In the final weeks of World War II, a young American intelligence officer is caught in a web of deceit that stretches from the Pentagon to the war-ravaged streets of Europe. Lieutenant Julius Orlinsky, a veteran of clandestine operations in Prague, is thrust back into the field when a seemingly routine assignment leads to murder and attempted murder.
Determined to uncover the truth, Orlinsky’s quest takes him from the quiet suburbs of Washington, D.C., to a prisoner-of-war camp in Maryland, and, finally, to the city of Budapest under siege. It’s a shadow world where allies can be enemies and the lines between patriotism and treason are blurred. And the personal stakes couldn’t be higher. Investigating who was responsible for a family’s tragedy in Prague could expose a betrayal by the first woman he has ever loved.
Orlinsky has no choice. Racing against the clock, he must confront the ghosts of his past as he navigates a terrain of double agents, war-hardened German and Russian soldiers, and fanatics who will stop at nothing to silence him.
This thrilling espionage novel, with its captivating plot of secrets, conspiracy, and trust betrayed, is perfect for fans of Philip Kerr, James R. Benn, Andrew Gross, and Susan Elia MacNeal.
Praise for Red Snow in Winter:
‘Red Snow in Winter is a gripping, ingenious cat-and-mouse political thriller. A young U.S. Army Intelligence officer finds himself caught up in a deadly espionage battle involving Americans, Nazis, and Russians that he can only survive by finding out who to trust–and also by finally uncovering the truth about long-buried secrets from his own shadowy intelligence past. Smart writing, a high stakes plot, and fascinating historical background. Author Max Eastern really delivers the goods in this must-read page-turner of a novel.‘
~ R.G. Belsky, author of the Clare Carlson mystery series
‘This is a fast-moving, page-turning espionage thriller set just after the war. Highly recommended for anyone who wants to be kept up at night!‘
~ Deborah Swift, author of The Shadow Network
‘A masterclass in espionage and moral ambiguity, it’s an atmospheric ride of a thriller with plot twists worthy of Hitchcock.‘
~ Mally Becker, author of The Turncoat’s Widow
‘I found a great new-to-me author in Max Eastern. I love how he brought his characters to life and made the situations in this novel seem as though they were happening in front of me.‘
~ Terrie Farley Moran, national bestselling co-author of the Jessica Fletcher ‘Murder She Wrote’ mystery series
This title will be available to read on #KindleUnlimited.
Max Eastern
The stories his father told him about his time as an intelligence officer in World War II inspired Max Eastern to write Red Snow in Winter. He has written about history for several magazines and online publications, with subjects ranging from Ulysses Grant and Benedict Arnold to Attila the Hun.
His modern noir novel The Gods Who Walk Among Us won the Kindle Scout competition and was published by Kindle Press in 2017.
A lawyer specializing in publishing, he resides in New York State.
The newspaper war between William Randolph Hearst’s New York Journal and
Joseph Pulitzer’s New York World is raging, while in Cuba a brave band of
Cuban rebels are struggling to overthrow the tyrannical rule of Spain.
As war fever builds, Cassie O’Conner, one of the first female reporters of the
era, goes undercover in an insane asylum, where she makes a discovery of
historic proportion: a plot to assassinate President William McKinley. But
before she can act on her discovery, Cassie is kidnapped and whisked away to
Cuba, forcing the Journal and the World to join forces in a daring rescue
attempt.
Can they return her to Washington, D.C. in time to stop the assassination of
the president?
Full of action, adventure and romance, THE BLUE RIDERS is a fast-paced,
hard-to-put down historical thriller.
About the Author
Jim Lester holds a Ph.D in history and is the author of three successful young
adult novels–Fallout, The Great Pretender and Shadow Games as well as two
exciting historical thrillers, Deadline:New York and Call to a Nightmare. A
native of Little Rock, Arkansas, he now makes his home in Colorado.
Eva is Waiting Romola Farr Publication date: February 14th 2025 Genres: Adult, Historical, Thriller
Following the death of her mother, Lily is sent to a remote girls’ boarding school, tearing her away from all the excitement of London in the Swingin’ Sixties. Bereft, she develops a relationship with Rainer, the husband of Sylvia, the headmistress.
One day, Bella, the school Collie, goes missing whilst playing on the shore below sheer cliffs. Despite a rising tide, Lily is determined to find the beautiful dog and discovers her trapped between rocks in a cave. Deepening water swirls around them as her fingertips dig into the sand and touch the smooth surface of what she believes to be an animal skull. From that moment on, she is haunted by a young girl pleading for help.
Lily speaks to her headmistress and learns that eleven years previously a pupil went missing. Eva was a refugee from Hungary, and it was assumed by the police that she had run away.
Forced to stay on at school during the Christmas holiday, Lily is caught between those who know what really happened and wish to silence her, and her determination to end Eva’s wait for justice.
‘Don’t you have a heater?’ Lily was lying naked on a worn chaise longue with a gossamer thin veil artistically draped over her.
‘Heat burns out creativity.’ Rainer was sitting on a stool with a large pad on his lap, drawing Lily with a stub of pencil.
‘Am I to freeze my nether regions just for a sketch? I thought I deserved oils.’
‘First, liebling, I make sure I have all the correct proportions in pencil before I commence with charcoal, unless you want to have große Brüste und fette Oberschenkel.’
‘I think I’ve been inoculated against that!’
‘You are very funny.’
‘My mother told me I have a queer sense of humour.’
Rainer got up from the stool and placed the pad and pencil on the seat. He looked at Lily and she felt a surge. Since that amazing night, she had acted upon many urges alone in her room, then had knelt by her bed to pray for forgiveness. In her former school, Miss Rooney had made it clear that self-gratification was against the teachings of Christ.
‘As for adultery and fornication,’ Miss Rooney had said, ‘they are an abomination and will send you straight to hell.’ She had slammed the palm of her hand down on her thigh as she paced about and eyed the young girls seated before her. Young girls who had yet to experience their first period and were still reading books by Enid Blyton.
Well, Lily thought, hell it shall be because she was hooked on the greatest drug of all and despite her belief in God, she would rather face His wrath than become a dried-up old prune like Miss Rooney.
Rainer knelt in front of her, and she felt his warm tobacco breath… so intoxicating. ‘You are beautiful,’ he said.
‘Make love to me,’ she whispered.
‘An artist sleeping with his model is a cliché, is it not?’
‘Call it the Spark effect.’
‘I don’t understand.’
‘Muriel Spark… she wrote The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. It’s a novella set in a girls’ school. If they ever make it into a film, I want to play Sandy.’
‘Sandy?’
‘She’s the smartest girl in the Brodie set and has an affair with the art master.’
‘Who is very handsome, no doubt.’
‘Of course. Unfortunately, Sandy ends their affair and becomes a Roman Catholic nun.’
He chuckled. ‘Is that your destiny?’
She shrugged. ‘Que sera, sera, whatever will be, will be.’ She let the veil slip, exposing a youthful breast. ‘My fate is in your hands.’
He repositioned the veil and stepped back.
She forced a smile. ‘So, it’s a nunnery for me then?’
He looked at her. ‘I cannot imagine loving anyone more than I do you.’
‘What about Sylvia?’
‘She saved my life and has given me a future out of reach of the Russian bear.’
Lily wrapped the gauze tightly around her and stood. ‘I’d better go.’
‘Please stay. I owe Sylvia, but I want you.’ He pushed her gently down onto the chaise longue and knelt before her.
Author Bio:
Romola Farr first trod the boards on the West End stage aged sixteen and continued to work for the next eighteen years in theatre, TV and film – and as a photographic model. A trip to Hollywood led to the sale of her first screenplay and a successful change of direction as a screenwriter and playwright. Bridge To Eternity was her debut novel, and Breaking through the Shadows and Where the Water Flows are standalone sequels. All are set in the fictional town of Hawksmead.
A Bone-Chilling Mystery-Suspense-Thriller Set in the Edwardian Era
Finalist, Eric Hoffer Book Award
“Beauty is power,” Dr. Rome told her. “And with enough power, one can achieve anything.”
Straightening noses, trimming eyelids, lifting jowls . . . In the year 1907, his revolutionary beauty surgery is considered daring, perhaps dangerous. Still, women want what Dr. Rome promises. Neither is his young assistant Abigail Platford immune to Dr. Rome’s persuasive charm.
Abigail once dreamed of becoming a doctor, though of a much different sort. That dream ended with her father’s tragic death from a medical error for which she holds herself responsible. Dr. Rome, who proudly displays his medical degree from Johns Hopkins, seems to believe in her. If he were willing to act as her mentor, might there still be a chance to realize her dream of someday becoming a doctor serving New York City’s poor?
But something feels terribly wrong, as though an insidious evil is closing in. Broken promises, lies, and intrigues abound. The powerful are threatening to destroy the weak, and a doctor’s sacred duty hangs in the balance. Abigail no longer knows who to believe; but with Dr. Rome now her mentor and her lover, she desperately wants to trust him.
Even when she discovers that one of their patients has mysteriously disappeared.
From bestselling author Elizabeth Hutchison Bernard, a suspenseful work of historical fiction grounded in the social and moral issues of the Edwardian era in America. Second Edition with Author’s Preface.
Excerpt:
In a panic, she ran downstairs to retrieve the stethoscope and a thermometer. When she returned to the twins’ room, wishing not to wake them yet, she started with the stethoscope. First, Melilla’s lungs. Abigail found her breathing somewhat labored, with congestion mainly in the right lung. Next, she listened to her heart; it was beating much faster than it should. Checking Valencia, she discovered nothing out of the ordinary. The stronger twin was, so far, holding her own.
Armed with this new information, Abigail went downstairs again, this time to Franklin’s private office. From his bookcase, she selected a volume on infectious diseases. Since she wasn’t certain of a diagnosis, it seemed prudent to assume the worst. She looked up pneumonia and skimmed the entire chapter before sitting at Franklin’s desk to jot down some essential notes.
“Milk punch to stimulate the heart … quinine, two grains every four hours in a tablespoon of brandy … opium for pain and to calm the cough … linseed poultice covered with oiled silk over the affected lung …”
When finished, she went into the operating room to search the medicine cabinet for the items she would need. Everything was there except milk for the punch and silk for the poultice, both easily obtainable from Prudence.
She put the items into a large bag and headed for the sickroom. The distressing sound of Melilla’s coughing met her at the door. The girls were awake now and sitting up in bed.
“All right, the doctor is in!” she announced, sounding as cheerful as she could.
“Miss Abby!” Valencia squealed. Melilla tried to speak, but the effort only made her cough again. She held a napkin to her mouth, and when she lowered it, Abigail saw a glob of thick, green mucus.
While taking their temperatures, Abigail did her best to make light of their condition. She even joked about how lazy they’d become, lounging around in bed all day. But it was impossible to remain jovial when she saw Melilla’s temperature—102º.
She immediately went to work, following the instructions she had written about the punch and the medicines and the poultice. Prudence brought milk and a piece of silk. After laboring for an hour in preparation of the various remedies, she administered them in the prescribed doses to Melilla, knowing that Valencia would benefit as well through the conjoined twins’ shared circulatory system.
As expected, the opium made them both very sleepy. As soon as they had drifted off, and knowing that nothing further needed to be done for several hours, Abigail tiptoed from the room and shut the door behind her.
“Can I get you some tea, Miss Platford? Or something to eat?” Prudence offered, appearing in the kitchen doorway.
“I’m fine, thank you. But could you manage here by yourself for a little while?”
“Oh yes, ma’am. I’m all rested up now.”
“Please look in on them every fifteen minutes. I’ll be back in about an hour. There are a couple of things I need to take care of right away.”
Wearily, Abigail again descended the wooden staircase to the office. Her plan was to see if Mrs. Krueger would look after Shaena overnight. A lot to ask of a neighbor, but the elderly widow didn’t seem to mind having company. Actually, Shaena was the one most likely to object. She loved that big, soft feather bed, and Mrs. Krueger had only a tiny cot in her spare room.
And there was something else Abigail must do at the apartment. Retrieve the card from the drawer of her night table.
The one with Detective Baldwin’s number.
Buy Links:
This title is available to read on #KindleUnlimited.
Elizabeth Hutchison Bernard is the author of bestselling historical novels. Her 2023 release, Sisters of Castle Leod, is an Amazon Kindle #1 Bestseller (Historical Biographical Fiction, Historical Literary Fiction), winner of the 2023 Maxy Award for Historical and Adventure Fiction, and an Editors’ Choice of the Historical Novel Society. Her biographical novel Temptation Rag (2018) was hailed by Publishers Weekly as a “resonant novel . . . about the birth and demise of ragtime . . . in which romance and creative passions abound.” Elizabeth’s 2017 historical mystery-suspense-thriller, The Beauty Doctor, was a finalist for the prestigious Eric Hoffer Book Award. The book’s re-release (Jan. 4, 2024) features a stunning new cover and an Author Preface with insights into social and moral issues of the Edwardian era that frame this shocking fictional story set in the early days of cosmetic surgery. Before becoming a full-time author, Elizabeth was executive editor of an international aesthetic surgery journal, and senior consultant to the National Cosmetic Network in conjunction with Johns Hopkins University’s plastic surgery educational program. Learn more about Elizabeth and her books at http://www.EHBernard.com.
Trust No One Glenn Dyer (Conor Thorn Series, #4) Publication date: December 11th 2023 Genres: Adult, Historical, Thriller
Loyalists meant to rid their country of a double-dealing collaborator. Instead, they created a threat that could destroy Allied unity.
Algiers. Winter 1942. Conor Thorn is devastated. He’s been fired from the OSS. His wife, Emily, has been fired from MI6. They allowed their morals to bend certain truths concerning the outcome of their last mission. Forever dedicated to defeating Axis powers, these skilled operatives jump at the chance to secretly help General Eisenhower deal with a political time bomb threatening Allied harmony and to redeem their honorable standing. To recover a rumored archive holding the truth about an assassination plot, they must travel deep into perilous Axis territory.
In the crosshairs of those determined to keep the information out of Allied hands, Conor and Emily fall victim to a violent assault. Though the resulting injuries leave him severely concussed and confused, Conor refuses to stand down while his beloved ventures deeper into danger.
Can Conor and Emily piece together a political puzzle in time to keep Allied unity from fracturing?
Trust No One is the high intensity, gritty fourth book in the Conor Thorn WWII espionage series inspired by true events. If you like heart-pounding action and white-knuckled tension, then you’ll love Glenn Dyer’s thrill ride through history.
Conor stirred. His head was pounding like the bass drum in the US Naval Academy marching band. When he opened his eyes, one person stared back at him. The facial features were out of focus, as if he were looking through cheesecloth. He blinked. The onlooker’s mouth began to flap. He sat up, but his head almost exploded. A hand pushed him back. The cheesecloth dissolved, and he could see someone smiling at him. Given the slow shake of his head, Captain Jack Waddon was not pleased to see him.
“You are one lucky bastard, Conor,” Waddon said.
Conor looked around and recognized that he was back aboard Waddon’s Consolidated PBY-5 Catalina, the ship that had taken him, Emily, and Father Sean Sullivan to Italy on their mission to snatch Ettore Majorana. “What did you say?” He could barely hear his own words. “What the hell happened?” He reached for his throbbing forehead and felt a knot the size of a billiard ball. The surface of his forehead radiated a low heat.
“You were introduced to a blackjack swung by one angry MP, that’s what happened,” Waddon said. “As far as being lucky, well, that’s because Commander Butcher saved your butt. Told the MP that he’d take it up with Colonel Eddy himself and see that you, being nonmilitary, would exit the theater as soon as he could arrange transport.”
Conor rolled over onto his right side. The two men were in the plane’s compartment forward of the waist gunner’s area and aft of the flight engineer’s compartment. He reached for the back of his head and discovered a lump where the blackjack had ambushed him. “Stevens?”
“Hauled out of there to the field hospital. Out cold. Like you were.”
Conor groaned.
“Here,” Waddon said as he handed him a damp handkerchief.
Conor spied white gauze peeking out from under Waddon’s left sleeve. Waddon had been wounded three weeks prior when his PBY approached the beach near Anzio to exfiltrate Conor, Emily, Sean Sullivan, and Ettore Majorana.
“How’s the arm?”
Waddon waved off the question. “On the mend. Already back in the left seat.”
Conor nodded, then held up the handkerchief. “What’s this for?”
“Your ear. There’s some dried blood. Stevens must have landed at least one blow.”
Conor took the handkerchief and dabbed at his right ear, loosening some dried flakes but also coming away with some fresh blood. The bass drummer in his head pounded away. His head had seen better days.
“So you dragged my ass here after Butcher saved it?”
“Yep. Me and DiLazzaro. We thought you had some lead bars in your pockets. You were a load getting you in here.” Seaman Eugene DiLazzaro was one of Waddon’s crew and had wound up part of Conor’s team that went ashore at Anzio. The New Jersey–born Italian American had handled himself like a pro, particularly when the shooting started.
Conor’s stomach roiled. Bile crept upward. A mixture of oil, perspiration, fuel, and grease hung in the air, fanning the flames of his nausea. “Jack, do you have a bucket? I don’t feel too good.”
“Conor, don’t you lose it in my ship,” Waddon said, scurrying forward in search of something to keep his Catalina puke-free. Conor wondered what did the most damage: the blow to the back of his head from the blackjack or the oak bar that gave no quarter when his head collided with it. Waddon returned with a collapsible canvas bucket and shoved it into Conor’s hands. “Here, and don’t miss.”
Conor leaned over the side of the bunk and let loose a stream of vomit that filled the bottom two inches of the bucket. When he finally felt he had no more to give, he handed it to Waddon and lay back. “So you just happened to be in the area when the action started?”
“Hey, I was thirsty.” Waddon went aft and tossed the bucket’s contents out through the open starboard-side blister. He returned and sat across from Conor on the port-side bunk. “When I approached the bar’s entrance, I saw Butcher coming from the other direction. We were about ten feet from the bar when we heard a massive crash. That must have been Stevens doing a back flop on the backbar. Two MPs were already there. We saw one lower the boom from just inside the doorway. We both cringed when your head hit the bar.”
“Well, thanks for the sympathetic cringes. Then what?”
“I already told you. Don’t you remember?”
Conor shook his head and felt the pain surge as if his brain were bouncing around inside his skull.
“Like I said, Butcher jumped in, threw Ike’s name around a bit, and eventually, the MPs backed down. He told them to get Stevens to the field hospital and told me to take care of you, but not to go far. That he needed to see you when you got put back together. He wanted me to get this to you.” Waddon handed over a note.
Conor unfolded the paper. It was short and sweet. He folded the note and put it in his pants pocket, then settled back to let the whitecaps in his stomach calm down.
“Well, you going to let me in on it or not?”
“He wants to know why Donovan shitcanned me.”
Author Bio:
GLENN DYER is a former commercial television executive whose career spanned over thirty-five years. That career took him to cities such as Salt Lake City, Dallas, Washington, DC, and Denver. He returned to Park City, Utah in retirement in 2013 to write full-time. He is an associate member of the International Thriller Writers, the Author’s Guild and The OSS Society. Glenn attended Villanova University and graduated from Boston University. He and his wife, Chris, have three children, all of whom live too far away. Visit his website at http://www.glenndyer.net and follow him on Twitter @duffy_dyer and Instagram @glennduffydyer.
In 1498, the world was on the brink of a seismic shift. Christopher
Columbus, during his fateful third voyage, stumbled upon the Pearl
Coast—an enchanting realm teeming with riches beyond imagination. Yet,
behind the glistening pearls lay a dark and treacherous history that would
forever change the course of human lives.
At the heart of this gripping historical thriller lies Cubagua Island, a
place where dreams and nightmares intertwined. Here, the lives of two souls,
Charaima, a Native American, and Dembe, an African, were forever altered.
Enslaved by the avaricious European invaders and subjected to unimaginable
cruelty under the sadistic Captain Pedro, they clung to each other, united
by a shared determination to secure their people’s freedom.
Hidden amidst the chaos and suffering, a cache of pearls was concealed in a
buried clay jar—a symbol of hope and a means to their
liberation.
Cubagua Island, once renowned as The Pearl Coast, bore witness to the
ruthless harvest of an estimated two-hundred billion oysters, yielding
twelve tons of pearls sent to Spain—a treasure that exceeded all other
exports combined. But this insatiable greed came at an unthinkable cost.
Within two decades, the entire Native population had been decimated, and the
first African enslaved people in America toiled as pearl divers on the
island’s shores.
Blood for Pearls unravels this dark and little-known chapter of history
through the tireless efforts of Peter Von Perle, an American researcher and
writer. Born in Venezuela, he became captivated by the hidden stories of
early American natural saltwater pearl fisheries. For over a decade, he
traversed the globe, unearthing secrets of the sixteenth-century pearl
trade, and engaging with a multitude of experts, from gemologists and museum
curators to archaeologists and historians. Now, he unveils his findings in
this pulse-pounding historical thriller.
Prepare to be transported to a world where pearls are more than mere
jewels—they are symbols of survival, resilience, and the enduring
human spirit. Blood for Pearls is a spellbinding journey through history’s
most precious bloodshed, where beauty and brutality converge in the name of
wealth, and where the true savages were not those who perished, but those
who invaded.
Join in the unearthing of this untold history of the Pearl Coast. Get your
copy of Blood for Pearls: The First American Genocide today and dive into a
mesmerizing saga of adventure, deceit, and the relentless pursuit of freedom
and wealth.
About the Author
Peter Von Perle is an American researcher and writer who was born and
raised in Venezuela, where he developed a lifelong passion for saltwater
pearls and the history that accompanies them.
Since 2011, Peter has been traveling the world, interviewing a myriad of
experts, and unearthing new and important facts surrounding this
controversial period of world history.
