Books published by publisher eNet Press Inc.

We again find Captain Horatio Hornblower in this the 9th volume, chronologically, of the Hornblower Saga, off on a new adventure to the Baltic in 1812, when Napoleon's army marches into Russia. He comes through raids, assignations, a siege, an attempted assassination by a member of his crew , and typhus, seeking success but not notoriety, while his introspection sometimes overwhelms him. According to his biographer, Hornblower's swift actions using ungainly bomb-ketches, landed marines and his naval insight for strategy and tactics probably had major influences on the retreat of Napoleon from Russia. Another great read.

Today St. Luke is known as the author of the third Gospel of the New Testament, but nearly two thousand years ago he was Lucanus, a Greek, and a man of science. Taylor Caldwell portrays him as a man who loved, knew the emptiness of bereavement, and later traveled through the hills and wastes of Judea asking, "What manner of man was my Lord?" It is this Lucanus that Caldwell brings to life in her stirring novel. Lucanus grew up in the household of his stepfather, the Roman governor of Antioch. He studied medicine in Alexandria and became one of the greatest physicians of the ancient world, traveling far and wide through the Mediterranean region healing the sick. When Lucanus heard of the life and death of Jesus, he saw in Him the God he was seeking. To learn all he could about Jesus, whom he had never seen, Lucanus visited all the places where Jesus had been, questioning everyone who had known Him or heard Him preach, including His mother, Mary. When he had gathered all the information possible, he wrote what we now know as the Gospel according to St. Luke. Caldwell's own travels through the Holy Land and years of meticulous research make Dear and Glorious Physician a fully developed portrait of a complex and brilliant man and a colorful re-creation of ancient Roman life as it contrasted in its decadence with the new world that Christianity was bringing into being. Here is a story to warm, to inspire, and to call forth a renewal of faith and love.

The Barbary pirates came from the four North African countries of Morocco, Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli — known as the Barbary States. What began as Mohammedans making war on Christians, turned into centuries of raids on merchant vessels, and forced slavery. Only a year after America and England signed the peace of 1783, the American merchant brig, Betsey, was captured by a Moroccan warship. As a result, the United States Navy was born and the young country began its war on piracy in the Mediterranean. Joshua Humphreys came forward with the best designs for ships which were built to endure both battle and storm, full of power and speed. Ships such as the Constitution, the Intrepid, the United States, the Constellation, the Enterprise and many more were sent out to sea. C. S. Forester brings to life many young captains, including Morris, Preble, Decatur and Eaton who overcame many obstacles to help their country. Finally, after more than thirty years, and the efforts of all the civilized nations, peace and security was made permanent.

Thorne Smith’s hilarious and ribald comedy about boring and staid bank manager Cosmo Topper who decides to buy a flashy car only to discover it is haunted by its previous owners, George and Marion Kerby. George’s and Marion’s mischievous spirits (and a few other ghostly friends and an irresistible dog) make it their mission to lead the respectable Topper astray and give him a fresh outlook on life. Liquor flows, pranks are common, and although not always willing, George becomes a new man. He realizes life is what you make of it, and there are so many possibilities. Laugh out loud when Marion scares away the clientele and staff of a boutique or when George challenges Topper to a duel with clam shells. Thorne Smith’s ghosts, their wit and repartee, are bound to entertain. Topper is the perfect beach read.As captivating today as when it was first written in 1926, Topper set the standard for a host of other ghost stories and was made into a movie starring Cary Grant (1936) and adapted for a TV series (1953). A remake of the movie is scheduled starring comedian Steve Martin as Topper, but no production start date has been set. “[Thorne Smith] created the modern American ghost. A ghost with style and wit. A ghost that haunts us still.”--New York Times

Peter and Mary were old and forgotten. They lived in an equally old and forgotten house surrounded by sun-baked mud and old tin cans ― a house so unappealing that field mice avoided it and all who passed quickly lose their appetites. And that's saying something. No magic could ever happen there. Peter and Mary were sure of that. But in the brilliant and wondrous world created by renowned humorist, Thorne Smith, magic finally arrives. A large, nearsighted brown bear appears one evening and after sharing Peter's Catalogue Stew (“Just tear out some pages and toss in the pot!”), and listening to one of Peter's dreadful poems, Lazy Bear announces that he is a magic bear ― extraordinily-ily-ily-ily magic. By the end of the evening, Peter and Mary, wrinkled and bent, leave their shabby old house and begin their travels down a winding country lane where they come upon all the lovely things they thought they lost. The things they used to know. Peter and Mary quickly discover that they have grown down (the very opposite of growing up). They have grown down to the perfect ages of childhood when the marvels of a magical world can be embraced wholeheartedly ― old enough to eat anything they wanted and to be able to stay up past eight and to go on adventures and things, but not old enough to have jobs or be burdened by other tiresome adult responsibilities. Along with friends like Mr. Budge and his magic basket, a sad circus clown, a bareback rider in a pink fluffy skirt, and twin cowardly lions (as lazy as the bear),they head off to nowhere in particular and everywhere in general Dedicated to Thorne Smith's two daughters, Lazy Bear Lane is filled with gentle magic, poetry, and delightful repartee. Tender and understanding, charming and humorous, the story succeeds in transporting children and adults alike to a make believe land where anything can happen. For all readers seeking a children's classic long out of print and considered by some to be the holy grail of children's literature, look no further.

Thorne Smith has done it again. He has captured what appears to be the story of an ordinary married couple with everyday troubles, and has created an off-the-wall comedy with all sorts of twists and turns. After listening to Tim and Sally Willows bicker daily for years, an Egyptian idol decides to do something about it. He switches bodies on them! Suddenly, each one is forced to look at life from the other's point of view. 'Tim' has to learn how to do his hair, put on makeup, and elude the man who is after his wife. 'Sally' has to work at an advertising agency, and think and talk like a man. As if that is not enough, 'Sally' gets his wife pregnant! Liquor, tears and laughter flow freely in this hilarious tale.

The Stray Lamb is a hilarious string of adventures as poor, ordinary, faithful, Mr. Lamb, is somewhat unwillingly tossed from one mishap to another. He is given a new perspective on life through the eyes of many different animals as he assumes the shape of many including a stallion, goldfish, dog, lion and many others. Mr. Lamb gains wisdom, fresh insight, and a new much needed exuberance for life as he exchanges the mundane for the slightly insane.

Thorne Smith once again has our eyes fastened to the words as he blends satire, charm and imagination into his fascinating story.Mr. Quintus Bland, is he a man or a skeleton? After this well-known photographer attempts to perfect X-ray film, something went terribly awry. Each moment is an adventure as he transforms from flesh to bone and back again without warning. Amazement, unbelief, and terror fill the hearts of onlookers as Mr. Bland passes by in various stages of undress. “Gracious! There’s a naked man in this lift.” (ch 16)Even his wife who previously had lost all interest in him, begins to feel pity and even love as he loses all hope of normalcy. Be prepared to cringe at Quintus' agonizing doctor visit, laugh while the town mortician attempts to sell him a top of the line coffin, and panic while he races to escape the murderous gunmen out to get him.Will he escape unharmed, or end up a pile of bones?

Who hasn't waited for a ride in the pouring rain and wondered if there wasn't something more to life? This is exactly how we find poor Mr. Owen, hopeless and downtrodden, wet and miserable. Suddenly, he is swept in through a doorway to a place full of wild imaginations, where loneliness and unfulfilled dreams are a thing of the past. Along with Messrs. Larkin, Britt-Britt and Dinner, the once completely ignored and abused Mr. Owen is pursued by women, has a constant supply of liquor, and hops from one off the wall adventure to another. He may lose his inhibitions, but he finds something he was in desperate need of, love. Miss Honor Knightly is everything he never knew existed and then some! This is a heartwarming tale of dreams coming true.

The only light that Jeddy sees when he wakens on his board bunk in the one room cabin that he shares with his parents and sister is the dim glow from a single window. Life is simple and often hard for the Proudfoot family, but Jeddy loves the animals that live in hills and deserts that surround their land in Southern California and longs for one of his own. Not one of his father's hunting dogs, but a friend that he can raise and train, a friend that needs him.However, Jeddy's father makes a living for his family by killing varmints. He's a hunter by trade and shoots any animal that he sees with an instinct as strong as the hounds who chase it. Animals are meant to be killed ― that's the only view he knows. He is therefore bewildered by a son who is distressed by the savagery of the hunt and the suffering of the animals that he slaughters. Jeddy would prefer to live without harming anything and he sees his father as a hard and unyielding man ― strict and sometimes cruel. It is on a seal hunt with his father and a family friend that Jeddy stumbles upon a seal pup who has drifted away from his colony and is now alone, abandon and vulnerable. In an inexplicable instant, the pup and boy bond. At long last Jeddy has found the friend he's longed for, and, fighting fiercely against the wishes of his father, he brings the seal pup home. Although the story is alight with information about animals, the author's striking insight and warmly humorous observations as well as the excitement and action of a frightening wild boar hunt and a jaguar hunt in Mexico, it is also a story about a father and son, who through hardship and near-tragedy, are awakened to the value of the other's perspective. Drifter was a Newberry Medal nominee in 1974 ― an honor richly deserved.