Book picks similar to
Never Smile Again by Tim Kent


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The Message


Hylton H. Smith - 2014
    Olivia Radford-Wickham is a prominent surgeon with searing career ambition. Her husband Tom, in stark contrast, is one of life's drifters, currently parading as an author. His true dedication, however, was caring for their six year-old son. Kieron was born with neurological abnormalities, and has special needs. After a blazing row between Olivia and Tom, a single phone call changes their lives forever. The police investigation kicks grit into an already delicate situation, as the unfolding events defy belief. A sinister explanation gradually emerges, together with a potential ticking time bomb. However, all is not as it seems to be.

The Wildflower Trilogy


Susan Gabriel - 2019
     The Secret Sense of Wildflower: Named a Best Book of 2012 by Kirkus Reviews. Over 250 reviews! Small southern towns have few secrets. But when a grieving daughter confronts the local bad boy, she exposes a dark history. Appalachia, 1941. Thirteen-year-old Louisa May "Wildflower" McAllister's heart still aches for her father. A year after her dad's tragic sawmill accident, she relies on her strength of spirit and her heightened intuition to deal with a critical mother and cope with the aftermath.But when she's targeted by the town's teenage bully, she may need more than her "secret sense" to survive.Despite these hardships, Wildflower has a resilience that is forged with humor, a love of the land, and an endless supply of questions to God. But after an affront to her father's memory, she lets her anger get the better of her and unwittingly triggers a series of traumatic events that will change her life forever.Will Wildflower fall to another tragedy or will her faith in her family and herself be enough to carry her through?With prose as lush and colorful as the American south, The Secret Sense of Wildflower is powerful and poignant, brimming with energy and angst, humor and hope. Lily’s Song: A mother’s secrets, a daughter’s dream, and a family’s loyalty are masterfully interwoven in this much anticipated sequel to Amazon #1 bestseller The Secret Sense of Wildflower. “Wildflower” McAllister’s daughter, Lily, now 14, struggles with her mother’s reluctance to tell her who her father is. When a stranger appears on the family doorstep, drunk and evoking ghosts from the past, it threatens to break the close-knit McAllister family apart.Meanwhile, Wildflower has a deep secret of her own. When Lily discovers it by accident, it changes everything she thought she knew about her mother. The events that follow silence the singing she dreamed of sharing with the world.With her signature metaphors, Gabriel weaves a compelling tale that captures the resilience and strength of both mother and daughter, as secrets revealed test their strong bond and ultimately change their lives forever.Set in 1956 southern Appalachia, Lily’s Song stands on its own, and readers who are new to Gabriel will be drawn into the world she so skillfully depicts. As a sequel, it will captivate fans of The Secret Sense of Wildflower (a Kirkus Reviews Best Book of 2012), who have eagerly awaited more. Daisy’s Fortune: She must return to the place that twice brought her shame. She’ll have one final chance to save someone else. Tennessee, 1982. Wildflower McAllister thought she’d put the past behind her. But when she learns her mother is dying, she digs deep and returns to the small mountain town that stole her innocence and cast her out. And she has no choice but to pull her thirteen-year-old granddaughter Daisy right back into the ghosts of her painful history.As her mother passes, Wildflower’s grief turns to despair when Daisy’s fortune is read, predicting a dark future and the return of sinister threats. With her granddaughter keeping a terrible secret, Wildflower’s distress forces her to call upon the community that rejected her to prevent another tragedy from playing out in front of her eyes.

The Key West Caper


L. Lee Watkins - 2014
    I grew up in Small Town, Tennessee, joined the Army after graduation, now live in North Miami, tend bar for a living, and the right girl has not come along yet. Sounds dull, so most people lose interest. That is just fine with me, because the rest of the truth isn’t the least bit dull. My name is Dallas Kincade, and I have this guy living with me, well, more like coexisting with me. He is really an alter ego that camps out back in the recesses of my mind and lives for one purpose, that purpose being to come out and give me a hand when I get in a spot of trouble. That doesn’t sound too bad, except that the other Dallas has a single-minded tire-iron kind of mentality, thinks that every problem can be solved by committing mayhem on everyone in reach. Needless to say I try to keep my Demon in check. The best way to do that is to live a peaceful and uncomplicated life, one that keeps me as far away from trouble as I can get. Unfortunately, fate considers peaceful and uncomplicated to be its mortal enemy, so it lobs trouble my way every chance it gets. And somehow there always seems to be a good looking woman involved. In this case, the woman’s name is DeeDee Malone. We met at a party a few months ago, talked a while, became party-induced friends, and then we parted with the assumption that our paths would never cross again. But fate has other plans for Dallas Kincade and DeeDee Malone. It all started when I received a note from an old friend, Stanley Morrissey, who seemed to be in a spot of legal trouble down in Key West. Although I would rather pet a rabid skunk than get messed up in one of Stanley's capers, I felt obligated to go see what was going on. Turned out Stanley was charged with murdering a shipmate and two passengers on a charter boat out of Key West, but a high placed cop in the Key West PD was convinced that Stanley had been set up. To prove his theory, the cop needed someone to snoop around the water world of Key West to see what could be stirred up, and that someone was me. My cover was a 32 foot sailboat that had been confiscated from a drug suspect, and it would be all mine if my little team could find the real killers. So I ended up in an unlikely alliance with Bunning, the cop, DeeDee Malone the gal from the party, a hillbilly iceman named Bobby Ray Lewis, and a cathouse madam names Marilou Zirkle. To say this was an unusual group of characters would be an understatement, but we got the job done.

Hell Hath No Fury


Robert Reid - 2013
    They confront bias, ridicule and death. They stand fast and roar, "We will not go quietly into the night." Their skill, bravery and dedication change the course of military history. Their right to fight is on the line as they stand toe to toe with their enemies. Equality, like freedom, is won with their blood and sacrifice.

When Day is Done


Elizabeth Murphy - 1998
    Kate must go to Aunt Mildred, a hard woman who runs a Liverpool boarding house, who puts the young girl to work at once. But Rose gets the wealthy widow Aunt Beattie, who lavishes her with gifts and attention. As one sister experiences hardship alongside friendship, and the other is spoilt and isolated, which will find happiness? For, at the end of the day, it is not what Kate and Rose have in life that counts, it is what they choose to make of it… When Day is Done is a heartwarming saga of the struggle to find happiness, perfect for fans of Helen Forrester, Katie Flynn and Pam Howe.‘As heartwarming as it is sincere, this is storytelling at its best’ Best

A Rebel in Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg (Annotated)


John H. Lewis - 2016
    But it was at Gettysburg that the most searing experience of his wartime career took place. He charged with Pickett's Division behind General Lewis Armistead across that now-fabled field towards the center of the Union line. With great pride and seemingly no lasting bitterness, John Lewis recalls that fateful day and all his other days in a butternut uniform. But it's not all blood and glory. Lewis had a wry sense of humor and used it to twit both the Blue and the Gray in this wonderful small memoir of a Johnnie from Virginia. Every memoir of the American Civil War provides us with another view of the catastrophe that changed the country forever. For the first time, this long out-of-print volume is available as an affordable, well-formatted book for e-readers, tablets, and smartphones. Be sure to LOOK INSIDE by clicking the cover above or download a sample.

Daughters of the Civil War


Diane Wylie - 2014
    ~Long and Short Reviews JENNY'S PASSION It was November 1863, and Captain David Reynolds of the Seventeenth Pennsylvania Cavalry was fully prepared to die. Someone had once told him that dying was quite painless. He didn’t believe it, though he secretly hoped it was true as he and his men prepared to ride into chaos and horror. The battle of Mine Run had begun. Jennifer Winston could hear the booming sounds of cannon fire miles away from her Virginia home. She knew that the war had begun two years ago but had been insulated from it all by her father. Little did she know that her life was about to irrevocably change, and she would be tested to the limits of her courage and endurance for a man—a man who was the enemy. LILA'S VOW Schoolteacher Lila Sutton finds her one true love when cavalryman Captain Jack Montgomery rides into Gettysburg. But their promises to be together mean nothing to the enemy, and when Lila receives word of Jack's death, she wants revenge. Imprisoned and desolate, Jack's only thoughts are of the love he left behind. With a future filled with turmoil and uncertainty, he can't see a way out. But he's a solider, and soldiers don't give up. In the midst of a brutal war, can a shattered love be restored?

Hell to Pay


Peter J. Azzole - 2017
    Folded skillfully into this riveting tale the reader will find naval action, history, espionage, government corruption, personal challenge, romance and so much more.It's July 1950, a mere month since the North Korean People’s Army stormed overwhelmingly across the 38th parallel. Captain "Hal" Kirby, U.S. Navy, is a pilot's pilot and happy to be on the leading edge of a war held in balance by Naval air power. North Korea wants South Korea at all costs. Kirby's Air Group on the USS Valley Forge is playing a major role in holding the NKPA at bay until significant military forces can be mobilized. A disgruntled officer's six-year-old promise to get even with Kirby and the Navy for ending his career as a pilot also occupies Kirby's attention.The multifaceted plot also includes Kirby becoming an unknowing victim of government corruption that thrusts him into a political incident with the Soviet Union.Kirby is faced with many life-changing experiences throughout the story that impact his professional and personal life.You will not want to put this novel down.

Jim Wrenn


William Guerrant - 2018
    Times-News, January 4, 1918Seeing something of himself in a struggling teenage boy, an old man faces one final challenge--and an opportunity to bring closure to a secret past.Spanning nearly nine decades, from the mountains of western Virginia, to a riverside mill town, to a farm in the Piedmont, this is the story of lives marked by tragedy, resilience, and, ultimately, the discovery of purpose and belonging.Inspired by a true story.

The Sheriff


Charles Hirsch - 2017
    He can't figure out why the thought is there, why he's thinking that way, after all he's only sixty years old and in good shape. A series of weird crimes confront him, challenging him at a time he feels most vulnerable. Eventually, assisted by a reliable deputy and a young, heavily-tattooed, former drug-running woman, the mysteries deepen. The clues are few and far between, the violence vicious and seemingly unwarranted. Eventually things slip out of control, until a small, seemingly unimportant detail surfaces that brings into focus what might be happening. Filled with exciting action, great dialogue and a very real sense of place, this book offers much for the mystery and action lover. And, at only 213 pages, it's a fast, exciting read, a "two-nighter," or perfect for a vacation read.

Siege of Azalea Plantation (Azalea Plantation #1)


B.J. Robinson - 2015
     That becomes hard to do when Lieutenant Reese Armstrong sieges it for use as a hospital for his wounded soldiers and encampment grounds during the forty-seven day standoff for control of the Mississippi River before the surrender of Vicksburg. Widow Alexis Bella Seaborne led a sheltered life in the arms of massive oaks at Azalea Plantation with her husband Luke Wyatt until the Civil War forced her to forget about the elegant dress of a lady and embrace survival when a Yankee officer took control of her home. Reese never thought he’d fall for a Southern belle, but he can’t deny the attraction he feels each time Alexis’s haunted blue eyes show passion for the home she loves and her beloved South. He can’t help but envy the love and regard she held for her husband and longs for love like it. Alexis never thought she could love again when her husband died in the war. How could she fall for a Yankee when Union soldiers killed him? Left with nothing but a war-ravaged rundown plantation after the invasion of an ocean of blue, can she find trust and faith to move on? As movement flutters in her stomach, can she let go of the past to find a future for her and her unborn child? Her first love was sweet, young, and innocent, and she loved him with all of her heart, yet this handsome Yankee devil invaded her home and made her blood sizzle. His touch seared her skin as well as her heart. Worse yet, his kisses entrapped her lips and devoured her, consuming her with a passion that told her she was still alive and had not been buried with her husband. Despite her efforts to die on the inside, he awoke the spirit, heart, and passion she thought she’d buried for good. Book one of a two book serial, but may be read as a stand-alone. The second book will pick up with Reese still battling the raging Civil War and focus on the ending of the war. This one focused on the Battle of Vicksburg.

Seven Day Hero: On Her Majesty's Service - An Alternative Mark Cole Thriller


J.T. Brannan - 2015
    When the treaty is signed anyway, the new Euro Russian Alliance teeters on the brink of nuclear war with China - and it is not long before other nations are drawn into a situation that is spinning frighteningly out of control. Mark Cole is a deniable operative for the British government, loyal to the last. But when his own organization turns against him, he finds himself in a desperate race against time to not only save his family, but to find out who was really behind the attack in Sweden, and stop the world from descending into nuclear Armageddon. Please note that SEVEN DAY HERO is an 'alternate universe' Mark Cole thriller that shares material with STOP AT NOTHING, and sits outside the normal series.

The Sixth Martyr


Eric Meyer - 2017
    A former SEAL, and contractor for the CIA’s Alpha Squad program in Afghanistan, he has vowed never to go back. That was until 9/11. His older brother is the only family he has left, a successful broker working in the World Trade Centre when it is hit. Tyler has nothing left to live for. Except a burning desire for revenge. With the image of the bearded Saudi psycho who ordered the attack in the forefront of his mind, he returns to Afghanistan. The million to one chance of getting a shot at him drives him on. Yet while he is there, he becomes embroiled in more than he’d bargained for. A series of chance encounters draw him more into the coming conflict, including teaming up with his old Alpha Squad buddies. Tyler has to use every one of his old skills to survive. Bullet for bullet, bomb for bomb, he fights desperately to survive the new madness that has gripped the country and threatens to destroy it. Alpha Squad – The Sixth Martyr is an incredible story of Afghanistan in the fiery aftermath of 9/11. A full-length novel by the bestselling author of many Spec Ops series. These include the popular SEAL Team Bravo stories, Heroes of Afghanistan, Raider, Echo Six, and Devil's Guard titles.

The China Station


Andrew Wareham - 2018
    The posting is a chance for him to redeem himself, or to get further into trouble… He finds Hong Kong to his liking, as is Miss Blantyre who he met on the outward voyage. However, with China descending into chaos, disaster is never far away. About the series The Earl’s Other Son Series. It is the final years of Queen Victoria’s long reign. Lord Magnus Campbell is a lounger, and a naval lieutenant only because an uncle pays him a comfortable allowance while he remains in the service. His father is poor. He is a Scottish Earl with more title than income, and his elder brother is respectable but dim. They are both disapproving of Magnus and his errant ways. After his indiscretion with an admiral’s daughter, Magnus is forced to leave England. He is appointed captain of an outdated sloop based out of Hong Kong. He engages in vicious actions with pirates and ‘mercenaries’ working for the other Great Powers and achieves a fair amount of success. As his naval career progresses, Magnus is posted to various trouble spots around the world, where the Royal Navy is needed to protect the interests of the British Empire. Published by The Electronic Book Company

The Berlin Spy Trap: A classic espionage thriller


Geoffrey Davison - 2013
     How do you find the answers when they are locked in your own lost memories? Cold War Europe John Stack wakes up in a strange hotel room in Spain with his memory of recent events wiped. It is clear he has been attacked. But what did they want? Stack is a journalist by trade but under that façade he is also an undercover British agent. Stack needs to remember what his mission was in Spain – and what happened to his two partners. Aware his life is in imminent danger, he does not know who he can trust. The doctor who treats his injuries offers to help him, but in return Stack must help smuggle someone across the Berlin Wall from East Germany to the West. Stack finds himself in a race against time to recover his memory and complete his mission before his pursuers close in and silence him forever… THE BERLIN SPY TRAP is a heart-pounding espionage thriller, following one man navigating his way through the tensions of Cold War Europe – desperate to recover the secrets locked away in his mind.