INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
The hidden history of one of the world's greatest inventors, a man who disrupted the status quo and then disappeared into thin air on the eve of World War I—this book answers the hundred-year-old mystery of what really became of Rudolf Diesel.
September 29, 1913: the steamship Dresden is halfway between Belgium and England. On board is one of the most famous men in the world, Rudolf Diesel, whose new internal combustion engine is on the verge of revolutionizing global industry forever. But Diesel never arrives at his destination. He vanishes during the night and headlines around the world wonder if it was an accident, suicide, or murder.
After rising from an impoverished European childhood, Diesel had become a multi-millionaire with his powerful engine that does not require expensive petroleum-based fuel. In doing so, he became not only an international celebrity but also the enemy of two extremely powerful men: Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany and John D. Rockefeller, the founder of Standard Oil and the richest man in the world.
The Kaiser wanted the engine to power a fleet of submarines that would finally allow him to challenge Great Britain's Royal Navy. But Diesel had intended for his engine to be used for the betterment of mankind and refused to keep the technology out of the hands of the British or any other nation. For John D. Rockefeller, the engine was nothing less than an existential threat to his vast and lucrative oil empire. As electric lighting began to replace kerosene lamps, Rockefeller's bottom line depended on the world's growing thirst for gasoline to power its automobiles and industries.
At the outset of this new age of electricity and oil, Europe stood on the precipice of war. Rudolf Diesel grew increasingly concerned about Germany's rising nationalism and military spending. The inventor was on his way to London to establish a new company that would help Britain improve its failing submarine program when he disappeared.
Now, New York Times bestselling author Douglas Brunt reopens the case and provides an astonishing new conclusion about Diesel's fate. "Equal parts Walter Isaacson and Sherlock Holmes, The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel yanks back the curtain on the greatest caper of the 20th century in this riveting history" (Jay Winik, New York Times bestselling author).
A compelling, provocative audiobook about a father, his son, and the cost of early excellence in our achievement-obsessed society.
The third audiobook by New York Times bestselling author Douglas Brunt, Trophy Son tells the story of tennis prodigy Anton Stratis, from an isolated childhood of grueling practice under the eye of his obsessed father, to his dramatic rise through the intensely competitive world of professional tennis. Written with an insider knowledge of the tennis circuit, Trophy Son explores a young man striving to find balance in his life, navigating moral compromises, performance-enhancing drugs, and the elusive lure of wealth and celebrity. From Wimbledon and the U.S. Open to the off-court life of elite players, Anton finds exhilarating highs and desolate lows as he searches for an identity apart from his achievements.
Tom Pauley is a well-liked attorney in Durham, North Carolina, with all the right opinions but no political ambitions. He's the perfect vessel for the limping GOP in that state, who have their sights set on using Pauley to retake the Governor's mansion, and maybe one day, the presidency.
Mitchell Mason is the president-elect of the United States, a blue-blooded son of a senator who has finally surpassed his father's achievements, and done it without compromising his own morals. He runs the White House with a personal touch, desperate to set himself apart from his predecessor John Hammermill, and duplicate none of the missteps of the previous administration.
Samantha Davis is a lawyer-turned-reporter, once again working her way up from the bottom in a cutthroat industry. She's determined and brilliant, and her dogged pursuit of a decade-old story could tip off a huge political scandal.
During the fervor of a campaign, all three are on a collision course that leads to the White House.
And when the prize is the United States presidency, the ends justify . . . THE MEANS.
A wryly comic, first-person debut novel offering a withering view of life on Wall Street from the perspective of an unhappy insider who is too hooked on the money to find a way out, even as his career is ruining his marriage and corroding his soul.
It's 2005. Nick Farmer is a thirty-five-year-old bond trader with Bear Stearns clearing seven figures a year. The novelty of a work-related nightlife centering on liquor, hookers, and cocaine has long since worn thin, though Nick remains keenly addicted to his annual bonus. But the lifestyle is taking a toll on his marriage and on him.
When a nerdy analyst approaches him with apocalyptic prognostications of where Bear's high-flying mortgage-backed securities trading may lead, Nick is presented with the kind of ethical dilemma he's spent a lifetime avoiding. Throw in a hot financial journalist who seems to be more interested in him than in the percolating financial armageddon and the prospect that his own wife may have found a new romantic interest of her own, and you have the recipe for Nick's personal and professional implosion.
By turns hilarious and harrowing, Ghosts of Manhattan follows a winning but flawed character as he struggles to find the right path in a complicated urban heart of darkness.
