The Lords of Dûs


Lawrence Watt-Evans - 2002
    The answer sent him into a web of treachery, of ancient secrets and forbidden knowledge, and entangled him in matters far beyond his understanding, until he found himself face to face with the gods of destruction and death.

Fallout: A Sam Jameson Conspiracy Thriller (Sam Jameson Conspiracy Thriller Series Book 6)


Lars Emmerich - 2015
    Move over, Lee Child." "Lars Emmerich is right up there with Patterson, Baldacci, Forsyth, and DeMille." "Some of the best action and spy thriller fiction you will ever read." Special Agent Sam Jameson's friend and colleague was just murdered in Budapest. It falls to Sam to clean up the mess. Unsavory, but routine. Until she discovers she's being followed. And before she can make heads or tails of the situation, she's fighting for her life, alone and outgunned in a strange city. As Sam claws her way through a ruthless and brutal cabal, she discovers that she's up against one of the most dangerous conspiracies in history. Fallout is a transcontinental thrill ride full of twists, turns, and pulse-pounding suspense.

Cricket in the Road


Michael Anthony - 1973
    These stories are told with the freshness and directness one has come to expect of Michael Anthony.

They Shoot Horses, Don't They?


Horace McCoy - 1935
    The marathon dance craze flourished during the 1930s, but the underside was a competition and violence unknown to most ballrooms—a dark side that Horace McCoy's classic American novel powerfully captures."Were it not in its physical details so carefully documented, it would be lurid beyond itself." —Nation

Laura


Vera Caspary - 1942
    No man could resist her charms—not even the hardboiled NYPD detective sent to find out who turned her into a faceless corpse. As this tough cop probes the mystery of Laura's death, he becomes obsessed with her strange power. Soon he realizes he's been seduced by a dead woman—or has he? Laura won lasting renown as an Academy Award-nominated 1944 film, the greatest noir romance of all time. Vera Caspary's equally haunting novel is remarkable for its stylish, hardboiled writing, its electrifying plot twists, and its darkly complex characters—including a woman who stands as the ultimate femme fatale.

Nightmare Alley


William Lindsay Gresham - 1946
    Young Stan Carlisle is working as a carny, and he wonders how a man could fall so low. There’s no way in hell, he vows, that anything like that will ever happen to him.And since Stan is clever and ambitious and not without a useful streak of ruthlessness, soon enough he’s going places. Onstage he plays the mentalist with a cute assistant (before long his harried wife), then he graduates to full-blown spiritualist, catering to the needs of the rich and gullible in their well-upholstered homes. It looks like the world is Stan’s for the taking. At least for now.

To Kill a Mockingbird / The Agony and the Ecstasy / The Winter of Our Discontent / Fate Is the Hunter


Ernest K. Gann - 1961
    

The Postman Always Rings Twice


James M. Cain - 1934
    Cain's first novel - the subject of an obscenity trial in Boston and the inspiration for Camus's The Stranger - is the fever-pitched tale of a drifter who stumbles into a job, into an erotic obsession, and into a murder.

Dirtbags


Eryk Pruitt - 2014
    But Calvin Cantrell doesn’t care for those jobs anyway. Instead, he dreams of becoming a famous serial killer. When sleazy restauranteur Tom London hires Calvin to kill his ex-wife, Calvin’s dreams begin. And so do Lake Castor’s nightmares.

Elite


Joseph C. Anthony - 2014
    He had experienced a complete physical transformation in a remarkably short period of time. Just three weeks ago no one would have looked twice at someone like Daniel, but a revolutionary procedure had helped to transform him into something spectacular. He was now beyond human, he was better.He had once believed that the day Jordan moved to Chicago would be the greatest of his life, but it had proven otherwise. Daniel could not compete with Gordon Demers, one of Chicago’s wealthiest and most powerful up-and-comers. Demers had been the true reason for Jordan’s relocation, and all of his money and influence brought with it a physical attraction that Jordan could not resist – even if it meant breaking Daniel’s heart.Daniel had soon after lost his job, and with it his ability to remain in Chicago. He knew then that he had no choice but to accept the offer given to him by an ex-CIA agent and his eccentric partner. The experimental brain surgery he had to undergo held incredible risk – yes, but it had been his only option.The operation had been a success. Daniel was now capable of controlling every single function in his entire body, even those previously out of reach from his conscious mind. It was time for him to put Jordan aside. He was now working for the most elite personal security force on the planet, and would soon be hired to protect high profile individuals from the world’s deadliest assassins.First he would need to establish himself. He needed to train to become the top ranked agent at Elite Personal Security Force and prove himself to be the superior being the revolutionary procedure had turned him into. Anything less would be considered failure.

Fade Away / Back Spin (Myron Bolitar, #3-4)


Harlan Coben - 2010
    After a spell in the FBI he now runs his own business. Then Myron is approached to find Greg Downing. He knows Greg from old - they were once rivals, not just in sport, but for a woman they both loved. Now Greg has vanished, and the team boss wants Myron to find him, before news of his disappearance is leaked to the press. In Greg's house Myron finds blood in the basement - lots of it. And when he discovers the body of a woman, he begins to unravel the strange, violent world of a national hero gone wrong, as he comes face-to-face with a past he can't re-live, and a present he may not survive.Back SpinThe boy was born and raised on the Main Line. But he vanished on Philadelphia's mean streets - last seen in a down-town cheater's hotel. For sports agent Myron Bolitar, his client, superstar Linda Coldren, comes first, and that means unravelling the mystery of her son's kidnapping. But when Myron goes after the missing boy, he crashes through a crowd of low-lifes, blue bloods and liars on both sides of the social divide. And when family skeletons start coming out of the closet, Myron is about to find out how deadly life can get...

Bhoot, Bhavish, Bartaman


Mehool Parekh
    The usual suspects are arrested by the Police until an odd-ball amateur sleuth starts to investigate. Something about the murder does not sit right with him. To start with, the victim – Rupali, a regular housewife living in marital bliss. But is that the truth? Why would someone murder her and why did she meet such a gruesome end? Who, in reality, was she? Introducing Major Bartaman Bhowmick, Southern Command of the Indian Army. Peace-time army life and supportive seniors allow Major Bhowmick to indulge in his hobby and passion – crime detection. His sharp investigative talents are highly valued by his cousin, an ACP in Pune. Robin Chowdhury is a city crime reporter, whose combination of keen intellect, attractive looks and affinity for all things tech, makes her a great sidekick for the Major. This book is as much about Rupali’s astounding story as her murder and Major Bhowmick and Robin’s investigation into the murder with its surprising conclusion. About Author: A finance professional, Mehool has, over time, worked as a management consultant, equity research head and a fund manager. He ran a successful venture capital fund and is currently a private equity investor in growth companies. In between these, he has dabbled in film finance and production and owns a well-known media company. He lives in Mumbai with his family.

Pulp


Charles Bukowski - 1994
    Opening with the exotic Lady Death entering the gumshoe-writer's seedy office in pursuit of a writer named Celine, this novel demonstrates Bukowski's own brand of humour and realism, opening up a landscape of seamy Los Angeles.

Shaking the Tree (The Man with Three Names)


Michael Donohue - 2011
    Out of prison, but still on parole, the only thing he wants is to keep his head down, go to work and maybe grab a cold beer at the end of his shift. He doesn't even care that the program stuck him in Essex - a nice, but nowhere small town. With his head already full of bloody and painful memories, he'd like it just fine if his past and future stayed nice and quiet.Too bad the present just got really messy.A body in a tree. A missing briefcase. A Russian hit man. A DEA agent bent on revenge. A corrupt mayor. Not to mention a sheriff with dangerous ambition. A meth lab in the woods. And some pissed off bikers. Things are suddenly very interesting in sleepy Essex county. Bodies are turning up. Secrets are coming out. Questions are being asked. Fingers are being pointed. It's not good being the new guy in a small town.

Vicious


Brandon Massey - 2006
    . .The night is full of wild things...When Kym Phillips embarks on a road trip from Atlanta to Los Angeles to take her younger sister to college, she's anticipating an opportunity to bond with her sister and a chance to see the country. And as an accomplished, single professional with her thirtieth birthday only a week away and no marriage prospects in sight, Kym is looking forward to some quiet time to reflect on the frustrating course of her love life.Waiting for them...He roams the lonely highways and barren canyons of the Southwest. Leader of a pack of vicious minions, he hunts the night for travelers far from home... for prey.Deep into their journey, Kym realizes that someone is following them. Someone with an uncanny predator's instinct. Someone with a sick hunger for blood. Someone who, no matter what they do to escape, is utterly relentless...Explosive, lightning-paced, and impossible to put down, this is Brandon Massey at his thrilling best.