Charles Leavitt

In the winter of 1820, the New England whaling ship Essex was assaulted by something no one could believe: a whale of mammoth size and will, and an almost human sense of vengeance. The real-life maritime disaster would inspire Herman Melville's Moby-Dick. But that told only half the story. This story reveals the encounter's harrowing aftermath, as the ship's surviving crew is pushed to their limits and forced to do the unthinkable to stay alive.

Danny Archer is an ex-mercenary turned smuggler. Solomon Vandy is a local Mende fisherman. Amid the explosive civil war overtaking 1999 Sierra Leone, these men join together for two dangerous missions: recovering a rare pink diamond of immense value and rescuing the fisherman's son. The son was conscripted as a child soldier into the brutal rebel forces ripping a swath of torture and bloodshed across the alternately beautiful and ravaged countryside....

The peaceful realm of Azeroth stands on the brink of war as its civilization faces a fearsome race of invaders: orc warriors fleeing their dying home to colonize another. As a portal opens to connect the two worlds, one army faces destruction and the other faces extinction. From opposing sides, two heroes are set on a collision course that will decide the fate of their family, their people, and their home.

The world of Azeroth must fend off an invasion by orc warriors, brought on via a portal connecting their worlds.

A Manhattan psychiatrist, who thinks he's seen it all until he's assigned to analyze Prot, a psychiatric patient who claims to be from a distant planet called K-PAX. He is convinced that Prot is "a convincing delusional, " but his cynicism turns to open-minded fascination as Prot's case reveals a combination of otherworldly insight and all-too-human trauma, prompting an earthbound explanation for Prot's allegedly alien origins.

An oncologist in the professional fast lane hits a detour when a desperately ill patient kidnaps him at gunpoint. Across highways and backroads, kidnapper and hostage seek a fabled Navajo healing place while a manhunt closes in on them. Miles roll by quickly, but the distance between the men is not so easily bridged. At the same time, the doctor starts recovering something lost during his grab for wealth and status: his humanity. Through narrow escapes...