Books with title Kings of the Mountains

It is mid-October, 1997, harvest time in the Columbia Basin of central Washington state, a rich apple- and pear-growing region. Ben Givens, recently widowed, is a retired heart surgeon, once admired for his steadiness of hand, his precision, his endurance. He has terminal colon cancer. While Ben does not readily accept defeat, he is determined to avoid suffering rather than engage it. And so, accompanied by his two hunting dogs, he sets out through the mythic American West-sage deserts, yawning canyons, dusty ranches, vast orchards-on his last hunt. The main issues for Ben as a doctor had been tactical and so it would be with his death. But he hadn't considered the persuasiveness of memory-the promise he made to his wife Rachel, the love of his life, during World War II. Or life's mystery. On his journey he meets a young couple who are "forever," a drifter offering left-handed advice that might lessen the pain, a veterinarian with a touch only a heart surgeon would recognize, a rancher bent on destruction, a migrant worker who tests Ben's ability to understand. And just when he thinks there is no turning back, nothing to lose that wasn't lost, his power of intervention is called upon and his very identity tested. Full of humanity, passion, and moral honesty, East of the Mountains is a bold and beautiful novel of personal discovery.

While the German botanist, Hermann Schultz, was lodging with a Greek family in Athens, he learned of a notorious Greek bandit so powerful that the government could not destroy his band and so cruel that he had decapitated two young girls he had been holding for ransom. Hadgi-Stavros, the King of the Mountains, was greatly feared, but he was also greatly admired by many of his countrymen. John Harris, an American who was Hermann’s fellow lodger, snorted in disgust as the landlord recited with admiration all the exploits of the bandit. Harris was so indignant he was unaware that when he spoke Photini, a young Greek girl who came to the house in order to learn foreign languages from the lodgers, looked at him with love in her eyes.

Life in the mountains as a ninja is not easy. When Sakuratoro, a legendary bandit feared by all, tries to wipe out all the ninjas from the face of the mountains, Kenimoto, a young man and son of the leader of the ninjas, must fight to save his and his friends' lives. Kenimoto learns what true courage and bravery is as he faces fear, enemies, and the constant threat of death.

THE ADVENTURE NEVER ENDS…Nearly a hundred years have passed…and the last of the children finally has what he has always dreamed of…his wings. His destination is ahead of him, but first, he has other places to visit, friendships to renew, and lessons that are far deeper than any he has learned – lessons that will change him in form and appearance in the place where things are not always as they appear.One-by-one, he meets those he loves, and you read of the things they have learned, as well. As he moves over the Forest at the End of the World and The Ocean at the Edge of Forever, he flies towards the place where he has dreamed of going, and he finally ascends upward to the top of the Mountain of the King.What is there to learn on this journey? The deepest, most profound lessons of all. His brother Dylan, his father and mother, his grandparents, his aunts and uncles, family members, and his beloved cousins John Luke and Delaney are there, and he meets them one-by-one.He will also meet Patience, Grace, Gloria, Gladly the bear, Harold, Arnold, Turtle and others from his first and second adventures, and the places he visits this time will add to his stature, as he grows as tall as the messengers. Michael, his First Mate in The Forest at the End of the World, takes him aboard the Fairwinds, and they fly over Mercy Falls. He will eventually see Michael in his true identity: General of the King’s legions of messengers. As the journey continues, you read of the lessons that were learned by Dylan, Delaney and John Luke when they came to the Kingdom, as their experiences prepared them to ascend The Mountain of the King. Jacob also encounters old friends, but now they are moving towards their final forms as he flies closer to the Mountain. What is the revelation that waits for him at the top of the mountain? The answer is the most profound and loving experience in all of eternity, for the Mountain’s top is where eternity truly begins.

Heart has to find a safe haven for her beloved unicorns. With Lord Dunraven looking for them -- and Heart's friends aware that helping her will bring Dunraven's anger -- she has nowhere to turn. If only she knew where her family was -- or who they were. In a mysterious bundle of paper in Dunraven's castle Heart finds a drawing that looks like the design on her baby blanket. The paper is covered with tiny symbols. If she can find out what they mean will they unlock the secrets of the dreams that have been haunting her?

Excerpt:It was a chilling experience, that first glimpse of New Zealand! Hour after hour the great ship held on her way up the Cook Straits amidst scenery that made me shudder and that scowled me out of countenance. Rugged, massive, inhospitable, and bare, how sternly those wild and mountainous landscapes contrasted with the quiet beauty that I had surveyed from the same decks as the ship had dropped down Channel! I shaded my eyes with my hands and swept the strange horizon at every point, but nowhere could I see a sign of habitation—no man; no beast; no sheltering roof; no winding road; no welcoming column of smoke! And when, in the twilight of that still autumn evening, I at length descended the gangway, and set foot for the first time on the land of my adoption, I found myself—twelve thousand miles from home—in a country in which not a soul knew me, and in which I knew no single soul. It was not an exhilarating sensation.

Herman Shultz is sent to Greece to collect samples for the London Botanical Society. Once there he learns about a group of thieves that work under The Mountain King, Hadgi Stavros. The Mountain King has quite a setup and is in league with the government officials and business owners. He will kidnap people (tourists especially) and hold them for ransom. He allows them to write letters to friends, family, whoever has the money and then he collects the ransom. If the ransom does not arrive, he kills the prisoners. Mr. Shultz is kidnapped and when Stavros finds out he is a man of Science- well he sets his ransom at an astronomical price. Shultz tries to escape and then the twist comes in.

Paddy McCrick wants to be the best young mountain-biker in the world but when he tries to break into a team of older teenagers he faces threats, injustice and rejection from his new team-mates. His family need his help too: his father, just released from prison, tries to avoid falling back into his old criminal ways while his mother is over-worked and at her wits' end. Only Paddy's burning desire to be the very best keeps him striving courageously towards his goal.