The Hostile Shore

Crammed with refugees, harried and bombed by enemy planes, the Sigli had struggled south in a desperate attempt to escape. Rupert Blair's family had been among the passengers on that fateful journey in which the ship and all aboard had disappeared. Twenty years later, he still hasn't forgotten—has never abandoned his obsession to discover exactly what happened. Now Rupert Blair embarks upon a journey of his own—one that will take him to a primitive, savage island in search of the truth. This is a thrilling tale of naval warfare from Douglas Reeman, the all-time best-selling master of naval fiction, who served with the Royal Navy on convoy duty in the Atlantic, the Arctic, and the North Sea.

Nada, one of thirteen nutria brought to Avery Island (not an island, but a salt dome) by E. A. McIlhenny (Mr. Ned) for experimental stock breeding purposes, is the runt of the group and is blind in one eye. During a hurricane, the nutria pen topples over, and Nada and her friends escape. Nada runs under Mr. Ned's house, but the others run off in different directions. The next day, Nada sets off to find her friends. Nada's search takes her to four other salt domes. She finds each of her friends, but they have been influenced by the life on the salt domes and have become very different in their behavior. Nada wants her friends to return to live together on Avery Island where they can teach the young all of the nutria traditions. But she fails. Nada finds her way into a rice paddy where Gertrude Gallinule attacks her. She escapes. With the help of Lawrence Lizard, her friends come to visit and cheer her up. An egret comes to tell of strange goings on at Jefferson Island and that all the nutria must go there immediately because Lothario's family is in danger. Nada saves Lothario's wives and children who are trapped under the Joseph Jefferson House that is collapsing. When the nutria see how Nada risks her life for them, they are ashamed of their behavior and agree to stay together on Avery Island where they live happily ever after. This book is aimed at 8-12 year olds, but its serious moral nature will appeal to all ages.

"Lambdin is closing on Patrick O'Brian as the most prolific historical novelist to celebrate a Royal Navy mariner." —Washington Times In 1805, with news of Admiral Nelson's death fresh on his mind, Captain Lewrie's HMS Reliant joins up in the voyage that will culminate in the Battle of Cape Town, in which the British wrested control of South Africa from the Dutch. In the wake of that victory, Lewrie heads west to South America, where Britain's attacks on Buenos Aires and other Spanish colonies have not been faring as well. But the worst is yet to come, and soon Lewrie will be facing a battle at sea that will put his naval career and life at risk. Dewey Lambdin has been roundly praised as one of the best living novelists writing in the vein of Patrick O'Brian and C. S. Forester. In Hostile Shores he returns with an exciting, battle-heavy tale of life in the King's Navy, starring the rough-edged hero Captain Alan Lewrie.

Participating in the 1805 Battle of Cape Town after the death of Admiral Nelson, Captain Lewrie voyages to South America to assist Britain's campaigns on the Spanish colonies only to confront a formidable adversary.