Book picks similar to
The Rock Star by Rick Soper


mystery-thriller
free-on-amazon
free-reads
mystery

Sea of Gold


Nick Elliott - 2014
    The first-person narrative, complete with ironic asides, is the perfect vehicle for a thoughtful and witty style that draws us swiftly into the shoes of its protagonist, a credible and consistent character." "The sense of place is utterly authentic. We are taken to far-flung locations - some exotic, some seedy - by an author who has not just visited them but has lived and worked in these places. Nick Elliott has an effortless elegance in his writing, and an ability to create characters who feel real. The story zips along at a fine pace, and the result is a gripping and immersive thriller." "Angus is good company as he unravels a very twisty plot and discovers an unexpected level of determination (stubbornness?) in getting to the bottom of the mystery and catching the villains, all the while trying to be loyal to his fiery Greek girlfriend while fighting his attraction to a woman from his past." DESCRIPTION ‘Whoever did this wanted to make very sure no one lived to tell the tale.’ Money, murder and love on the high seas In the world of international shipping, the rules are blurred and the oceans lawless When instinct tells maritime claims investigator Angus McKinnon that a wave of frauds must be connected, he thinks it’s just business as usual. Instead, he uncovers a ruthless conspiracy born of greed and the lust for power. As he starts to unravel a trail leading from the post-Soviet drabness of a Black Sea port to a sweltering anchorage in the Gulf of Thailand, a devastating explosion in the Indian Ocean changes everything. Facing down terrifying childhood memories, torn between two very different women and doubting old friends, McKinnon must navigate a precarious path between secretive government agencies, shady syndicates and avaricious crime lords towards an unpredictable endgame. Gambling everything on his faith in one man, can McKinnon beat the odds and come out on top? A gripping page-turner, Sea of Gold draws the reader into a world of extremes, the casual affluence of the super-rich contrasting with the dignified poverty of the desperate. Meanwhile, McKinnon’s two loves – the enigmatic Claire and his devoted, long-term lover, Eleni, vie for his attention. This debut thriller from Nick Elliott is packed with intrigue – if you love your action spiced with suspense, make Sea of Gold your next read.

Here Comes the Night


Linda McDonald - 2013
    But that was long ago. Now the only tomorrows he considers worth living are those that include his lover, the wife of his boss. Hard as he finds it to do, once Buck kills the mean-spirited bank president, his path to happiness seems clear . . .for mere moments. How could Buck have known henchmen would grab him only minutes later to roust him for gambling debts? And who would have guessed a dangerous parolee would--as daylight turns to dusk--impulsively take Buck’s custom Mustang on a bloody joyride?There’s no way to know who’ll survive until dawn, and of those that do, who’ll be charged with which crime. Hang on tight, Here Comes the Night. A dark, steamy thriller in the tradition of film noir.Written by the winner of Oklahoma’s 2013 Book of the Year in Fiction.

After the Storm


M. Stratton - 2013
    She enjoys the simple things in her beach cottage. Life is finally complete.Noah Matthews is Rock & Roll’s hottest star and on top of the world. After years without a break he finds the solitude he craves at his beach house. Enjoying his early morning coffee, Noah is surprised to see his neighbor sneak into his garden and crawl around.They never saw that fateful morning coming. Someone was watching them. Someone who thought Lexi belonged to him and would stop at nothing to have her.Lives are changed forever when they meet amongst the blooms in his garden. Even when things seem darkest, there is always light After the Storm."A suspenseful, page turning twist on the typical boy meets girl" - Carey Heywood - Author"The perfect combination of funny, creepy and hot. A unique story that will have you begging for more." - Evelyne Stone - AuthorBook Two - Eye of the Storm - Available NowBook Three - Caught in the Storm - Available Friday June 13th 2014

Killer in Sight


Sandra Carrington-Smith - 2012
    Tom Lackey to locate her killer. With the help of his longtime girlfriend and professional photographer, Kathy Spencer, Lackey unravels a mystery laden with psychosis and unexpected revelations. While Tom is busy following the multiple clues pouring in from different directions, Kathy gets to work to prove her own theory: The last image viewed by the dying person can be lifted from the eyes of the victim to identify the murderer. Using her background in photography and her passion for iridology, Kathy enlists the help of Dr. Greer, a snow-haired medical examiner who allows her to take shots of Tracey Newman’s eyes. Her findings are puzzling, but they are supported by Alexis Howard, the dead girl’s ten-year-old half sister who volunteers information she claims was delivered to her by her imaginary friend Lily. With multiple suspects floating up to the surface and skeletons yanked out of unlikely closets, Tom must rely on his methodical expertise and on Kathy’s insight to find the killer before tragedy strikes again.

Tips for Living


Renee Shafransky - 2018
    With the help of her best friend, she fled New York City for a small resort town, snagged a job as the advice columnist for the local paper, and is cautiously letting a new man into her life. But when Hugh and his perfect new family move into a summer house nearby, Nora backslides. Coping with jealousy, humiliation, and resentment again is as hard as she feared. It’s harder still when Hugh and his wife are shot to death in their home.If only Nora could account for the night of the murders. Unfortunately, her memories have gone as dark as her fantasies of revenge. But Nora’s not the only one with a reason to kill—and as prime suspect in the crime, she’d better be able to prove it.

Apparent Wind


Dallas Murphy - 1991
    He gets an early release to attend his crooked father's funeral...and discovers that he's inherited a sailboat and a Florida town that's sinking into the sea. But the town is on prime real estate that two warring developers want badly enough to have already killed his father for and will go to outrageous lengths to snatch away from him. Dodging bombs, corrupt cops, and crazed killers, Doom teams up with a Nyquil-chugging history professor, two documentary film-makers named Anne, and a drop-dead-sexy scuba instructor and her Seminole grandmother in an elaborate plot to swindle the swindlers and save himself from fatally living up to his nick-name.

One Kick


Chelsea Cain - 2014
    Abducted at age six in broad daylight, the police, the public, perhaps even her family assumed the worst had occurred. And then Kathleen Lannigan was found, alive, six years later. In the early months following her freedom, as Kick struggled with PTSD, her parents put her through a litany of therapies, but nothing helped until the detective who rescued her suggested Kick learn to fight. Before she was thirteen, Kick learned marksmanship, martial arts, boxing, archery, and knife throwing. She excelled at every one, vowing she would never be victimized again. But when two children in the Portland area go missing in the same month, Kick goes into a tailspin. Then an enigmatic man Bishop approaches her with a proposition: he is convinced Kick's experiences and expertise can be used to help rescue the abductees. Little does Kick know the case will lead directly into her terrifying past…

Vengeance


Vanessa Kier - 2013
    Vengeance. She vows revenge on the men behind the attack, including her once beloved older brother, Kai. But Kai has disappeared with a microchip containing data on a top-secret government research program.Ten years ago, undercover agent Niko Andros sent a vicious Mexican crime lord to prison. Now the man has been released and he's kidnapped Niko's aunt. The price for his aunt's freedom is Kai and the microchip. Niko will do anything to save his aunt―including using Jenna as bait.As Niko dives back into the deadly criminal underground he'd barely escaped, Jenna discovers she's not as tough as she thinks. Teamed up to find her brother, Niko and Jenna fight to survive in a dangerous world of lies, betrayal, and hidden agendas. Only love can save them...if they'll let it.

The Housewife Assassin's Handbook


Josie Brown - 2011
    Donna Stone has one…and it happens to be government-sanctioned. She earned it the hard way: her husband was killed the day she delivered her third child. To avenge his death, she leads a secret life – as an assassin. But espionage makes for strange bedfellows – and brings new meaning to that old adage, "Honey, I’m home…"

A Death In Beverly Hills


David Grace - 2009
    Three months later, the body of Travis’s wife was discovered in a shallow grave only a few miles from where Tom had been riding his dune buggy on the day she vanished. Of the three year old little girl, Sarah, no trace was found. Arrested and placed on trial for capital murder, Tom Travis is now only a days away from an almost certain guilty verdict. Desperate to find some way out, his lawyer hires suspended Ex-Deputy D.A., Steve Janson, to review all the files and find some over-looked clue that might keep Travis off death row.Janson, whose own wife had been murdered almost two years before, accepts the assignment, not to help Travis, but in the faint hope of finding Sarah still alive. Janson’s investigation leads him on a twisted path from Travis’s mistress to her drug-dealing brother to the writer and producer of his last movie and on across the landscape of Southern California until, eventually, Janson begins to wonder if Travis might really be innocent after all.

Daddy's Home


A.K. Alexander - 2010
    Crime scene investigator Holly Jennings is on the trail of a twisted and sadistic serial killer who seeks out single mothers, marries them, then slaughters his new family when they fail to measure up to his "perfect family" fantasy.

Cold River Rising


Enes Smith - 2006
     About Cold River Rising - If you love thrillers, don't miss this action-filled journey on a modern day Indian reservation, with scenes in South America, the U.S. Senate, and the White House. Thriller and crime writer Ann Rule said, "Smith is a writer on his way straight up." While on spring break from college, Native American Tara Eagle is kidnapped in Peru. With no help from the Unites States government, Tara and her college friends, Indian kids from tribes around the country, struggle to stay alive. On the Cold River Indian Reservation in Oregon, the new Siyapu (white man) police chief, Martin Andrews, is struggling to understand the people and the culture he has been thrust into. Tara's grandfather, Tribal Council Chairman Bluefeathers, asks Martin to lead a group to Peru and rescue his granddaughter. Bluefeathers flies to Washington, D.C. and gives an impassioned speech to a senate subcommittee. He said, "You see some of us as a weak people . . . but before your numbers and your diseases and your promises overwhelmed us . . . we were warriors. Watch us. We are warriors once again. We are the people." Martin and a group of Indians fly to Peru on a perilous journey in an attempt to rescue the students. In Peru, Tara, who has adopted the white ways in college, realizes that she must remember the traditional ways her grandmother taught her, in order to survive. As forces converge on the reservation to take it over, Bluefeathers gives the order to blow the bridges, isolating the reservation. They are a people under siege as the struggle in South America continues. The Cold River Indian Reservation is joined by other Indian tribes in a show of force and solidarity. Cold River Rising - and story of courage, redemption, sacrifice, death, honor, and of a people coming together. Cold River Rising has been a #1 Amazon best seller in two categories, and has over 280 five star reviews. Author Enes Smith has been a panelist with Michael Connelly at The Bouchercon, the World Mystery Writers Conference. He has been a homicide detective, a SWAT commander, and on two different occasions, a tribal police chief. His first novel, Fatal Flowers, was published worldwide by Putnam/Berkley.

Redemption Lake


Susan Clayton-Goldner - 2017
    Guilt forces Matt to act on impulse and hide his involvement with Crystal.Detective Winston Radhauser knows Matt is hiding something. But as the investigation progresses, Radhauser’s attention is focused on Matt’s father. Matt’s world closes in when his father is arrested for Crystal’s murder, and Travis breaks off their friendship.Despite his father’s guilty plea, Matt knows his dad is innocent and only trying to protect his son. Devastated and bent on self-destruction, Matt heads for the lake where his cousin died—the only place he believes can truly free him. Are some secrets better left buried?

A World I Never Made


James LePore - 2009
    The body, however, is not Megan's and it becomes instantly clear to Pat that Megan staged this, that she is in serious trouble, and that she is calling to him for help. This sends Pat on an odyssey that stretches across France and into the Czech Republic and that makes him the target of both the French police and a band of international terrorists. Joining Pat on his search is Catherine Laurence, a beautiful but tormented Paris detective who sees in Pat something she never thought she'd find-genuine passion and desperate need. As they look for Megan, they come closer to each other's souls and discover love when both had long given up on it. Juxtaposed against this story is Megan's story. A freelance journalist, Megan is in Morocco to do research when she meets Abdel Lahani, a Saudi businessman. They begin a torrid affair, a game Megan has played often and well in her adult life. But what she discovers about Lahani puts her in the center of a different kind of game, one with rules she can barely comprehend. Because of her relationship with Lahani, Megan has made some considerable enemies. And she has put the lives of many-maybe even millions-at risk.A World I Never Made is an atmospheric novel of suspense with brilliantly drawn characters and back-stories as compelling as the plot itself. It is the kind of novel that resonates deeply and leaves its traces long after you turn the final page.

The Forgotten Girls


Alexa Steele - 2014
    That doesn’t happen in Greenvale, with its immaculate lawns, exclusive yacht clubs and multi-million dollar mansions. But behind its perfect façade, its trimmed hedges and luxury cars, a darkness lies. Girls, dependent on Adderall, outmaneuver each other to get into top colleges, while the mothers’ need to live vicariously only makes it worse. Bella DeFranco is one of the Bronx’s top SVU detectives. At only 37, she disarms everyone with her stunning good looks, yet she is as tough as most men—and a lot smarter, too. Yet when is summoned to Greenvale, she finds herself getting lost in a case that even she can’t comprehend. She stumbles into a land of secrets, a place where husbands hide their pasts from their wives, where friends are not what they seem, and where no one wants to know too much. As she digs deeper into layers of suburban dysfunction, she comes to learn that, behind all the fake smiles, there is a subtle violence--rivaling even her crime-ridden streets of the Bronx. With a killer on the loose, time running out, and a new partner who never recovered from his washed-up alcoholic days, the odds are stacked against Bella. She is determined, though, to save these girls, whatever the cost. Yet as she gets close, the depth of psychosis she discovers shocks even her….