Books with title Duel

Charlie and Victoria were high school sweethearts. When the last of Charlie’s family dies, he withdraws from her and everyone else except Henry Shebears, an old family friend. Kimberly came along, pulled Charlie out of his depression and helped him rebuild the family cattle ranch into a successful business. Then, Charlie lost Kimberly in a fire set by an arsonist. Local law enforcement could not solve the crime and when two potential witnesses were murdered, Charlie sought to find the arsonist himself. Could Victoria and her real estate developing father be responsible? They were one of several developers lusting after Charlie’s property. Charlie’s search for answers uncovers a huge scandal that ruins Victoria’s life, and now Victoria and Charlie both have reason to hate the other. The hatred leads to gunfire as they stalk each other up on the mountainside wilderness.

I was twelve years old when what I'm about to tell you took place. Today, sixteen years later, I still recall the pounding of my heart as I heard the approaching footsteps of the bully of Heidelberg University. Above me on the bed sat Heinrich Rosenthal, a little man, seventy years old, with a big white mane of hair, but under the bed I was very much alone, and I remember thinking in those moments of suspense, Mom's right, maybe I should go out and make friends my own age instead of always hanging around by myself or with weird people like Mr Rosenthal. So begins an intriguing tale of friendship between an extraordinarily beguiling boy and an old man with a past - a history that shapes the plot of "Duel" and cleverly unfurls in the way real stories do between friends. David and Mr Rosenthal are generations apart in age but equally brave, equally stubborn and each as unique for their years as the other.

David is a twelve-year-old boy living in Jerusalem in 1966. His best friend just happens to be seventy-year-old Heinrich Rosenthal, who lives at the Beit Hakerem Home for the Aged. Their friendship takes an unexpected turn when Mr. Rosenthal receives a threatening letter from the man he once knew as "the bully of Heidelberg University." The letter accuses Mr. Rosenthal of stealing a priceless painting and challenges him to a duel if it is not returned immediately. But Mr. Rosenthal didn't steal the painting. Who did? Determined to find some answers and prevent the duel, David plays detective and ultimately uncovers the story of two beautiful paintings, one of a woman's eyes and the other of her mouth, given by the artist to the two men who are now willing to kill one another over them. With some brilliant sleuthing and a bit of luck, David manages to pull together the strings of a story that began more than thirty years before, preventing a tragedy by bringing a long-dead memory to back to life.

Charlie and Victoria were high school sweethearts. When the last of Charlie’s family dies, he withdraws from her and everyone else except Henry Shebears, an old family friend. Kimberly came along, pulled Charlie out of his depression and helped him rebuild the family cattle ranch into a successful business. Then, Charlie lost Kimberly in a fire set by an arsonist. Local law enforcement could not solve the crime and when two potential witnesses were murdered, Charlie sought to find the arsonist himself. Could Victoria and her real estate developing father be responsible? They were one of several developers lusting after Charlie’s property. Charlie’s search for answers uncovers a huge scandal that ruins Victoria’s life, and now Victoria and Charlie both have reason to hate the other. The hatred leads to gunfire as they stalk each other up on the mountainside wilderness.

The Duel by Joseph Conrad is Conrad's brilliantly ironic tale about two officers in Napoleon's Grand Army who, under a futile pretext, fought an on-going series of duels throughout the Napoleonic Wars. Over decades, on every occasion they chanced to meet, they fought. Both satiric and deeply sad, this masterful tale treats both the futility of war and the absurdity of false honor, war's necessary accessory.