Book picks similar to
Silas Timberman by Howard Fast


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The Last Resort


Alison Lurie - 1998
    But this year, as winter approaches, Wilkie is increasingly depressed and withdrawn. At her wit's end, Jenny persuades him to visit Key West, the Last Resort. Within weeks of their arrival Jenny not only has a part-time job but is becoming involved with assorted local characters, including Gerry, an ex-beatnik poet, and Lee, the dramatically attractive manager of a women-only guesthouse. Wilkie, meanwhile, is planning his own "accidental" death by drowning--a task that turns out to be more difficult than he thought--and trying to avoid the attentions of a breathless young female fan.

Dollface: A Novel of the Roaring Twenties


Renée Rosen - 2013
    Bobbing her hair and showing her knees, the lipsticked beauty dazzles, doing the Charleston in nightclubs and earning the nickname “Dollface.” As the ultimate flapper, Vera captures the attention of two high rollers, a handsome nightclub owner and a sexy gambler. On their arms, she gains entrée into a world filled with bootleg bourbon, wailing jazz, and money to burn. She thinks her biggest problem is choosing between them until the truth comes out. Her two lovers are really mobsters from rival gangs during Chicago’s infamous Beer Wars, a battle Al Capone refuses to lose. The heady life she’s living is an illusion resting on a bedrock of crime and violence unlike anything the country has ever seen before. When the good times come to an end, Vera becomes entangled in everything from bootlegging to murder. And as men from both gangs fall around her, Vera must put together the pieces of her shattered life, as Chicago hurtles toward one of the most infamous days in its history, the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.

Shipwreck: The Strange Fate of the Morro Castle


Gordon Thomas - 1972
    In the early morning hours of September 8, 1934, the luxury cruise liner Morro Castle, carrying 316 passengers and 230 officers and crew, caught fire a few hours out of the New York harbor on a return voyage from Havana. The fire spread with terrifying swiftness, transforming the ship into a blazing inferno. One hundred thirty-four people died that night—was it an accident?   Writers Gordon Thomas and Max Morgan Witts prove that the disaster was no accident, but was planned, meticulously and deliberately, by an officer of the Morro Castle. His name: George White Rogers, chief radio officer. They also prove that Rogers was responsible for the death of the captain, who was poisoned several hours before the fire broke out.  Shipwreck is a spellbinding moment-by-moment account of the Morro Castle’s last voyage, and one of the most spectacular disasters to stir the Atlantic Ocean. Through interviews with survivors, rescuers, and investigators, the authors detail a desperate investigation and the search for a mass murderer. Against the backdrop of the Great Depression and the buildup of World War II, Shipwreck is a sweeping tale of personal heroism, tragedy, and murder.

Waiting for the Thunder


Patricia Shaw - 2001
    But this year the ominous storm clouds only serve to remind them of trouble brewing - an Aborgine guerilla fighter in the district with some of his men is causing havoc indiscriminately and placing both Zack Hamilton and William Oatley in great danger. As the days drag on, the Aborigines' struggle for survival involves them all in a vicious waiting game until men with revenge in their hearts have to face the truth about themselves.

Nosferatu


Jim Shepard - 1998
    W. Murnau (1888–1931). Murnau ranks as a founding father of the cinema, not least for his legendary horror film, Nosferatu. Here he is revealed as a hermetic genius who turns against himself, becoming in a sense his own vampire. What shadows Jim Shepard’s Murnau—through the airfields of the Great War to Berlin in the twenties and to the virtual invention of filmmaking—is the conflict between his impossibly high ideals and his heartbreaking memories of love betrayed and love lost. From provincial Germany through Hollywood in its early days to the South Seas, Nosferatu charts a life at once artistic, intellectual, and deeply human. Ron Hansen provides an introduction to this Bison Books edition.

Michaelmas


Algis Budrys - 1977
    As a result, by the turn of the millennium, he's become one of the most powerful men on earth, because of his ability to spy & influence through the world wide computer network.By the time of the novel, Michaelmas has successfully used his power to create & sustain a powerful version of the UN to ensure world peace. He stays in the background, however, as a journalist, albeit a highly influential & respected one whose opinions can still influence public opinion. However, as the novel progresses, he slowly learns that a possible extraterrestrial presence may be interfering with the new world he has worked so hard to create.The novel is remarkable for its prescience, because it appeared less than a decade into the Internet era, long before its current prominence & ubiquity. Its description of journalism & its professional culture are likewise highly developed, mainly due to the late Budrys' residence near Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, which appears in the book.

A Family Secret


Libby Ashworth - 2021
    Meanwhile, her older sister Peggy works as an apprentice at the Girls' School, hoping for a more prosperous future as a schoolteacher.Jennet and Titus Eastwood have always made decisions for their daughters' futures. But as the sisters near adulthood they are determined to make their own choices. And with temptation in the way, will the girls find love - or infatuation - leads them astray?Then an unexpected but familiar face arrives in town, and the family's future is threatened. For Bessie and Jennet, a difficult choice must be made - love or family . . .

The Poisoned Glass


Kimberly Tilley - 2019
    Auerbach, City Historian, Passaic, New Jersey At the dawn of the 20th century, the social unrest in Paterson, New Jersey was palpable. Thousands of Dutch and Italian immigrants flocked to the city, hoping for a job in Paterson’s famous silk mills. The burgeoning population ushered women into the workplace, grew suffragist sympathies, and produced an anarchist movement.In this charged environment, Jennie Bosschieter, a 17-year-old Dutch immigrant and mill worker, was murdered. Sorrow turned to shock when four wealthy, influential citizens were accused of killing her. The resulting criminal trial held the city – and eventually the nation – transfixed.

Job


Joseph Roth - 1930
    He loses his family, falls terribly ill, and is badly abused. He needs a miracle.

Then Came War


Jacqueline Druga - 2012
    He served his country, fought two wars, and in his eighty years on the earth could say he had seen it all. Until that day.Surprised that the group separates, Harry is left alone to care and guide an eight-year- old boy out of the devastation of New York and hopefully to safety. But finding safety isn’t easy. The destruction extends far beyond New York. A massive strike has commenced on the Eastern Seaboard of the United States and for the first time since the War of 1812, America has been invaded.Harry and the boy, along with the other survivors are deep inside occupied territory. As they journey and struggle through the front lines of a war that will rage for decades, they discover just how hard they have to fight for the price of freedom. A freedom they all had taken for granted.First there was normalcy ... then came war.Then Came War is the prequel to Wasteland and is part of the America’s Demise Series.

Murder in the Gunroom


H. Beam Piper - 1953
    When Fleming was found dead on the floor of his locked gunroom, a Confederate-made Colt-type percussion .36 revolver in his hand, the coroner's verdict was "death by accident." But Gladys Fleming had her doubts. Enough at any rate to engage Colonel Jefferson Davis Rand--better known just as Jeff--private detective and a pistol-collector himself, to catalogue, appraise, and negotiate the sale of her late husband's collection.There were a number of people who had wanted the collection. The question was: had anyone wanted it badly enough to kill Fleming? And if so, how had he done it? Here is a mystery, told against the fascinating background of old guns and gun-collecting, which is rapid-fire without being hysterical, exciting without losing its contact with reason, and which introduces a personable and intelligent new private detective. It is a story that will keep your nerves on a hair trigger even if you don't know the difference between a cased pair of Paterson .34's and a Texas .40 with a ramming-lever.

Jack O' Judgement


Edgar Wallace - 1920
    We are carried, spell-bound, through every page of what can justly be described as one of the late Edgar Wallace's best and most exciting thrillers.

The Son of Someone Famous


M.E. Kerr - 1974
    Brenda Belle Blossom is the town tomboy. After an awkward meeting, Adam and Brenda begin to discover some truths about their elders and each other. The book successfully evokes adolescence in an entertaining story with credible characterizations, animated dialogue, and a realistic New England small town setting.--Booklist.

The Mixed Blessing


Helen Van Slyke - 1975
    

Targets: A Vietnam War Novel


Don McQuinn - 2017
    I read it in one sitting and lost a night’s sleep over it. The novel is that good." -Walter F. Murphy, author of The Vicar of Christ From retired Marine Don McQuinn comes Targets. A Vietnam War novel unlike any other, this story will take you inside the counter-intelligence efforts in Saigon and give you a rare glimpse at the iconic conflict. Landing in Saigon in 1969, Marine Major Charles Taylor is faced with a city ravaged by decades of war. Its streets and alleyways teem with refugees, soldiers, and corruption. Soon after arrival, Taylor is recruited into a secretive counter-intelligence operation. His covert pursuit of a Viet Cong collaborator thrusts him deep into the dangerous underbelly of Saigon. He must quickly learn more about the tangled web of the Vietnam War than he ever thought possible. His survival depends on it. Can Taylor find his target and leave a mark on this impossible war without sacrificing his honor - or his life? Available in print and ebook for the first time since its original publication, Targets has been heralded as one of the best novels of the Vietnam War. The story will give you an intimate look at the lives and struggles of those involved, American and Vietnamese alike. Read Targets Today