Showing results by author "Den Patrick" in All Categories

Bittersweet and startling, A Sweet Obscurity is a novel of childhood, love and the consequences of how lives are lived. Since her mother's death, nine-year-old Dido has been living with her eccentric aunt, acting as peacekeeper between Eliza, her estranged husband, Giles, and his girlfriend. They are each cruelly burdened in different ways. Chance draws them down to Cornwall, where a country idyll offers to lighten their urban cares.

In the sweltering summer of 1938, with Lisbon in the grip of Portugal's dictatorship of António Salazar, a journalist is coming to terms with the rise of fascism around him and its insidious impact on his work. Consumed by the passing of his wife and the child he never had, Pereira lives a quiet and lonely existence.

Scholars of US and transatlantic slavery have largely ignored or dismissed accusations that Black Americans were cannibalized. Vincent Woodard takes the enslaved person's claims of human consumption seriously, focusing on both the starvation of the slave and the tropes of cannibalism on the part of the slaveholder, and further draws attention to the ways in which Blacks experienced their consumption as a fundamentally homoerotic occurrence.

Six months ago, the world was plunged into chaos. The ImDED2 virus had been a mere nuisance for a decade. World powers were at a loss for a cure, but managed to keep isolated outbreaks from becoming a global pandemic. Until New Year’s Day of the year 2020. Just after midnight, the immuno-degenerative and epidermal decomposition virus (strain 2) exploded worldwide, subsuming humanity in a tsunami of blood and terror.

This anthology contains action, adventure, spicy tales, and some swishing tails. A rare treat of compiled stories in one place. Enjoy!

Train Your Empathy is an extreme deep dive into the topic of what makes people connect. It’s not small talk or even a sense of humor—only empathy makes people truly feel safe, heard, and yearning for more.

Jake McCabe is no stranger to trouble. Between serving in the army during the Civil War and being involved in a long-running feud in his home state of Kentucky, Jake has known some hard times. Some have said the McCabe family is known best for their run of bad luck.

Have you awakened spiritually yet still feel stuck? You are not alone. Many seekers feel dissatisfied despite years of practice. Endless Awakening reveals that the answer lies in paradox. When you let go of the idea that you are on a journey, you arrive at your destination. When you accept that your journey never ends, you awaken fully and find the peace that eludes you.

German composer Edward Pepper escapes to England just before the war begins in earnest. Struck with TB, he is recuperating in hospital when he meets Sally, a young doctor who has battled her way through medical school, despite the opposition of her parents. They fall in love and marry, settling in the fenlands of East Anglia. Years later, Edward watches as his grandchildren trip up against life and death and realises that patterns can repeat themselves, bringing both pain and unexpected discovery.

No man fails on purpose. Quite the opposite. When our feet hit the floor every morning, we're looking for a win. But these are turbulent times to be a man. In gathering material for this book, Morley interviewed many men. Their input was powerful. And transparent. They agreed that it's increasingly difficult to juggle all their responsibilities as men, husbands, fathers, friends, workers, churchmen, and citizens. As Nick put it, "It feels almost impossible to live out a biblical model of manhood."

Long before Doctor Fingal Flahertie O'Reilly became a fixture in the colourful Irish village of Ballybucklebo, he was a young M.B. with plans to marry midwife Dierdre Mawhinney. Those plans were complicated by the outbreak of World War II and the call of duty. Assigned to the HMS Warspite, a formidable 30,000-ton battleship, Surgeon Lieutenant O'Reilly soon found himself face-to-face with the hardships of war, tending to the dreadnought's crew of 1,200 as well as to the many casualties brought aboard.

The jagged mountains dividing China and Burma belong to the Wa, an indigenous group who have outwitted the CIA to create the world's mightiest narco-state, controlling more territory than Israel and with more troops than Sweden. Are they crime lords? Or visionaries?

Cha Ming has returned from Jade Moon Planet stronger than ever. The Monkey King is back. Huxian's demon collection is up an ugly toad. They even took back an entire garden. But life is far from perfect. A war between angels and devils is in full swing, and it's a war Cha Ming can't avoid. To deal a pre-emptive blow, he journeys to the South. His mission? Infiltrate the Wang family. Gears have been turning for centuries, and war has broken out. Cha Ming and Feng Ming rush to shore up the North's meager defenses before devils from the South overrun them. No country can escape.

Patrick Hamilton is renowned for his gritty, slice-of-life tales chronicling the hopes, dreams and obsessions of London's working class in the inter-war years. This collection brings together his key pieces, together with some lesser-known classics and a bonus 2004 documentary exploring his achievements and legacy.

Liv Green loves losing herself in a good book. Her everyday reality is less romantic, cleaning houses for people who barely give her the time of day. But when she lands a job housekeeping for her personal hero and mega-best-selling author Essie Starling, she can't believe her luck. When Essie dies unexpectedly, Liv is left with an astonishing last wish: to complete Essie’s last ever novel. To do so, change-averse Liv will have to step away from the fictitious worlds in her head and into Essie’s shoes.

As a psychiatrist Charlie Weir has seen every kind of trauma New York has to offer. Yet he has never managed to overcome the tragic mistake, seven years earlier that lost him his wife and his daughter, leaving him prone to corrosive loneliness and restless anger. Then into his life walks the alluring Nora Chiara, with her inescapable air of sadness and mystery, and Charlie falls for her quickly, hungrily.

Bart is 30. He is bald. He is overweight. He wears glasses. He is a fry cook. He hates cats. And kids. Bart occasionally does very bad things. He is looking for his perfect match. He has done his research.

THIS BOOK takes you on a journey–not to an exotic destination, but inwards. It’s perilous, scary, and uncomfortable, but the end rewards will be fantastic. Self-awareness is not simply knowing your name; it’s knowing what makes you happy, what makes you sad, and the underlying beliefs and values that create those emotions.

The most effective leaders are deeply aware of how their presence impacts every dimension of their leadership. This guide shows leaders in any organization how to move beyond the daily noise of your environment and connect with people to bring about change where it matters most.

Ginny Splinter, acclaimed radio host and relationship expert, prides herself on knowing what’s best for others. So, she’s sure her husband, Adrian, will love the special trip to Italy she’s planned for their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. But when Ginny presents the gift, he surprises her with his own very different plan: a divorce. Beside herself with heartache, Ginny impulsively goes live on air to invite four heartbroken listeners to join her instead.