John Tunis vividly imagines the drama of Operation Dynamo, the evacuation of Allied forces from DunkerqueSergeant Edward Williams of the Second Battalion was among the first British troops to land in France, just across the English Channel from his family in Dover, after the declaration of war in September of 1939. Battles have been few and far between since then, in what the Germans have been calling der Sitzkrieg—the sitting war. In May 1940, under the leadership of their new prime minister, Winston Churchill, the British are hoping to stem the tide of Nazi invasion along their southern border. But now, flanked to the east and west by German troops and cut off from the Allies further south, Sergeant Williams and his battalion must retreat to Dunkerque in the north, and escape by sea is their only hope. Views: 34
A great writer's sweeping story of men and women struggling to reclaim their lives in the aftermath of world conflict The Great Fire is Shirley Hazzard's first novel since The Transit of Venus, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1981. The conflagration of her title is the Second World War. In war-torn Asia and stricken Europe, men and women, still young but veterans of harsh experience, must reinvent their lives and expectations, and learn, from their past, to dream again. Some will fulfill their destinies, others will falter. At the center of the story, Aldred Leith, a brave and brilliant soldier, finds that survival and worldly achievement are not enough. Helen Driscoll, a young girl living in occupied Japan and tending her dying brother, falls in love, and in the process discovers herself. In the looming shadow of world enmities resumed, and of Asia's coming centrality in world affairs, a man and a woman seek to recover self-reliance,... Views: 34
When a notorious millionaire banker hangs himself, his death attracts no sympathy. But the legacy of a lifetime of selfishness is widespread, and the carnage most acute among those he ought to be protecting: his family. Meanwhile, in a wealthy suburb of Glasgow, a young woman is found savagely murdered. The community is stunned by what appears to be a vicious, random attack. When Detective Inspector Alex Morrow, heavily pregnant with twins, is called in to investigate, she soon discovers that a tangled web of lies lurks behind the murder. It's a web that will spiral through Alex's own home, the local community, and ultimately right back to a swinging rope, hundreds of miles away. The End of the Wasp Season is an accomplished, compelling and multi-layered novel about family's power of damage-and redemption. Views: 34
In a unique take on the London anthology 33 West features 17 brand new short stories for the whole of west London, from Barnet in the north to Croydon in the south.There is a hunt for an urban fox in Lambeth, the perfect samosa in Brent, a clash between a Croatian mother and daughter in Kensington & Chelsea, and a young rocker trying to make her way in Sutton. These are stories of movement and change that capture the individuality of each borough and the diversity of London better than any camera. Together with 33 East, which includes stories from Enfield to Bromley, 33 West is an unparalleled achievement. This is no small feat. This is London. Views: 34
Precious cargo... P.I. Nico Scalia was hardly prepared for his newest client--eight-year-old Krystal Harper. At first he thought she was playing a practical joke; then he realized this little girl was serious. She wanted to hire him--as a bodyguard for her mom. When Nico actually met Dana Harper, the thought of protecting her twenty-four hours a day was tempting. Trouble was, Dana was hell-bent on caring for herself, so Nico had to convince her she needed him. After all, there was no way the stubborn prosecuting attorney could secure herself and her daughter from the reality that someone close to her heart wanted her dead. Views: 34
The new entry in the popular ‘Jack Haldean’ series, set in the Roaring Twenties - Charles Otterbourne’s New Century company should have been the perfect partner for Professor Alan Carrington’s radical new gramophone. After all, Charles was not only a leading manufacturer, but also a noted philanthropist. But when murder is the result of their meeting, Jack Haldean takes up the case, in a desperate bid to save a man from the gallows. But what led to the crime? The answer is Off the Record . . .From Publishers WeeklySet in 1924, Gordon-Smith's fifth Jack Haldean mystery (after 2010's A Hundred Thousand Dragons) gets off to a sluggish start, but the later, near-manic pace more than compensates. When the butler and chauffeur of entrepreneur Charles Otterbourne, whose company is about to manufacture a machine that will record and play sound electronically, hear a gun shot, they rush to their master's study, where they find him dead on the hearthrug, with Alan Carrington, the machine's eccentric inventor, kneeling nearby, gun in hand. When Carrington later commits suicide in prison, the case appears closed. But an alarming number of murders all somehow connected to the Otterbourne family deeply troubles Scotland Yard's Insp. Bill Rackham, who turns for help to his friend and confidant, detective fiction writer Jack Haldean. Haldean's impish wit, charming manner, and imaginative flights of fancy bring cohesion and sparkle to a busy plot at risk of drowning in a sea of red herrings. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved. From BooklistIn Stoke Horam in 1920s England, Charles Otterbourne owns a paternalistic company, New Century Works, which manufactures gramophones, typewriters, and telephones. However, the principled, philanthropic Otterbourne is suspected by his accountant of embezzling company pension funds. When Andrew Dunbar and the eccentric Professor Alan Carrington approach Otterbourne about purchasing Dunbar's company to get the rights to Carrington's new invention, an electrical recording system, Otterbourne is murdered at the meeting, apparently by Carrington. Did he really do it? Who else would want Otterbourne dead? Was it personal or professional? When Dunbar is also murdered, Carrington's son, Gerard, becomes the chief suspect. Inspector William Rackham consults writer Jack Haldean to help him unravel the mystery. Plot twists, deductive reasoning, step-by-step investigation, and details of the newly invented electrical recording system add to this leisurely paced British mystery. --Sue O'Brien Views: 34
Emily thought she had to solve all her problems before she could live life to the fullest, and boy did she have problems: She needed to lose a lot of weight, and she was the sole caregiver for her parents who both had serious health problems. Emily loved them both dearly, but sometimes she felt trapped. The only way out seemed to be losing her parents and that was something she couldn’t face. She told herself that someday, in the future, she would lose the weight, finish school, find a good job, a great guy to love and be happy. She put her faith in God that the future would not come too soon. Fate, luck, or the hand of God stepped in, when Kate talks Emily into working behind the scenes at a charity horse show. She was scared of the horses, but she met the most gorgeous man she had ever seen, and he wasn’t only gorgeous but also considerate and very interested in Emily. Emily bloomed around David... Views: 34
Kendal Richoux's life began during the reign of Egypt's only female pharaoh. After accepting the opportunity to drink the elixir of the sun, Kendal becomes immortal and the Genesis Clan's slayer. History has taught her the dangers of getting too close to anyone who hasn't harnessed the power of time. After many years, she returns to New Orleans to finish a job she's trained for all her life. It's time for her to face her brother Henri, and it will have dire consequences to mankind if she fails. Piper Marmande believes Kendal has come to take over the company her family has built over generations. As Kendal prepares for the most important battle of her long life, Piper does her best to uncover every one of Kendal's secrets, making herself a distraction Kendal can't afford as she hunts Henri and Ora, the vampire who seduced him to a life of darkness. Views: 34
