For Clint Adams, Sacramento meant indulging in all the comforts—and vices—that life offered. But when a mysterious map falls into the Gunsmith's lap, staying in Sacramento could mean a death sentence. Lust for fortune can drive many men, but Adams fears there's more than just gold in the deserted Shasta County mountains that drives a heartless posse to murder. The secret is in the treasure map. And it's directing the Gunsmith to his own dead end...
“John D. MacDonald was the great entertainer of our age, and a mesmerizing storyteller.”—Stephen King With an Introduction by Lee Child When Travis McGee picks up the phone and hears a voice from his past, he can’t help it: He has to meddle. Especially when he has the chance to reunite Sam Taggart, a reckless, restless man like himself, with the woman who’s still waiting for him. But what begins as a simple matchmaking scheme soon becomes a bloody chase that takes McGee to Mexico, a beautiful country from which he hopes to return alive. Deception. Betrayal. Heartbreak. When Sam left his girlfriend, Nora, and vanished from Fort Lauderdale, no one was surprised. But when he shows up three years later lying in a pool of his own blood, people start to ask questions. And his old friend Travis McGee is left to find answers. But all he has to go on are a gold Aztec idol and a very angry ex-girlfriend. Is that enough to find his friend’s killer? And when the truth is as terrifying as this, does he really want answers after all? Praise for A Deadly Shade of Gold “Travis McGee is the last of the great knights-errant: honorable, sensual, skillful, and tough. I can’t think of anyone who has replaced him. I can’t think of anyone who would dare.”—Donald Westlake “John D. MacDonald is a shining example for all of us in the field.”—Mary Higgins Clark
It is 1858 and thousands of gold seekers are descending on the west coast of British Columbia to seek their fortunes in the gold rush. The new British colony becomes a hive of activity where Americans, Canadians, and the indigenous people of the land collide, often with deadly repercussions. An unlikely team of adventurers forge an alliance as they make their way along the treacherous Fraser River, hoping to strike it rich. With dangers at every turn from man, nature, and beast, the men learn to rely on one another to survive. Though they all seek enough gold to change their lots in life, friendship and camaraderie may be the greatest treasure to be found on their journey. The Deadly Five is based on the enthralling and fascinating Fraser River Gold Rush. Brimming with adventure and intrigue, readers will be whisked back to the early 1800s where life was merciless, and it took courage and determination to find that elusive pot of gold.
An astonishing true story of bizarre love and lethal obsession in America's last frontier. Mechele Hughes came to Wasilla, Alaska (pop. 4200), looking for a new life and easy money. As an exotic dancer at the Great Alaskan Bush Company in nearby Anchorage, she was soon earning thousands a night—and getting expensive gifts from admiring male clients. Three in particular fell under her spell. Each claimed to be engaged to her . . . and they all lived with her together in the same house. But in May 1996, the bullet-ridden body of Kent "T.T." Leppink, a local fisherman and one of her fiancés, was discovered in a wooded area ninety miles away—possibly slain by suitor number two, John Carlin III, at the stripper's urging. Ten years would elapse before the arrests and trials of Mechele Hughes Linehan and John Carlin III. Was the real Mechele a murderess, a ruthless sexual manipulator as the prosecution claimed, killing for insurance money—or the loving wife and mother she had since become, dedicated to children, animals, and charitable causes?
Kori is over the moon excited to be going on a date with none other than Lieutenant Zach Gulch, childhood crush and stunner to look at. But that thrill is quickly stifled the next day when Zach reveals that family DNA showed up at a crime scene in nearby Scoter Circle. They both know the DNA isn't Kori's but it belongs to a close male relative. With her father long dead and her cousin Tyler living across the country, that only leaves Jay as a suspect. And it turns out his gun was also in the right place at the wrong time to pin everything on him. Now, Kori and Jay have a list of online dating profiles that become the top suspects, starting with the deceased's violent ex-husband. Will they be able to find the real killer before Jay is behind bars with a guilty conviction for a murder he barely knows anything about? And why did the murderer try to frame him-he hadn't been in touch with Heidi for years. As the questions pile up, they hope the body count stays at one. INCLUDED: In The Kitchen with Ginny Gold-Breakfast (or lunch) Smoothies straight off The Early Bird Cafe's menu! **Deadly Surprise is approx. 28K words and is volume 2 in the The Early Bird Cafe Cozy Mystery Series. Ginny Gold books can be read and enjoyed in any order."
In 1519, a few hundred Europeans led by Hernan Cortes sailed from Cuba to the Mexican mainland, where they encountered representatives of the Aztec Empire. Their Iberian history, culture and religion, and their experience in the Greater Antilles made conquest and riches the aim of these adventurers. They regarded themselves as heroes in a romantic crusade of good against evil. Each member of the expedition sought to acquire precious metals and to become a lord of enslaved native labor. Their horses and steel swords, aided by native disunity and susceptibility to Old World diseases, ensured their success. This analysis of the conquest of Mexico stands in contrast to previous narratives that either reduce the conquest to a contest between Cortes and Montezuma, or describe a near miraculous victory of European ingenuity and Western values over Indian superstition and savagery. The author re-frames the clash of civilizations in New World prehistory that left inhabitants at a disadvantage.
DigiCat presents to you this unique collection of sea adventure novels and true stories of the most notorious pirates. History of Pirates of the Caribbean: Contents: The King of Pirates: Of Captain Avery, And his Crew Captain Martel Captain Teach, alias Blackbeard Edward England Charles Vane Rackam Mary Read Anne Bonny John Bowen The Trial of the Pirates at Providence The Pirate Gow The Pirates of Panama... Novels & Stories: Treasure Island (Robert Louis Stevenson) The Pirate (Walter Scott) Blackbeard: Buccaneer (Ralph D. Paine) Pieces of Eight (Richard Le Gallienne) The Gold-Bug (Edgar Allan Poe) Jack London: Hearts of Three Tales of the Fish Patrol Daniel Defoe: Robinson Crusoe Captain Singleton Jules Verne: The Mysterious Island Facing the Flag The Dark Frigate (Charles Boardman Hawes) Peter Pan and Wendy (J. M. Barrie) The Dealings of Captain Sharkey (Arthur Conan Doyle) The Pirate (Frederick Marryat) The Madman and the Pirate (R. M. Ballantyne) The Pirate City (R. M. Ballantyne) Gascoyne, the Sandal-Wood Trader (R. M. Ballantyne) Captain Boldheart& the Latin-Grammar Master (Charles Dickens) The Master Key (L. Frank Baum) A Man to His Mate (J. Allan Dunn) The Isle of Pirate's Doom (Robert E. Howard) Queen of the Black Coast (Robert E. Howard) James Fenimore Cooper: Afloat and Ashore Homeward Bound The Red Rover The Rose of Paradise (Howard Pyle) The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas) The Ghost Pirates (William Hope Hodgson) The Offshore Pirate (F. Scott Fitzgerald) Harry Collingwood: A Pirate of the Caribbees The Pirate Island Among Malay Pirates (G. A. Henty) Great Pirate Stories (Joseph L. French) Fanny Campbell, the Female Pirate Captain (Maturin Murray Ballou) The Dark Frigate (Charles B. Hawes) Kidd the Pirate (Washington Irving) The Death Ship (William Clark Russell) The Iron Pirate (Max Pemberton)...
Working on the Transcontinental Railroad promises a fortune—for those who survive. Growing up in 1860s China, Tam Ling Fan has lived a life of comfort. Her father is wealthy enough to provide for his family but unconventional enough to spare Ling Fan from the debilitating foot-binding required of most well-off girls. But Ling Fan’s life is upended when her brother dies of influenza and their father is imprisoned under false accusations. Hoping to earn the money that will secure her father’s release, Ling Fan disguises herself as a boy and takes her brother’s contract to work for the Central Pacific Railroad Company in America. Life on “the Gold Mountain” is grueling and dangerous. To build the railroad that will connect the west coast to the east, Ling Fan and other Chinese laborers lay track and blast tunnels through the treacherous peaks of the Sierra Nevada, facing cave-ins, avalanches, and blizzards—along with hostility from white Americans. When someone threatens to expose Ling Fan’s secret, she must take an even greater risk to save what’s left of her family . . . and to escape the Gold Mountain alive.
