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Waterproof: A Novel of the Johnstown Flood


Judith Redline Coopey - 2012
    The flood wiped out Pam's fondest hopes: her brother and her fiance were killed. Her mother is locked in catatonic hysteria. Her father, torn apart by the flood's affect on his family, just walks away, leaving Pam poverty stricken and alone, to care for a mother who may never recover. Then Davy Hughes, Pam's dead fiance, reappears and, instead of being the answer to her prayers, further complicates her life. Someone is seeking revenge on the owners of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, the Pittsburgh millionaires who owned the failed dam, and Pam thinks Davy might have something to do with it. Waterproof, set in Johnstown two years after the flood, examines how people react to tragedy. Do they recover from physical injury only to succumb to the psychological affects? Or do they run away? Do they rise to the challenge and become better people or give in to their rage and seek revenge? For the people of Johnstown, survivors of the flood, it became the measure of their character. Determined to get past the tragedy and get on with her life, Pam spurns self-pity. She will not be defined by the flood. In this decades-deep story of loss and struggle against loss, we find a heroine to respect and a path to recovery.

The Dead Game


Susanne Leist - 2013
    She opens a bookstore and makes new friends. Life is simple--that is until the dead body washes up on shore. Linda is horrified to find that dead bodies and disappearing tourists are common for this small town. As soon as the sun sets, the residents and tourists are stalked by dark shadows. But this is only the beginning.Linda and her friends receive an unsigned invitation to a party at a deserted house. They are pursued through revolving rooms and dangerous traps, barely escaping with their lives. Two of their own remain trapped in the house. Or so they think.They must embark on a difficult journey, chased by unnatural creatures, not knowing whom to trust, to uncover the one controlling the game and everyone in town. Who are The Dead? Are they humans or vampires? Or a combination of both? Will there be an end to their evil game? Will Linda and Todd find love? Will a second book be needed?The Dead Game has begun.

Misisipi


Michael Reilly - 2012
    She packs a bag. She books a flight. She leaves a note on the kitchen counter. She departs her Boston home and disappears, without a warning, without a goodbye.For husband Scott, the initial shock carries a strange relief: their slide--from storybook soul mates to virtual strangers--could only end one way and it's been a long time coming.And anyway, Julianna has always been... unconventional.All that remains is to decipher the meaning behind her cryptic note. But that's before Scott finds evidence of her secret other actions on the day she left. A torrent of discovery shows just how little of Julianna's past he truly knew. They also cast a whole different light on the couple's present difficulties and offer Scott a sliver of hope for rescuing their future.His only course is to follow her to the place where her dark history has called her back, where two powerful and ruthless adversaries are waging the endgame of a long and bloody feud. Julianna is the key. She's the only one who can stop it, because she's the one who started it.Julianna is going home for the last time--to the city by the sea at the mouth of the river."A secret is a rotting anchor, hidden in deep water. You drop it and convince yourself that it's safe, tethered beyond sight. In that peculiar comfort, you forget that it binds you. And when a storm rolls in, it will not raise."Connect with /Misisipi.Novel on Facebook#MisisipiNovel

That Summer Affair


Sarah Challis - 2007
    All she's ever wanted is a secure family life, and now it's about to be torn apart. Henry Streeter, Rachel's neighbour, is overwhelmed by old feelings of misery and loneliness as he struggles to stifle painful memories of his own childhood. And Juliet Fairweather, arriving in the village on the evening of the disappearance, is involved in an unexpected personal drama, while her mother, Bobbie, so often a bystander, is drawn inexorably into other people's lives.For everyone involved, one ordinary summer's day will bring extraordinary consequences and the need to examine their own sense of loss and longing.

Flipping Numbers PT 1


Ernest Morris - 2014
    Maria teaches him how to make fast money by just flipping a few numbers. EJ quickly goes from a regular joe to a man of power. But he's forced to learn the hard way that with more money comes more problems and with more problem EJ is forced to keep flipping numbers.Step into EJ's world where money rules and one bad flip can end your life.

Six Weeks


Jessica L. Degarmo - 2011
    Degarmo departs from the style of her very successful Romance novels - 'Hooking Up', 'The Storm Within', 'Decisions' and 'How To Meet A Guy In The Supermarket' - to examine every teenage girl's nightmare: that she is pregnant and not certain she's ready for a child.It is a life and death decision – not her life, but her decision - and despite the opinions of those around her, she is on her own.In a world of gray, one thing is black and white. Six weeks is her deadline to decide.Maybe you have been there, in which case you will understand.

Looking Past


Katharine E. Smith - 2014
    Completely unprepared and suffering an acute sense of loss, she and her father continue quietly, trying to live by the well-intentioned advice of friends, hoping that time really is a great healer and that they will, eventually, move on. Life changes very little until Sarah leaves for university and begins her first serious relationship. Along with her new boyfriend comes his mother, the indomitable Hazel Poole. Despite some misgivings, Sarah finds herself drawn into the matriarchal Poole family and discovers that gaining a mother figure in her life brings mixed blessings. A mother-in-law who just can't let her sons grow up, a midwife who treats her charges like girls in a private school dormitory. These are some of the people who Sarah must deal with as her own pregnancy turns to motherhood and she realises that she must find her own two feet. Looking Past is a tale of family, friendship, love, life and death – not necessarily in that order. This is the second novel from Katharine E. Smith, author of Writing the Town Read. The narrator’s voice is clear and strong, with vivid descriptions and intelligent observations. Readers will quickly empathise with Sarah, whose grief and confusion at the loss of her mother at key moments in her life is contrasted with a dry and sometimes subtle humour derived from situations and characters which help colour the book. The father-daughter relationship which develops between the bereaved husband and daughter feels very real, as both come to terms with their grief and learn how best to live together. Sarah's father is unassuming and appealing, as he struggles to find a way to deal with his broken heart and support his daughter throughout school, puberty and on into adulthood. Smith's readers have praised her honesty, realism, warmth and humour. Both Looking Past and Writing the Town Read - Katharine's first novel - are written from a strong female first person perspective. However, don't be fooled into thinking this is chick lit - or indeed exclusively women's fiction. Looking Past has received praise from a number of male readers, including an ex-US Marine. You don't get much more macho than that! Nevertheless, this is a story guaranteed to strike a chord with mothers, daughters - and daughters-in-law - everywhere. The dual settings of Yorkshire and Cornwall will interest people with strong links to those places but the characters and events hold universal appeal. This is a book for people who like people. Looking Past was selected for the People's Book Prize Winter 2015 Collection.

Novum: Genesis


Joseph Rhea - 2013
    When a young cargo ship captain, Jacob Stone, agrees to take on a job he doesn't want, he inadvertently awakens an ancient power that could destroy what's left of the human race or be the key to its future. But, is it a future he is willing to fight for, let alone die for?

Thermals (Anselm Gunnar)


Evan Currie - 2011
    At the Australian Solar Power facility that Tower City is built around, however, the inspector is about to learn that the man everyone thinks is hiding from the law is actually doing anything but.Thermals is a fast paced near future terrorism thriller that will keep you flipping the pages as fast as your reader, and your eyes, will allow. From the start it builds to a rising crescendo that will leave you breathless and cheering.

Angels Fallen


Francis Smith - 2011
    Sixty years later, multi-millionaire Hans Dieter, in a death bed confession, reveals to his son, Jim Dieter (retired Navy SEAL) and his best friend, Dan Flaherty (ex-IRA) his role in the robbery.The Vatican becomes aware that their closely guarded secret is unraveling and activates their own security forces, Interpol, and British MI-6 to press for Dan and Jim’s whereabouts. This sets the stage for a dramatic race across the European Continent with Dan and Jim barely able to stay one step ahead of their pursuer as they search for the remainder of the gold Hans had secreted during the closing days of WWII.

Nemesis


L.J. Martin - 2011
    This wild and wooly western, in the Louis L'amore tradition, comes from renowned author L. J. Martin, whose over 20 novels have brought compelling reading to so many. McBain, broken and beaten from the Civil war, is reluctant to return to his family, as a snake dwells in his belly and he can't get the images out of his mind...until he learns his sister and her family have been murdered. Then it's retribution time.

I Choose You


Charles A. Bush - 2014
    She was valedictorian of her Yale undergrad class, is ranked top of her Yale Medical School class, and unlike her promiscuous roommate, she would rather spend her free nights reading Jane Austen than out partying. Undeniably, the lifelong promise that she made to her dying mother to become a doctor, is firmly in her grasp and she is focused not to let anything or anyone deter her from fulfilling it. That is, until the last day of her second year of medical school, when her friends surprise her with a summer vacation to England. While in England, she breaks one of her many sacred rules and falls for, Jude, a professional footballer with an appetite for wild parties and beautiful women. Over the course of their improbable summer romance, Jude introduces Emily to a new world of excitement and spontaneity, leaving her to question the secluded life she had always known, while Emily shows Jude the depths of the human heart and all the joy it can bring. However, once the summer ends, their love is tested by distance, social class, and the sacrifices needed to make enduring love blossom. And when fate intervenes by sending their lives spiraling on separate paths, will a memorable summer romance years ago be enough to bring them back together? I Choose You is a charming love story that has been compared to the unforgettable romances of A Walk to Remember, and Dear John (Nicholas Sparks). Bush explores the many intricacies of young love and the choices we must make to live life to the fullest.

Gridlock


Alvin Ziegler - 2013
    His computer code unlocks mankind's greatest scientific discovery-the human genome. Leveraging a vast computer network (that really exists), Wagner can interpret an individual's DNA with lightning speed. It brings hope to millions as personalized medicine becomes reality. But rapid modernization sparks a violent reaction. Wagner's closest colleagues are dying mysteriously. Will he be next? Pitted against a powerful, faceless enemy, he hunts to rescue the person closest to him and forestall catastrophic GRIDLOCK.

Away with the Fairies


Jenny Twist - 2012
    Her mother thinks she is suffering from petit mal but Granny McCurdle says, “ Och, she's away wi' the fairies again.” Nobody takes this literally until Lucy disappears. Her sister knows where she's gone, but who would believe her? Can she really be away with the fairies?

Defenseless


Matt Lenz - 2014
    But in his increasingly desperate search for clues to the killers' identity, Mark himself becomes the hunted one. Under the heat of the Florida sun, once the gun smoke has cleared, who will come out on top?