Power Play. Gavin Esler


Gavin Esler - 2009
    Another brilliant political adventure from the co-host of BBC’s NewsnightThe Anglo-American ‘Special Relationship’ is in deep trouble. The ambitious vice-president, Bobby Black, who wields greater influence over foreign affairs than his titular boss has fallen out with the British PM. The young British Ambassador to Washington knows he must step in. He is in a delicate position however – with the expectations of the British Government on him, as well as those of his father-in-law, the PM.In a bid to orchastrate some good PR, Black is invited to England, accompanied by a plane load of assistants and CIA security. Guided by his aristocratic host, he goes out to the moors–and disappears. He is not seen again until humilating photographs begin to appear, and then again, silence.The Americans are outraged that their VP has gone missing on British soil and the relationship between the two countries seem irrevocably damaged. But what can be done? Missing but not confirmed dead is a consitutional grey area, and should Black reappear, can he ever be trusted again?

Pines (Digital Sample) (The Wayward Pines #1)


Blake Crouch - 2015
    Night Shyamalan, starring Matt Dillon and premiering May 14th on FOX. Secret service agent Ethan Burke arrives in Wayward Pines, Idaho, with a clear mission: locate and recover two federal agents who went missing in the bucolic town one month earlier. But within minutes of his arrival, Ethan is involved in a violent accident. He comes to in a hospital, with no ID, no cell phone, and no briefcase. The medical staff seems friendly enough, but something feels…off. As the days pass, Ethan’s investigation into the disappearance of his colleagues turns up more questions than answers. Why can’t he get any phone calls through to his wife and son in the outside world? Why doesn’t anyone believe he is who he says he is? And what is the purpose of the electrified fences surrounding the town? Are they meant to keep the residents in? Or something else out? Each step closer to the truth takes Ethan further from the world he thought he knew, from the man he thought he was, until he must face a horrifying fact—he may never get out of Wayward Pines alive. 2013 International Thriller Award Nominee

The Street Orphans


Mary Wood - 2018
    When her father is killed in an accident and her family evicted from their cottage, she hopes to leave her old life behind, to start afresh in the Blackburn cotton mills. But tragedy strikes once again, setting in motion a chain of events that will unravel her family’s lives. Their fate is in the hands of the Earl of Harrogate, and his betrothed, Lady Katrina. But more sinister is the scheming Marcia, Lady Katrina’s jealous sister. Impossible dreams beset Ruth from the moment she meets the Earl. Dreams that lead her to hope that he will save her from the terrible fate that awaits those accused of witchcraft. Dreams that one day her destiny and the Earl’s will be entwined.

Labyrinth


Jon Land - 1985
    Code name: Tantalus. Tantalus -- all the more daring because it is so obvious -- strikes at the very lifeline of humanity. Its aim is enormous, horrible, and unknown even to the superpowers. Only one man, Christopher Locke, an unsuccessful college professor, can expose the trail that begins with the brutal execution of every person in an obscure South American town. But even as Locke navigates the labyrinth leading to The Committee and Tantalus, The Committee is hunting him down, using even his most trusted friends against him.

The Battle of Gettysburg


Craig L. Symonds - 2017
    Lee's retreat through Pennsylvania and escape across the Potomac. Award-winning historian Craig L. Symonds recounts the events of three hot, brutal days in July when Americans struggled battled one another across a dozen square miles of rolling Pennsylvania countryside. Symonds details the military strategy of both sides, including the Confederate decision to invade the North, the cat-and-mouse game in Maryland and Pennsylvania, and, finally, the terrible clash of arms on the hills and fields of Gettysburg. Firsthand accounts humanize generals and individual soldiers of the Blue and Gray who fought for their lives, their homes, and their convictions. This is the story of Gettysburg as it has never been told before.

Serafim and Claire


Mark Lavorato - 2014
    Set in the vividly imagined streets of 1920s Montreal, Serafim and Claire is the beautiful, moving, and compulsively readable story of two dreamers whose worlds become forever connected.Claire Audette is a dancer whose reputation in the vaudeville houses of 1920s Montreal is rapidly on the rise. Serafim Vieria is a photographer and lonely immigrant, wandering the streets of the same city haunted by memories of a lost love in his native Portugal. Around them, the Twenties are roaring, and the metropolis is simmering: corrupt politicians, the burgeoning of jazz, the emerging suffragette movement, trouble in the Red Light, fascism in the Italian community, with the English/French divide cleaving through it all. And as Serafim and Claire’s lives begin to intertwine, a dangerous plot forms that could boost both their fortunes. Can their naïve yet cunning plan succeed? Can they make their own luck? And, if they fail, what will become of their budding love? Serafim and Claire is the unforgettable story of two idealistic yet flawed dreamers being drawn together, and of the vibrant city and times in which they live. In lush and beautiful prose, Mark Lavorato brings an entire world vividly to life.

Or Even Eagle Flew


Harry Turtledove - 2021
    As these units join their RAF cousins during the Battle of Britain, famous woman aviator Amelia Earhart (who survived her world-circling flight) emerges as a rallying point for those willing to stand against fascism.

Compact Discworlds 1-4: The Colour of Magic/The Light Fantastic/Equal Rites/Mort


Terry Pratchett - 1995
    Discworld is a flat planet, supported on the backs of four elephants, who in turn stand on the back of the great turtle A'Tuin as it swims majestically through space.

Mary Higgins Clark Gift Set Cst: While My Pretty One Sleeps and Weep No More My Lady


Mary Higgins Clark - 1992
    The killing of one of her best customers reminded her of the one thing -- they slaying of her own mother years earlier. Faced with a variety of suspects, Neeve plunges into the mystery of Lambston's death, determined to find the truth. But as she is drawn into a whirlwind of money and romance, she is also being stalked by a killer who's closer than she could ever dream . . .Weep No More, My LadyYoung Elizabeth Lange is haunted by the tragic death of her beloved sister, the legendary actress Leila LaSalle. Ted Winters, Leila's multi-millionaire fiance, has been accused of her murder -- and Elizabeth is slated to be the star witness for the prosecution. But before the trial begins, Elizabeth gets an invitation to unwind at a swank California spa. There is caught up in a torrent of confusing emotions and perplexing questions. Elizabeth must discover the truth -- and soon. Because someone is stalking her, patiently waiting for the right moment to strike . . .

The Snow Leopard


Daniel Leston - 2010
    Cruelly betrayed while a mere boy by his brother’s vaulting ambition, he eventually overcomes bitter slavery far from his native land, achieving the status of a legendary warrior without peer among his adoptive people. Ultimately forced by tragic circumstances to choose between these two diverse cultures, he must finally decide where his true loyalties lay. About the Author:In his early years, Daniel Leston was known as a 'Story Teller' by his nephews and nieces, weaving wondrous tales for their young imaginations about heroes and heroines that strangely seems to carry the same monikers as the intended listeners. It was on this foundation that he decided to pen his first two books, primarily for the enjoyment of family and close friends.With the emergence of a remarkable tool called the 'e-reader', he decided to retrieve his novels from their long attic slumber, dust them off and offer them to the public in 2009.Blending his passion, as a former student of Art and History, Mr. Leston has drawn from his background to create two great tales steeped in history, adventure and human conquest. Opting to avoid the more chosen route of hiring a graphic artist for his first submissions to the literary world, he chose instead to complete the package, bringing his vision to life by painting his own covers.Daniel Leston is currently busy pounding the keyboard on his newest work... a continuing adventure for his beloved character from 'The Amun Chamber', Professor David Manning, scheduled for release in Fall 2012.

A Woman of Our Times


Rosie Thomas - 1990
    What more could she possibly want? She has come a long way. From small shopkeeper and betrayed wife she has made herself the City's darling, her name linked in gossip columns with film star Caspar Jensen. She has come a long way from Simon Archer, the man who invented a brilliantly simple game of chance and skill in a prison camp forty years ago, a game that is the foundation of Harriet's business empire. She has come a long way from her family, friends and former lovers. But when things start going wrong Harriet finds that in love, as in the game, the quickest way to a goal can be the riskiest.