C.C. Humphreys

Smuggler. Smoker. Aviatrix. Thief. The dynamic Roxy Loewen is all these things and more, in this riveting and gorgeous historical fiction novel for readers of Paula McLain, Roberta Rich, Kate Morton and Jacqueline Winspear.You should never fall in love with a flyer. You should only fall in love with flight.That's what Roxy Loewen always thought, until she falls for fellow pilot Jocco Zomack as they run guns into Ethiopia. Jocco may be a godless commie, but his father is a leading art dealer and he's found the original of Bruegel's famous painting, the Fall of Icarus. The trouble is, it's in Spain, a country slipping fast into civil war. The money's better than good--if Roxy can just get the painting to Berlin and back out again before Reichsmarshall Hermann Goring and his Nazi pals get their hands on it . . .But this is 1936, and Hitler's Olympics are in full swing. Not only that, but Goring has teamed up with Roxy's greatest enemy: Sydney Munroe, an American billionaire responsible for the death of her beloved dad seven years before. When the Nazis steal the painting, Roxy and Jocco decide that they are just going to have to steal it back.What happens when Icarus flies too close to the sun? Roxy is going to find out. From African skies to a cellar in Madrid, from the shadow cast by the swastika to the world above the clouds on the Hindenburg's last voyage, in the end Roxy will have just two choices left--but only one bullet.

'Duyduğun hiçbir şeye güvenme'1431 kışında, Transilvanya Prensi'nin bir oğlu oldu.Babası ona 'Vlad' adını verdi.Halkı onu 'Ejderha'nın Oğlu' olarak bildi.Düşmanları onu 'Tepes' yani 'Kazıklı' diye andı.O, bir ulusun kahramanı oldu.Bizse onu Drakula olarak tanıyoruz.Vlad: Son İtiraf, Bram Stoker'ın yarattığı mitin ardındaki gerçek adamın romanı. Bir prensin, bir savaşçının, aşığın, işkencecinin, ayakta kalanın, nihayetinde bir kahramanın hikâyesi...'Gerçekçi karakterler, kaderin cilveleri ve aksiyonla bezeli mükemmel bir öykü.'-Simon Scarrow-

WINNER 2015 — Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime NovelLondon, 1665. A serial killer stalks his prey, scalpel in his hand and God's vengeance in his heart. Five years after his restoration to the throne, Charles II leads his citizens by example, enjoying every excess. Londoners have slipped the shackles of puritanism and now flock to the cockpits, brothels and, especially, the theatres, where for the first time women are allowed to perform alongside the men. But not everyone is swept up in the excitement. Some see this liberated age as the new Babylon, and murder victims pile up in the streets, making no distinction in class between a royalist member of parliament and a Cheapside whore. But they have a few things in the victims are found with gemstones in their mouths. And they have not just been murdered; they've been . . . sacrificed. Now the plague is returning to the city with full force, attacking indiscriminately . . . and murder has found a new friend.

In 1777 Jack Absolute, the charming lover in Sheridan's comedy The Rivals, is famous throughout London. However, this notoriety comes as something of a shock to the real Jack Absolute when he arrives in England after four months at sea. But there's barely time for outrage before he finds himself dueling for his life. Even worse, as soon as he's won the duel he's forced to flee London by the quickest means possible, becoming a spy in America's war of Independence. Thus we meet Jack Absolute - rogue, duelist, charmer and Captain in the Light Dragoons. From the field of honor in London through the pivotal battle of Saratoga to a hunt for a double agent in wintry Philadelphia, this novel marks the impressive debut of this new series.

For readers of The Nightingale and Lilac Girls, a dazzling novel about Ilse, a spy, and Billy, a pilot, who fall in love but are wrenched apart during World War II, and must find their way back to each other--from bestselling author C.C. Humphreys.When Billy Coke steps onto the streets of London one December evening in 1940, he has no idea he is stepping to his fate. As Hitler's bombers come close to burning the city down, Billy meets the woman who will change the course of his life: Ilse Magnusson, a musician from Norway, but also something more--a spy in training.Escaping the Blitz for three days, she and Billy drive, quarrel, conceal, reveal . . . and fall finally, fully, in love.Now they must part, each to fight the war their own way. Billy, a Canadian Spitfire pilot, to duel with the Luftwaffe over North Africa and the Med. Ilse to return to her conquered country, ingratiate herself with the Nazi elite--which includes her beloved father--and send vital intelligence back to Britain.They know that the odds of both of them surviving are poor. All they can hope is that the other does survive--and that someday they find each other again.From decadent pre-war Berlin to the atrocity at Guernica, from dogfights over Sicily to an Oslo ground under the German jackboot, through small victories and bitter losses, this is the story of a man and a woman at war. A tale of causes and compromises, heroism and betrayal. Of choices made, with consequences unforeseen. And finally, how sometimes . . . love can give you a second chance.

To the Greeks who love it, it is Constantinople. To the Turks who covet it, the Red Apple. Safe behind its magnificent walls, the city was once the heart of the vast Byzantine empire.1453. The empire has shrunk to what lies within those now-crumbling walls. A relic. Yet for one man, Constantinople is the stepping stone to destiny. Mehmet is twenty when he is annointed Sultan. Now, seeking Allah’s will and Man’s glory, he brings an army of one hundred thousand, outnumbering the defenders ten to one. He has also brings something new – the most frightening weapon the world has ever seen...But a city is more than stone, its fate inseparable from that of its people. Men like Gregoras, a mercenary and exile, returning to the hated place he once loved. Like his twin and betrayer, the subtle diplomat, Theon. Like Sofia, loved by two brothers but forced to make a desperate choice between them. And Leilah, a powerful mystic and assassin, seeking her own destiny in the flames.This is the tale of one of history’s greatest battles for one of the world’s most extraordinary places. This is the story of people, from peasant to emperor - with the city’s fate, and theirs, undecided... until the moment the Red Apple falls.

It is 1536 and the expert swordsman Jean Rombaud has been brought over from France by Henry VIII to behead his wife, Anne Boleyn. But on the eve of her execution Rombaud swears a vow to the ill-fated queen: to bury her six-fingered hand, symbol of her rumoured witchery, at a sacred crossroads. Yet in a Europe ravaged by religious war, the hand of this infamous Protestant icon is so powerful a relic that many will kill for it... From a battle between slave galleys to a Black Mass in a dungeon, through the hallucinations of St Anthony's Fire to the fortress of an apocalyptic Messiah, Jean seeks to honour his vow.

London, 1759: Life is easy for Jack Absolute, a dashing young man, loved by the ladies and envied by his schoolmates. With a place secured in college at Cambridge and a baronetcy at hand, his future seems bright. But one night of revelry , and a duel over a woman destroys Jack’s fortune instantly. He is forced to flee the country and seek a new fate as a soldier in the dangerous New World during the ruthless French and Indian Wars. There, amid hostile natives, fierce colonial rivalries, and the brutal wilds of North America, he struggles for something far more vital than riches: his survival. But to survive, Jack must be blooded for life. He must learn to kill.The gripping start to a riveting historical series, The Blooding of Jack Absolute tracks the stunning transformation of a young dreamer into a daring, larger-than-life hero.

Elayne thinks the old family story that one of her ancestors stepped through a tapestry into a world of mythical beasts makes a great fireside tale. But she lives in the real world. In New York City. And she's outgrown that kind of fantasy.Until she finds herself in front of a unicorn tapestry at the Cloisters museum and sees her initials woven into the fabric. And hears a unicorn calling to her. And slips and falls—into that other world.Suddenly the line between fantasy and reality isn't so clear. But the danger is real enough. Almost before she can think, Elayne is attacked by a ferocious beast, rescued by a unicorn, and taken prisoner by a tyrant king. Each of them seems to have an idea about her—that she's a hero, a villain, dinner!But Elayne has a few ideas of her own. She wants to overthrow the king; she wants to tame the unicorn. She wants to go home! And she's willing to become both hero and villain to do it.

First came Plague, now comes Fire. The epic tale of the hunt for a serial killer threatening London's rich and poor during the Great Fire of London. Perfect for fans of C.J. Sansom and Conn Iggulden.Fires don't start by themselves. They need someone to light them. What are friends for? As the Great Plague of London loosens its grip at last, Charles II's court moves back to the city, the theatres reopen and a new year arrives. 1666. It cannot be more terrible than the previous year, surely? But it can. For many will strive to make it so; to finally rid London of the curse that brought the plague upon it. A wholesale cleansing is required if society is to be born again. What's more it seems that a serial killer who stalked hand in hand with the Plague might not be dead after all. Together with actress Sarah Chalker, highwayman William Coke and thief-taker Pitman come together as one, determined to stop the brutal murder of London's rich and poor once and for all. But another threat is on the way. It hasn't rained in five months. London is a tinderbox--politically, sexually and religiously. The Great Fire of London is about to ignite. And the final confrontation between Coke, Pitman and Sarah Chalker and their murderous adversary will be decided against a background of apocalypse.

The latest in the adventures of Jack Absolute, "a redcoated James Bond."

FETCH: The apparition, double, or wraith of a living person.In the attic, in an old sea chest, secreted away, are a mysterious journal and a set of runes: 24 stones that will change Sky's life forever.When Sky and his cousin Kristin find their Norwegian grandfather's runes, Sky feels like the wait is over, like he can now release the breath he wasn't even aware he'd been holding. But when he lays out the stones in a runecast they find in Sigurd's journal, he is catapulted into a world filled with more possibilities and more danger than he ever imagined.This first entry in the Runestone Saga is an utterly unique blend of horror, supernatural possibility, and historical truth that will leave readers wrung out from tension and clamoring for more.

To be (or not to be) the man to save England England's finest swordsman and fight choreographer at the magnificent new Globe Theatre has hit rock bottom. John Lawley just wants to win back his beloved, become a decent father to his son, and help his friend William Shakespeare finish The Tragedy of Hamlet, the play that threatens to destroy him.But all is not fair in love and war. Dogged by his three devils-whiskey, women, and Mad Robbie Deveraux-John is dragged by Queen Elizabeth herself into a dangerous game of politics, conspiracy, and rebellion. Will the hapless swordsman figure out how to save England before it's too late?Brimming with vivid periodic detail, Shakespearean drama, and irresistible wit, Shakespeare's Rebel is a thrilling romp through the romantic, revolutionary times of Elizabethan England that will delight historical fiction fans and Shakespeare enthusiasts alike. To be (or not to be) the man to save England England's finest swordsman and fight choreographer at the magnificent new Globe Theatre has hit rock bottom. John Lawley just wants to win back his beloved, become a decent father to his son, and help his friend William Shakespeare finish The Tragedy of Hamlet, the play that threatens to destroy him.But all is not fair in love and war. Dogged by his three devils-whiskey, women, and Mad Robbie Deveraux-John is dragged by Queen Elizabeth herself into a dangerous game of politics, conspiracy, and rebellion. Will the hapless swordsman figure out how to save England before it's too late?Brimming with vivid periodic detail, Shakespearean drama, and irresistible wit, Shakespeare's Rebel is a thrilling romp through the romantic, revolutionary times of Elizabethan England that will delight historical fiction fans and Shakespeare enthusiasts alike.

Years have gone by since the events surrounding the death of Anne Boleyn. But her missing hand and all that it represents to the dark world of 16th-century Europe still draws the powerful to seek it out. Jean Rombaud - the French executioner of the first novel - has grown old, both in age and spirit. Wearied by the betrayal of a son and the scorn of a wife, he fights in the seemingly never-ending siege of Siena. Meanwhile, Gianni Rombaud has forsaken everything his ageing father stands for and now kills heathen for the Inquisition in Rome. Then he is summoned by Cardinal Carafa himself. His masters no longer merely want his dagger in the hearts of Jews, they want the hand of the dead queen... But only three people know where it is buried, and one of them is Gianni's father...

Book I of the Runestone Saga ends with a terrifying reversal. The grandfather who showed Sky how to use the power of the runes to travel back in time, revealed his secret plans—which turn out to involve murder and possession. Sky must now find a way to fight his powerful teacher—for his cousin's very soul.And so he travels to Corsica, home of his other forbearers, hoping to find some knowledge, some power. The blood feud of vendetta still runs hot in Sky's family, as does the supernatural power of the MazzeriÑthe Corsican dream hunters of death. Sky must again travel back through time, inhabiting the life of Tza, a fierce girl from the 1500s. As he sinks into Tza's mind, Sky wondersÑare all of his ancestors murderers?Vendetta is a heady, exciting blend of supernatural possibility and historical truth that will leave readers gasping for the final installment of the trilogy.

RUNE MAGIC, TIME travel, transformation: Sky’s grandfather opened up a world of limitless possibility . . . then asked the impossible. He asked Sky to kill a man.Sky and Kristin know they have to stop Sigurd. But how, when he can possess any person, any beast, at will? Once more, the answer is to be found back along the bloodlines. The secret of possession lies in Meg, an accused witch, and in Matthew, the Witchfinder determined to capture her. But the price for knowing what Sigurd knows is steep—to defeat their grandfather, will they have to become exactly like him? In this thrilling conclusion to the Runestone Saga, the final choice between everlasting life and the necessity of death will be made at one of the great turning points in history—a battle, quite literally, for all time. And the outcome rests precariously on one final cast of the runes. . . .From the Hardcover edition.

A world of immortals living among humans. Anyone may be immortal, but there is no way to know until you die. If you are one of the very lucky few, you will live an endless life of pleasure and power, considered to be a god. Only decapitation and the rapid separation of body and head for a few days can kill an immortal.In the southlands, a common soldier dies and is reborn, and is inducted into the world of the immortals. But the Empire has become decadent, and what he discovers there will shock him.In the dry lands of the west, one man has set himself up as the sun god. But there is a prophecy that he will be killed by his son - and so all of his male children are killed at birth. Until his most recent wife bears a child who is nether male nor female, and is determined to protect them from sacrifice.In the cold north, the immortal Luck - clever, tricksy, clubfooted - harbours suspicions that many of the immortals have been killed. When he intervenes in an attack on one of his fellows, he realises something new. Someone is hunting the Gods.For there is a fourth land. They know of the other three. And they are planning their attack.Our three heroes - damaged soldier, protective mother, clever cripple - must find a way to unite their different lands, and defend against this new enemy.

The Birth of Jack Absolute- Concerning the circumstances of his birth, including his mother's resistance to lechery, his father's solo cavalry charge on the battlefield of Dettingen, and sundry other matters -

July 30th 2018. It’s the hottest Summer in fifty years and Joseph Severin, a respectable North London businessman, has taken on a lucrative side job. He’s doing the books, old school, (because these days the only trail you can’t trace is a paper one) for a rogue MI5 outfit, the Shadows, headed by clever, psychopathic Sebastien. When the game is rumbled, he sends their hitman, Mr Phipps, to kill Severin and get those books back.For a simple man, Severin has a complicated life. He’s developed a sudden and wild passion for Lottie – aka ‘chaos on two legs’. Who is in love with Patrick, the next hot young black actor. Who is obsessed by Sonya, a gorgeous Russian escort. Who has one night to make the final money she needs for her daughter’s cancer operation. With MI6 onto them, and the books missing, the Shadows panic. And a day that begins with a hit in Finchley ends in violence and betrayal on the steamy night streets of Portobello.ONE LONDON DAY is a daisy chain tale of characters and connections, a contemporary London Noir. Like that genre’s 40’s origins, this story has its hood, its moll, its femme fatale, its fancy boy. Everyone is both protagonist and antagonist. No one gets out unharmed – and some don’t get out at all.

Introducing the unforgettable Jack Absolute... FREE PREVIEW! From acclaimed author C.C. Humphreys comes this thrilling excerpt from Jack Absolute, the first in "the finest series of historical novels since Patrick O'Brian" (Good Book Guide UK). This edition also features audio clips from the author. It's 1777 and London is starry-eyed over Captain Jack Absolute, the dashing, swashbuckling rogue in Richard Sheridan's comedy The Rivals. This news comes as a shock to the real Jack Absolute when he arrives in England after four months at sea. But there's little time for outrage before Jack finds himself dueling for his life. His only escape is one he most dreads: pressed into the King's service as a British spy in the American Revolutionary War. From the streets of London, to the pivotal battle of Saratoga, to a hunt for a double agent in Philadelphia, Jack Absolute marks the exhilarating beginning of an epic historical trilogy and a character you won't soon forget. This free ebook short includes: To the Reader Chapter One: An Affair of Honor Chapter Two: Theatre Royal Chapter Three: The Duel Chapter Four: Ghosts Chapter Five: Reunion "C.C. Humphreys takes you into a swashbuckling world you won't want to leave."-Kate Mosse, author of Labyrinth "An absolute delight! Swashbuckling, adventure, eighteenth-century wit, hugely entertaining plots and one of the most appealing military gentlemen ever to wear a sword."-Diana Gabaldon, author of the Outlander and Lord john Grey series "Who can resist a novel that opens with a duel and introduces a hero who deciphers coded messages, spots Masonic signals a mile off, speaks fluent Iroquois, slips into a loincloth in a trice, wins a fair lady, and faces hanging with flair?"-The Boston Sunday Globe "Suave, sexy, and superhuman, Jack could be an eighteenth-century prototype for James Bond. The author's affectionate, theatrical tale sets up his dashing hero and faithful sidekick for a long series. Much derring-do, told with panache."-Kirkus

Read the full tale of the highwayman Captain Coke, the thief-taker Pitman and the actress Sarah Chalker as they fight the evil Fifth Monarchists – fanatics, killers, fundamentalists – through two of the greatest cataclysms in England’s history: The Great Plague and Great Fire of London! It begins with PLAGUE… Winner of the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel from the Canadian Crime Writers Association. 1665. On a dark road outside London, a highwayman stumbles upon slaughter... As plague grips the city, can the uneasy alliance of a thief, a thief-taker and an actress catch a serial killer? 'A rich and addictive read, ideal for fans of historical fiction.' Publisher's Weekly ‘With Kings and cripples, rats and rotters, highwaymen and loose women, you’d never think a lethal virus could be so much fun.’ Sunday Sport UK 'Fast, exciting historical adventure, to be read in huge gulps. A runaway carriage of a book.' Conn Iggulden, author of War of the Roses 'It's a brilliant depiction of seventeenth century London in all its glory and grime against the grim backdrop of the eponymous plague. A great read all round, and for my money Chris is better than Sansom and more than deserves equal success.' Simon Scarrow, Author of Centurion. 'PLAGUE is one of those books where you turn the last page and wish there were more. The very best of history, mystery, romance and sheer fun. (Well, and a few rats...) London itself is as vivid a character as the actors, adventurers and intriguers who people its all-too-few pages.' Diana Gabaldon And continues through 1666 with FIRE… And the Devil has not had his due 666 is the number of the Beast, this the year foretold when Christ will return. To slay the Devil. To bring the New Jerusalem. A gang of fanatics – the Saints - choose to hasten that prophesied day. They will kidnap, rape, murder. Above all, they will kill a king. For in the renegade Captain Blood they have the perfect assassin. Two men - the highwayman William Coke and the thief-taker Pitman - are recruited to stop them. Both fall victim to the Saint’s foul plots. All seems lost… Yet in the early hours of September 2nd, 1666, something starts that will overtake them all – fanatics, princes, soldiers and fops, actresses and holy murderers. For the year of the Beast is three quarters done and the Devil has not yet had his due. London’s a tinder box. Politically, sexually, religiously. Literally. And it is about to burn. ‘…in amongst all the breathless adventure and dangerous acts. Humphreys offers up an absorbing and well-wrought blend of heroism and villainy in a story that is ultimately about the danger of unchecked fanaticism and the capacity of bravery to overcome. Plus — it’s a lot of fun.’ - Toronto Star For the Jack Absolute novels: 'C.C. Humphreys has created the finest series of historical novels since Patrick O’Brian.’ - The Good Book Guide UK

A page-turning story that moves between the modern world of a teenager and a dangerous world where mythical legends live.Two years have passed since Elayne returned from the magical world behind the unicorn tapestries in the Cloisters Museum of New York, and things finally seem to be settling down. But when reports start coming in on the news about an unusual two-headed snake that was caught in the city's sewers, Elayne knows that the world of Goloth is not quite ready to let her go yet. After her father disappears, Elayne suspects where she must go to find him. Returning to Goloth, Land of the Fabulous Beast, everything seems to have changed. The land is now torn by bloody civil war and poverty and plague, as well as a new threat off Goloth's shores that has been waiting eagerly for Elayne's arrival. The prospect of romance emerges from the most unexpected of places. Thrust into this world of danger and action--one in which a dragon holds terrifying power--Elayne must join forces with old enemies and journey far to find the great unicorn Moonspill if she is to have any thope of saving Goloth--and her father--from total destruction.

What should kids read now that Harry Potter is done? I’d suggest starting close to home with the novels of Vancouver writer Chris Humphreys’ The Runestone Saga.” – The Vancouver Sun – FETCH: The apparition, double, or wraith of a living person. In the attic, in an old sea chest, secreted away, are a mysterious journal and a set of runes: 24 stones that will change Sky’s life forever. When Sky and his cousin Kristin find their Norwegian grandfather’s runes, Sky feels like the wait is over, like he can now release the breath he wasn’t even aware he’d been holding. But when he lays out the stones in a runecast they find in Sigurd’s journal, he is catapulted into a world filled with more possibilities and more danger than he ever imagined. This first entry in the Runestone Saga is an utterly unique blend of horror, supernatural possibility, and historical truth that will leave readers wrung out from tension and clamoring for more. OPENING LINE: “Who’s there? he asked. Softly, but out loud he was sure. Almost sure.”

Planes, trains, and automobiles transport us with tales from CC Humphreys, Colin Thornton, plus Joseph Stilwell and Hugh Henderson, as well as poetry from David Clink and Ian Haight. There are bears, boars, and kind-eyed villains from Greg Brown, William Charles Brock, JM Landels, and Susan Pieters, while the reaper himself makes a visit in Mel Anastasiou’s next Stella novella. All that plus the winners of both the Raven and SiWC contests. Jump on board … the journey’s just beginning!

The Alice Network meets The Nightingale in this romantic and suspenseful novel about a female spy who must push herself to her very limits to save herself and everything she holds dear—from nationally bestselling author and master of historical fiction C.C. Humphreys.It’s 1939, and Stockholm is a sea of spies. Yet Eve Sinclair couldn’t care less. Nineteen years old, beautiful, born in Montreal into privilege and educated to do little more than make a good marriage, she appears to have succeeded when she weds handsome diplomat Richard Spence and follows him to Stockholm. But, like so much in this city, Eve will discover that her marriage is not what it seems. Raised to expect only one life, she soon finds herself thrust into another one entirely—dark, corrupt and very, very dangerous.If Eve is going to survive her newly perilous life in a world at war, she must learn certain skills—and swiftly. Discovering a core of steel buried deep within her, she will forge that steel into a career . . . as a spy. Her talents, and her need to fight evil, will take her from luxurious Sweden to the foulest tenements of Lisbon, onto the highlands of Scotland and finally to a bridge in Norway, a detonator and an inconceivable choice.The Double Life of Eve Sinclair is much more than a war story; it’s a tale of love, passion, grit and the resilience of the human spirit. And it’s the story of one woman who discovers she has more strength than she ever could have imagined.