Best of
Thriller

2005

The Millennium Trilogy (Millennium Trilogy, #1-3)


Stieg Larsson - 2005
    All these years later, her aged uncle continues to try to discover what happened to her. He hires Mikael Blomkvist, a journalist recently sidelined by a libel conviction, to investigate. Blomkvist is aided by the pierced and tattooed computer prodigy Lisbeth Salander. Together they tap into a vein of unfathomable iniquity and astonishing corruption on their way to discovering the truth of Harriet Vanger’s fate. The Girl Who Played with Fire Mikael Blomkvist, now the crusading publisher of the magazine Millennium, has decided to run a story that will expose an extensive sex trafficking operation. On the eve of its publication, the two reporters responsible for the article are murdered, and the fingerprints found on the murder weapon belong to his friend Lisbeth Salander. Blomkvist, convinced of Salander’s innocence, plunges into an investigation of the murders. Meanwhile, Salander herself is drawn into a murderous game of cat and mouse, which forces her to face her dark past. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest Lisbeth Salander lies in critical condition, a bullet wound to her head, in the intensive care unit of a Swedish city hospital. She’s fighting for her life in more ways than one: if and when she recovers, she’ll be taken back to Stockholm to stand trial for three murders. With the help of Mikael Blomkvist, she will not only have to prove her innocence, but also identify and denounce those in authority who have allowed the vulnerable, like herself, to suffer abuse and violence. On her own, she will plot revenge—against the man who tried to kill her, and against the corrupt government institutions that very nearly destroyed her life.

The Power of the Dog


Don Winslow - 2005
    This novel of the drug trade takes you deep inside a world riddled with corruption, betrayal, and bloody revenge. Art Montana is an obsessive DEA agent. The Barrera brothers are heirs to a drug empire. Nora Hayden is a jaded teenager who becomes a high-class hooker. Father Parada is a powerful and incorruptible Catholic priest. Callan is an Irish kid from Hell’s Kitchen who grows up to be a merciless hitman. And they are all trapped in the world of the Mexican drug Federaci. From the streets of New York City to Mexico City and Tijuana to the jungles of Central America, this is the war on drugs like you’ve never seen it.

The Dying Hour


Rick Mofina - 2005
    At The Seattle Mirror, he is competing for the single full-time job being offered through the paper's intense intern program. But unlike the program's other young reporters, who attended big name schools and worked at other big metro dailies, Wade put himself through community college, and lacked the same experience. Wade struggles with his haunting past as he pursues the story of Karen Harding, a college student whose car was found abandoned on a lonely stretch of highway in the Pacific Northwest. How could this beloved young woman with the altruistic nature simply vanish? Wade battles mounting odds and cut-throat competition to unearth the truth behind Karen Harding's disturbing case. Her disappearance is a story he cannot give up, never realizing the toll it could exact from him. The Dying Hour is a bone-chilling, mesmerizing page-turner that introduces readers to an all-too-human young hero who journeys into the darkest regions of the human heart to confront a nightmare. The International Thriller Writers (ITW), selected The Dying Hour as a finalist for a Thriller Award for Best Paperback Original, 2006. Rick Mofina is a former journalist who has interviewed murderers on death row, flown over L.A. with the LAPD and patrolled with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police near the Arctic. He's also reported from the Caribbean, Africa and Kuwait's border with Iraq. His books have been published in nearly 30 countries, including an illegal translation produced in Iran. His work has been praised by James Patterson, Dean Koontz, Michael Connelly, Lee Child, Tess Gerritsen, Jeffery Deaver, Sandra Brown, James Rollins, Brad Thor, Nick Stone, David Morrell, Allison Brennan, Heather Graham, Linwood Barclay, Peter Robinson, Håkan Nesser and Kay Hooper. The Crime Writers of Canada, The International Thriller Writers and The Private Eye Writers of America have listed his titles among the best in crime fiction. As a two-time winner of Canada's Arthur Ellis Award, a three-time Thriller Award finalist and a two-time Shamus Award finalist, the Library Journal calls him, “One of the best thriller writers in the business."

The Lincoln Lawyer


Michael Connelly - 2005
    But what he should have been on the watch for was evil.Haller is a Lincoln Lawyer, a criminal defense attorney who operates out of the back seat of his Lincoln Town Car, traveling between the far-flung courthouses of Los Angeles to defend clients of every kind. Bikers, con artists, drunk drivers, drug dealers — they’re all on Mickey Haller’s client list. For him, the law is rarely about guilt or innocence — it’s about negotiation and manipulation. Sometimes it’s even about justice.A Beverly Hills playboy arrested for attacking a woman he picked up in a bar chooses Haller to defend him, and Mickey has his first high-paying client in years. It is a defense attorney’s dream, what they call a franchise case. And as the evidence stacks up, Haller comes to believe this may be the easiest case of his career.Then someone close to him is murdered and Haller discovers that his search for innocence has brought him face-to-face with evil as pure as a flame. To escape without being burned, he must deploy every tactic, feint, and instinct in his arsenal — this time to save his own life.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo


Stieg Larsson - 2005
    All these years later, her aged uncle continues to seek the truth. He hires Mikael Blomkvist, a crusading journalist recently trapped by a libel conviction, to investigate. He is aided by the pierced and tattooed punk prodigy Lisbeth Salander. Together they tap into a vein of unfathomable iniquity and astonishing corruption.An international publishing sensation, Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo combines murder mystery, family saga, love story, and financial intrigue into one satisfyingly complex and entertainingly atmospheric novel.

Solomon vs. Lord


Paul Levine - 2005
    Steve Solomon makes up his own. They'll either end up in ruin, in jail or in bed. Steve barely graduated from Key West School of Law. Victoria is fresh from Yale, toiling for an ambitious DA, before Steve gets her fired. Katrina Barksdale is a sexy former figure skater charged with killing her very wealthy, very kinky husband in Miami.

The Take


Martina Cole - 2005
    He's done his time, made the right connections, and now he's ready to use them. His wife Jackie just wants her husband home, but she's forgotten the rows, the violence, and the girls Freddie can't leave alone. Bitter, resentful, and increasingly unstable, Jackie watches her life crumble while her little sister Maggie's star rises. In love with Freddie's cousin Jimmy, Maggie is determined not to end up like her sister.Families should stick together, but behind closed doors, jealousy and betrayal can fester until everyone's life is infected. And for the Jacksons, loyalty cannot win out. Because in their world you can trust no one. In their world everyone is on the take.

All Fun and Games Until Somebody Loses an Eye


Christopher Brookmyre - 2005
    Then her son Ross, a researcher working for an arms manufacturer in Switzerland, is forced to disappear before some characters cut from the same cloth as Blofeld persuade him to part with the secrets of his research. But they are not the only ones desperate to locate him. Bett, his staff have little in common apart from total professionalism and a thorough disregard for the law. Bett believes the key to Ross's whereabouts is his mother, and in one respect he is right, but even he is taken aback by the verve underlying her determination to secure her son's safety as she learns the black arts of quiet subterfuge and violent attack. The teenage dreams of fast cars, high-tech firepower and extreme action had always promised to be fun and games, but in real life it's likely someone is going to lose an eye ... Visit the author's website at www brookmyre.co.uk

The Beginning


Catherine Coulter - 2005
    "Catherine Coulter can always be counted on to write an exciting thriller" (BookBrowser), and now here are the first two thrillers in the FBI series - The Cove and The Maze - in one volume for the first time ever.The Cove - In this "fast-paced" (Publishers Weekly) page-turner, the daughter of a murdered high-powered lawyer seeks sanctuary in a quaint little town, only to learnthat she can't escape her past or the FBI agent hunting her.The Maze - "full of twists and turns" (Rocky Mountain News), this cliffhanger teams Savich and Sherlock for the first time in a case that leads them back to the murder of Sherlock's sister seven years ago - and puts both their lives on the line."Coulter is a one-of-a-kind author who knows how to hook her readers and keep them coming back for more." - The Best Reviews

No Country for Old Men


Cormac McCarthy - 2005
    The time is our own, when rustlers have given way to drug-runners and small towns have become free-fire zones. One day, Llewellyn Moss finds a pickup truck surrounded by a bodyguard of dead men. A load of heroin and two million dollars in cash are still in the back. When Moss takes the money, he sets off a chain reaction of catastrophic violence that not even the law–in the person of aging, disillusioned Sheriff Bell–can contain.As Moss tries to evade his pursuers–in particular a mysterious mastermind who flips coins for human lives–McCarthy simultaneously strips down the American crime novel and broadens its concerns to encompass themes as ancient as the Bible and as bloodily contemporary as this morning’s headlines. No Country for Old Men is a triumph.

Blood Memory


Greg Iles - 2005
    Praying the attack is a one-time event, she continues working, but when the same killer strikes again - raising fears that a serial killer is at large - Cat blacks out over the victim's mutilated corpse. Suspended from the FBI task force, Cat returns to her hometown of Natchez, Mississippi, to regroup.Though her colleagues know her as a world-class forensic odontologist, Cat lives a secret life. Plagued by nightmares, and deeply involved with a married homicide detective, Cat holds herself together with iron nerves and alcohol, using her work as a substitute for life.But her family's secluded antebellum estate provides no sanctuary. When some of Cat's forensic chemicals are spilled in her childhood bedroom, two bloody footprints are revealed. This discovery sets in motion a quest to piece together Cat's past - buried memories that could tie her father's murder to the grisly deaths occurring in New Orleans in the present. For only by finding this remorseless killer can Cat save her sanity - and her life.

The Game


Mandasue Heller - 2005
    Her new friend Lynne is older, more sophisticated. She has a taste for cocaine and isn't above walking the streets for extra cash to pay for it.Mary sticks to a straighter path, until the night Lynne brings Ali and Raiz back to their flat. The women don't know that their sexy new friends are small-time criminals, desperate for alibis for a drug-dealer's murder.All too soon, Mary is in more trouble than she can handle. Can her old friend Jane's risky scheme save Mary? Or has her fate been sealed by falling for the wrong man? 'A cracking read that will chill you to the bone' Sun on Two-Faced'Mandasue has played a real blinder with this fantastic novel' Martina Cole on Forget-Me-Not

Fear Has a Name


Creston Mapes - 2005
    More than a stalking. It was personal. When a stranger targets his wife and two daughters, journalist Jack Crittendon must uncover who the person is and what his motives are — if he's to protect the ones he loves. The investigation leads Jack into a world of behind-closed-door secrets and into a news story about a missing pastor whose apparent suicide is more than it appears. Each move Jack makes weaves him tighter and tighter into a web of lies, greed, hypocrisy, and danger. Holding onto his faith and keeping his family safe might require Jack to cross lines he never fathomed crossing. With tension on every page, Amazon #1 Best-Selling author Creston Mapes demonstrates why he is a "Top Pick" among mystery, fiction and thriller lovers. Praise for FEAR HAS A NAME “It takes a lot for a suspense novel to impress me, but this one definitely did. Anyone who likes my books will love Fear Has a Name. The plot is skillfully woven, and the story has a spiritual depth that will resonate with readers. Creston Mapes is an author to watch in the suspense genre.” Terri Blackstock, author of Intervention, Vicious Cycle, and Predator “Fear Has a Name is an exceptional treat, a story of unrelenting tension that dares to stare evil in the face. Mapes has a gift. He reveals wickedness and vice yet sprinkles it with something rare that kept me riveted: the hope of redemption.” Harry Kraus, MD, best-selling author of The Six-Liter Club “Creston Mapes is one of my favorite authors. Fear Has a Name mesmerized me from the first page. Multiple plot twists and terrific characters kept me glued to the page. I loved it and highly recommend it!” Colleen Coble, author of the Rock Harbor series and the Lonestar series “Captivating from breathless start to throat-clenching finish, Fear Has a Name possesses everything a great thriller should, and more. A must-read for fans of Terri Blackstock and Brandilyn Collins.” Tamera Alexander, USA Today bestselling author of To Whisper Her Name and A Lasting Impression

Seven Deadly Wonders


Matthew Reilly - 2005
    . . A TEAM OF HEROES . . . THE ADVENTURE OF A LIFETIMEA legend of the ancient world decrees that every 4,500 years, a terrible solar event will wreak worldwide destruction . . . But whoever sets the Golden Capstone atop the Great Pyramid at Giza will avert disaster and gain the ultimate prize: a millennium of world dominance.Now the Sun is turning once again and nation will battle nation to retrieve the missing Capstone . . . But a group of small nations, led by super-soldier Jack West Jr., bands together to prevent any one country from attaining this frightening power. Thus the greatest treasure hunt of all time begins -- an adrenaline fueled race on a global battlefield.From the Colossus of Rhodes to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon to the Great Egyptian Pyramid itself, unlock the thrills of Seven Deadly Wonders.

The Color of Law


Mark Gimenez - 2005
    Former college football star Scott Fenney has worked his way to the top of the heap at the Dallas firm of Ford Stevens. But when Clark McCall, wayward son of a Texas politician, gets himself murdered after a night of booze, drugs, and rough sex, Scott is assigned to defend the prime suspect, a heroin-addicted hooker named Shawanda Jones. The powers that be want her convicted—and Scott’s future at the firm may depend on it. But unfortunately for Scott, Shwanada claims she’s innocent, and he believes her.

Cold Granite


Stuart MacBride - 2005
    Winter in Aberdeen: murder, mayhem and terrible weather! It's DS Logan McRae's first day back on the job after a year off on the sick, and it couldn't get much worse. Four-year-old David Reid's body is discovered in a ditch, strangled, mutilated and a long time dead. And he's only the first. There's a serial killer stalking the Granite City and the local media are baying for blood. Soon the dead are piling up in the morgue almost as fast as the snow on the streets, and Logan knows time is running out. More children are going missing. More are going to die. And if Logan isn't careful, he could end up joining them!

The Camel Club


David Baldacci - 2005
    Led by a mysterious man known as "Oliver Stone," they study conspiracy theories, current events, and the machinations of government to attempt to discover the "truth" behind the country's actions.Their efforts bear little fruit --- until the group witnesses a shocking murder, and becomes embroiled in an astounding, far-reaching conspiracy. Now the Club must join forces with a Secret Service agent to confront one of the most chilling spectacles ever to take place on American soil --- an event that may trigger the ultimate war between two different worlds. All that stands in the way of this apocalypse is five unexpected heroes.Librarian's note: this is one of five volumes in the author's Camel Club series.

Dead Simple


Peter James - 2005
    While out celebrating with a group of friends a few nights before the wedding, Michael suddenly and unexpectedly finds himself enclosed in a coffin equipped only with a flashlight, a dirty magazine, a walkie-talkie, and a tiny breathing tube. It's all in good fun — payback for the grief his mates suffered due to his own penchant for tomfoolery — that is until the four are killed in a drunk driving accident just moments after leaving Michael completely alone and buried alive.Detective Superintendent Grace—himself dealing with the pain of losing his wife—is brought on to the case when Ashley reports Michael missing. Suspicions are raised when Michael's only friend not at the bachelor party refuses to cooperate, and Ashley's faithfulness—not to mention her increasingly mysterious past—are suddenly thrown in to question. As Superintendent Grace soon discovers, one man's disaster is another man's fortune.

The Prey


Allison Brennan - 2005
    Then a killer made it real.Rowan Smith is living in a borrowed Malibu beach house while her bestselling novel is made into a Hollywood movie. A former FBI agent with a haunted past, Rowan thinks she has outrun her demons. But fiction and reality collide when a dismembered body is found in Colorado: the real-life victim had the same name, occupation, and looks as a character in Rowan’s novel. By the time the FBI, the LAPD, and her own private bodyguard gather around her, another person is killed–again, the murder ripped from the pages of Rowan’s book.In the company of a former Delta Force officer with secrets of his own, Rowan faces an excruciating dilemma: the only way to chase down the tormenting killer is by revisiting the darkness of her past–and by praying for some way out again.After the prey is chosen, the hunt is on and the kill is certain.From the author's website:Each book stands alone. The story is complete (no continuing mystery) and there is a separate hero, heroine and villain. However, I do have recurring characters throughout my books, so someone may be introduced as a minor or major secondary character in one book, then come back as the hero or a secondary character in another book.THE PREY (12/27/05)Setting: Malibu, CaliforniaHero: John Flynn, former Delta Force turned mercenary/DEA drug informantHeroine: Rowan Smith, former FBI agent turned crime fiction writer

On the Run


Iris Johansen - 2005
    Watching Frankie grow into a talented and confident young girl has made Grace as happy as any mother could hope to be. Happy enough, even, to forget the past. But the past never quite goes away. Which is why a certain charismatic man also moved to Tallanville eight years ago to watch over her. But when violence threatens to shatter Grace and Frankie's idyllic home, the waiting is over. The ghosts of the past have returned. And they're hungry for blood. Now Grace must resume an identity she thought she had cast off forever, and match wits with an opponent as deadly as he is cunning. The prize: an extraordinary secret that only she can unfold. The forfeit: losing the thing more precious to her than life itself.From the Hardcover edition.

Prodigal Son


Dean Koontz - 2005
    But none as terrible as this. His name is Deucalion, a tattooed man of mysterious origin, a sleight-of-reality artist who’s traveled the centuries with a secret worse than death. He arrives as a serial killer stalks the streets, a killer who carefully selects his victims for the humanity that is missing in himself. Detective Carson O’Connor is cool, cynical, and every bit as tough as she looks. Her partner Michael Maddison would back her up all the way to Hell itself–and that just may be where this case ends up. For the no-nonsense O’Connor is suddenly talking about an ages-old conspiracy, a near immortal race of beings, and killers that are more—and less—than human. Soon it will be clear that as crazy as she sounds, the truth is even more ominous. For their quarry isn’t merely a homicidal maniac—but his deranged maker.

Pressure


Jeff Strand - 2005
    A pocketknife owned by somebody he hadn't seen in years …CHILDRENThey met first in boarding school at age twelve. Alex Fletcher, shy and scared. Darren Rust, always furiously scribbling away in a private journal. It was not an immediate friendship, but then one night Darren convinced his roommate to sneak off school grounds to see something glorious. There was a sleazy strip club, you see, and every once in a while the back door opened just long enough to maybe catch a quick glimpse …Though a bond was formed from their pre-pubescent interest in naked women, Darren had another interest. A morbid curiosity about death. A curiosity that turned into something much more sinister.FRIENDSThey crossed paths again in college and became the best of friends. But Darren wasn't just looking for a friend. He had dark, ghastly urges squirming around in his head, and he believed he saw the same things—the urge to hurt, the urge to kill—in Alex. He was looking for somebody who understood. A partner. But Alex could never become a monster. Not even when Darren tried to bring out his friend's most deeply buried feelings of rage. Not even when Darren tried to show him the euphoria of having that much power over another human being. It just couldn't happen … right?ENEMIESNow Alex has a wife and a daughter. And Darren is back. He's hiding. He's patient. His mind is twisted in the worst possible way.And he's seeking a soul mate.PRESSURE is a defining moment in Jeff Strand's career as an author, and an unforgettable psychological thriller you do not want to miss.

Fade


Kyle Mills - 2005
    "Fade") had been one of the deadliest weapons in America's arsenal—until a mission gone wrong put a bullet in his back, requiring risky surgery the government refused to pay for.Embittered by a wound that could one day immobilize him, Fade isn't exactly cooperative when Homeland Security insists on putting him back on the payroll. But they're not taking "no" for an answer—and what is meant to be a foolproof deception turns into an explosive bloodbath.It falls to an estranged friend of Fade's named Matt Egan to clean up the mess made by his superiors. But it isn't going to be easy—because Fade is gunning for the men who set him up. And Matt is at the top of the list...

The Rosary Girls


Richard Montanari - 2005
    Now Montanari has written an astounding novel that pits two besieged detectives against a fiercely intelligent serial killer.Sprawling beneath the statue of William Penn, Philadelphia is a city of downtrodden crack houses and upscale brownstones. Somewhere in this concrete crazy quilt, one teenage Catholic girl is writing in her diary, another is pouring her heart out to a friend, and yet another is praying. And somewhere in this city is a man who wants these young women to make his macabre fantasy become reality. In a passion play of his own, he will take the girls–and a whole city–over the edge.Kevin Byrne is a veteran cop who already knows that edge: He’s been living on it far too long. His marriage failing, his former partner wasting away in a hospital, and his heart lost to mad fury, Byrne loves to take risks and is breaking every rule in the book. And now he has been given a rookie partner. Jessica Balzano, the daughter of a famous Philly cop, doesn’t want Byrne’s help. But they will need each other desperately, since they’ve just caught the case of a lifetime: Someone is killing devout young women, bolting their hands together in prayer, and committing an abomination upon their otherwise perfect bodies.Byrne and Balzano spearhead the hunt for the serial killer, who leads them on a methodically planned journey. Suspects appear before them like bad dreams–and vanish just as quickly. And while Byrne’s sins begin to catch up with him, and Balzano tries to solve the blood-splattered puzzle, the body count rises. Meanwhile, the calendar is approaching Easter and the day of the resurrection. When the last rosary is counted, a madman’s methods will be revealed, and the final crime will be the one that hurts the most.Relentlessly paced and vividly told, The Rosary Girls is a smart, emotionally complex, fiercely gripping thriller from an author who takes chances, breaks new ground, and leaves readers haunted and moved long after the last page is turned.

The Last Victim


Kevin O'Brien - 2005
    But everything changes when Bridget is reminded of the secret she and Brad have been keeping since high school, a secret that could destroy the campaign—and their lives. Someone else knows what they did. Someone who's been picking off the members of their little group one by one...Will Be PaintedHis job keeps him busy, but he loves every moment of it. Following them, photographing them, and immortalizing them on canvas. He knows exactly how they'll look when the last breath is drawn, because he has planned out their deaths with perfect precision. And the best is yet to come: Bridget Corrigan. He has very special plans for her portrait—she just doesn't know it yet...In Cold BloodWith every "accident" that befalls the members of her old clique, Bridget feels danger edging closer to home. Yet uncovering the truth about the killer would mean revealing what really happened that horrible night years ago. She'll have to find someone to trust—the question is, who? Because turning to the wrong person could be the last mistake she ever makes...

Deep Freeze


Lisa Jackson - 2005
    . .When she wakes up, she's very cold. Colder than she's ever been in her life. She can't move or speak. And then she sees him. The one who took her. And before she dies, she wishes she could scream. . .Is About To Become. . .Former movie star Jenna Hughes left Hollywood for an isolated farm in Oregon to get away from fame. But someone has followed her--an obsessed fan whose letters are personal and deeply disturbing. And while Jenna's already shaken up by what she's seen on paper, she'd be terrified if she knew what Sheriff Shane Carter is investigating. It's a shocking case that started with the discovery of a dead woman in the woods. Now two more women are missing, one of whom bears a striking resemblance to Jenna. . .Her Worst Nightmare. . .

Within the Shadows


Brandon Massey - 2005
    Only one thing is missing—a special person to share it with. Then one day he meets someone new, a woman who seems almost too good to be true. Beautiful, smart, and sophisticated, Mika Woods is everything that Andrew has ever wanted and more—at first. After one night of passion, Andrew soon discovers that Mika isn't quite who she appears to be. Or even what she appears to be. But it's too late to turn back. Mika has been waiting a lifetime for a man like Andrew. And what she wants, what she desires, she will have—no matter who has to die

Chill Factor


Sandra Brown - 2005
    Not so, lately. Four women have disappeared from Cleary over the past two years. And there’s always a blue ribbon left near the spot where each of the women was last seen. There are no bodies, no other clues, and no suspicion as to who their abductor might be. And now, another woman has disappeared without a trace. It is to this backdrop that Lilly Martin returns to close the sale of her mountain cabin, marking the end of her turbulent eight-year marriage to Dutch Burton, Cleary’s chief of police. Dutch’s reluctance to let her go isn’t Lilly’s only obstacle. As she’s trying to outrun a snowstorm, her car skids on the icy road and strikes a man who emerges from the woods on foot. She recognizes the injured man as Ben Tierney, whom she’d met the previous summer. They’re forced to wait out the storm in the cabin, but as the hours of their confinement mount, Lilly begins to wonder if the greatest danger to her safety isn’t the blizzard outside, but the mysterious man right beside her. Is Ben Tierney the feared abductor? Or is he who he claims to be...her rescuer from harm and from the tragedy that haunts her?

A Quiet Vendetta


R.J. Ellory - 2005
    But the case gets strange when her bodyguard turns up mutilated and when Catherine's kidnapper calls he doesn't want money: he wants time alone with a minor functionary from a Washington-based organised crime task force.

Return of the Eagles


James Follett - 2005
    What the British have in store for them and why they were not sent to Canada like all the other prisoners of war is a mystery.

Breaking Cover


Jenny Walker - 2005
    Although Steve has a reasonably successful career as an analyst at MI6, he harbours greater ambitions. Miranda Carlos, a glamorous field officer, suffers an incapacitating injury and is unable to undertake an important intel-gathering assignment. The mission is so important that a suitable imposter must be sent in her place. Surprisingly, the computer picks Steve as having the strongest resemblance to the sexy Miranda. Although keen to take the assignment, he has to consider if he is willing to pay the necessary price in the line of duty. His loyalty to his country is tested as he faces the transformation that is required - especially given the warnings that some of it may be irreversible. As Steve begins to unearth plans for a devastating terrorist strike, he finds himself fighting for his life and, not knowing who he can trust, he is thrust into a terrifying race against time to prevent a horrific atrocity. “Jenny Walker does it again! With an improvement over her hit classic ‘No Half Measures’, she continues her traditional slow build, introduces memorable characters and provides plenty of surprise twists that will keep you guessing until the end, all well-contained within the framework of an excellent spy thriller.” “I’ve been waiting to see if Jenny Walker would write a second novel to match the superb ‘No Half Measures’, and ‘Breaking Cover’ is, if anything, an even better read. Jenny handles the characters beautifully . . . I loved the suspense, the violence and the gentle romance, but, perhaps most of all, I loved the changing relationships between all the main characters. I can hardly wait for the next one.”

Dangerous Ground


Larry Bond - 2005
    Instead, she is charged with one last, secret mission: to locate leaking containers of Russian nuclear fuel on the floor of the Arctic Ocean. More than just an environmental nightmare, this radioactive burial ground houses enough nuclear capability to destroy most of America’s major cities. Lead by the Bligh-like commander Lowell Hardy, the Memphis’ crew deals with flaring tempers, faulty machinery, raging Arctic Seas, and their newest crewmate, Jerry Mitchell. Mitchell was a naval pilot whose career ended with an unfortunate accident. Politics got him assigned to the Memphis as a weapons’ officer. Now his novice skills may very well be the ship’s greatest liability.Making matters worse, the President has appointed two civilian scientists to lead the mission. Dr. Joanna Patterson and Dr. Emily Davis soon find out that no matter how much power the president has granted them, this is still Hardy’s ship.Nor is this mission what it seems. Lurking beneath the frigid, black, radioactive waters is a secret far more deadly than anything naval command could imagine---a secret so menacing the Russian fleet is hell-bent on destroying the Memphis and all who sail in her.

The Innocent


Harlan Coben - 2005
    Now, nine years later, he’s an ex-con who takes nothing for granted. His wife, Olivia, is pregnant, and the two of them are closing on their dream house. But all it will take is one shocking, inexplicable call from Olivia’s phone to shatter Matt’s life a second time….An electrifying thrill ride of a novel that peeks behind the white picket fences of suburbia, The Innocent is at once a twisting, turning, emotionally charged story and a compelling tale of the choices we make and the repercussions that never leave.

The Didymus Contingency


Jeremy Robinson - 2005
    Tom Greenbaum faces that question after successfully discovering the secret to time travel, he knows the time, place and event he will witness: the death and failed resurrection of Jesus Christ. Dr. David Goodman, Tom's colleague and closest friend follows Tom into the past, attempting to avert a time-space catastrophe, but forces beyond their control toss them into a dangerous end game where they are tempted by evil characters, betrayed by friends, pursued by an assassin from the future and haunted by a demon that cannot be killed.

On the Run Boxed Set, #1-4


Gordon Korman - 2005
    Their parents are in maximum-security prison – framed as traitors and spies. Aiden and Meg will do anything to stay free because they’re determined to find the evidence to prove their parents are innocent!This boxed set includes the first four novels in the On the Run series; Chasing the Falconers, The Fugitive Factor, Now You See Them, Now You Don't and The Stowaway Solution. Aiden and Meg’s incredible adventures continue in Public Enemies, Hunting the Hunter and in the sequel series KIDNAPPED. Chasing the FalconersTwo kids break out of a juvenile detention center and become fugitives in order to clear their convicted parents' names in this heartstopping series from kid-read master Gordon Korman.Aidan and Meg Falconer are their parents' only hope. The Falconers are facing life in prison -- unless Aidan and Meg can follow a trail of clues to prove their innocence. The problem? Right now they're trapped in a juvenile detention center. Until they escape one night -- and find themselves on the run, both from the authorities and from a sinister attacker who has his own reason to stop them. The Falconers must use their wits to make it across the country ... with plenty of tests along the way.The Fugitive FactorAiden and Meg Falconer are now celebrities ... for all the wrong reasons. It's much harder to be on the run when the whole country's looking for you...Aiden and Meg Falconer are out to find the evidence that will free their parents from a life sentence in prison. But in order to do that, they have to live undercover. Ever since they broke out of a juvenile detention facility, they've been chased by the FBI...and by a strange killer they've nicknamed Hairless Joe. Now their story has hit the airwaves, and suddenly everyone is looking for the Falconer kids. They think they can hide with an old family friend ... but when she turns them in and Meg is put in jail, the danger and adventure only increase.Now You See Them, Now You Don'tOne man holds the key to freeing Aidan and Meg Falconer's parents from prison: a mysterious figure named Frank Lindenauer. Aidan and Meg must cross the country to try to catch him . . . even as the FBI tries to catch them first.In California, Aidan and Meg fall in with a crowd that already has its share of trouble going on. They want to believe they've found friends who will help them out. But if they're not careful, these "friends" will sell them out instead. The Stowaway SolutionAiden and Meg Falconer are on the hunt for the one man who might be able to free their parents from jail. The hitch? There are plenty of other people on the hunt for THEM, including the FBI and an eerie, hairless killer. After one close call too many, the Falconers find themselves stowed away on a ship -but the chase doesn't end there. Instead, it moves to close quarters, where every step, every breath, could get them caught.

After the Evil


Cary Allen Stone - 2005
    He is investigating a murder; a serial killer is responsible. FBI profiler Mika Scott leads the investigation. Mika and Jake were partners and lovers. Tensions run high when Jake discovers who the killer is. Will they get there in time to stop another murder?

Dead Reckoning


Linda Castillo - 2005
    Kate Megason is about to prosecute the case of her career when someone starts sending her terrifying messages. Someone who obviously knows her deep, dark secret. Now, she needs the help of Frank Matrone--an investigator with his own shadowy past--or else Kate may have no chance of surviving a killer's brutal wrath.

Rise of the Iron Eagle


Roy A. Teel Jr. - 2005
    “The Iron Eagle” appears to only hunt and capture serial killers. Time is of the essence as with each passing day “The Eagle” gets more brazen. The deeper O’Brian and Hoffman dig into profiling the killer, the more they realize that this is more than a race against time – it’s a race laden with the realization that the killer may be one of their own. From the inside flap: The city of Los Angeles is no stranger to violence. It has both a colorful and grotesque history with it. Sheriff’s Homicide Detective Jim O’Brian and FBI Profiler Special Agent Steve Hoffman are also no strangers to the violence of the sprawling metropolis, but in the past decade something has changed. There’s a serial killer preying on other serial killers – some known by law enforcement, others well off radar. “The Iron Eagle,” a vigilante, extracts vengeance for the victims of Los Angeles’ serial killers. His methods are meticulous and his killings brutal. With each passing day, “The Iron Eagle” moves with impunity through the streets of Los Angeles in search of his prey. O’Brian and Hoffman create an elite task force with the sole purpose of catching “The Eagle” and bringing him to justice. But the deeper they delve, the more apparent it is that he may very well be one of their own. As the two men stare into the abyss of their search, the eyes of “The Iron Eagle” stare back.

The Chairman


Stephen W. Frey - 2005
    Now, in his most ambitious work to date, Frey proves that no writer can put a high-powered hero at greater risk, nor offer readers more thrilling rewards.A towering legend among New York private equity partnerships, Everest Capital is aptly named. When its founder meets an untimely death, thirty-six-year-old superstar Christian Gillette gets the top job. But with the power and prestige come risks. The day he narrowly escapes a fiery explosion that consumes his limo and takes two innocent lives, Gillette instantly understands how intense those risks are.It comes as no surprise to him that he has enemies in the world of multibillion--dollar deals. But now that he controls Everest, he's not going to let those enemies keep him from taking the firm-and himself-to even greater heights. Gillette has never hesitated to be aggressive, even ruthless, in his pursuit of success. This time will be no exception.But in order to forge the alliances necessary to achieve his goals, Gillette forsakes a cardinal rule: Never trust anyone. The only certainties are the insidious campaign of corporate sabotage that could cost Gillette his job and the relentless assassination attempts that could cost him his life. To break a deadly conspiracy of greed, he'll be forced to walk-then run-an ever-blurring line between loyalty and betrayal, attack and retreat, survival and destruction . . . in the ultimate game of profit and loss.With The Chairman, Stephen Frey presides with intensified skill over the market he has so dramatically cornered-sharpening his patented brand of hard-boiled high-finance intrigue to its keenest cutting edge yet.

Sin and Vengeance


C.J. West - 2005
    The fallen college superstar joins the family winemaking business, but working alongside his parents is not the future he had planned. He escapes work whenever he can and soon finds a new friend named Randy Black. Randy is part stunt-pilot, part Casanova, and part drunken Pied Piper. Randy introduces Charlie to Deirdre Deudon, the provocative wife of a French farmer. They come together in an ill-conceived stunt that explodes into consequences that chase Charlie and Randy back home to Massachusetts and change Deirdre's life forever. The after-effects of this tragic mistake bind the three of them together and threaten everything they hold dear.

Slipping


Y. Blak Moore - 2005
    As a child, he witnessed his father’s suicide, and today Don-Don’s relationship with his mother, a worn-down cop trying to keep the family together is tenuous at best. Then Don-Don meets a girl with a taste for crack–and his delinquent life turns violently criminal.Consumed with chasing his next hit, alienating even his best friends, Don-Don works the streets like a pro. In pursuit of the demon, no deal is too shady. But when a huge drug transaction goes terribly awry, a bloody chain of events is set off, as Don-Don becomes a moving target, not just for the Chicago police force but for the ghetto’s most hardened thugs. . . .

The Culling


Anthony Hulse - 2005
    This is the second edition and alternative cover.

Poker Without Cards


Ben Mack - 2005
    If you read it, neither will you. May this clever virus infect the mediaspace before it's too late. -Douglas Rushkoff Author of Coercion; Cyberia; Media Virus

Comes a Horseman


Robert Liparulo - 2005
    Those facing the black chasm often mistook their pounding hearts for the beating of hooves.Now, two FBI agents pursuing a killer from a centuries-old cult realize they have become his prey.

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory (Prima Official Game Guide)


Prima Publishing - 2005
    ·Complete Walkthrough for Every Mission ·All Secret Bonus Objectives Revealed ·Discover Hidden Alternate Paths to Victory ·Killer Co-op Strategies ·Full Coverage of Every Version ·Learn Scores of Deadly Techniques in our Detailed Training Section

Sky Hunters: X-Battalion


Jack Shane - 2005
    An elite combat chopper pilot, Autry has been tested under fire and always come out on top. But his new assigment might change all that. He's been tasked to lead a new unit of the elite Night Stalkers, a unit that can outfly the rest of the pilots in SOAR (Special Operations Air Regiment), outshoot the best gunners in the SEALs or Deltas, and operate as indepdently as the most lawless gureillas. The results: an experimental unit expected to fail: the X–Battalion. It won't be easy. The pilots he has at his command are the craziest, most dangerous, most unpredictable men in the military, men capable of thinking beyond rules and regulations, but men equally capable of breaking them. Autry will need every one of them if they are to survive their first mission. North Korean dictator Kim Il Sung had procurred a weapon of apocalyptic destruction, and all intelligence points to his willingness to use it within the next 48 hours. If he deploys the weapon, he will poison the entire planet with radioactive fallout. The only way to stop him is with a group that can move silently, strike powerfully, and not worry about breaking a few rules along the way. The only way to stop him: X–Battalion.

The Seventh Seal


Ian A. O'Connor - 2005
    “I’m the chief of staff for the papal nuncio to the United States, Francis Cardinal Kettering. Your name was given to me as someone to be trusted, someone who can help. And I very much need your help.” “Why, has your cardinal murdered somebody?” Justin asked with a deliberate lightheartedness meant to convey to Capelletti that his use of dramatics was not necessary.“That’s exactly what’s happened, Mr. Scott,” the priest said, his words barely audible. After hearing that utterance from a terrified priest, ex-FBI agent Justin Scott soon finds himself in the fight of his life. Hired by the Vatican to ferret out the truth – or so it says, Justin uncovers a hair-raising conspiracy involving powerful Vatican prelates and Italian and Russian crime syndicates, all racing against the clock and each other to take possession of the richest prize in Christendom. With time fast running out, Justin’s high-stakes quest leads him to the very steps of the Throne of Peter, then back to Washington DC where he confronts a psychopathic murderer in a cat-and-mouse stalking that plays out to its deadly finish on the mean streets of the nation’s capital.

Cayman Cowboys: Reefs Under Pressure


Eric Douglas - 2005
    When Mike’s buddy Kelly is kidnapped, it is a race against time for Mike to save his friend and bring down the greedy developer putting his own wealth before the beauty of the island and the welfare of the people.

Roxy's Baby


Cathy MacPhail - 2005
    She drew in a deep breath. She would not let her fear take over. She couldn't. She had too much to lose. She had to be strong, to be brave. For once in her life she had to think of someone other than herself.' Roxy is wild, uncontrollable. She hates her parents - and her goody-two-shoes sister. Her only solace is her equally wild friends, Pat, Tracey and Jacqueline. Then there is the night of the party, where she lets that boy kiss her, and more and Roxy is pregnant. Wilfully, she won't tell her mother, her family. She decides to run away to London. And in London Roxy is found by Mr and Mrs Dyce. They are understanding, sympathetic, and promise her a way out of her troubles. They will take her to a comfortable place, along with other girls in the same position and look after her and her baby - which is exactly what happens. Roxy cannot believe her luck. But Roxy eventually works out the dark truth of the outwardly genial Dyces. They are 'farming' the babies in a truly horrible way, and selling the baby organs. There is only one dramatic way out for Roxy - and it's dangerous. But she is dealing with dangerous people and she has to take it. And now she has her baby to look after. A gripping and completely compelling story of a girl forced to grow up and think of others other than herself in the most nightmare of circumstances. These circumstances would seem too horrible to be true - were they not based on fact. A network doing exactly this was discovered to be operating in Italy in 2003, causing outcry, and has formed the basis for this story.

Stream Liner of the Lost Souls


Paul Leslie Griffiths - 2005
    To keep him from not going insane he devises his own games, these games normally exist of people, men and women as he has no preference, where he can manipulate and make them do things that they would never normally dream of in their own life.One of the main characters, a young girl by the name of Shannon is struggling to keep herself and her only brother left in this world away from the drugs and gang violence that is rife in their home town, the only problem is Ben her brother has no intention of keeping out of trouble, he has joined a gang and he thinks this is his best way of protecting his sister, he loves the control this gives him over other people. As in real the real world nothing in life is that simple, Shannon's life gets turned on its head as the books go on, finding love is the easy part keeping what she wants is another thing. What with the Stream Liner and a serial killer on the loose nobody is safe, one thing is for sure though Shannon has not come this far to lose what she has left in her life."You can run but you cannot hide from the Stream Liner." A six book series.Now also available on Kindle and smash words in all formats ONLY>> £0.77 Pence ! or 99 cents

Cuba / Hong Kong


Stephen Coonts - 2005
    Across the Straits of Florida, an anxious U.S. awaits the inevitable power struggle, determined to have a say in who controls this strategically invaluable island. And the American president has an added reason for concern: an arms-control conference has just begun in Paris and, unbeknownst to either the American public or Cuba, the U.S. has hidden secret weapons inside the American base on Cuba's Guantanamo Bay. But no secret remains one for long, and when one of the Cuban factions finds out about the weapons, the excitement begins.. "Only Admiral Grafton, on an aircraft carrier off the coast of Cuba, knows the impending danger. Only Grafton can save America from a disaster that would make the Bay of Pigs look like child's play. HONG KONG The U.S. Government sends Jake Grafton to Hong Kong to find out how deeply the U.S. consul-general, Tiger Cole, is embedded in a dangerous plan to overthrow the Chinese regime. He takes his wife Callie with him. They haven't returned to the island since their first meeting there, and Tiger Cole is an old friend from those days. Their trip soon turns into their worst nightmare...Hong Kong is a powder keg ready to explode. A political murder and the communist government's closure of a foreign bank are the sparks that light the fuse...and Tiger Cole is right in the middle of the action. After a violent rebel faction kidnaps Callie, Jake suddenly finds himself pulled into the vortex of a high-tech civil war...Joining forces with CIA operative Tommy Carmellini, Jake races to save Callie from the imminent bloodbath. But first he must figure out whom he can trust among the Western factions vying for control in the volatile situation and among the Chinese patriots fighting for their nation's future. Now, more than ever, he must make sure that the right side wins. One false move is all it will take to doom his wife-and the entire world...

Greg Iles CD Collection 2: Mortal Fear, Sleep No More, The Footprints of God


Greg Iles - 2005
    Sanders): By day, Harper Cole trades commodities over the internet. At night, he is systems operator of E.R.O.S., an exclusive, sexually explicit online service. But now someone has penetrated E.R.O.S.'s state-of-the-art security...someone who has brutally murdered six celebrated women. For Harper Cole, who has suddenly become the prime suspect, there is only one way to lure the elusive madman into the open. His daring plan will place everything and everyone he loves in the path of a brilliant, unstoppable killer... Sleep No More (Narrator: Dick Hill, Director: Laura Grafton, Engineer: Russell Byers): John Waters is a husband and father happy with his lot in life, though he has not always felt that way. Years earlier he escaped an obsessive love affair, which he feared might consume him. The woman in question disappeared after Waters married, and later he heard that she was killed in New Orleans. But now, Waters has an uneasy feeling that she has resurfaced to trouble him - and entice him - once again. The Footprints of God (Narrator: Dick Hill, Director: Laura Grafton, Engineer: Melissa Coates): In the heart of North Carolina's Research Triangle, America's top scientists work around the clock to attain the holy grail of the twenty-first century - a supercomputer that surpasses the power of the human mind. As ethicist to Project Trinity, Dr. David Tennant finds himself in a pressure cooker of groundbreaking science and colossal ambition. When his friend and fellow scientist is murdered, David discovers that his own life is in danger.

Threat Level: A Novel of the War on Terror


William Christie - 2005
      With action racing across the globe from Bangkok to Pakistan, the evidence eventually points to a terrorist attack on US soil—and an entirely different target. Washington, DC, was burned to the ground during the War of 1812. Unless the three agents move fast, it might just happen again.

The Eye of the Tiger / Hungry as the Sea


Wilbur Smith - 2005
    The deadly. The damned...For a thousand years, an unimaginable treasure has rested on the bottom of the Indian Ocean, hidden by swift blue currents, guarded by deadly coral reefs, and even deadlier school of man-eating great white sharks. Harry Fletcher, a former soldier turned fisherman, is now being pulled into a murderous mystery by men willing to kill and a beautiful woman willing to lie for what rests far beneath the sea. Now, Harry has no choice but to enter full bore into an international battle to raise an extraordinary object from the deep. Because possessing this treasure isn't just about getting rich--it's about staying alive... HUNGRY AS THE SEA Wilbur Smith sets his vividly realistic novels on the razor's edge between human courage and nature's wrath. In Hungry As The Sea, this master storyteller takes us to the frigid South Atlantic, where one man fights for his life-- and for redemption.Nicholas Berg is steaming out of Cape Town aboard the salvage tug Warlock. Once Berg ruled an ocean-going empire. Now, his future has come down to a powerful boat and a daring rescue mission. One of his former ships is being lashed against the cliffs of Cape Alarm, surrounded by deadly icebergs and survivors clinging to their boats. Berg has gambled everything on reaching the Golden Adventurer before a competitor and a violent storm-- to win a fortune in salvage fees. But if Nick Berg succeeds, and climbs back into the international shipping game, that's when the real danger will begin...From the power of a relentless ocean to the hunger of men to survive upon her, this is a towering novel of adventure, love and the daring of the human soul.

Whales for the Wizard


Malcolm Archibald - 2005
    Drugged by sinister gangster John Wylie, Douglas wakens on board the steam-whaler Redgauntlet bound for the Artic, and discovers that his companions believe the ship is haunted and do not expect to return. After an initial clash, Douglas befriends the ship's mate, "Bully Houston", and together thay begin to unravel a year-old mystery.Narrated by Robbie Macnab

Vengeance


Brian Pinkerton - 2005
    But Rob learns too late that there is a catch. Original.

Bodyguard of Lies


Bob Mayer - 2005
    Translated into over a dozen languages. "Heart-racing, non-stop action that is difficult to put down."-Mystery News on Bodyguard of Lies "Thelma and Louise go clandestine."-Kirkus Reviews on Bodyguard of Lies “In wartime, truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies.” Winston Churchill Who polices the world of covert operations? Enter the Cellar, the most secret spy organization hiding deep within the United States. Two women become inextricably involved in a dangerous web of lies, intrigue, and betrayal as they fight for their lives and the safety of their country. Neeley is the lover and protégé of Gant, a Cellar operative, and is trying to pick up the pieces of her life after Gant's death and unveil a mystery that Gant always held close to his chest. Hannah, a housewife, is equally lost after her husband simply disappears. They soon learn that the men in their lives shared a dangerous secret, one some very powerful people would shed blood to protect. Neeley and Hannah's chance meeting sets a decades-old plan into motion and puts their lives at risk. They couldn't come from more different worlds, but as they try to escape the people who seem determined to kill them, Hannah and Neeley discover they have at least one thing in common: they've both been living a lie. Crisscrossing the globe, the women find themselves in a deadly game of survival, one that they must win in order to keep the United States safe not only from vicious acts of terror, but from its own powers that be. And if they ever hope to uncover the truth about the lovers they thought they knew, Neeley and Hannah first must learn the truth about themselves. But when the Cellar is involved, there is no such thing as coincidence, and the truth is always protected by a Bodyguard of Lies.

As the Crow Flies / The Prodigal Daughter


Jeffrey Archer - 2005
    That day comes suddenly when his grandfather dies leaving him the floundering business. With the help of Becky Salmon, an enterprising young woman, Charlie sets out to make a name for himself as "The Honest Trader". But the brutal onset of World War I takes Charlie far from home and into the path of a dangerous enemy whose legacy of evil follows Charlie and his family for generations.The Prodigal DaughterWith a will of steel, Polish immigrant Florentyna Rosnovski is indeed Abel's daughter. She shares with her father a love of America, his ideals, and his dream for the future. But she wants more to be the first female president.Golden boy Richard Kane was born into a life of luxury. The scion of a banking magnate he is successful, handsome, and determined to carve his own path in the world-and to build a future with the woman he loves. With Florentyna's ultimate goal only a heartbeat away, both are about to discover the shattering price of power as a titanic battle of betrayal and deception reaches out from the past-a blood feud between two generations that threatens to destroy everything Florentyna and Richard have fought to achieve.

Before I Wake


Anne Frasier - 2005
    A madman murdered her family, leaving her a shadow of the woman she once was. So one-time criminal profiler Arden Davis did the only thing she could: She volunteered for an experiment to wipe out the horrific memories that haunted her every waking moment. But the experiment wasn’t quite the success they predicted—and now Arden is left sifting through random memories, trying to distinguish dreams from reality. Then one night, Special Agent Nathan Fury shows up on her doorstep with an urgent appeal for help. She awakes to a living nightmare... The murderer, it turns out, is still on the streets. This time, Arden will risk everything—even her own sanity—to lure the killer out of hiding. Even if it means the killer is closer than she thought. Even if she herself becomes the number-one suspect…

Rogue Avenger


John R. Monteith - 2005
    HE STOLE THEIR SUBMARINE.The accident changed everything… One moment, Lieutenant Jake Slate was going about his duties aboard the ballistic missile submarine, USS Colorado. The next second, he was sprawled on the deck plates in a spreading puddle of blood and hydraulic fluid. But it wasn’t the injury that ruined his life and doomed his military career. It was the rescue effort.Now he’s being thrown to the wolves to cover up the misdeeds of a superior officer, and Jake doesn’t care for the role of sacrificial lamb.Blinded by rage and unsure of his future, he finds himself at the center of a treacherous plot to hijack the Colorado and sell her nuclear warheads to a foreign power. Jake no longer knows who he can trust. He doesn’t know what the future holds. He really only knows one thing. He will have his revenge.Book 1 of the Rogue Submarine Series... Rogue Avenger (2005), Rogue Betrayer (2007), Rogue Crusader (2010), Rogue Defender (2013), Rogue Enforcer (2014), Rogue Fortress (2015), Rogue Goliath (2015), and Rogue Hunter (2016).This novel is part of the Rogue Submarine fiction series, launched in 2005 by John Monteith, a former military officer and naval warfare instructor. Beginning with Rogue Avenger, the books are titled in alphabetical order for ease of reference. Although the stories are best read in sequence, each installation is written for enjoyment as a standalone adventure.

Magic Mirror


Sean Ellis - 2005
    Twenty years ago, Derrick Sayler made a fantastic breakthrough, then vanished off the face of the earth. When Michael Rook, an environmental engineer with a deadly secret, finds a car belonging to the missing genius in a remote Oregon lake, the question of Sayler's fate appears to be answered. But Rook's discovery uncovers something far more immediate...and infinitely more dangerous. Willoughby Bane, Sayler's former partner, is poised to unveil Magic Mirror, a magnetic-levitation space launch facility in the Canadian wilderness, but he cannot escape his obsession with his long-lost partner. Rook's search for the unbelievable truth will put him on a collision course with Bane and Magic Mirror. It begins with a mysterious disappearance....it will end with a world on the edge of destruction.

Honor Thy Sister


Larry Buttram - 2005
    Then, her wayward sister, Rita, moves back home, and her world is torn apart. Rita apologizes for her past behavior, and for abandoning the family. Sally accepts her apology, but then, when disaster strikes, she must decide if she believes her sister was an innocent victim, or was the cause of the tragedy.

Jackie Leven Said


Ian Rankin - 2005
    Ian tells the story in short chapters which are illustrated by musical interludes and complete songs performed by Jackie and keyboard player Michael Cosgrave. The story evokes the suffering (and healing) of a Scottish family coming back together for a funeral in Fife on the east coast of Scotland. Although a work of fiction, the story resonates strongly with the life experiences of both Ian and Jackie who are themselves both from this part of the world. It sparkles with humour. At the end of the storytelling, Ian and Jackie then have a wildly funny knockabout discussion of what it means to come from Fife, with Jackie departing from the subject in his uniquely crazy way. The songs sung by Jackie reflect and blend the lives of Ian and Jackie, but also touch on the inner life of Ian's acclaimed fictional hero cop, the haunted genius that is Detective Inspector John Rebus, himself a Fifer.

The Spirit Box


Stephen Gallagher - 2005
    You've got a twenty-two year old girl hidden in a cabin about seven miles out of town. She was kidnapped out of the emergency room at the Presbyterian Hospital in Charlotte at about six o'clock last night. She's got five packets of unknown substances in her gut that she swallowed and she can't expel. The boy who took her mistakenly thinks they have a value. He's preparing to cut her open to get to them. Now, here's the thing about talking to policemen. You can't shock or surprise them. If you did, it would probably kill them to show it. The cop said, And how do you know this? I've been tracking the drugs for the company they were stolen from, I said. They're all experimental. I can't tell you what will happen if any of the packages bursts or leaks. Chances are it won't be good. Do these kids have names? Rachel Young. Cyrus Behan. Cyrus? he said, and I felt my heart sink a little.