Book picks similar to
The Rock Star by Rick Soper


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The Debt Collector


Jon Mills - 2015
    Four years later, Jack is free and he wants out of the game, but his boss won't let him go. Forced to take on one last job to make amends for what landed him in prison, he travels to the small town of Rockland Cove, Maine. There, he not only discovers that the target and money have disappeared; he finds himself falling for a damaged woman, and befriending an unruly son left behind. Under mounting pressure from his boss and local police--as well as the ghosts of his past--he must unravel the mystery and decide where his loyalties lie...before it's too late.

Itsy Bitsy Spider


Willow Rose - 2013
    She decides to move there with her family, much to her teenage-daughter's regret. One morning a wealthy old woman in her street is found murdered and soon Emma finds herself wrapped in a mystery uncovering the island's dark secrets that not only runs deep within the history of the island but also within her own family. From the author of the International Bestselling books, the Rebekka Franck-series comes a new Scandinavian Mystery destined to keep you up all night. This is the first book in the Emma Frost-series and is followed by Miss Polly had a dolly.

Another One


Tony Faggioli - 2017
    After two tours in the Afghanistan War, he thought the horrors that he witnessed there were behind him. But the death of his partner has now opened a dark hole of memories that are threatening to swallow Parker alive. Desperate to maintain his grip, he focuses on the last unsolved case his partner left behind: the brutal murder of Hymie Villarosa.  Father Bernardino Soltera is being destroyed by the present. After ministering to the gang ridden streets of East L.A. for over twenty years, he's unable to see past the pain and suffering that drugs and violence have wreaked on his neighborhood; he’s ready to give up. But when a young girl confesses that she's pregnant and her boyfriend will hurt her if she doesn't get an abortion? Father Soltera decides to make one more stand. Hector Villarosa is being mocked by the future. After being released from jail he discovers the love of his life is with another man. As the leader of his gang, losing face could mean losing his life, and the fact that detectives are now asking questions about the death of Hector's cousin, Hymie, isn't helping. But Hector's bigger problem is the demon that has followed him out of jail and on to the mean streets of East L.A. Three men, one neighborhood. All about to discover that the veil between this world and the next is razor thin. “Faggioli does an astonishing job bringing both criminals and cops to life as three-dimensional, sympathetic characters.” – Amazon 5 Star Review “This is a book that so profoundly illustrates the never ending battle of good and evil, I'm almost without the words to explain it.” – Amazon 5 Star Review

The Actuary


K.T. Bowes - 2015
    The gorgeous Rohan Andreyev is determined to pursue her but the spiteful women who surround him, conspire to make Emma's life unbearable. When Rohan's work as an actuary spills over into his personal life, Emma finds herself at the centre of a dangerous conspiracy that will leave her in the hands of ruthless men. Into the intrigue comes Rohan's business partner, Christopher Dolan. Irish, handsome and with an agenda of his own, Emma struggles to understand whether he is friend or foe. The men in her life seem determined to win or destroy her. Emma has a choice to make; whether to stay in the sleepy town of Market Harborough or disappear with her son forever. Whatever she decides, there is one good reason why her fate will be linked to Rohan Andreyev's until the end of time. She loves him, but he is the Actuary and his job isn't quite what she believes.

A New Dawn Rising


Michael Joseph - 2013
    An opportunity to move on and make a fresh start. But when Carl is murdered, the police suspect Sam is responsible, forcing him to hunt down the real killer himself. Only someone doesn't want Sam Carlisle finding out the truth...

Don’t Trust Me


Jessica Lynch - 2017
    Population: 192.You can't find it on any map, GPS or directions site. A small village tucked between a mountain and a valley, Hamlet is the sort of place where everyone knows everyone -- and their business, too. There's no television. No phones. Only one way in and, for the locals, barely any way out. The sheriff is the law, the only doctor moonlights as the coroner, and outsiders rarely come to town.Murders are even rarer.A treacherous storm, a flat tire and a touch of serendipity causes Tessa Sullivan and her husband Jack to stumble upon the narrow strait that leads into Hamlet. It was supposed to be a one night stop until the rain let up and Jack could figure out how to fix the tire -- until Tess lands herself in the local jail cell overnight and Jack is found dead in their hotel room the next morning. There's no doubt it was murder, but with his gentle wife having an airtight alibi, the sheriff has to wonder: who had any cause to kill the outsider?And was he only the first victim?Dr. De Angelis doesn’t think so. Neither does Deputy Walsh. With Tess looking more and more like the killer’s next target, both men take the time to comfort and protect the young widow. But only one of them is sincere. The other just wants her to himself now that her husband is out of the way.Alone and afraid, who can she trust?

Bradley Farm: ...a legacy of love! (Bradley Farm Cozy Mystery Series Book 1)


Mary Jane Forbes - 2015
    Hidden secrets. It may just take a city girl to save the family farm… Jane dreams of marrying her high school sweetheart and raising a brood of kids on his beloved family farm. Despite her parents’ disapproval and her boyfriend’s draft card, she exchanges hurried vows before he ships off to Vietnam. Back on the farm, Jane must fight her own battle with a mother-in-law who frowns on her big city upbringing. Determined to prove she’s cut out for country living, the fiery redhead rolls up her sleeves to explore every inch of the family business. Beneath creaking floorboards and layers of dust, she unearths ghostly secrets… and a rising mountain of debt that threatens to tear her dreams for the future apart. To save the homestead, she schemes up a plan to bring the old farm into the modern age and out of the hands of the collectors. Under the shadow of unsolved mysteries and the critical eye of her mother-in-law, can she hold on to a home-sweet-home worthy of her heroic husband… if he ever returns at all?Bradley Farm is the first standalone romantic mystery in a sweeping family saga series. If you like touching tales of young love, strong-willed heroines, and rustic country backdrops, then you’ll love Mary Jane Forbes’ story of finding your way home. Buy Bradley Farm to sow the seeds of a heartwarming family history today!

Diamonds and Cole


Micheal Maxwell - 2013
    In the past, Cole a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, worked for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Time Magazine. Now, he’s returned to the paper where he started his career, The Chicago Sentinel. Instead of writing the big stories, he’s doing the work of a rookie reporter. His “big story of the day” is a cat caught in a tree. During its rescue, the cat’s owner takes her Good Samaritan neighbor hostage. Cole witnesses something so disturbing it reawakens the journalist’s desire to write again.Returning to the paper, Cole finds a desperate message asking for help from Ellie, one that got away. The one that has continually haunted his life. Cole drops everything and flies to California. He must find what would make her so desperate, she would call him after so many years. Cole finds her terminally ill, and abandoned by her husband. He discovers while Ellie was heavily medicated, she mistakenly signed a Power of Attorney. Now her estranged daughter Erin’s inheritance, won’t go to her, but her abusive step-father. Cole vows to find the girl and right the situation.The path to keeping his word is blocked at every turn by the husband who abandoned her, his shady real estate deals, violent con men, street thugs and the lure of a fortune in diamonds that unite them. The anger, sorrow, and crippling guilt of twenty years fires Cole's drive to keep a promise, that in the end, will heal and return the soul to the great journalist.Beaten, bloody but determined, Cole Sage conquers greed and hatred with a strength that only love, and a will as hard as diamond, can achieve.

Capital Murder


Rick Murcer - 2011
    Her partner, Manny Williams, had joined the FBI, and she was on her own with one of the most unusual murders in Michigan history.Michigan State Senator, Simon Young, had been found brutally mutilated in his office and no one had seen a thing, until the senator’s wife appeared at the murderscene covered in blood, denying her guilt. Was it all a lie or were there other forces at work? The deeper Sophie digs, the more the facts unravel into the realm of the improbable.Can she solve the puzzle before it’s too late? Find out.Rick Murcer is a New York Times and USA Today best-selling author with the critically acclaimed Caribbean Moon series featuring Manny Williams and Sophie Lee.

Safely Buried


John Pesta - 2011
    I had just come off I-65, and my high beams lit her up from behind. She was walking along the road between dark, endless cornfields, and her right leg was in a cast. She wore denim shorts and a yellow tank top that didn’t quite reach the shorts. Without crutches, she moved as fast as she could on the gravelly shoulder. She would take a long step with her good leg, stiffly swing the cast forward the same distance, and immediately start the next step. Tilting jerkily, she looked as if she would fall with every stride. I crossed the centerline to give her more room to fall. Just as I was about to pass her, she glanced over her shoulder and stuck out a thumb.When Phil Larrison picks up a hitchhiker, he gets more than he bargained for.

Russian Roulette


Mike Faricy - 2011
    OR SO DANGEROUS... PI Dev Haskell wakes up one morning in dire need of an asprin, a cup of coffee, and an hour in the sauna. It seems he's just spent a wild night with his beautiful bombshell of a client, Kerri, and she's left him a note. A smart and sly man who fancies himself just a little more savvy and debonair than reality confirms, Dev thinks he's got it made. But he has absolutely no idea what he's getting into when he agrees to track down Kerri's sister Nikki. Turns out both women are involved in an elaborate human trafficking ring with Braco the Whacko, a notorious Russian mobster, at the helm. Soon Dev finds himself at odds with local police, Homeland Security, and an FBI task force, as well as in and out of the hospital thanks to a gunshot wound and a bit of shrapnel in the rear, not to mention on the run from a neurotic underworld boss and a psychotic killer: it must be love... In a bizarre but compelling mixture of crime and offbeat comedy, Dev proceeds to messily balance both sides of the law in a wacky tale that will keep you on your toes while laughing out loud.

A Journal of Sin


Darryl Donaghue - 2014
    A troubled priest is brutally murdered, leaving behind a journal of the resident's confessional secrets; secrets certain people would prefer he took to the grave. As word spreads, the pressure rises as the eyes of the town watch her every move. With no forensic team, no support and a savage killer hiding in a turbulent town, is PC Sarah Gladstone up to the task?

The Shadow Box


Luanne Rice - 2021
    But her well-connected husband, Griffin—who is running for governor—is her prime suspect.Just before the attack, Claire was preparing for an exhibit of her shadow boxes, one of which clearly accuses Griffin of a violent crime committed twenty-five years ago. If the public were to find out who her husband is, his political career would be over. Claire’s certain her husband and his powerful supporters would kill her to stop the truth from getting out.When one of Claire’s acquaintances is murdered, the authorities suspect the homicide is linked to the attack on Claire. As the dual investigations unfold, Claire must decide how much she’s willing to lose to take down her husband and the corrupt group of elites who will do anything to protect Griffin’s interests and their own.

Every Reasonable Doubt


Pamela Samuels Young - 2006
    Their strained relationship, however, is the least of their problems. Their socialite client—charged with the brutal murder of her husband—is demanding an immediate dismissal of the case. But a ruthless prosecutor is determined to make sure that doesn't happen. Forced to fight a common enemy, the two women close ranks and, in the process, develop a bond that sees them through the uncertainties of trial, the pain of betrayal and pressures neither could have imagined.

Trigger Finger


Jackson Spencer Bell - 2014
    In the aftermath, he rockets from obscure lawyer to local hero overnight--a hero to everyone, that is, except for a strange man who calls in to a local talk radio show when Kevin appears as a guest. The caller, who won't reveal his name, has a message: Kevin is no hero. And his story about what happened isn't even close to accurate. Suddenly, Kevin finds himself thrust into the center of one violent crime after another, rising to the occasion and exceeding his wildest expectations each time. Strangely, though, none of his attackers carry any identification. And as his doubts drive him through his own investigation of what really happened that night, his crumbling reality sends him hurtling towards a face-to-face confrontation with the nameless caller—and the horrifying truth that won't let him hide.