Smithy & Suzie

Ray Clift

Summary

In the first of these linked stories, Smithy's cupboard has always been his refuge despite its different locations and uses. It serves him well in his childhood days on the Wimmera area broad-acre farm in Victoria where he was born and grew up. He plays with his toy soldiers inside the secret place. As he grows to observe wild life and later hunt game, he makes hides. His career in the army leads him to join the SAS as one of Australia's top snipers. His clever use of hides and secret areas makes him well known and respected, and he is drawn deeply into CIA operations. A family tragedy changes his outlook and leads him into a crime of vengeance. He uses various means to assist him in his own personal therapy and he frequently seeks the confessional, yet perdition ticks away inside his mind like a noisy metronome.
In She Walks the Line, Dave Smith's daughter Suzie is in the USA on tour with her country and western band. She impersonates Johnny Cash and June Carter with her rendition of 'She Walks the Line'. However, she also has a top secret mission: after courageously disarming a crazed man outside the entrance to the White House, she has been recruited to gather intelligence for the Secret Service. Suzie falls in love with an agent who has a lot of military experience and an undiscovered enemy lurking. Extreme danger, coupled with great humour, follows Suzie, with twists, turns and dramas which she overcomes in her uncompromising fashion. The spirit of her mother offers encouragement and cautions her about aping her father, but in the end she knows what she must do to stop the stalker, because Suzie Smith is her father's daughter, his Doppelganger, who also meditates in a cupboard.

Available since: 06/08/2015.

Contemporary Fiction

Other books that might interest you

Opening Wonders

Rajnar Vajra

Countless un-parallel universes intersect in a place where science and magic function perfectly. A Crossroads World. A world that holds a fantastic and deadly secret. An ultra-advanced species, the Common, govern this world and invite other advanced species to set up enclaves where the planet's extraordinary properties draw an assortment of gods and demons like supernatural moths to a flame. The first human allowed there, Professor David Goldberg, is secretly tasked by Earth’s governments to observe the Common.But Goldberg’s mission might not be as secret as he thinks. Someone or something with unknown motivations sends truly terrifying monsters bent on taking him down. Opening Wonders. Fantasy, science fiction, mythology, adventure, mystery, rich history—and more.

Show book

The Portrait of a Lady

Henry James

Henry James’s beloved novel about a young woman’s search for freedom in a world that seeks to tie her to convention In the wake of her father’s death, young Isabel Archer decides to travel to England to visit her aunt, leaving behind the life set out for her in America and spurning the romantic overtures of her Bostonian suitor. At her aunt’s country estate, Isabel is determined to plot a new course unburdened by routine. But, prodded by convention at every turn, Isabel makes a decision that not only undermines her longing for independence, but may seal her fate forever. Among one of Henry James’s most timeless works, The Portrait of a Lady is a rich and nuanced depiction of human psychology and the tension between the pull of social norms and the desire for autonomy. This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.

Show book

The First Murder

Carol Goodman Kaufman

The ME ruled her death an accident. He was dead wrong.
 
When Mary Jane Bennett is found dead in her bed— alone, strangled by her own scarf, and with every door in the house locked — the medical examiner rules her death accidental, the result of a sex game gone horribly awry. State police decline to investigate further, but Queensbridge Police Chief Caleb Crane doesn't buy for a minute that his good friend died this way, so he undertakes his own investigation. Facing town councilors afraid of bad publicity, an angry medical examiner, and his own personal demons, he labors to solve what he believes is the first-ever murder in his pastoral Berkshire Hills village. Complicating things: the list of suspects includes some of the people to whom he is closest — including his own wife.
 
“. . . [a] smartly-paced debut novel . . .”—Gerald Elias, author of the Daniel Jacobus mystery series
 
“. . . one of my favorite mystery reads this year . . . With a talent reminiscent of Louise Penny, Kaufman creates a small town ambience of alliances and hidden resentments among characters whose humanity draws you in while raising your suspicions. The First Murder is an engaging and intriguing journey to an exciting conclusion.”—Sharon Healy-Yang, author of the Jessica Minton Mystery Series
 
“. . . [a] deftly constructed debut novel [that] kept me guessing until the very end.”—Leslie Wheeler, award-winning author of the Berkshire Hilltown Mysteries

Show book

Lone Wolf

Michael Newton

A werewolf contends with love and hunger while fighting for the Confederacy during the Civil War in this romantic fantasy.   Graham is on the run. Running from a civil war that he was forced into, from the beast that lies hidden within him, and from the curse that keeps him from leading a normal life.   When Graham meets Eliza, a mere human, he falls deeply in love. But could she possibly love him once she discovers his ability to transform into the beast? Can Graham tame the beast inside him and live a normal life, or will his secrets tear apart the growing love between he and Eliza?

Show book

The ugly sisters

Danny King

For hundreds of years, readers have been enchanted by the tale of Cinderella, of how a nobleman's daughter escaped a life of servitude with the help of a pumpkin, a pair of glass slippers and her Fairy Godmother. But the truth is very different from the fairytale yet no less extraordinary. Marigold and Gardenia Roche have simple dreams; to marry well and live happily ever after. Yet this is a tricky proposition when neither heralds from money nor could be considered a great beauty. But two events are about to change the lives of everyone in the tiny Kingdom of Andovia: the first is the announcement of a great ball, at which the Crown Prince has vowed to choose a bride. The second is the arrival of a widowed French nobleman and his beautiful daughter. Two events, seemingly unconnected, and yet both will have dire consequences for all – unless something is done. Marigold and Gardenia's lives are about to become entwined with the girl who would be Queen. And yet few will ever know the dangers they faced nor the sacrifices they made to save a vainglorious Kingdom from the damsel with the crocodile smile.
Every child knows the story of Cinderella. But this is the story of Marigold and Gardenia Roche – otherwise known as the Ugly Sisters. And it is no fairytale.
»One of the few writers to make me laugh out loud.« – David Baddiel, Comedian
»One of Britain's best kept literary secrets.« – The Big Issue in the North

Show book

The Fuhrer's Orphans

David Laws

In this moving novel based on true events, a teacher and a British spy discover a group of children hiding from the Nazis in WWII Munich. 
 
When their parents are taken to concentration camps, twenty-seven children are left alone, hungry, and scared. Claudia Kellner, a German elementary school teacher, discovers the group hiding in a deserted Munich railroad yard. Only able to hide two of them in her home, she is desperate to find shelter for the others. 
 
Meanwhile, British spy Peter Chesham has penetrated Third Reich territory. But his critical mission is interrupted when he discovers the orphans’ hiding place. Following through on his orders would have fatal consequences for them. But giving up could mean losing the war. Now Peter and Claudia must work together, attempting an impossible rescue operation with the children’s lives—and the fate of the world—at stake.

Show book