The Green Gauntlet

1942-1964 Paul and Claire Craddock have grown older in years - but not in spirit. The turbulence of war is followed by a penurious peace. Changes are taking place in the countryside, from the way land is farmed to the hopes and expectations of the men and women who live there. Paul Craddock's livelihood, his peace, and his vision of a good and noble way of life in Shallowford are all threatened. With the help of his children and his children's children, Paul starts to adapt his dreams in order to preserve the farm. To his surprise and pleasure, in doing so he comes to discover deeper, richer ties with those around him - ties that hold a ripe promise for the future. 'Mr Delderfield's manner is easy, modest, heartwarming' - Evening Standard

Don Lamplighter, a devout Christian freelance journalist living in sleepy Upstate New York, would love nothing more than to finish his articles, work his retail job and celebrate a quiet Christmas with his wife Gloria. Unfortunately, riots, a mass shooting, heavy snowfall, a Satanic global syndicate and an annoying punk bent on stealing donations get in his way. Try as he might, Lamplighter can’t seem to keep from again being pulled into more trouble that extends into every aspect of his life. In this third installment of the misadventures of Don Lamplighter, author Dean M. Lichterman takes readers on a hair-raising journey fraught with danger, deceit … and hope. Armed with only wits, Lamplighter tasks himself with putting the pieces together to save not only himself and family but all of the communities in which he works. In “Write Place, Right Time,” the intrepid freelancer dodged shrapnel from a massive train wreck while saving the life of a baby. In “Cane and Able,” he survived being dumped unconscious into Canandaigua Lake on the Fourth of July. What’s in store for him this time? Find out in “The Green Gauntlet,” the latest journey for reluctant hero Don Lamplighter.

A trio of friends from New York City find themselves trapped inside a mechanical board game that they must dismantle in order to save themselves and generations of other children in this action-packed debut that’s a steampunk Jumanji with a Middle Eastern flair. Nothing can prepare you for The Gauntlet… It didn’t look dangerous, exactly. When twelve-year-old Farah first laid eyes on the old-fashioned board game, she thought it looked…elegant. It is made of wood, etched with exquisite images—a palace with domes and turrets, lattice-work windows that cast eerie shadows, a large spider—and at the very center of its cover, in broad letters, is written: The Gauntlet of Blood and Sand. The Gauntlet is more than a game, though. It is the most ancient, the most dangerous kind of magic. It holds worlds inside worlds. And it takes players as prisoners.

Fight. Protect. Survive. The Ferron Empire once took slaves from across the world to work the mines and fields. After the Empire fell, the freed slaves founded the Undal Protectorate. This brutal militant state became obsessed with its independence, protecting the Undal Protectorate's borders from the remnants of Ferron no matter the cost. After one too many harrowing battles, Flore retired from the Stormguard Commandos. To escape the horrors she wrought in the name of protecting her people, she accepted a simple posting in the Forest Watch. Flore's peace is shattered when blazing orbs of light disturb the night sky, descend on her village and her daughter is abducted. Flore is forced into a cross-country chase in pursuit of the mysterious orbs, whose presence hints at a return of the overthrown Ferron Empire. Now, Flore must take up a role she had sworn to put aside and become the weapon they trained her to be, and save not only her daughter, but her people.