Book picks similar to
Down the Hatch by John Winton


fiction
humour
modern
light-english-novels

Point Of No Return (Peter Hatherall Mystery Book 3)


Diana Febry - 2018
    A young man hung himself from the tree two years earlier. Someone is determined this time the guilty ones will pay. DCI Hatherall must unmask a master of disguise before everyone connected to the suicide is slaughtered.

Operation Golden Dawn


George Wallace - 2013
    Liu Pen, spymaster for the Peoples Republic of China, envisions using Islamic terrorists to disrupt Western interests on China's vulnerable southern flank. Admiral Suluvana plots to overthrow the Indonesian government and establish an Islamic state. Together, they scheme to use a genetically engineered version of small pox to attack the West. Their secret base is Nusa Funata, a dark and inhospitable island in the Java Sea. Jon Hunter commands the nuclear submarine SAN FRANCISCO. Driven by an inner fire, Hunter relentlessly pursues every opportunity to prove himself and his beloved boat. Hunter's boss, Commodore Carlucci, will do anything to move his own career forward, including holding Hunter down. When the US intelligence agencies catch some whiffs of the activity on Nusa Funata, the SAN FRANCISCO is ordered to find out what is going on. Once they have confirmed that Nusa Funata is being used to manufacture the deadly biological weapon, the threat must be neutralized. It is exactly the type mission that Hunter had been praying for.

A Slave's Song


Michael Edwin Q. - 2016
    Along the way he learns the horrors of war, the evils of slavery, the plight of the slave, and the cost of freedom. By a twist of fate he becomes the pastor of a church of black slaves.

Riverbreeze: Part 3 (Riverbreeze Trilogy)


Ellen E. Johnson - 2012
     Part 3 continues the saga of the Bassett brothers and their twin wives as they face the greatest threats to their lives. After a slight mishap and reconciliation at the end of Part 2, the two couples experience a time of peace and happiness during the Christmas season. That peace is soon shattered during a Twelfth Night party when an unexpected, and unwelcome, guest arrives. Now they must find the strength to prevail against this foe from the brothers' past as he plots to ruin their lives. And finally, the climax, a historically correct event brings treachery and sorrow to Riverbreeze plantation, forcing the brothers to defend their home and protect their family from Indian attack and war. Full of drama, excitement, humor, romance and details of early American life, the Riverbreeze series will appeal to a wide range of readers.

Powerless – the year the lights went out


Suzanne Goldring - 2016
    There is no mains water, no petrol and no news. Towns and cities are chaotic and dangerous. Who will survive the months ahead without electricity? But out in the country, Sandra is determined to keep going. Can she keep her family healthy through the long, wet winter? And can they all adapt to life without power?

Slow Light (Eddie Flynn Book 4)


Michael Donovan - 2018
    EDDIE FLYNN NOVEL FROM MICHAEL DONOVAN Cheating husbands. P.I. Eddie Flynn doesn't judge. He just brings back the evidence for a fee and lets the client do the judging. Not that the present fee is much. Young mother Lisa Elland can barely afford the bargain basement charge for a quick check on her husband. But pay she will: even bad news is better than not knowing whether she still has a marriage. And for Flynn the job is a nice filler before he shuts up shop for Christmas. But there's a problem. You can't catch a guy cheating until you find him. And Ray Elland isn't findable. He's disappeared completely with just an overnight bag and a sleazy excuse. He's nowhere to be found. No-one has seen him or heard from him. It's like he doesn't exist. And Flynn's quick investigation has hit the rocks. Then complications arise. Flynn is being followed. He's being threatened. And Lisa has stopped answering her phone. The quick investigation has just turned into a nightmare... The fourth P.I. Eddie Flynn novel from award-winning crime author Michael Donovan. WHAT BOOK REVIEWERS ARE SAYING ABOUT THE EDDIE FLYNN SERIES... "Masterful... If you haven't been introduced to Eddie Flynn yet, be prepared." RED CITY REVIEW "A chilling thriller crafted with a fluid narrative style ... wild nightmarish scenes..." BOOKPLEASURES "A wonderful debut novel in a hugely competitive market" CUCKOO REVIEWS" Good old fashioned detective work. A slick, dynamic mystery. "KIRKUS REVIEWS" [With] more competition than ever in the crime-writing genre, Donovan's novel is a real winner..." LYTHAM ST ANNES EXPRESS "Brilliantly absorbing. Escapism at its best." POSTCARD REVIEWS "Humour ... violent confrontations ... well recommended. "EUROCRIME" Short chapters ... a brilliant use of format ... the [book] will haunt your days and nights" CUCKOO REVIEWS "Great concise writing style... fast paced action ... Donovan makes you feel as though you are uncovering the truth." NEWBOOKSMAG

Jenny is Free


Sylvia Ann McLain - 2019
    He puts her on a steamboat in Natchez-Under-the-Hill, telling her to go to free soil in Ohio. But it's a journey she will not complete. By chance, she meets an acquaintance, Walker Jackson, and together they make decisions that will alter the course of their lives in ways they can't foresee. Carefree, the Natchez mansion that Cornelius inherits, becomes the focal point of a world beset by changes. Jenny's decisions eventually take her to New Orleans, where she finds friendships and motherhood in the midst of loss before she returns to Carefree. Cornelius is a man of high principles, but he is also a man of great ambitions. Ultimately, deceit and the resurgence of an old crime threaten to destroy the world of Carefree.

Livy: A Love Story


Gretchen Craig - 2015
    The first time she sees Zeb, she sneers to see a slave working in the hot sun who smiles from sunup to sundown. He finds slavery tolerable? Livy will never accept it! No matter that Zeb's sweet spirit draws her, she will be free whatever it takes. Zeb is smitten by Livy the first time he sees her, but it's a challenge to even get her to say good morning. Brought up to find happiness and hope in every day, he begins his campaign to win her, his easy-going manner never faltering – until slavery's big boot crushes the spirit of his niece Faith, the child he loves as if she were his own. Even if it means he can't have Livy, he has to save Faith from living a cruel life among the master's family. From different paths, Zeb and Livy arrive at the safe haven hidden in the swamps, a place of wild flowers and abundance. But like the first Eden, Orchid Island harbors treachery and heartache. Leaving their refuge behind, Zeb and Livy and their new family begin the journey to their true heaven-on-earth.

The Lion and the Leopard (The Lion and the Leopard Trilogy, #3)


Brian Duncan - 2016
    "The Lion and the Leopard" takes place during the Great 1914-18 War when German forces invaded Nyasaland, Northern Rhodesia and Portuguese East Africa. Martin Russell ("The Settler") and his step-daughter, Clare, travel to the war front, while the Spaight family (Alan, from "Lake of Slaves", and his son Drew, and daughters Mandy and Kirsty) are also drawn into the conflict. A young British officer falls in love with Mandy, but she finds her true love elsewhere. Kirsty's friend, a Britsh naval reservist, joins the gunboat flotilla on Lake Tanganyika. The Chilembwe Uprising in Nyasaland provides an unwelcome distraction early in the war. The loves and tragedies in the families unfold during the long and bitter campaign.

Jhumki: A Poignant Story Of Unconditional Love Beyond Blood Ties


Farah Naqvi - 2020
    Unwilling to give up, you pursued life relentlessly. This time you planned for love and happiness meticulously keeping it in the most secure cabinet of your body while you waited to welcome it with bated breath. Lo! the cabinet lock is broken, and you are left alone again.Do you have the right to give up now, lose hope and become a mental health case or will life give love and happiness another unprecedented chance? Read the story of Nimisha, Nitin, Pari and Jhumki embroiled with unconditional love, inevitable misfortunes, unexpected blessing and the unfolding of a divine decree or preordained fate.

Canaries' Song


Charles Tabb - 2021
    While he misses his late wife, Emily, he must do his best to be both a father and mother to his young daughters.

The Last Two Aces in Las Vegas


Donna Foley Mabry - 2006
    His father died when he was eleven, leaving Alberto, his mother, and his baby sister Sophia, on their own. As man of the house, Alberto vowed that he would do whatever it took to care for his family, even if it included murder.Decades later, he finds that he is running out of time and he still has three people on his list, two of them to care for, one of them to kill.Beautiful, talented, and bold, casino Entertainment Director Alexandra Merritt grew up in a middle class home where there were sharp distinctions between right and wrong. When she discovers that someone she loves may be a murderer, she finds that real life comes in all shades of gray. Should she tell her suspicions to handsome homicide cop Sam Howard or should she be loyal to someone who may be planning another murder--maybe her own?

Goliath: A Thriller


Oceanview Publishing - 2016
    On this maiden voyage, Captain Borodin is at the helm. He is the only one aboard aware of the mission.Soon an engineer discovers a defect—seemingly minor, but one with disastrous potential. Despite his attempts to correct the problem, a fire erupts, contained at first, then rapidly spreads out of control, consuming the behemoth ship.A Mayday call alerts Sonny Wade some two hundred miles from the burning ship. This could be the lifeline that Sonny and his rag-tag crew need to save their failing salvage business. But Dan Sharp, Sonny’s nemesis and former employer—the owner of the largest salvage business in northern Alaska—also hears the call. A brutal race is on to claim the burning ship before it sinks or runs aground, contaminating the entire north Pacific Rim—and not only with oil.

Maid in Dubai: Dusting sand. Changing a life.


Zana Bonafe - 2019
    They also experience the property bubble, traffic jams, and the unbearable summer heat.Thousands of maids serve these expats, cleaning their villas and apartments seven days a week, battling tirelessly to keep the sand and dust away. MAID IN DUBAI is the harrowing journey of one such maid.Meet Aubrey, a Filipino girl who works for a cleaning agency in Dubai. Aubrey sees a city that is quite different from the one presented in travel brochures. She experiences the hardships of life in a city with many secrets. From her encounters with maids who lie, steal, prostitute themselves, and swindle their bosses to the shocking stories of corrupt employers, illegal schemes, and seemingly unending greed, Aubrey reels from one scandal to another as she tries to work hard and build a better life for herself in the infamous “City of Gold”.From ironing competitions to banned sex toys, MAID IN DUBAI perfectly captures the oddities of everyday life in one of the richest cities in the world, and is a captivating, often heartbreaking tale of one maid’s struggle for empowerment in a thankless industry. MAID IN DUBAI delivers the perfect mix between Jean Sasson’s Princess setting in the Middle East and Elisabeth Gilbert's Eat, Pray and Love journey of self-discovery, on a diary format, from a unique and very realistic point of view. A novel that will challenge all your perceptions about Dubai!

The Durham Trilogy


Janet MacLeod Trotter - 2013
    Stirring, passionate and uplifting.The Hungry Hills: The Great War is over but life in Whitton Grange mining village is hard and dangerous. Louie Kirkup fears becoming a spinster drudge until she sets eyes on 'Red' Sam Ritson: hard, muscled and a natural leader. But the General Strike looms and Louie fears for the fate of her village and unborn child, as the strain takes its tragic toll.The Darkening Skies: When pretty Sara Pallister's father dies she is taken in by a bullying uncle in Whitton Grange pit-town. Here she is irresistibly drawn to motorbike-riding Joe Dimarco, wild son of the extrovert Italians who run the ice-cream parlour. But as war comes and hostility to the Italians erupts into violence, Sara and Jo's passionate love seems doomed.Never Stand Alone: An emotionally charged family drama set against the momentous backdrop of the 1984 Miners' Strike that divided a nation. Rebellious Carol defies her family to marry miner Mick Todd, but the strike brings tragedy, shocking secrets and tests their love to the limits.