Bøger af Al McGregor

A chance encounter leads a young Canadian into the maelstrom of the American Civil War. As Northern armies weave a path of destruction across the south, an embattled Confederacy launches a campaign of terror and inserrection from the British colonies. The raids will drive the colonies toward their own Canadian Confederation. Beyond the battlefield lies the shadowy world of conspiracy where soldiers, spies and lovers ride the shifting tides of conflict; a black female recruiter for the Union army, a Confederate agent, an aging mercenary, politicans who fear for the future and ordinary people draw by a cause, money or swept along by the distemper of the times. Based on actual events, A Porous Border is a sweeping drama of the turbulent era that changed North America.

The telegraph brought the news. First, General Lee's surrender followed by the shock of the Lincoln assassination and the last gasps of rebellion. But even as the American guns fell silent new danger emerged and in the British colonies of Canada, the fear and apprehension remained. Was the massive Union army poised for a drive north? Did John Wilkes Booth plan his kidnap/murder plot while in Montreal? Would southern refugees produce more unrest in the provinces? And what of the drive for a new Canadian Confederation? To Build a Northern Nation continues the story begun in A Porous Border (also available through Amazon and Kindle) and traces events on both sides of the border. Owen Wilson, a Union army veteran drifts into the Irish Fenian movement; Sillery Fraser is a former slave with a dangerous secret; and Paul Forsey, a government clerk, can see the threats facing a new country. Canadian leaders must again wrestle with issues beyond their control while America struggles to rebuild a divided union. To Build a Northern Nation is inspired by actual events.

The year is 1917, and Canadian Robert McLaren, nephew of a wealthy munitions manufacturer, has come to Petrograd to sell shells to the Russian army-shells rejected by British munitions specialists as unreliable. At McLaren's side is Evers Chance, a man with connections in the import-export business, among other, more mysterious ties. Together the two attempt to negotiate a deal as Russia moves inexorably toward revolution. Back in Canada, McLaren's uncle, William Drummond, schemes to maximize profits from his munitions plant while hiding the company's record of producing poor-quality shells. An upcoming election could spell disaster for the businessman even as it ushers in a nationwide crisis. To the south, America seems determined to avoid the European conflict, until Germany offers an alliance to Mexico and forces President Woodrow Wilson's hand. As the United States scrambles to assemble a fighting force, the brutality of trench warfare continues in France, even as powerful new land cruisers-tanks-roll onto the battlefront. And while ordinary people just try to survive, nations consider what the planet will look like when the war ends-and how they can best position themselves in that new world.

In 1939, the Phoney War brought a reprieve, a chance to keep the storm at bay and a faint hope for a negotiated peace. It is a time of secrets and of threats. But, in only months, the Second World War became all too real. Loyalties at the national and personal level will face the ultimate test. An intelligence veteran deals with the enemy to save an agent and find a last chance for love. The staff of a small Canadian news agency witness the Fall of France, the Blitz in London and the danger of a North Atlantic convoy while struggling with what they can and can't report. A young woman copes with a war time disaster. German officers question the Nazi leadership. An American rejects neutrality and joins the British Commonwealth Air Training Program while his friend works with the isolationist, America First. Their stories weave across the years to bring an era to life. An Angry Sky is based on events in Canada, Britain, Europe and the United States in the anxious years between 1939 and 1942.

Conflict doesn't end with surrender. The evidence is in the Ruins.A Canadian Lieutenant Duff Stewart tries to avoid combat but finds himself on the front line as World War Two nears a deadly climax. Hope for a safe transfer is dashed as he is ordered on a covert operation and a hunt for hidden secrets.Karin Werner, a young German woman, refuses to believe the war is lost until witnessing the brutal reality of the last days of the Third Reich and the Occupation of Berlin. In a city of ruins, she must face her own past and the crimes of her government. She will become one of the millions of refugees flooding Europe. Stewart and Werner meet when she is arrested in the aftermath of the Allied Summit at Potsdam. Both may unwittingly have connections to atomic research. But when the bomb is used against Japan and the war ends the concerns of geo-politics give way to personal survival. As the world settles into an uneasy peace the couple confront new dangers including a thriving black market, an allegation of war crimes and a brush with unrepentant Nazis.The mysterious defection of a Russian agent in Ottawa prompts a spy scare, destroys Allied solidarity and complicates Stewart's attempt to bring Werner to a safe haven. As the Iron Curtain descends in Europe, they evade immigration regulations and make their way to Canada. Help and advice come from Evers and Maria Chance, a couple with an extensive background in military and political intelligence.Salvaged from the Ruins is set against the events of 1945 in Europe, Canada and the United States.