Fluke Family Hero


Book Description

Second in the Fluke Family series, Fluke Family Hero explores Maynerd Fluke Dumsted's career as the sheriff of his hometown. King Kryan Kruke now rules the Kingdom of Gnat, but he is still up to his old tricks. He schemes to rule the four lands of Gnaught by capitalizing on Maynerd's relationship to the long dead hero, Richard the Brave. The King hopes to springboard that fame to his advantage by transforming Maynerd into the new national hero. The chance arrivals of bad luck Fata Morgana and a young felon named Blacky further complicates Maynerd's efforts to keep the peace, but Fata may hold the keys to his heart. Dumsted town falls into turmoil when the local banker plots to fix the elections for Mayor and Sheriff by kidnapping the incumbents. He intends to sell them to the notorious bandits, the Moola Rude, but the plan goes awry. With Maynerd's only supporters locked in jail, his fate seems sealed. King Kruke has vanished and Scarface, the leader of the Moola Rude, sits on the throne of Gnat. Oh, where is a hero when a kingdom is in such grave need? Maynerd must save his friends and the Kingdom of Gnat from certain destruction by King Scarface or lose everything.




Fluke Family King


Book Description

The fantasy novel Fluke Family King is the third installment in the misadventures of Sir Maynerd Fluke Dumsted, knight and Royal National Hero. Lifting her bronze face to the sky, Hebe searched for that spark which would bring her the power she needed, but it was surprisingly close. The whole island seethed in a magical turmoil, rotating like a vortex from the heart of Luloo Land. She witnessed the battle ensuing there through the eyes of the Oracle and realized that Maynerd was losing against impossible odds. The very island was organized against him, suffocating him in smoke and flame while the blackest monster imaginable beat him to the ground at every step. She could feel his agony--see his tears. He would die without her help. Hebe knew immediately what she had to do. She reached into the very power of Luloo Land and employed the winds and the rain to generate the energy she needed to recharge. It was so strong here. She had never felt anything like it before. Even the Demons of the Deep took notice as the black clouds thickened over Luloo Land. Rain pelted the ground in torrents, extinguishing the inferno that threatened the forests, but the energy grew until Hebe called it to her uplifted hands in twin flashes of lightening. The resulting thunder flattened trees to the ground, and the beasts sheltered within them raced to escape.




Fluke Family Fortune


Book Description

First in the Fluke Family series, Fluke Family Fortune sets the stage for the comical misadventures of Maynerd Fluke Dumsted. To afford the love of the beautiful but shrewish Sue Tue, Maynerd Dumsted sets out to follow the clues to the family fortune hidden somewhere in the cursed kingdom of Gnat. A sometimes well-intentioned ghost gnome tags along for laughs, but his selfish machinations often mean more trouble for Maynerd. Other friends join the fun, such as the lovable fire-year-old orphan, Dandy May, who cavorts with dandelion fairies; the head-bashing ogress, Grissel who hates songs sung about her; an ineffectual thousand-year-old madman; a retired clodhopper named Sam Simple and his fun loving mule, Jazibell. A family curse and the grandiose scheme of the brigand King Kryan Kruke to transform him into the new national hero, in order to reunite the four scattered kingdoms of the land of Gnaught, further complicates Maynerd's plans to find the family fortune.




Fluke


Book Description

Fluke is the moving story of a dog with the memories of a human, with the signature twisting plot Master of Horror James Herbert is famed for. A dog wanders the streets, compelled by a ravenous hunger. Hunting a prey he cannot not define, driven by a primal instinct he cannot ignore. He is more than he thinks, more than he can remember and in the depths of his brain the memory of what he once was is clawing for release . . .




Among Heroes


Book Description

Navy SEAL sniper and New York Times bestselling author Brandon Webb’s personal account of eight of his friends and fellow SEALs who made the ultimate sacrifice. “Knowing these great men—who they were, how they lived, and what they stood for—has changed my life. We can’t let them be forgotten. We’ve mourned their deaths. Let’s celebrate their lives.”—Brandon Webb As a Navy SEAL, Brandon Webb rose to the top of the world’s most elite sniper corps, experiencing years of punishing training and combat missions from the Persian Gulf to Afghanistan. Along the way, Webb served beside, trained, and supported men he came to know not just as fellow warriors, but as friends and, eventually, as heroes. This is his personal account of eight extraordinary SEALs who gave all for their comrades and their country with remarkable valor and abiding humanity: Matt “Axe” Axelson, who perished on Afghanistan’s Lone Survivor mission; Chris Campbell, Heath Robinson, and JT Tumilson, who were among the casualties of Extortion 17; Glen Doherty, Webb’s best friend, killed while helping secure the successful rescue and extraction of American CIA and State Department diplomats in Benghazi; and other close friends, classmates, and fellow warriors. These are men who left behind powerfully instructive examples of what it means to be alive—and what it truly means to be a hero. INCLUDES PHOTOGRAPHS




James Herbert - The Authorised True Story 1943-2013


Book Description

The legacy of a master of horror lives on in this fully authorized biography James Herbert was an enduringly popular author whose books sell in the hundreds of thousands across the world and are made into films. He broke away from the cut-and-thrust populist horror novels of the 1970s and 1980s to create more thought-provoking works, featuring the scientific reasoning behind the manifestations of the ghosts and spirits in which he truly believed. Yet despite his worldwide fan base, surprisingly little is known about the man himself. Before his recent death, James Herbert granted his friend and confidant Craig Cabell more than a dozen exclusive candid interviews. The result is an incredibly frank and revealing portrait of one of the giants of contemporary popular fiction, shedding light on his personal demons that drove the boy from London's East End to become the preeminent horror writer of his generation. Cabell shares personal correspondence and reminiscences, including one of Herbert's previously unpublished pieces, entitled To Ye All. In addition to this, James granted the author full access to his photographic archives, making this a title that no James Herbert fan can be without.




Blackberry Pie Murder


Book Description

Summer in Lake Eden, Minnesota, has been oddly quiet, but rest assured, Hannah Swensen will bake her way to an unsolved murder . . . It's been a sleepy summer for the folks of Lake Eden, Minnesota. In fact, it's been a whole four months since anyone in the Swensen family has come across a dead body—a detail that just made the front page of the local paper. And that means Hannah Swensen can finally focus on her bakery . . . or can she? Life is never really quiet for Hannah. After all, her mother's wedding is a little over a month away and guess who Delores put in charge of the planning? Yet just when Hannah believes her biggest challenge will be whether to use buttercream or fondant for the wedding cake, she accidentally hits a stranger with her cookie truck while driving down a winding country road in a raging thunderstorm. Hannah is wracked with guilt, and things get even worse when she's arrested . . . for murder! But an autopsy soon reveals the mystery man, his shirt covered in stains from blackberry pie, would have died even if Hannah hadn't hit him. To clear her name, Hannah will have to follow a trail of pie crumbs to track down the identity of the deceased, find a baker who knows more about murder than how to roll out a perfect pie crust—and get herself to the church on time.




Flyover Nation


Book Description

Dana Loesch believes in Christianity, patriotism, traditional marriage, and the right to bear arms, among other “quaint” ideas. For the elites in DC, Los Angeles, New York, and Silicon Valley, that makes her as bizarre as a three-headed dog. Loesch is alarmed that America is fracturing into two countries—not North and South, but Coastal and Flyover. Worse, the people in charge don’t understand the first thing about how most of the country thinks and lives. Consider a few examples . . . • In Flyover America, people believe criminals should be punished. Coastal America focuses on “rehabilitation.” • Flyovers think the Declaration of Independence was crystal clear: “All men are created equal.” For Coastals, Black Lives Matter—but anyone who adds that all lives matter must be a racist. • Coastals think they understand firearms because they watched a TV movie about Columbine. Fly- overs get a deer rifle for their thirteenth birthday. • Coastals talk about blue-collar workers in the abstract. Flyovers have a relative who works the night shift in a granola bar factory, where the big perk is taking home a bag full of granola bars every Friday. • Coastals think every problem—from hurt feelings to the cost of birth control—requires government intervention and huge federal spending. Flyovers know that money isn’t magic fairy dust, and many problems can be solved only by individual character and hard work. It would all be funny—if Coastals weren’t winning on most of today’s big issues. As Loesch writes, “Most of these pinkies-out, cocktail- drinking-appletini fans selfishly entertain grandiose plans of economic equality without realizing the negative impact their plans would have on the very people they pride themselves on helping. That’s the true class warfare.” Loesch shines the light of truth on everything from feminism to gun violence to abortion. She reveals the damage done by elitists who flat-out don’t get the lives and values of people in the heart of the country. And she asks commonsense questions such as: How can you be angry at Walmart if you’ve never shopped in one? How can you hate the police if you’ve never needed help from a cop? How can you attack Christians if you don’t have a single friend who goes to church? In other words, how can you run a country you’ve never been to? And how much could our politics improve if Coastals would actually listen to their fellow Americans? This book is a rallying cry for anyone who wants our leaders to understand and respect the culture that made America exceptional in the first place.




Dictionary of American Young Adult Fiction, 1997-2001


Book Description

Young adult readers have special needs and concerns, and librarians have become increasingly interested in selecting books suitable for them. This reference provides information about 290 books for young adults. These books received major awards between 1997 and 2001, reflect the voices of 242 different authors, and range from new to familiar themes. Included are nearly 750 alphabetically arranged entries for individual works, authors, characters, and settings. Many of these books were originally written for adults but have become popular among younger readers. Entries for works provide plot summaries and critical assessments, while author entries focus on those aspects of the writers' lives most relevant to literature for young people. The reference is a valuable selection tool for librarians and teachers and a useful guide for students.




Sayville Orphan Heroes


Book Description

The prospects were bleak for the four Whitehouse children in 1929 when they were orphaned at the start of the Great Depression. They faced life in dangerously overcrowded orphanages in New York City or the uncertainty of a trip on the orphan trains. They were fortunate enough to land at the Children's Cottages Orphanage in Sayville, New York and St. Ann's Episcopal Church. Author Jack Whitehouse spins a personal tale of the compassion exhibited by the entire Sayville community, including such families as the Roosevelts and Astors, which allowed the children to thrive. Discover how the town came together to love and nurture these members of the Greatest Generation, who became true American heroes