Books with author Michael J Forge

Lysander is a slave in ancient Sparta, a Helot, but a chance meeting reveals his noble heritage and he is permitted to begin training as a Spartan warrior. The vestiges of his life as a slave are hard to shake off and he struggles to survive the brutal and nepotistic life of a Spartan-in-training. Worse still, his precious amulet, the Fire of Ares, is stolen from him, and with it goes some of his formidable strength. His mother had made him swear he would guard the amulet with his life, without ever telling him why. Lysander is desperate to find the missing jewel, but when he picks up the trail, it leads him to dark secrets about the few people he felt he could trust, and forces him to make a choice between his Helot friends and his Spartan instincts.

A bully, who spends a lot of time alone, drawing, is visited one night by one of his drawings that comes to life. This "Vision" then makes him live a day in the life of the other kids he bullies until he learns the lesson of empathy. He then turns his life around and becomes friends with the kids as he helps them with certain problems in their life.

Lysander had to leave his roots as a Helot slave far behind him, when he discovered his true identity as the descendant of a Spartan warrior. The training is ruthless and now he faces his toughest challenge. Sent to the mountains with nothing but a goatskin flask, he and two other boys must prove their ability to survive before they can return. Facing starvation, wild animals and the elements, Lysander discovers that his real enemy is in fact one of the other boys, sent to sabotage his trial.From his vantage point in the mountains, Lysander can see another threat on the horizon - the Persians are invading. He must prove his worth as a Spartan and return to the village as soon as possible in order to warn of the attack. But who is Lysander fighting for - to save Spartan honour, or to protect the Helot slaves, whom he used to live among?

Life can be cruel for a servant girl in 1850s London. Fifteen-year-old Abi is a scullery maid in Greave Hall, an elegant but troubled household. The widowed master of the house is slowly slipping into madness, and the tyrannical housekeeper, Mrs.Cotton, punishes Abi without mercy. But there's something else going on in Greave Hall, too. An otherworldly presence is making itself known, and a deadly secret will reveal itself---a secret that will shatter everything Abi knows.

Abigail is a maidservant in Greave Hall, an elegant London household governed by the tyrannical housekeeper, Mrs Cotton. Whilst the widowed master slips slowly into madness, Mrs Cotton gradually usurps the position of gentlewoman of the house. She wears his dead wife's jewellery and clothes, entertains guests as though the house is her own and reserves her most despotic treatment for Abi. In the dead of night, Abi makes a desperate bid for freedom, but is soon captured and returned to Greave Hall. As Mrs Cotton's malice intensifies, a ghostly presence distracts Abi with clues to a deadly secret. And Abi now realises that she can trust no one in the house.

There are many words to describe Michael J. Fox: Actor. Husband. Father. Activist. But readers of Always Looking Up will soon add another to the list: Optimist. Michael writes about the hard-won perspective that helped him see challenges as opportunities. Instead of building walls around himself, he developed a personal policy of engagement and discovery: an emotional, psychological, intellectual, and spiritual outlook that has served him throughout his struggle with Parkinson's disease. Michael's exit from a very demanding, very public arena offered him the time-and the inspiration-to open up new doors leading to unexpected places. One door even led him to the center of his own family, the greatest destination of all. The last ten years, which is really the stuff of this book, began with such a loss: my retirement from Spin City. I found myself struggling with a strange new dynamic: the shifting of public and private personas. I had been Mike the actor, then Mike the actor with PD. Now was I just Mike with PD Parkinson's had consumed my career and, in a sense, had become my career. But where did all of this leave Me? I had to build a new life when I was already pretty happy with the old one.. Always Looking Up is a memoir of this last decade, told through the critical themes of Michael's life: work, politics, faith, and family. The book is a journey of self-discovery and reinvention, and a testament to the consolations that protect him from the ravages of Parkinson's. With the humor and wit that captivated fans of his first book, Lucky Man, Michael describes how he became a happier, more satisfied person by recognizing the gifts of everyday life.

Long distance prank calls, T.P. strung from the hotel ceiling, fire alarms pulled in the absence of fire. Sixteen-year-old Jonah Gray will do anything for attention. But when his work-obsessed dad ignores his most shocking prank yet, he turns his attention elsewhere. Girls. He meets Claire. Not only is she French and gorgeous, but she seems genuinely interested in him. The only problem: she wants Jonah dead.Kidnapped and dragged to Corsica, Jonah wakes to find himself imprisoned. But he isn’t alone. Locked in with him is Cassandra, a woman with no recollection of her past. Between piecing together the mystery of Cassandra’s former life and wrestling with a deadly attraction to Claire, he learns the truth. Claire is hunting a water witch who has plagued the Mediterranean for centuries. And Jonah is the bait.When a storm rolls in and cuts the power, the witch creeps ashore to seize the one she came for. Not Jonah. Cassandra. Now Jonah, who has never committed a selfless act, must confront a life-altering decision: save himself or descend into the witch's lair and sacrifice everything for a friend. But if he chooses the latter, he’ll discover just who Cassandra really is, and some secrets are better left unearthed.

Life can be cruel for a servant girl in 1850s London. Fifteen-year-old Abi is a scullery maid in Greave Hall, an elegant but troubled household. The widowed master of the house is slowly slipping into madness, and the tyrannical housekeeper, Mrs. Cotton, punishes Abi without mercy. But there's something else going on in Greave Hall, too. An otherworldly presence is making itself known, and a deadly secret will reveal itself--a secret that will shatter everything Abi knows.