Books with author Michael Cadnum

A young warrior sets out to rescue a Viking princess On the frosty coast of Scandinavia, the greatest warriors are the berserkers—men chosen by the god Odin to perform superhuman feats of strength, obliterating their enemies with the frenzied passion of a wild bear. More than anything, Gauk wishes to join their ranks. On a hunting trip in the blighted North, his best friend is slain by a bear, and Gauk is forced to kill the great animal. As he dons the pelt of his victim, Gauk fills with Odin’s spirit, and knows that he is on his way to becoming a legend. When the most beautiful princess in a Norwegian village is kidnapped by a pack of bloodthirsty Danes, Gauk knows it is his destiny to rescue her—and neither ice nor ocean nor an enemy’s steel blade can keep a Viking from his destiny.

Sailing from California to Hawaii, Susannah, her family, and a crewman are driven by a vicious storm into the path of a drifting powerboat. The ghostly boat carries the bodies of two drug runners and a huge stash of money. For the sailors, stealing the sordid treasure changes everything, causing dissent and division, compromising each of them, and putting their futures at risk. Because now they are being pursued by the worst enemies imaginable, including a drug lord's son eager to prove himself and a cold-blooded teenage hit man with murder on his mind.

An Edgar Award Finalist: A troubled teen accidentally kills his best friend and tries to cover up his crime When the muggers come for Peter, he runs as fast as he can, cradling the 6 pack under his arm like it’s the most valuable thing in the world. He looks over his shoulder for his friend Mead and sees he isn’t running away. He’s dancing with the muggers, dodging their attacks until all the thugs can do is laugh. Mead has a spark of life in him that shines through the ugliness of the 2 boys’ lives. But Peter envies him, and each night, he numbs the pain with alcohol. It’s a hard life, and it’s about to get worse. When Mead smashes Peter’s prized bottle of cognac, Peter punches his friend in the face. Mead falls, hits his head, and dies. Unable to live with himself, Peter sinks deeper and deeper into an alcoholic haze as he tries to hide what he’s done—by impersonating the boy he killed.

In a stunning retelling based on actual events, Ship of Fire depicts Sir Francis Drake's most famous act of daring, the raid on the Spanish port of Cadiz. When Thomas Spyre, a seventeen-year-old surgeon's apprentice is offered the chance to sail on the Elizabeth Bonaventure, Sir Francis Drake's flagship, he never dreams that his master's death in a freak accident will leave him as the ship's only doctor. Thomas is determined to prove himself as a surgeon, but now he must also face battle, when Drake himself enlists him in combat.

A make-believe shoplifter is shocked to find herself actually stealing Anna loves everything about department stores: the smell, the clothes, the crowds. But her favorite things to watch are the detectives. She can spot a store detective a mile away, whether dressed as a tourist or pretending to be a cashier, and she knows just how to fool them: She lingers over an expensive sweater until she catches the detective’s eye. When she leaves the store, they stop her, expecting to find the sweater hidden in her purse. But she’s fooled them. Anna pretends to be a shoplifter, but she has never stolen anything at all. Until the day the scarf appears out of nowhere. She doesn’t remember stealing it, and yet, there it is. As more and more stolen objects begin to appear, Anna worries that her little game is about to push her over the brink.

When two teenage brothers bungle a bank robbery, their attempt to hide the evidence is witnessed—aurally—by Terrence, a legally blind neighbor. Terrence tells his girlfriend, Nina, and her brother, who then disappears with a handgun. Nina is afraid of what he might do to the brothers. But she also has every reason to fear what the brothers will do to Terrence. Flash ingeniously interweaves the stories of two who are hellbent on a destructive path, two who stand in their way, and one whose actions may be the spark to set the whole thing off.

Driven by something she cannot understand, a teenager tells a dangerous lie In the last 16 days, 7 women have been assaulted by the South Bay rapist, and the students of UC Berkeley walk to class in fear. To the campus, he’s a terror. To Jennifer, he’s an opportunity. An overindulged high school student who feels unable to escape her older sister’s shadow, Jennifer is desperate for attention—no matter how she gets it. To steal the spotlight from her sister, she’s about to do something unspeakable. Jennifer goes running in the canyon after dark. She throws herself through a bramble patch and staggers to the campus police, covered in scratches and blood. She was attacked by the South Bay rapist, she claims. She barely got away. When her lie spirals out of control, however, Jennifer realizes the spotlight is hotter than she can handle.

Ragged and exhausted from fighting in the Crusades, Hubert, a knight's squire, and his fellow crusaders board a ship bound for England. But the return home is neither quick nor easy. Hubert must use his sword against ships full of attacking infidels, and he is nearly slain at the hand of a vengeful knight. A shipwreck strands them in Rome, where the beautiful and brave Lady Galena nearly tempts him to stay. Instead, loyalty to his master prevails and they finally reach their beloved land-only to find that one of their group faces execution when he steps ashore. If Hubert is to save his friend's life, he must first save his own.

A teenage boy searches for revenge on the streets of Oakland The battle is nearly over. The outsiders—who came to Oakland looking for excitement—are about to get back on the highway and go home. But they hurt 1 of Zach’s friends, and he can’t let that stand. He hurls a chunk of concrete at their car, starting a fight that turns into a riot. The police flood the streets with teargas, and Zach gets lost in the chaos. In the melee, he finds something someone left behind—something that will poison his life. It’s a .38 pistol, and once he picks it up, he can’t let it go. Zach hates violence, but since he quit high school, he feels its power creeping into his life every day. When his father is shot during a robbery, Zach’s newly found pistol gives him the power to take revenge—if his heart will let him pull the trigger.