The Last Boat

Hailed as “an extraordinary novel of men at war” (The Washington Post) this is the book that inspired the TNT television series starring Eric Dane, Rhona Mitra, Adam Baldwin and Michael Bay as Executive Producer. The unimaginable has happened. The world has been plunged into all-out nuclear war. Sailing near the Arctic Circle, the U.S.S. Nathan James is relatively unscathed, but the future is grim and Captain Thomas is facing mutiny from the tattered remnants of his crew. With civilization in ruins, he urges those that remain—one-hundred-and-fifty-two men and twenty-six women—to pull together in search of land. Once they reach safety, however, the men and women on board realize that they are earth’s last remaining survivors—and they’ve all been exposed to radiation. When none of the women seems able to conceive, fear sets in. Will this be the end of humankind?

"The dramatic, real-life stories of four young people caught up in the mass exodus of Shanghai in the wake of China's 1949 Communist Revolution--a precursor to the struggles faced by emigrants today. Shanghai has historically been China's jewel, its richest, most modern and westernized city. The bustling metropolis was home to sophisticated intellectuals, entrepreneurs, and a thriving middle class when Mao's proletarian revolution emerged victorious from the long civil war. Terrified of the horrors the Communists would wreak upon their lives, citizens of Shanghai who could afford to fled in every direction. Seventy years later, the last generation to fully recall this massive exodus have opened the story to Chinese American journalist Helen Zia, who interviewed hundreds of exiles about their journey through one of the most tumultuous events of the twentieth century. From these moving accounts, Zia weaves the story of four young Shanghai residents who wrestled with the decision to abandon everything for an uncertain life as refugees in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the U.S. Young Benny, who as a teenager became the unwilling heir to his father's dark wartime legacy, must choose between escaping Hong Kong or navigating the intricacies of a newly Communist China. The resolute Annuo, forced to flee her home with her father, a defeated Nationalist official, becomes an unwelcome young exile in Taiwan. The financially strapped Ho fights deportation in order to continue his studies in the U.S. while his family struggles at home. And Bing, given away by her poor parents, faces the prospect of a new life among strangers in America"--

The Last Boat is the second novel by author John Hanley, and the follow up to Against the Tide The book opens in the middle of the greatest naval disaster in British history when the Luftwaffe bombs and sinks the hastily converted Cunard liner, HMT Lancastria. In the ten minutes of bombing and strafing, over 5,000 troops and civilians are blown apart by the high explosive bombs. These losses represent more than one third of all members of the British Expeditionary Force killed in the nine months of war so far. The news is so shocking that Churchill suppresses it and the report into the loss will remain sealed until 2040. But this is only a beginning for Jack, Saul, Miko and Lt Commander Brewster who survive the attack and must fight their way back to Jersey through the German advance. During this journey they encounter a cargo so important that only Miko, the refugee physicist, really understands what could happen should the Germans intercept it. The Last Boat will appeal to readers of historical fiction who appreciate the complexities and uncertainties facing young adults as their world is forever shattered by war.

The Last Boat tells the story of Somoni, an Ijaw fisherman who lived in Old Bakana, an island community in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria. Though a commoner, Somoni loved education, but had to drop out of high school when his father suddenly passed away. Unable to pay his tuition, he got a job as a fisherman. Then he met his eccentric old schoolmate, Inobio, who was full of ideas but penniless. Inobio sold him on the idea of selling fish instead of catching fish, and formed a partnership with him. However, Inobio didn’t like the dirty work, so he made Somoni travel the creeks to buy the fish. One day, the partners went out together to the countryside. Inobio convinced Somoni to return to Port Harcourt city with him later that night. Somoni had a bad premonition, but went anyway. Then it happened. Their boat caught fire in the middle of an area infested with cannibals and crocodiles, and their trouble doubled. Somehow, both men survived the night, but not their partnership. Days later, Somoni boarded a boat with a leak and the vessel began to sink in the middle of the ocean. Somoni took extraordinary action to save himself and the other passengers, and thus, Somoni, the high school dropout, became a hero.

Explosive, dark and tender, The Last Boat Home is a devastating novel about sacrifice, survival and a motherâe(tm)s love. If you loved The Light Between Oceans or The Snow Child, this is for you. On the wind-swept southern coast of Norway, sixteen-year-old Else is out on the icy sea, dragging her oars through the waves while, above her, storm clouds are gathering. Surrounded by mountains, snow and white-capped water, she looks across the fjord and dreams of another life, of escape and faraway lands. Back on shore, her father sits alone in his boathouse with a jar of homebrew. In the Best Room, her mother covers her bruises and seeks solace in prayer. Each tries to hide the truth from this isolated, God-fearing community they call home. Until one night changes everything. More than thirty years later, the return of an old friend forces Else to relive the events that marked the end of her childhood. Explosive, dark and tender, The Last Boat Home is a devastating novel about sacrifice, survival and a motherâe(tm)s love.

Hailed as “an extraordinary novel of men at war” (The Washington Post) this is the book that inspired the TNT television series starring Eric Dane, Rhona Mitra, Adam Baldwin and Michael Bay as Executive Producer. The unimaginable has happened. The world has been plunged into all-out nuclear war. Sailing near the Arctic Circle, the U.S.S. Nathan James is relatively unscathed, but the future is grim and Captain Thomas is facing mutiny from the tattered remnants of his crew. With civilization in ruins, he urges those that remain—one-hundred-and-fifty-two men and twenty-six women—to pull together in search of land. Once they reach safety, however, the men and women on board realize that they are earth’s last remaining survivors—and they’ve all been exposed to radiation. When none of the women seems able to conceive, fear sets in. Will this be the end of humankind?

Six months after being diagnosed with cancer, Joel White, son of the legendary writer E.B. White, began designing the W-76, a wooden sailboat--his final masterpiece. This book offers a poignant depiction of a genius at work even as he faces his own mortality.

These are the war memoirs of Gil Mock, as told to his son-in-law, Robert E. Lee. 1940 - Sapper Gilbert Mock, British Expeditionary Force is ordered to blow up a bridge over the River Somme. Why? To buy time for over 300,000 of his comrades to be evacuated from the beaches of Dunkirk. Today, this necessary rearguard action fought by men like Gil is largely overlooked whenever the remarkable events of Operation Dynamo are celebrated, but many were killed or spent the next five years in prisoner of war camps. Gil, however, despite his parents receiving a 'missing in action, believed dead' telegram from the War Office, made an eventful 350 mile journey (despite his bad feet!) to St Malo and the Last Boat Home.

ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES 10 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR • “A darkly incantatory tragicomedy of love and betrayal ... Beautifully paced, emotionally wise.” —The Boston Globe In the dark waiting room of the ferry terminal in the sketchy Spanish port of Algeciras, two aging Irishmen—Maurice Hearne and Charlie Redmond, longtime partners in the lucrative and dangerous enterprise of smuggling drugs—sit at night, none too patiently. The pair are trying to locate Maurice’s estranged daughter, Dilly, whom they’ve heard is either arriving on a boat coming from Tangier or departing on one heading there. This nocturnal vigil will initiate an extraordinary journey back in time to excavate their shared history of violence, romance, mutual betrayals, and serial exiles. Rendered with the dark humor and the hardboiled Hibernian lyricism that have made Kevin Barry one of the most striking and admired fiction writers at work today, Night Boat to Tangier is a superbly melancholic melody of a novel, full of beautiful phrases and terrible men.