what they say. A born naturalist with just one day of school, she takes life's lessons from the land, learning the real ways of the world from the dishonest signals of fireflies. But while she has the skills to live in solitude forever, the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. Drawn to two young men from town, who are each intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new and startling world—until the unthinkable happens.In Where the Crawdads Sing, Owens juxtaposes an exquisite ode to the natural world against a profound coming of age story and haunting mystery. Thought-provoking, wise, and deeply moving, Owens’s debut novel reminds us that we are forever shaped by the child within us, while also subject to the beautiful and violent secrets that nature keeps.The story asks how isolation influences the behavior of a young woman, who like all of us, has the genetic propensity to belong to a group. The clues to the mystery are brushed into the lush habitat and natural histories of its wild creatures.
Train Through Time Books 1-3
Bess McBride - 2013
The first three bestselling time travel romances of the Train Through Time Series are now available in a boxed set at a discounted price! Book 1: A Train Through Time Book 2: Together Forever Across Time Book 3: A Smile in Time A TRAIN THROUGH TIME: College teacher Ellie Standish thinks she's on a sleek modern train heading to a conference on women's studies in Seattle, but she awakens from a night's doze to find herself on a bizarre historical train full of late Victorian era reenactors who refuse to come out of character. When the leader of the group—one handsome, green-eyed Robert Chamberlain—finally convinces her the date is indeed 1901, a skeptical Ellie rejects any eccentric theories of time travel and presumes she is smack dab in the middle of a very interesting historical dream. She turns the directorial reins of her dream over to one smitten and willing Robert, only to realize that dreams cannot last forever. Someday, she must wake up to reality, though Ellie no longer has any idea what reality is. She only knows that Robert must play an important part in her future. But how can he...if he's only a figment of her imagination or worse yet...a man who belongs to an era long past? TOGETHER FOREVER ACROSS TIME: Stephen Sadler reluctantly attends the Seattle wedding of Robert Chamberlain to Ellie Standish, the woman who had captured his interest. There he says goodbye to the woman he thought he had fallen for. Only a few weeks later while traveling on a train, Stephen is confronted by the vision of a strange wild-haired woman in a pair of snug-fitting trousers called “jeans” who claims she doesn’t know where she is or how she came to be on his train—until she sees the date on the newspaper, that is. Dani Douglas cannot travel through time! Her mother in Montana is ill, and she has to get back to her. But the crystal clear blue eyes of handsome Stephen Sadler hold her captive in 1901, and she doesn’t know how to leave him...perhaps forever. Stephen realizes that Dani and Ellie have much in common, but where Ellie simply captured his interest, Dani has captured his imagination and his heart. Unlike Ellie though, Dani cannot stay, her mother is ill. Stephen doesn’t know how he can let her leave him...perhaps forever. As the train hurtles back and forth across the rails, Stephen and Dani struggle to find a way to be together forever across time. A SMILE IN TIME: Annie St. John and her sister, Marie, decide that the three-day train ride from Chicago to Seattle to catch their Alaskan cruise was a bit too much, and they swear that next time, they’ll fly. But “a bit too much” doesn’t begin to describe what they find when they wake up from a short doze on their sleek modern train. Over a hundred years before, Rory O’Rourke heads back to Seattle from a photo shoot in Montana on the Oriental Limited. When a young woman in tight clothing called ‘capris’ falls into his arms, Rory finds his hands full with not one, but two young women who claim they must have traveled back in time. Rory scoffs at the idea, but his innate chivalry will not allow him to resist the pleas of the young women for help. Available Now as Single Books: Finding You in Time, Book 4 of the Train Through Time Series A Fall in Time, Book 5 of the Train Through Time Series Coming Soon: A Summer in Time, Book 6 of the Train Through Time Series
Hail! Hail!
Harry Turtledove - 2018
Fresh from Duck Soup (1933), Julius, Leonard, Arthur and Herbert Marx - or as the world knows them, Groucho, Chico, Harpo and Zeppo - are transported by a freak electrical storm to Nacogdoches, Texas in the year 1826. Landing in the midst of the Fredonian Rebellion (the first attempt by settlers in Texas to secede from Mexico) and into the company of the only other Jewish person in town, they are in deep dreck. Falling in with Stephen F. Austin and inadvertently filling his head with knowledge of what is to come, our heroes risk tampering with the future of Texas, and perhaps the entire U.S.A., in their quest to return to their own time. Will they find their way back? Or will they be doomed to live out their lives without indoor plumbing?
Bribing Saint Anthony
Rita Moreau - 2014
A missing husband. A plot to blow up a national treasure. Fortune telling aunts. Mary Catherine, MC for short, didn’t move as the Queen of Boca Vista, Babbs La-Fleur, placed a pile of cash, which appeared out of a purse she knew cost more than her car, smack dab in the middle of her desk.Word at all the cocktail parties was that MC had a skill that came in handy for an aging socialite going through a divorce. She was good at finding cash in hidden bank accounts. Cash to pay for a nip and tuck and a new identity: Cougar. Hired that day by Queen Babbs to find her bad boy husband, Charlie, MC was back on familiar ground, tracking down bad guys through clues left in the DNA of their paper life. Asking her Aunt Sophia to read the family fortune telling cards might have helped. Instead, the paper trail Charlie left takes MC from a murder in the world of rich socialites to working with covert government agents deep in the world of counter terrorism.Praise for Bribing Saint Anthony Review from Sheldon Siegel "I had a chance to read Bribing Saint Anthony on a recent flight. It was a great read! I don't have a lot of time to read for fun these days, and your story was a treat. You have a nice touch, and MC is an engaging lead. Reminded me a bit of Carl Hiaasen--What is it about Florida, anyway?!? Keep up the good work!" Cheers from San Francisco, SheldonSheldon Siegel is a New York Times best-selling author of the critically acclaimed legal thriller series featuring Mike Daley and Rosie Fernandez, two of the most beloved characters in contemporary crime fiction.
Send Them to Hell: The Brutal Horrors of Bangkok's Nightmare Jails
Sebastian Williams - 2009
Murder, human-rights abuse, drugs, prisoner and child sex slavery, blackmail, extortion, extreme violence, medical maltreatment, and unjustifiable death penalties feature as everyday occurrences in the living hells that are Bangkwang and Klong Prem jails. Sebastian Williams' blistering exposé graphically reveals this shocking reality through the eyes of a long-term inmate who has endured first hand the unimaginable, inhuman nightmare that constitutes the Thai penal system.
Divine Blessings
Norhafsah Hamid - 2020
Their friends – Jaws, Linda, and Mat Bond are all leading happy lives despite adjusting to the commitments of adulthood. Through ups dan downs, their friendship remained strong.But in life, love and happiness require hard work and sacrifice.For some, life will come to a beautiful full circle – proving that eternal happiness is for everyone, even if one was once, so far away from God.*** It is easy to give up on everything when one is drowning in hardships. But there are divine blessings in life, if one seek them with eyes of mercy and gratitude.