Helen Plum Library

"Twenty years ago, Dr. Kathy Ryan restored the eyesight of a young Bosnian girl who had been injured during an attack in the Balkan War. Today, her son, Jack Ryan Jr. has decided to surprise his mother by tracking down the young lady. What he finds shocks them both. The helpless child has grown into a remarkable woman. Aida Curic is a self-possessed beauty who runs a refugee agency that helps the children of her native Bosnia. Jack finds himself drawn...

A stunning terror bombing strikes a research facility in France, a much-admired African-American general is killed in a hit-and-run accident, and Pentagon staff officer John Reynolds finds an old friend—now an influential lobbyist—drunk and fearful. In short order, Reynolds must face a car bombing at his front door, his girlfriend's murder, and the wrath of a retired Green Beret general as scarred as he is inexplicably wealthy. Struggling...

An exciting Revolutionary War tale of double agents and counterespionage in New York State in 1780. A year after his imitative first novel Precaution (1820) enjoyed only modest success, James Fenimore Cooper penned The Spy: A Tale of the Neutral Ground, a Revolutionary War narrative initiating the American historical romance, a novel and a genre that quickly put to rest the British critic Sydney Smith's 1820 quip, "In the four corners of the globe,...

This classic adventure story -- first published in 1902 -- gains new life in a blockbuster motion picture epic from Paramount Pictures and Miramax Films and remains a timeless novel of love, honor, and courage. A Soldier's Shame... It is 1882 and British officer Harry Feversham has it all: a loving fiancée, the camaraderie of fellow soldiers, a bright future in a nation at the height of its imperial power. But before he is deployed to battle in Africa,...

Stories of adventures and derring-do featuring the man who is "after Holmes and Watson, Arthur Conan Doyle's most successful literary creation" (Julian Symons, Edgar Award–winning British crime writer). Originally published in The Strand magazine in the 1890s, the tales of Etienne Gerard, a veteran of the Napoleonic Wars, shows Arthur Conan Doyle at his satiric best. In his own words, Gerard takes readers through his illustrious career, his...

In December of 1979, Soviet tanks rolled across the borders of Afghanistan, beginning a period of barbaric aggression that triggered a turning point in modern history. Idries Shah's brilliant novel chronicles the courageous 10-year resistance of the Afghan people, an epic story of triumph over tyranny that deserves to be immortalized. Kara Kush is the definitive story of freedom fighters. It is a story of patriotism-in-action, mobilized and fuelled...

Under Fire (1916) is a novel by Henri Barbusse. Written from notes taken while Barbusse was serving in the First World War, the novel was quickly, recognized as, a powerful tale of perseverance and comradery in the face of unspeakable suffering. Intended to promote the cause of pacifism, Under Fire is deeply critical of the rich and powerful men whose inability to live peacefully, leads time-and-again to the sacrifice of countless human lives. "Each...

Londinium is burning. Gaius Suetonius Paulinus, newly appointed governor of Roman Britain, is charged by an increasingly unstable Emperor Nero with a difficult task-the untamed island on the fringes of the empire must earn a profit. To do so, Suetonius pursues the last of the Druids into Wales and, along the way, subdues the fractious Celtic chieftains who sit atop a fortune in gold and rare metals. Meanwhile, in the provincial capital of Londinium,...

Fobbit \'fä-bit\, noun. Definition: A U. S. soldier stationed at a Forward Operating Base who avoids combat by remaining at the base, esp. during Operation Iraqi Freedom (2003-2011). Pejorative. In the satirical tradition of Catch-22 and M*A*S*H, Fobbit takes us into the chaotic world of Baghdad's Forward Operating Base Triumph. The Forward Operating base, or FOB, is like the back-office of the battlefield – where people eat and sleep, and where...

Davis was born on April 18, 1864. He made his reputation as a newspaper reporter in May to June 1889, by reporting on the devastation of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, following the infamous flood. He added to his reputation by reporting on other events, like the first electrocution of a criminal. Davis became a managing editor of Harper's Weekly, and was one of the world's leading war correspondents at the time of the Second Boer War in South Africa. As...