National Network for Equitable Library Service

It is 1781 and the British-held American port of Yorktown on the Chesapeake Bay is under siege. Pounded by the American colonists on land and the deadly warships of their French allies at sea, the once proud city is in flames and near ruin. But on the horizon, the King's own fleet of heavily armed frigates heads full sail to blast through France's blockade. Aboard His Majesty's swift flagship Desperate, midshipman Alan Lewrie quickly sets his gunners to their lethal work, firing rapid broadsides of twenty-four pound shot at the enemy vessels.

Louis L'Amour's long-lost first novel, faithfully completed by his son, takes readers on a voyage into danger and violence on the high seas. Fate is a ship. As the shadows of World War II gather, the SS Lichenfield is westbound across the Pacific carrying eighty thousand barrels of highly explosive naphtha. The cargo alone makes the journey perilous, with the entire crew aware that one careless moment could lead to disaster. But yet another sort of peril haunts the Lichenfield. Even beyond their day-to-day existence, the lives of the crew are mysteriously intertwined.

The badly damaged Tantamount docked at Port Border, seeking repairs, new crew members, and work. First Officer Nel Vaughn tries to drown her memories of the disastrous battle with the Guild in dingy taverns.

But there’s little time for remorse and healing. Port Border is overrun with Alliance soldiers and their mysterious cargo, the Draugr. Soon, Violet, the kitsune cabin girl, discovers an old enemy hidden in the dusty port town.

Crime and adventure on the high seas

Jared Kane is a West Coast commercial fisherman whose life has been plagued by bad luck and blackout drinking. When he inherits Arrow, an old 46-foot wooden sailboat, he sees a chance for redemption. With his friend from prison, Danny MacLean, Jared plans an offshore voyage, sailing from Vancouver down the Pacific Coast to California and out into the South Pacific.

Ireland, 1912. Young Maggie Murphy sets sail on Titanic, though her sweetheart stays behind. After the ship sinks, Maggie wakes up in a New York hospital and vows never to speak of that terrible night again. But many years later, the confession of her secret leads to unexpected reunions.

Robinson Crusoe is the classic tale about one man's lust for adventure. Crusoe leaves his parents and hometown for the open sea in the year 1651. But the ocean can be unforgiving and Crusoe, unfortunately, learns this the hard way. Through a series of wild events he ends up shipwrecked on a shore in South America, being forced to salvage what he can in order to survive. Overcoming his despair, Crusoe begins a new life on this island searching for meaning and eventually finding redemption.

Le 1er février 1767, Jeanne Barret, sous le nom de Jean Barré, embarqua sur la flûte L'Étoile avec près de 120 hommes pour accomplir le premier tour du monde sous pavillon français.

Ce conte fantasmagorique nous entraîne sur les traces de Christophe Colomb. À ses côtés, nous naviguons sur la mer Océane, vaste et mystérieuse, vers l’ouest, toujours vers l’ouest, obstinément, pour atteindre l’Orient tant rêvé. Robert Finley imagine le parcours, les tempêtes, les craintes de l’équipage ; il retrace les observations notées dans le journal de bord de Colomb, les descriptions étranges de ce territoire inconnu que Colomb croit être Les Indes, désignant ainsi, accidentellement, le Nouveau Monde.

A realistic portrayal of the Sicilian fishing community in San Diego in the 1950s, Confetti for Gino centers around the DeMarino family, in particular fishing boat captain Gino DeMarino’s stubborn attempts to break away from tradition by vowing to marry a woman from outside the Italian community, and his mother’s fight to ensure he marries someone within the community. The novel shows how kinship and family proved more visceral than the notions of individuality and independence that were emerging at the time.

Clive Cussler debuted his new series, The Oregon Files, with the incredible adventure of Golden Buddha. Now he follows that triumph with Sacred Stone, a rollicking new tale featuring the enigmatic captain of The Oregon, Juan Cabrillo. In the remote wastelands of Greenland, an ancient artifact possessing catastrophic radioactive power is unearthed. But the astounding find puts the world at risk.