Maddon's Rock


Book Description

The chilling story of desperate men on a doomed ship during World War II from “Great Britain’s leading adventure novelist” (Financial Times). For three weeks, Cpl. James Landon Vardy has waited in Murmansk, a frozen northern port of the Soviet Union, hoping a ship will come to take him home. He’s British, in Russia to help with the war effort, and as he shivers in the icy port, he dreams of spring in England. Finally, a miracle—a ship. But when Vardy boards the Trikkala, he has no idea he’s stepping into hell. From the first day, Vardy senses the Trikkala is doomed. Her officers are drunk, her lifeboats are leaky, and the mysterious crates supposedly carrying machine parts actually contain a fortune in silver bullion. In the early hours of a frigid morning on the North Sea, Vardy realizes the ship is peeling away from its convoy into dangerous waters—a suicidal decision that takes the Trikkala directly into a minefield. The Trikkala might never reach port, but Vardy’s adventure is just beginning. In the tradition of The Caine Mutiny and Mutiny on the Bounty, Maddon’s Rock is a marvelously realistic story of corruption, crime, and justice on the high seas.




Maddon's Rock


Book Description




The Hammond Innes Collection Volume Four


Book Description

Three hard-hitting thrillers from the author of The Wreck of the Mary Deare and “Great Britain’s leading adventure novelist” (Financial Times). British novelist Hammond Innes was perhaps best known for his nautical mystery, The Wreck of the Mary Deare, which was made into a film starring Gary Cooper and Charlton Heston. But the prolific writer, World War II veteran, and dedicated yachtsman wrote over thirty novels of adventure and suspense during his long career. The collected fiction gathered here follows three very different quests and spans the locales of Western Australia, the North Sea, and the Arabian Desert. As always, “for sheer excitement Hammond Innes will be hard to beat” (Daphne du Maurier). Golden Soak: In this “tenacious adventure,” Alec Falls, a ruined and unscrupulous tin miner, travels to the forbidding desert of Western Australia in search of the legendary abandoned gold mine known as Golden Soak (Kirkus Reviews). But the mine is empty, the land is dry, and the people of the desert feed on men like Falls. To make the fortune he craves, he must pull water from the sand—and gold from thin air. “As good as any story can be.” —The Times (London) Maddon’s Rock: Stranded in a Russian port for weeks during World War II, Corporal James Vardy finally boards the Trikkala, hoping to return to England. But quickly he senses the vessel is doomed. Her officers are drunk, her lifeboats are leaky, and the mysterious crates supposedly carrying machine parts actually contain a fortune in silver bullion. On the North Sea, he realizes the ship is peeling away from its convoy, a suicidal decision that takes the Trikkala—and Vardy—directly into troubled waters. Also published in the United States as Gale Warnings. “Exciting . . . [a] new high in action adventure—in a story of modern piracy, treasure raising, of false charges of mutiny, and a fighting finish.” —Kirkus Reviews The Doomed Oasis: Col. Charles Stanley Whitaker is a legendary figure who made his fortune in the oil fields of the Arabian Desert, becoming more Bedouin than British. Three years ago, his illegitimate nineteen-year-old son, David Thomas, embarked on a quest to find him. Now, David has seemingly vanished into the desert. Unraveling the mystery of his disappearance will culminate in the oasis town of Saraifa, where water is as valuable as oil, and life can be cheap. “The writing shines as vivid and sharp as the desert sun.” —Gavin Lyall










The Cubs Way


Book Description

The New York Times Bestseller With inside access and reporting, Sports Illustrated senior baseball writer and FOX Sports analyst Tom Verducci reveals how Theo Epstein and Joe Maddon built, led, and inspired the Chicago Cubs team that broke the longest championship drought in sports, chronicling their epic journey to become World Series champions. It took 108 years, but it really happened. The Chicago Cubs are once again World Series champions. How did a team composed of unknown, young players and supposedly washed-up veterans come together to break the Curse of the Billy Goat? Tom Verducci, twice named National Sportswriter of the Year and co-writer of The Yankee Years with Joe Torre, will have full access to team president Theo Epstein, manager Joe Maddon, and the players to tell the story of the Cubs' transformation from perennial underachievers to the best team in baseball. Beginning with Epstein's first year with the team in 2011, Verducci will show how Epstein went beyond "Moneyball" thinking to turn around the franchise. Leading the organization with a manual called "The Cubs Way," he focused on the mental side of the game as much as the physical, emphasizing chemistry as well as statistics. To accomplish his goal, Epstein needed manager Joe Maddon, an eccentric innovator, as his counterweight on the Cubs' bench. A man who encourages themed road trips and late-arrival game days to loosen up his team, Maddon mixed New Age thinking with Old School leadership to help his players find their edge. The Cubs Way takes readers behind the scenes, chronicling how key players like Rizzo, Russell, Lester, and Arrieta were deftly brought into the organization by Epstein and coached by Maddon to outperform expectations. Together, Epstein and Maddon proved that clubhouse culture is as important as on-base-percentage, and that intangible components like personality, vibe, and positive energy are necessary for a team to perform to their fullest potential. Verducci chronicles the playoff run that culminated in an instant classic Game Seven. He takes a broader look at the history of baseball in Chicago and the almost supernatural element to the team's repeated loses that kept fans suffering, but also served to strengthen their loyalty. The Cubs Way is a celebration of an iconic team and its journey to a World Championship that fans and readers will cherish for years to come.




Witch's Moon


Book Description

Witch's Moon by Wilton Hazzard is set in Africa in the jungle where the mining industry is in full swing. The man in charge of the miners is called Quinton. One day he finds a stranger sitting in the local bar. Quinton goes to sit at his table and they engage in conversation, discovering they are both from America.




Yachting


Book Description




The Hammond Innes Collection Volume Three


Book Description

Four action-packed thrillers from the author of The Wreck of the Mary Deareand “Great Britain’s leading adventure novelist” (Financial Times). British novelist Hammond Innes was perhaps best known for his nautical mystery, The Wreck of the Mary Deare, which was made into a film starring Gary Cooper and Charlton Heston. But the prolific writer, World War II veteran, and dedicated yachtsman wrote over thirty novels of adventure and suspense during his long career. The collected fiction here spans the globe—from Antarctica to the Hebrides, Cold War Germany to sun-soaked Greece. As always, “for sheer excitement Hammond Innes will be hard to beat” (Daphne du Maurier). Isvik: Isvik is a legend—a ghost ship that sits on the lip of Antarctica, two hundred years old at least, swallowed by the ice with severed masts and helmsman frozen to the wheel. Or so a glaciologist reported before his plane crashed on the ice shelf. Now, wealthy Scotsman Iain Ward is determined to find the frozen frigate—and he’s bringing along Peter Kettil, a wood preservation specialist and seasoned sailor himself. But Ward and Kettil are not the only ones willing to go to any lengths to discover the ship’s secrets . . . “[A] dramatic adventure that will keep readers guessing until its startling climax.” —Publishers Weekly Air Bridge: After his heroic service in World War II, pilot and aircraft engineer Neil Fraser must steal planes in order to make a living, flying them from England to the land that will soon become Israel. But when he’s caught by a ruthless tycoon, he’s forced to build the wealthy man a new aircraft engine. With dreams of conquering the sky, Bill Saeton wants Fraser to fly the plane over a divided Germany as part of the Berlin Airlift. But as Saeton’s ambition becomes a dangerous obsession, Fraser begins to look for a way to bail out. “Authentic and excellent . . . His plot, characters and suspense live up to the setting.” —San Francisco Chronicle Atlantic Fury: When a British army unit is ordered to evacuate from the remote, rocky island of Laerg in the Hebrides during a violent storm, it’s up to a pair of reunited brothers to save the group of soldiers—and each other. “Nothing short of superb.” —The New York Times Levkas Man: When his parents died, Paul was sent to Amsterdam to live with his mother’s old lover, the eccentric archaeologist Pieter Van der Voort, who was obsessed with the origins of man. After eight years at sea, Paul discovers Van der Voort is in Greece on an archaeological expedition that’s spiraling out of control. To reach Greece, Paul takes a job working for a smuggler, embarking on a journey that will carry him across the globe—and into the blackest depths of man’s most primal instinct. “Quick-action adventure—a particularly interesting background.” —The Daily Telegraph




Isvik


Book Description

A Scotsman and his crew search the ice for a ghost ship off the frozen coast of Antarctica in this chilling adventure novel. Isvik has been swallowed by the ice. It sits on the lip of Antarctica, its masts severed, its helmsman frozen to the wheel. Two hundred years old—at least—it’s an impossible vessel, a ghost ship, and before its secrets are revealed, it will cause more men to die . . . The description of Isvik is found in the pocket of a scientist whose plane crashed on the Antarctic ice shelf. No one can be sure of the ship’s location—or if it even exists—but wealthy Scotsman Iain Ward is determined to find it. So desperate for adventure he’s willing to die for it, Ward funds an expedition to search for the craft. When Peter Kettil joins the trek to test his mettle against the terrors of Antarctica, the sailor and expert in the preservation of wood will see firsthand just how deadly obsession can be. A high-seas adventure story in the tradition of Ice Station Zebra, Isvik explores the horrible mysteries that lie beneath Antarctica’s eternal ice.