Bronze Medal Winner of 2018 Readers' Favorite Book Awards for Fiction-Thrillers-Political. *
When twelve-year-old Congolese boy, Joseph Muamba, is sold to a wealthy American family he wants to die.
Eventually, he comes to love the family and lives the life of the all-American boy. However, he cannot rid himself of a nagging feeling that he has a greater calling in life.
Fourteen years later he competes at the Beijing Olympics for the Democratic Republic of the Congo and wins his birth country’s first ever medal – gold in the decathlon. However, the nagging feeling persists, not satisfied with Olympic gold.
Revered, he returns to the Congo as a guest of the president and is mobbed by adoring crowds. Maya Tansi, his closest childhood friend, has metamorphosed into a beautiful woman, and they become reacquainted. When Maya tells him Western countries are bribing politicians and plundering the country’s mineral wealth, he does not believe her.
He soon finds Maya is right. Government induced bribery, corruption, rape, and murder are taking place in the Congo on a grand scale. Western and Chinese mining companies are ripping gold and minerals out of the earth without paying compensation or taxes. When the poor, oppressed people protest, they are imprisoned or murdered.
Finally, Joseph realizes what his calling is, but it involves risking his life, and the lives of those whom he loves.
Can he bring down rapacious, Western billionaires and an evil government? Views: 786
From the author of SOPHIE'S WORLD, 'A masterful mixture of fantasy and reality...a simply wonderful read' SHE.
Panina Manina, a trapeze artist, falls and breaks her neck. As the ringmaster bends over her, he notices an amulet of amber around her neck, the same trinket he had given his own lost child, who was swept away in a torrent some sixteen years earlier.
This tale is narrated by Petter, a precocious child and fantasist, and perhaps Jostein Gaarder's most intriguing character since Sophie. As an adult, Petter makes his living selling stories and ideas to professionals suffering from writer's block. But as Petter sits spinning his tales, he finds himself in a trap of his own making. Views: 782
Kemamonit must travel deep into the ancient past in order to confront a powerful sorceress.A Breath of Fiction is a unique collection, since each of the 200 stories contained in the volume is made up of exactly 200 words. The stories range in mood from serious to enigmatic to poignant to silly. Some stories closely examine ordinary moments that might easily be overlooked in the course of a day or a lifetime. Other stories open a window to the fantastic and to the impossible. But all of the stories are concerned with what it means to experience life. The beauty of these very short stories, grouped into twelve different thematic categories, is that a reader may choose to read as much or as little as they choose at a time. Since these stories were originally posted online (on the blog also titled A Breath of Fiction), they are meant to be accessible for a brief moment of reading, or for a complete immersion in the variety of stories and experiences presented in these pages. Views: 778
A disgraced archeologist finds the tomb of an ancient Egyptian sorceress.Making peace with the world, sooner or later most of us have to. But how? For Ian Mac Bride, his way begins almost accidentally when, in 1909, he watches a fly-casting tournament in New York's Central Park, and begins to dream of becoming a great fly caster. But soon Ian experiences personal tragedy, and then is appalled by the unexpected slaughter of World War I. He retreats into the world of fly fishing and fly casting, and meets unforgettable anglers like: Doc, a Civil War veteran, who tells how, after he enlisted in return for drinking money, he was unexpectedly changed by the horror of war; Izzy, a mysterious immigrant, who, in his way, teaches Ian perhaps the most important lesson of long-distance, fly casting; and George M. L. La Branche who, though torn by self-doubt, writes the book that revolutionizes fly fishing. And so, these anglers help change Ian's hopes and values. Though his father questions his courage, Ian decides to become a teacher instead of a lawyer, and moves near the beautiful Beaverkill River, the birthplace of fly fishing in America. But tragedy still follows him. Torn by grief, he curses the world and loses faith in it until, almost by accident, he finds a way to come to terms. How? The answer will surprise you. "A maverick and memorable book." - Nick Lyons, author Spring Creel“I simply enjoyed the heck out of it." - Eric Peper, coauthor, Fly Fishing The Beaverkill "An unforgettable cast of characters." - Jim Witty, Bend Bulletin"The novel is well-written, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and highly recommend it whether you're a fly fisher or not." - John Pitarresi, Utica Observer-Dispatch “An engaging tale of a young man coming of age." - Lee Murdock, Fly Fish Magazine."A compelling novel that describes one fly caster's search for personal peace." - Bill AuCoin, the Aucoin Report “Great book Mr. Kadish!” - Bill Anderson, Trout Waders. Views: 778
From the celebrated author of The Chosen and My Name Is Asher Lev, a trilogy of related novellas about a woman whose life touches three very different men—stories that encompass some of the profoundest themes of the twentieth century.
Ilana Davita Dinn is the listener to whom three men relate their lives.
As a young girl, she offers English lessons to a teenage survivor of the camps. In “The Ark Builder,” he shares with her the story of his friendship with a proud old builder of synagogue arks, and what happened when the German army invaded their Polish town.
As a graduate student, she finds herself escorting a guest lecturer from the Soviet Union, and in “The War Doctor,” her sympathy moves him to put his painful past to paper recounting his experiences as a Soviet NKVD agent who was saved by an idealistic doctor during the Russian civil war, only to encounter him again during the terrifying period of the Kremlin doctors’ plot.
And, finally, we meet her in “The Trope Teacher,” in which a distinguished professor of military history, trying to write his memoirs, is distracted by his wife’s illness and by the arrival next door of a new neighbor, the famous writer I. D. (Ilana Davita) Chandal.
Poignant and profound, Chaim Potok’s newest fiction is a major addition to his remarkable—and remarkably loved—body of work.
From the Hardcover edition. Views: 776
Das berühmte Bild einer Frau, lange verschollen, taucht plötzlich wieder auf. Überraschend für die Kunstwelt, aber auch für die drei Männer, die diese Frau einst liebten - und sich von ihr betrogen fühlen. In einer Bucht an der australischen Küste kommt es zu einem Wiedersehen: Die Männer wollen wiederhaben, was ihnen vermeintlich zusteht. Nur einer ergreift die Chance, der Frau neu zu begegnen, auch wenn ihnen nicht mehr viel Zeit bleibt Views: 773
Yes, it's another one. Don't worry, it can't go on forever; but for now - here's part 13 of my series.As a nation, we have ignored almost two centuries of prophetic warnings. The stage has already been set by those we have allowed to hold sway in our country. Do we recognize what's coming? Will we merely react to the crisis after it happens, or will we act in time to change the course of our nation and prevent the crisis? Can we take a lesson from 1940s Austrian history and prevent a repeat? As though ripped from today's headlines, Christian author Ilyan Kei Lavanway explores what might happen to American families if parents fail to recognize how government alphabet agencies might legally - yes legally, lawfully - use school children as bait during false flag exercises or feigned emergencies to lure parents into internment camps under the guise of public safety. Do you own a gun? Is it registered? Are you loyal to the United States Constitution? If you answered yes to all three of these questions, you are probably on somebody's list of potential enemies of the state. FEMA Camp Parent Trap is a wake up call. For those who think it's implausible, ask a 90-year-old Austrian. If you can find one. Views: 770
Dmitri Kovtun's life was never easy. Once his destiny was revealed then it became a horror. As a mere boy Fate overstepped boundaries not meant to be broken and set Dmitri's life into a flux that he very nearly did not recover from.But Dmitri is far from ordinary. Far from it.In the Meandering Line Dmitri Kovtun was a man on his last legs. As a wolfen, a werewolf, he had been taken as a slave by the evil vampire Blago. Beaten and whipped into submission Dmitri had suffered for nearly three decades beneath the iron talons of this demon nightwalker.Then an outsider came to his aid. Von Trapp, a man who had once been in a similar state of anguish, freed the beleaguered Russian by slaying his cruel master. But what put the brow beaten, alcoholic and depression riddled Dmitri onto this horrible path in the first place?In this companion piece set long before the Meandering Line, the story of where Dmitri began and the choices thrust upon him become clear. Just what tragedies lie in the wolfen’s past that would send him down dark pathways to this terrible future? And what part does Fate itself play in the unfolding life of a wolf who would be King? Views: 770
James Shinoman, a young Spaceflight Participant goes on a voyage with a team of space explorers. He finds love along the way, however, things get out of control and he is left to make sense of his experience during their mission.Tommy spends his days riding his bicycle on the dust-drifted streets of Woodward, Oklahoma, delivering the chemical compositions of his adoptive father Sal to the few customers that remain. The fields pull up little but dust and poison, and the majority of the citizens have departed for greener pastures in resurgent post-war California. On his last day as bicycle courier/drug mule, Tommy makes his rounds - but with one vital difference. 9th Street Blues originally won the top prize in Chapterfy's inaugural short story contest. Views: 766
Walden (first published as Walden; or, Life in the Woods) is an American book written by noted Transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau. The work is part personal declaration of independence, social experiment, voyage of spiritual discovery, satire, and manual for self reliance.
Published in 1854, it details Thoreau's experiences over the course of two years in a cabin he built near Walden Pond, amidst woodland owned by his friend and mentor Ralph Waldo Emerson, near Concord, Massachusetts.
By immersing himself in nature, Thoreau hoped to gain a more objective understanding of society through personal introspection. Simple living and self-sufficiency were Thoreau's other goals, and the whole project was inspired by transcendentalist philosophy, a central theme of the American Romantic Period. As Thoreau made clear in his book, his cabin was not in wilderness but at the edge of town, about two miles (3 km) from his family home. Views: 766
A sci-fi space opera with a dash of romance, action, and mystery, A Plain Jane follows Jane as she travels the galaxy desperately trying to find out who she is, where she's from, and what she's really capable of.What if you had lived your whole life thinking you were normal? No, worse than normal – plain? What would happen if one of the most highly-trained and vicious assassins in the galaxy attacked you one warm summer's night? What would happen if you were thrust into an adventure with the galaxy's greatest heroic heart-throb? What would happen if a mysterious and ancient race appeared with one desire – to kill you? What would you do?Jane grew up knowing one thing: she's nothing but normal. But then one little run-in with an assassin robot threatens to destroy everything she thought she knew about herself. Soon she finds herself with none other than Lucas Stone, the galaxy's number one pin up and hero. And together the two of them have to find out exactly who Jane is and what's after her before the galaxy is plunged into war. Views: 764
With the new emphasis in particle physics of using wormholes to explain some of the phenomenon of quantum mechanics, which strangely is eerily similar to the magic system in my books, I decided to try and create particles using this magic system. The essay is just an accumulation of notes written over the course of the year. I got some very surprising results,Painter Eric Snyder harbors a secret known only to his wife, Lynne. When Eric’s latest disappearance raises the suspicions of best friends Sam and Renee Ahern, Lynne can no longer keep the truth under wraps. While the Aherns ponder this phenomenon, Eric embarks upon a search for his father, once again taking him far from the woman he loves.In Part Two, set in 1961, as the Snyders adjust to change, Sam Ahern relives some of his Korean War experiences. Sam’s wife Renee is alarmed by his candor, while Laurie Abrams reveals that his cousin Seth also served in Korea, but returned an altered man. Meanwhile Lynne Snyder undergoes a transformation and Stanford hosts an exhibit of Eric’s work that catapults the artist into sudden fame.In this third part of the series, set in 1962, the culmination of the Snyders’ dreams becomes reality, yet the truth about Laurie and Stanford makes Sam wary. Pastor Marek Jagucki is introduced, providing peace to Eric, but slight worry for Lynne. However it’s Renee to fret most, when Sam’s sister Frannie makes a dramatic announcement. Views: 762
Valoura is a detective, well, she would love to be a detective. So when the money from her mum's bake sale is stolen Valoura knows it is her chance to show her detective chops. Thing is, she already knows 'whodunnit' and the more those nasty Lamb kids cause trouble the more determined Valoura is to 'throw the book at them'. With help from her nutty family, Valoura will prove she has what it takes.Valoura Karuna isn't your average kid. For a start she doesn't go to school. Instead she stays at home playing computer games and eating yummy vegan food. Oh and reading her detective handbook. Valoura knows she is a good detective and has solved many cases such as proving her brother to be a massive dork (which let’s face it, wasn't hard). When the money from her mum's bake sale goes missing, it's up to Valoura to prove 'whodunnit'. Thing is, she already knows who did and she will do anything to stop the nasty Lamb siblings and save her nutty family and friends from this 'cake stall kerfuffle'. Has Valoura's sour sister gone mad? And why does her Aunt Stacey seem to despise Valoura so much? Also why is Gilbert the dog up-chucking on her bed?This book is for anyone who dares to be themselves and also who like pets. Oh and cake. Views: 759
They fell in love when their past wouldn't have allowed them to. Two friends crossed the boundaries of a horizon where only a few had gone. Those who survived vowed never to return again. Will the future be kinder?They fell in love when their past wouldn't have allowed them to. Two friends crossed the boundaries of a horizon where only a few had gone. Those who survived vowed never to return again. When Ricah met her thesis mentor,Juffy Howe, in college, she never expected to fall in love. But she did.Unknown to both of them, they both shared a past that has not ceased to gnaw them until the present. With such a potent emotion for one another, they attempted to get over and heal themselves from the past only to realize, they cannot forget. Will the future be kinder? Views: 757
