A political science major with three years of college under his belt, Charlie R. McNeil has planned his future, but serving in the military and fighting in a war is not part of the future he imagined. The American government thinks otherwise, however; he is drafted into the military, and sent to Korea-an assignment no one asks for. McNeil neither complains nor make waves; he goes where he's told to go and does what he's told to do. When the unexpected happens in Korea and the North Koreans cross the thirty-eighth parallel, Corporal McNeil finds himself immersed in war-a war that came so quickly after WWII that no one believed it possible and none of the military services were prepared. While McNeil moves up in military rank he never loses sight of his goal to earn a degree and work in Washington, DC. But first, he must survive Korea and return home to the United States. A military novel, "McNeil" captures the essence of war and the hardships of life on the battlefield from one young man who has other dreams.

It is the early twentieth century, and aspiring journalist Howard Andrews has been nurturing a love affair with Eleanor Arlington-partly in his own imagination-since he was fifteen years old. But when Ellie tells Howie she is dropping out of college because her father has lost their family farm, he can only hope that they will be together one day. But even as the country prepares for a seemingly inevitable world war, Howard proposes. It seems all his dreams are about to come true. By the spring of 1917, the world has turned inside out. With a little more than three months to go before their wedding, Congress declares war, changing everything for the young couple. In a short span, Howard signs up for artillery school and seals his commitment with Eleanor during what turns out to be a beautiful, military wedding ceremony. Just two days later, he must report for duty and leave his new wife behind. Little does he know that a tiny life has already begun to grow inside Eleanor. In this historical tale based on true events, a father and son soon discover that the consequences of war-and the peace that follows-will pursue both of them for much longer than they ever imagined.

This is a story of Africa at its most cruel and tender moments. It is a story of violence set against the breathtaking beauty of Nyanga; that is not its real name, but those who were there will know the location. If I Should Die is not about black against white, but of resistance to change and the righting of past wrongs. It is about a war men know they cannot win, but fight anyway, because it's their job. The fight becomes personalized between two combatants who represent the best each side has to offer. Sergeant Wilson is severely wounded and taken away for interrogation. When the injured man's fiance tries to find him, she must make tough decisions in the name of love. Although this action-packed story set in Africa is fiction, most of it did happen. Author Tom Edwards was born in Hampshire, England. He served six years in the Fleet Air Arm branch of the Royal Navy. He then worked several years as an artist before moving to Southern Africa, where he was a freelance newspaper reporter and then a mining engineer in South Africa, Zambia and Namibia, finally settling in what was then Rhodesia. During the Rhodesian conflict, he joined the reserve branch of the security forces, serving on border patrol.

Maximilian Fausto is on a mission. His dead mother set him the task of collecting her personal journals, but he quickly discovers that the elusive journals are not so easy to find. And he begins to suspect that his mother planned this journey for his personal growth. He's suspicious and depressed by nature, and he chafes against any attempt to right himself with the world.

Things get rough for Max. He's snared in a destructive love affair; he tangles with an Evangelical family; he narrowly escapes a drug lord's wrath. But working with his fractious family--a brother disabled in Vietnam, a well-meaning but alcoholic uncle, an angry father and a handful of dotty aunts--Max learns the evanescent quality of true love.

This odyssey is filled with heartache as well as joy, with the struggles and triumphs played out against a backdrop of profound longing and deep hope.

"The Last Hookers" is intrigue, danger, action, and romance about aviators in Viet Nam, Cambodia, and Laos Colonel Dunn who were awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. Their story shines light into dark corners of the NSA and CIA during covert operations in Southeast Asia.

Andy Bishop's quest begins promisingly when he leaves Columbus, Ohio, in 1914 after graduating from the University of Notre Dame. In Austria, Hungary, his goals are threefold: make contact with distant Austrian relatives, practice his nascent journalistic skills, and discover why his aristocratic ancestor, Matthias zu Windischgratz, immigrated to America so long ago. The scenery changes drastically as Andy witnesses the last stand of imperial Austrian society. He arrives just three weeks before the assassination of the Kaiser's nephew, the Habsburg Archduke Franz Ferdinand, and his wife, Sophie. This event sparks the fateful slide toward world war and chaos for both family and friends. Andy's fateful decision to remain in the doomed Habsburg Empire after the war begins-and his irresistible attraction to a young Austrian countess-lead him to Budapest, Rome, and finally Paris, as Europe is convulsed by the greatest war since the defeat of Napoleon. Told from the perspective of Andy Bishop, "An American in Vienna" presents historical insight into the Austrian court, royal society, and the demise of a once-powerful empire as it becomes embroiled in the Great War.

Thessaly alienates her husband Karl, an American air force officer stationed in England, as she defends her mother, a bitter war-widow. Mum attempts to dominate Karl as she does Thessaly. The stress between the trio builds when Mum follows her daughter and Karl to the United States and Gloucester, Massachusetts.

As Karl and Thessaly's children grown up, Thessaly suffers seizures while being haunted by images of Shadowbrooks, the country house where she and her mother fled to during the stepped up bombing in World War II.

Plagued by sleepless nights, Thessaly wonders if the years she can't remember could be connected to this haunting Shadowbrooks house.

Mum comes to stay with them for a month each August which disrupts Thessaly, Karl and their children as Mum distorts and denies the life she and Thessaly had led at Shadowbrooks. Thessaly profoundly dreads her mother coming as she still attempts to dominate them. When Mum suddenly dies, Thessaly's seizures accelerate, but her medical tests are negative.

Convinced her illness is to do with Shadowbrooks. Thessaly sees a Boston psychiatrist who brilliantly unravels her Shadobrooks hauntings. After a trip back to Shadowbrooks, England, Thessaly not only discovers the disturbing story behind her mother and herself, but also the cover-up that had sent both into decades of denial

It is 1962, and the US Army Special Forces is expanding to confront the communist challenge in Southeast Asia. Sergeant Jake Campbell has come a long way from the sharecropper's house he grew up in near Nickelsville, Virginia. Just three years ago, he and a friend hitched a ride to Kingsport, Tennessee, and joined the army. Now he is headed for training camp in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, unaware that he is about to undergo the biggest challenge of his life. Campbell immediately immerses himself in the Special Forces training group, anxious to prove himself. He is expecting a tough road ahead lined with mental and physical challenges, but soon finds that he must also face bigotry and class discrimination. Regardless, Campbell persists through pain, sweat, and blood and soon earns a coveted spot with the Green Berets. Ordered on a mission with First Sergeant William Booth-a man who has no love for Campbell-to Laos to train Hmong soldiers to fight the CIA's secret war, Campbell's idealistic view of the world is turned upside down as he witnesses the ugly underbelly of unfettered power, corruption, and injustice. In this fast-paced, action-packed military thriller, one soldier must fight for his life in the steamy Vietnamese jungles amidst murder, conspiracy, and a superior who harbors a secret that, if revealed, will ruin him forever.

Sumia Sukkar's The Boy From Aleppo Who Painted The War is about a 14-year-old boy with Asperger Syndrome who attempts to understand the Syrian conflict and its effect on his life by painting his feelings. Yasmine, his beautiful older sister, devotes herself to him, but has to cope with her own traumas when she is taken by soldiers. Their three brothers also struggle - on whether or not to take sides and the consequences of their eventual choices. The book has recently been dramatised by BBC Radio 4. The Boy From Aleppo Who Painted The War is the powerful and deeply moving debut novel from 21-year- old Sumia Sukkar. It chronicles the intimate sufferings of a family in the midst of civil war with uncommon compassion, wit and imaginative force. Told mainly from a challenged young man's perspective, it achieves the timeless dignity of a true report from an unpredictable and frightening place. It will take its place among the list of necessary books to read about how we preserve love and beauty during brutal times. The story is sure to become a beloved classic, as it follows in the footsteps of other novels touching on the lives of young people during war. "Writing my timely novel was a way for me to express my grief towards the tragedies of what's happening in my country," says Sumia. "Readers will find it interesting to experience the traumatising events of war through the eyes of an innocent young autistic boy who has lived his whole life completely dependent on his family and then having to be separated from them. It contains a blend of political events, emotional drive and Arabian tradition."