Defender of Rome: A Tale of the Ancient Republic


Ken Farmer - 2016
    Ever hear of the term Pyrrhic victory? A young Roman soldier is a part of history in which the phrase was created.

Sailing Orders


David O'Neil - 2013
    Following the life of an abandoned 13 year old who by chance is instrumental in saving a family from robbery and worse. Taken in by the naval Captain Bowers he is placed as a midshipman in his benefactor’s ship. From that time onward with the increasing demands of the conflict with France, Martin Forrest grows up fast. The relationship with his benefactors family is formalized when he is adopted by them and has a home once more. Romance with Jennifer the Captain’s ward links him ever closer to the family. Meanwhile he serves in the West Indies where good fortune results in his gaining considerable wealth personally. With promotion and command he is able to marry and reclaim his birth-right, stolen from him by his step-mother and her lover. The mysterious (call me merely Mr. Smith) involves Martin in more activity in the shadowy world of spies and secret agents. Mainly a question of infiltrating and extricating agents, his involvement becomes more complex as time goes on. A cruise to India consolidates his position and rank with the successful capture of prizes when returning convoying East-Indiamen. His rise to Post rank is followed by a series of events, that sadly culminate in family tragedy. Though still young Martin Forrest-Bowers faces and empty future, yet the mysterious merely Mr. Smith has requested his service. Why does the spymaster require of him, and what lies ahead?

To Gain What's Lost: A Victorian Saga


AnneMarie Brear - 2014
    But she is not content. She wants her life to mean something and longs to be accepted for the free-thinking, independent woman she is. When the dashing, adventurer Matt Cowan sweeps her off her feet, she thinks she has finally met her soul mate. However, he’s not the man she thinks he is. After he sails for South America, leaving her behind in England, Anna discovers she’s pregnant. Heartbroken she flees her family home, determined to keep her child’s illegitimacy a secret. He has a few dark secrets of his own… Brenton O’Mara is a strong, independent man who wants to make his own way without relying on his father’s wealth. He comes to Anna’s new home looking for work and convinces the reluctant woman to hire him. But Anna's wary of men, of love, and treats him as nothing more than the penniless labourer she believes him to be. Then, just when Anna seems to feel she is getting on with her new life, and Brenton believes he is breaking down her barriers, the past rears up to confront them and their future hangs in the balance.

Tail-End Charley: Stories from an American fighter pilot in World War II


James E. Brown - 2017
    Brown tries to fake to his flight instructor that he has flown before. On his twenty-first birthday, Brown is on his way home after logging eighty-five missions in a P-47 fighter over Italy, France, and Germany. Brown’s stories surrounding his training and combat experiences in World War II reveal brushes with death, continuous peril and, ultimately, a coming of age for a young man whose freshman year in college becomes instead a heroic engagement with one of the fiercest enemies his country has ever encountered. Ever dutiful to the mother who tells him to “write it down, Jamie,” Brown notes his experiences in the journal she provides and adds detail later to deliver a firsthand account of life as a pilot in the final months of combat within the European Theater. Serving as Tail-End Charley – the last man out – in most of the missions he flew, Brown’s job was to record results for the interrogation officers afterward. But Brown offers much more insight in this memoir. Follow his triumphs and travails with colleagues who become lifelong compatriots during an indelible period in American history.

Drums Along the Khyber


Philip McCutchan - 1969
    James Ogilvie is the third generation.Pitchforked with mixed feelings into imperial Britain’s elite military academy, Sandhurst, and then into the family regiment, he finds himself in 1894 a subaltern en route to India – a torrid journey out that teaches him the first lessons of military life and the command of men.His initiation is made more difficult by the vindictive attentions of the adjutant, Captain Black, and by the high expectations placed on him by his own irascible father, his Divisional Commander on the North West Frontier of India.Ogilvie gets his first taste of action when the Royal Strathspeys are sent through the Khyber Pass to contain the rebel Ahmed Khan outside Jalalabad. Fighting the border tribesmen brings brushes with death, but also many opportunities for the kind of glory that can forge a distinguished military career. But as the campaign goes on, Ogilvie also starts to doubt the entire Imperial project.‘Drums Along the Khyber’ is a thrilling historical adventure story, rich in period detail. It is the first in the Ogilvie series of novels by Philip McCutchan. ‘The adventure-writer succeeds who makes you read faster than you really can…Drums Along the Khyber has something of this quality’ – The Sunday Times Philip McCutchan (1920-1996) grew up in the naval atmosphere of Portsmouth Dockyard and developed a lifetime's interest in the sea. Military history was an early interest resulting in several fiction books, from amongst his large output, about the British Army and its campaigns, especially in the last 150 years.Endeavour Press is the UK's leading independent publisher of digital books.

A Killing Place In The Sun


Robert F. Barker - 2020
    But to this Englishman, it’s his castle. And he wants it back.It began as a simple property dispute. It ended in all-out war.Ex-soldier and policeman, Peter Murray, returns to the beautiful holiday island of Cyprus to keep the vow he made to his late wife, Kathy, to complete the deal on the ‘Place In The Sun’ that was their shared dream before a tragic accident took her, and their son, from him.But Murray’s hopes are shattered when he finds the house being lived in by Russian mobster, Valerik Podruznig, and his family, as well as his small army of enforcers. Podruznig already sees the potential in the house Murray built - and has no intention of giving it up.From Murray’s initial attempts at peaceful negotiation, what begins as a simple property dispute soon escalates, through threats, intimidation and violence, before exploding into all-out war. In the face of Podruznig’s casual disregard for the law, Murray has to call on all his policing experience and military know-how to counter the Russian’s efforts and stay alive.Equal parts crime novel, heist thriller, and military adventure, and set against the backdrop of the popular holiday resort of Pafos, A Killing Place In The Sun recounts the struggle for supremacy between two determined adversaries, one as ruthless and dangerous as the other is principled and daring, as they each seek the resolution they desire.Hanging over the action, is the mystery of what happened to the consignment of gold that disappeared during Murray and his team’s last military mission, and its connection, if any, to the house in the sun. Things are complicated further when the local police chief’s vivacious daughter's feelings of sympathy for Murray’s plight start evolving into something deeper. And when her life is threatened, it triggers a nail-biting climax that finally brings Murray and Podruznig face-to-face in a way that is not just unexpected, but puts several twists on all that has gone before. As the new dawn casts its first shadows over what has, by now, become, A Killing Place In The Sun, the shattering truth finally reveals itself. But who will be left alive to witness it? Find out by buying it, today.Robert F Barker was born in Liverpool, England. During a thirty-year police career, he worked in and around some of the North West’s grittiest towns and cities. As a senior detective, he led investigations into all kinds of major crime including, murder, armed robbery, serious sex crime and people/drug trafficking. Whilst commanding firearms and disorder incidents, he learned what it means to have to make life-and-death decisions in the heat of live operations. His stories are grounded in the reality of police work, but remain exciting, suspenseful, and with the sort of twists and turns that crime-thriller readers love.5* Praise for Robert F Barker's books'A gripping read about an exceptional detective and the complexities in his life'(Last Gasp)'Fabulous writer and solid knowledge of police procedures. Can't wait for more from this writer' -Last Gasp'A fantastic page turner with a hugely sinister and disturbing villain at its heart' -Family Reunion'As exciting and ‘real’ as anything I have read in a police detective novel in a long time' - Family Reunion'Well written and fast paced.... a great read for crime-thriller fans' - Final Breath'Loved, loved, LOVED this book! Couldn't put it down. Always left on the edge of my seat wanting to know what happened next!'(Last Gasp)'A very well crafted mystery that keeps you guessing and on the edge of your seat'(Final Breath)'Jamie Carver is a mix of genius... and emotional wreck!' - Out Of Air'So compelling and well written that I can't wait to read the next in the series' (Final Breath)

Rebel Tribe


Ramy Vance - 2021
    What do you do if you wake up hundreds of light-years from home in a strange ship and someone is trying to eat you?Jaeger can’t remember who she is or anything about her life, but she knows that's just wrong.The ship's AI tells her there are thousands of other lifeforms on board, but the instruments say she's alone—except for the killer.Something deep inside her screams that humanity’s fate hinges on her completing her mission…whatever it is.Jaeger must repair the ship and figure out her past while fighting for her life.Will she survive? If she can’t recall her mission, will humanity?

Salford Lads: The Rise and Fall of Paul Massey


Bernard O'Mahoney - 2021
    Contained within these pages, is his story. It is a story that will horrify the non criminal mind and lay bare, how Massey unwittingly became the architect of his own demise. Massey was not the only casualty of a toxic feud that had ignited between two Salford gangs following the most trivial of disputes. John Kinsella, a close friend of Massey's, was gunned down in front of his pregnant partner. A seven-year-old boy and his mother were shot, a hand grenade was hurled through the front window of a family home, an attempt was made to behead a man with a machete and an orgy of beatings, stabbings, kidnappings and shootings were carried out in the name of respect. In today's underworld, the old school criminal code has been confined to the bin. Being known as a hard man, once demanded respect, but no more. Guns, and having the mindset to use one, often for little or no reason, has become the norm. Drugs are the currency and death often the penalty for a discrepancy or misdemeanour. It is an unforgiving world that Paul Massey helped to create and a world, that ultimately resulted in his death.

The Protector (Brotherhood Series Book 3)


Vivian Rose Lee - 2017
    She lived to create and enjoy her carefree bohemian lifestyle. Life was good, until her father died leaving her to continue his legacy of Thornton Industries. She was an engineer, not some corporate shark. Therefore, she didn’t know where to begin, especially managing the day-to-day operations of retaining TI's successful multi-million dollar status. Before she could regroup to handle the inherited responsibilities, she started receiving personal threats against her life. When they escalated into life-threatening attacks, she had to accept around-the-clock protection from a man whose nearness was dangerous to her self-imposed celibacy. Olen Davidson was assigned to protect Zulayka. From the beginning, he made it known he was not happy with what he called "a babysitting assignment," but he went along "taking one for the team." He was even more disappointed when he met the woman in person. She was a twenty-first century hippie, with a high IQ, a smart mouth, and an eccentric personality. The easy assignment soon turned into international espionage with Zulayka’s company as the targeted prize. Olen’s cavalier attitude in protecting Zulayka almost caused her serious injuries. Now Olen is determined to put his life on the line to protect her. What he hadn’t asked for were the feelings he was starting to have for the unconventional nerd who wasn't his type. Hadn't watching her prevented him from a reunion with the woman who held his heart?

Outside the Wire: Riding with the Triple Deuce in Vietnam, 1970


James William Ross - 2013
    Thoughtful, action-packed memoir of one American soldier's combat tour in Vietnam in 1970

On the Warpath


James Willard Schultz - 2015
    Schultz was a noted author, explorer, Glacier National Park guide, fur trader and historian of the Blackfoot Indians. While operating a fur trading post at Carroll, Montana and living amongst the Pikuni tribe during the period 1880-82, he was given the name "Apikuni" by the Pikuni chief, Running Crane. Schultz is most noted for his prolific stories about Blackfoot life and his contributions to the naming of prominent features in Glacier National Park. On the Warpath, by James Willard Schultz, is a unique and odd story of a white man's experiences while living among Indians as one of themselves. It has an extraordinarily intimate effect, as if it might be a translation from some tale written in an Indian dialect. As a story it contains many incidents that will thrill young readers. For older ones it will be valuable as a study of Indian mental and spiritual life. This book originally published by Houghton Mifflin in 1914 has been reformatted for the Kindle and may contain an occasional defect from the original publication or from the reformatting.

IGOR (Global War On Terror Book 1)


Raymond Hunter Pyle - 2017
    For an intelligence analyst without SEAL training, it can be traumatic. Navy Lieutenant (JG) Lee Toliver, Naval Academy Graduate, Linguist and Middle East Polyglot, is assigned to Trident, an Office of Naval Intelligence group dedicated to Naval Special Warfare Command. Having survived injuries from a suicide bombing in London, and almost a year in and out of Brooke Military Burn Center in Texas, he is ready to get his career back on track and anticipating his introduction to the SEAL Team he will support. American born linguists fluent in Middle East languages are in short supply and always in demand. His fluency in Pashto brought him to the attention of Detachment Bravo of SEAL Team 2 deploying to Bagram, Afghanistan. But Lee was also fluent in several dialects of Arabic. Seal Team 3 was raging across Anbar Province in Iraq, and in 2006, Ramadi is back on the radar for a major operation. Lee is about to find out that deploying with a SEAL Team has only a passing acquaintance with intelligence office work. In SEAL Team direct action ops, interpreters and interrogators are needed outside the wire as much as inside. Going kinetic, is a term he will come to understand intimately.

Courage on the Mountain


George Reischling - 2013
    Nui Ba Dien or the “Black Virgin Mountain” served as a major staging area for the last finger of the infamous Ho Chi Minh trail as it crossed the Cambodian border just a few miles to the West. Honeycombed with hundreds of caves and fortified with elite NVA and Viet Cong soldiers, she stood as a “Thorn in the Side” of American military control of the region. The 25th Infantry Division held a communication site on her highest peak and also the land encircling her base but her slopes were voraciously defended by large numbers of elite enemy soldiers. Anytime any American unit undertook to engage her slopes, a hellacious battle was guaranteed with the “Angel of Death” always hovering near! These memoirs illuminate more than just the courage of battle but also the courage and inner strength that the soldiers of Vietnam had to shoulder upon their return home. Courage and dignity qualify all Vietnam Veterans such that the country that at one time turned their back on them now holds them in high esteem. This is my story, start to finish and it was written to enlighten the reader to a greater understanding of the American men and women and their struggles for survival in America’s most unpopular war!

To the Walls of France (105th Foot. The Prince of Wales Wessex Regiment Book 5)


Martin McDowell - 2020
    At the end of 1811, after four years of hard warfare against the forces of Napoleon, Wellington was not prepared to waste the Winter months and therefore he used them to capture, at great cost, the two ‘keys of Spain’: Cuidad Rodrigo and Badajoz. With these two now in Allied possession the story continues with Wellington advancing forward into Spain at the head of an Allied army to begin the campaigns of 1812. During this momentous year huge questions dominate the European stage, not least the aftermath of Napoleon’s disastrous invasion of Russia and the loss of an army of 600,000 men and all their horses and equipment. The following twelve months extending into 1813 is a year of titanic set-piece battles which will settle, one way or another, the fate of Spain and Portugal within the French Empire and also events far away over the Atlantic will have their own part to play, with the armies of the new Republic chancing their arm with their own invasions of Canada. Both triumph and tragedy befall the Allied army during 1812, first the complete victory of Salamanca, then the near farce and tragedy of the Burgos siege, followed by a retreat back to Cuidad Rodrigo, worse than that of Coruna due to acute starvation. British Intelligence makes full use of Napoleon’s tragedy, weaving deceit on both sides of the Atlantic, such that El Rey Joseph is ordered to send men back to France and then in 1813 the Allies spring forward from the Portuguese border, with an advance so rapid that within three weeks there comes the triumph of Vitoria and then fighting to open the passes over the Pyrenees into France itself. As part of what is now a formidable army, the 105th Foot Wessex The Prince of Wales Own, must first contend with the retirement of their Colonel, Bertram Lacey, finally worn down by years of intense campaigning and finally the horrors of Badajoz. His replacement is Carr’s old enemy from his last visit back to England after Talavera, this replacement being Sir Ambrose Brockenhurst MP, the Colonel of the 105th’s Militia, him arrived from England to take over from Lacey and the result is incompetence and even humiliation. Carr is promoted to temporary Brevet-Colonel, but their reputation is now sullied, yet the 105th play their part in Salamanca and endure the retreat from Burgos. With the Spring of 1813, all Allied armies advance to Vitoria to play their part in this momentous battle and take part in the conflicts in the Pyrenees, where, on the far right of Wellington’s line at the battle of Sorauren outside Pamplona, the 105th’s reputation is finally restored. Throughout all, the band led by Colour-Sergeant Jedediah Deakin hold together, giving mutual support and comfort, and taking advantage of any opportunity that comes their way which may soften the hard and dangerous life they necessarily lead.

Attack Transport (Illustrated): The Story of the U.S.S. Doyen


Lawrence A. Marsden - 2020
    Doyen is a fast-paced action-adventure story from World War 2 detailing the birth of modern amphibious warfare. The book follows the US Navy attack transport ship the Doyen (AP-1), the first of its kind, from its exciting launch on the California coast to its deadly assaults on the shores of Saipan, Leyte, Luzon, and Iwo Jima.