Kirjahaku

Ian is an average New England kid destined to live an average life. That is until he and his girlfriend, Hanna, make a bizarre discovery while visiting Rotterdam. From that instant forward his life begins to move at warp speed. Fate continues to influence his future when the next day, in front of the Lutz Theater, he is approached by an elegant woman flanked with bodyguards and handlers. She swears he looks exactly like her dead son and nearly faints. Ian almost does too, when he learns she's his grandmother and he is the only heir to a massive fortune. It isn't long before he realizes this could be better than winning the lottery but ... there's got to be a catch.

While visiting Rotterdam Ian Blokker is drawn to a bronze statue standing in a city park and as he approaches his world is tossed upside down. The tarnished yet striking face looking down is the grandfather he never knew. Later that day fate strikes again as an elegant woman flanked with bodyguards and handlers approaches her limousine and sees him. Ian apparently looks exactly like her dead son and she nearly faints. He almost does too, when he learns she's his grandmother and he is the heir to massive wealth, power and a life of entitlement. In that moment his life changes forever.Not even a month later Ian is speeding across the Atlantic sitting beside his newly discovered grandmother aboard her lavishly appointed private jet. He thinks it's to meet his Dutch family but the crafty woman has something far more cunning in mind. Knowing her death is near she is in a race against time. Her final earthly objective is to carefully maneuver Ian and prepare him to assume command of her massive dynasty. The innocent boy from Rhode Island has no idea what lay ahead. His destiny now includes high intrigue, politics, cut-throat competition, and even murder. He must learn fast to survive. Will he?

Twenty-one years old Adriaan van der Meer lives on the rougher side of life

In 1940, Ulrich, made famous by the Nazi propaganda machine, and Bobby, an Iowa farm boy, face their fears on the contested ocean separating their homes - one in a U-boat, the other, on a merchant ship. When tragedy strikes, they give new meaning to the adage of keeping one's enemies close. As World War II rages across the planet, the two young men make eye contact when their vessels nearly collide in a mid-Atlantic storm. A year later, they are still haunted by the memory as Hurricane Vicki sweeps Bobby off his doomed ship and plucks Ulrich from the conning tower of his laboring U-boat. Both nearly drown, but miraculously find refuge on an abandoned lifeboat. Suspicion, fear, and anger drive them to kill, but they need each other to survive.For weeks they struggle to stay alive - trustless and defensive. As their situation becomes dire, the two begin to speak of their pasts and they discover they are related. No longer enemies - they're second cousins.

As he drifts into a restful sleep, John Smith is content, his life - in a word is perfect. He is healthy, financially secure, and a respected community elder; his trophy wife of thirty years still as beautiful as the day he'd met her and their son is the apple of his eye. As he sleeps, his Camelot begins to crumble. The phone beside his bed erupts, ring ... ring. Still groggy John lifts the phone to his ear. "This is the Providence Police Department, your son has been arrested ... child molestation." Convinced his son is innocent, John bets it all, his savings, assets and reputation. Then in a stunning and unforeseen twist in the trial, John's world is instantly destroyed. He's alone, broke and his reputation in shambles. He drowns himself in cheap vodka and buys a neglected old boat with the intention of dropping off the face of the earth. Still competent when sober, he repairs Bonnie Mae and makes his way down the Intracoastal Waterway moving from dismal marina to secluded river, coming into port only long enough to fuel and restock his vodka and food. This routine continues for years until he meets Sarah, the fuel girl, and she steals his heart and gives him a reason to live again.But there are no fairy tale endings, or are there?

A freak lightning storm destroys a rural high school and seven teenagers find themselves without a school. The children of a dying breed of agricultural families living north of San Francisco, their farms and ranches are now abutted against the sprawling suburbia. Until the fire destroyed their school, the seven teenagers were content in the world their families created - each hardworking, honest, confident and loyal. Now dubbed the 'Cursed Seven', they become a media show. Soon a powerful civil right law firm, complete with wax faced warriors in pinstriped suits, offers to represent them Pro Bono. A freshly minted lawyer, Dawn Thorton, is assigned to represent the 'Seven', and with more help than she knows, successfully places them at Sequoia, a bastion for the ultra-elite and entitled of Southern Marin. Trouble ensues from the first day and the 'Seven' quickly learn that to survive they must stay together. Their strategy works until prom night and their world is horribly shattered. Together, they must pick up the pieces.

Morally grounded and a man of strong character, Sean O'Bannon can't catch a break. In 1942 he and his childhood friend enlist in the army to fight Nazis. They deploy to Italy where Jack is killed by a dark-eyed sniper. Sean, inches from his friend's face, feels his final breath, a gasping cry for salvation, and the memories continue to haunt Sean ten years later. Following the war he returns to New England - now a loner he works the water harvesting lobsta. Just as his fortune seems to be improving a sudden storm kills Crow, his close friend. Again, Sean is close enough to see the life fade from his friend's eyes but powerless to save him. If that's not bad enough several months later he is nearly killed in a freak collision with a freighter during a heavy snow storm in the dead of winter. Convinced he's damned, Sean isolates himself and begins to drink excessively until he's saved by a friend and begins to rebuild his life. Will it be different this time?

Leviathan Ships, like hookers, frequently change names. On her maiden voyage, she was proudly called the New World Order but with each successive owner, it changed. Twenty years later the Amore Islander was tired, abused and ill maintained. A seafaring lady, whose beauty and grace had long since been stolen from her through years of unfulfilled promises. Her rotting hull suffered from the neglect and tortures of greedy, self-indulging owners and her crew of pirates, thieves and vagrants. The end is near. Death of a Liberian Seaman Ian van Waterlaan was born into an educated family of means and political influence. He was raised in the eclectic city of Amsterdam in a beautiful and historic house on the Herrengracht..Provided the best in education and opportunity, he had it all ... yet the unexplainable happens -- he slipped the grasp of the privileged elite and entered a life of darkness, mistrust, evil and self-abuse. He became a Liberian Seaman.

Readers, The Accidental Heir is the rework with minor modifications combining my first two books: Drawn to the Sea and Torn Between Destiny and Desire in an effort to satisfy my readers audience who asked for the story to be bundled into one book... While visiting Rotterdam Ian is drawn to a bronze statue standing in a city park and as he approaches his world is tossed upside down. Later that day fate strikes again as an elegant woman flanked with bodyguards and handlers approaches and he discovers he's the heir to a fortune -- his life changed forever. Now sitting beside his newly discovered grandmother aboard her lavishly private jet, he has no idea the crafty woman weaves a cunning plan and he is at its center. With little time left on this earth she must quickly maneuver and groom Ian to command the van der Waterlaan dynasty at any cost. The innocent boy from Rhode Island has no idea what's ahead. His destiny now includes high intrigue, politics, cut-throat competition, and even murder. Will he survive?

A loner with nothing but a battered up surfboard and a bike cobbled together from discarded parts, Longboard Mike lives a simple life of minimalism and loneliness. Living like a hermit on a secluded Hawaiian beach, his life revolves around surfing the distance reef where few others dare. Days became weeks, months and years and he convinces himself he is content.A chance meeting with a young surfer begins to profoundly change Longboard Mike's life. The surfer is agile, strong and he disappears unexpectedly from time to time. When he returns his troubled eyes hold secrets. A soldier, long ago forgotten, lives silently and unobserved in the Hawaiian forest. He moves with the stealth and invisibility of a predator. He entertains himself observing Longboard Mike and his nontraditional life. PFC Shigeo Matsumoto finds him curious as he watches from the dark shadows of the forest near Mike's hut.