Gate Crashers At Dawn

With no regrets, three friends committed to break away for an extended weekend to Scandinavia, the homeland of the newest member of the crew, after an evening of imbibing and conversing, of course. In addition to enjoying late winter sun away from day-to-day responsibilities for a period of time, each has his own motivations for the interlude, and who can’t use a battery recharge once every so often? Moreover, one spouse is pleased to have an empty house for the space to strategize a rogue trader rebuttal without distraction. The plans go astray though, as one delay turns into another and their intended destination proves elusive. The uncommon characters at Luton Airport, of all places, are entertaining canvass, but the day suddenly becomes a shell game of personal vulnerability, and the pea is not hidden where it’s perceived to be. Gate Crashers at Dawn is for anyone who has suffered an interminable delay at an airport and has lived to tell the tale.

The extraordinary final Nicholas Everard Naval Thriller from the author who “knows life at sea, and he recreates it with authenticity and vigor” (Historical Novel Society). Six submarines are about to be towed underwater from Scotland to Norway. Their targets: the giant German warships Tirpitz, Scharnhorst, and Lutzow. The odds seem stacked against the smaller craft. But if they can survive the nightmarish 2,000-mile tow, Commander Paul Everard will have a chance to gatecrash the fjords and cripple the ship Churchill calls “the Beast.” Whether or not he succeeds, the chances of getting out alive are slim. If he fails, his father Nick Everard, escort commander for Arctic convoy PQ19, is in trouble: none of his ships can stand up to Tirpitz’s broadsides. As The Gatecrashers draws to its thunderous climax, father and son face their final and most searching test . . . Based on the thrilling true story of Operation Source, The Gatecrashers is the blistering culmination of the bestselling Nicholas Everard Naval Thrillers, perfect for fans of Max Hennessy and Alan Evans. Praise for The Nicholas Everard Naval Thrillers “The prose has a real sense of urgency, and so has the theme. The tension rarely slackens.” —Times Literary Supplement “The research is unimpeachable and the scent of battle quite overpowering.” —The Sunday Times “The accuracy and flair of Forester at his best . . . carefully crafted, exciting and full of patiently assembled technical detail that never intrudes on a good narrative line.” —The Irish Times

Hidden amid lush parkland, Eardisford is the ultimate English country retreat and it's just been sold for the first time in its history. Romantic daredevil Kat Mason has been bequeathed the estate's lakeside sanctuary, Lake Farm, until she dies or marries. But the new owners want her out now . . . In rides charming playboy Dougie Everett, the man hired to sweep Kat off her feet and off the property. Dougie loves nothing more than the thrill of the chase, but does he risk losing his heart along the way?

Volume fourteen of A Chronicle of Ancient Sunlight. Beginning in the winter of 1940/1 and ending with the uneasy 'sunrise' of peace in 1945, this volume sees Phillip Maddison striving idealistically to hold a balance while lamenting the division and possible total ruin of Europe, as he copes with the day-to-day problems of running the East Anglian farm he has wrested from virtual wilderness. The pattern of everyday living in those years is lovingly evoked: the bomber-haunted nights, the petty profiteering and gossip of country life - all essential, but often unrecorded, elements of the wartime scene. 'The sequence will stand, at the end, as a massive emotional record.' Guardian

"Under the protection of the Orbis Mercenary company, Michael and his family and friends are deeply involved in the seemingly rival conspiracies that are tearing The Hollows apart. With the death of the King, both the Corrupt Prince and his sister Serena are vying for the throne, while the Rebel Emperor is spreading lies amongst the people, and all of them want Michael dead"--

The afternoon began innocently enough with a lunch meeting in Tower Hill, but gathered pace when I hesitated upon my departure from the Rotunda, and overheard a quartet of deal-making Continentals: ‘The names for an apple are not the fruit itself.’ Code for a transaction they were negotiating or aphorisms for the spewing aside, one picaresque experience leads to another and the next thing I knew, I was on the 73 bus heading out of Harvard Square, with the Armenian driver working the crowd and apologizing for our poor geography. Vijay finally breaks loose of his winter skin while sampling comedy clubs up and down the East Coast, and discovers that The Impresario represents truth in advertizing. In his black and blue swan t-shirt, every clown does have a silver lining. However, these are but preludes to the existential challenges soon to face a young nation, in search of the one man able to solve these riddles, and deliver a cure for us all.

In the paradox between achieving your goals and achieving the Impossible Dream, which is preferable? Meanwhile, given a choice, should you opt for cathartic or therapeutic? The Guest House revives old acquaintances and reviews friendships that can’t have a second life, while answering the question of whether it is ever too late to be part of your own coming of age novel. A Minsky Moment? Perhaps, but which Minsky? The Guest House examines the future through the looking glass of the past, without losing sight of the present. And I’m still convinced the inventor of the mute button deserves the Nobel Peace Prize.