Bottled Abyss


Benjamin Kane Ethridge - 2012
    WHAT WERE THREE ARE NOW ONE, AND I AM FURY... Herman and Janet Erikson are going through a crisis of grief and suffering after losing their daughter in a hit and run. They've given up on each other, they've given up on themselves. They are living day by day. One afternoon, to make a horrible situation worse, their dog goes missing in the coyote-infested badlands behind their property. Herman, resolved in preventing another tragedy, goes to find the dog, completely unaware he's on a hike to the River Styx, which according to Greek myth was the border between the Living World and the world of the Dead. Long ago the gods died and the River dried up, but a bottle containing its waters still remains in the badlands. What Herman discovers about the dark power contained in those waters will change his life forever... "It happens from time to time...a book grabs you from the opening line and refuses to let you go. Benjamin Kane Ethridge's Bottled Abyss was one of those reads for me. Bottled Abyss is a stunningly sophisticated tale, both in its mythic scope and in its adroit handling of complex, emotional characters. Ethridge is a writer of rare emotional intelligence, developed far beyond his years, but with Bottled Abyss he has outdone even his own considerable promise. There are several writers out there, such as Laird Barron, John Langan and Lee Thomas, that have me chomping at the bit for their next release. Add to that shortlist Benjamin Kane Ethridge, for he has made me a fan for life!" -Joe McKinney, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Flesh Eaters and Dead City

The Last Billable Hour


Susan Wolfe - 1989
     T&S is a hot firm making a bid to be a major national player when Leo Slyde—the company’s chief rainmaker, its king of the “billable hour”—is found stabbed to death in his corner office. It falls to T&S’s brightest, most unjustifiably insecure young associate Howard Rickover to conduct a risky “inside job” for homicide detective Sarah Nelson. But can Howard flush out a wily murderer among lawyers who do not make it their practice to be caught unprepared—and still keep up with an associate’s impossible workload? "Susan Wolfe is at her best depicting—and spoofing—the glitzy law firm scene. A lawyer herself, she serves her damages with skill and obvious glee." —The New York Times Book Review "A world of captivating corruption...with a delicate blend of malice, suspense and sharp psychology, Wolfe winds up her story with a scene that explodes a number of myths." —San Francisco Chronicle

Black Cocktail


Jonathan Carroll - 1990
    Michael is the sort of friend whose funny tales and charm can pull you out of the lowest depths and make life good once more. Along comes Clinton Deix, a friend of Michael's, who tells Ingram that most of those stories are lies. It isn't long before Ingram doesn't know who to believe, and what most confuses and upsets him is that both say they are old school chums. But Michael is in his late thirties while Clinton is still fifteen...

The Cold Spot


Tom Piccirilli - 2008
    But when Jonah crosses the line and murders one of his own, Chase goes solo, stealing cars and pulling scores across the country….And then he meets Lila, a strong-willed deputy sheriff with a beguiling smile who shows him what love can be. Chase is on the straight and narrow for the first time in his life—until tragedy hits, and he must reenter the dark world of grifters and crooks. Now Chase is out for revenge—and he’ll have to turn to the one man he hates most in the world. Only Jonah can teach Chase how to become a stone-cold killer. But even as the two men work together, Chase knows that their unresolved past will eventually lead them to a showdown of their own.

Born to Kill: The Rise and Fall of America's Bloodiest Asian Gang


T.J. English - 1995
    The explosive story follows these brutal and heartless criminal terrorists as they penetrate and ravage the close-knit community of Chinatown, and the daring police work that was eventually able to bring them down. HC: William Morrow.

Buried


Robin Merrow MacCready - 2006
    In this psychological thriller--winner of the Edgar Award--Claudine, the daughter of an alcoholic mother, digs for a dark, buried truth.

The Caveman's Valentine


George Dawes Green - 1994
    He once was a devoted husband, father, and musician with a bright future. He now forages for food in the trash cans of the city's better neighborhoods and wages a strenuous one-man war against Cornelius Gould Stuyvesant, an evil -- and imaginary -- power broker who is responsible for society's ills, as well as the sinister Y- and Z-rays that are corrupting humankind. Then one wintry night, Rom finds a corpse at the mouth of his cave that rouses his well-defined sense of ethics and launches him on an obsessive quest for answers. Forced to reconnect with society, Rom leaves his world and journeys through a spiraling web of clues and hunches, straight into a sinister den of money, temptation, and murder--otherwise known as the "civilized" world.

Out of Sight


T.J. MacGregor - 2002
    As the day's light fades deep in the steamy Everglades, they find themselves in a deserted village built entirely on stilts, a place that seems stopped in time, where the air begins to hum and crackle, then explode with light. And when they recover, the Townsends make a terrifying discovery that puts their lives in deadly danger.

Bad Blood


Jonathan Maberry - 2014
    Now Trick knows that his blood is poison to the bloodsuckers, and he will stop at nothing to eradicate them. Collects issues #1-#5 of the Dark Horse original series.

The Breathing Method


John Escott - 1982
    The years pass but no one looks any older. One night a doctor tells the story of a young woman who gives birth to a baby in the most horrible way! Evil psychic powers, obsession and the supernatural in the most ordinary, everyday places. A spine-chiller from the master of horror.

State of Terror


Hillary Rodham Clinton - 2021
    A series of terrorist attacks throws the global order into disarray, and the secretary is tasked with assembling a team to unravel the deadly conspiracy, a scheme carefully designed to take advantage of an American government dangerously out of touch and out of power in the places where it counts the most.This high-stakes thriller of international intrigue features behind-the-scenes global drama informed by details only an insider could know.

Library of the Dead


Glenn Cooper - 2009
    Even worse, the police are mystified: the victims have nothing in common, defying all profiling, and all that connects them is that each received a sick postcard in the mail before they died - a postcard that announced their date of death. In desperation, the FBI assigns the case to maverick agent Will Piper, once the most accomplished serial killing expert in the bureau's history, now on a dissolute spiral to retirement. Battling his own demons, Will is soon drawn back into a world he both loves and hates, determined to catch the killer whatever it takes. But his search takes him in a direction he could never have predicted, uncovering a shocking secret that has been closely guarded for centuries. A secret that once lay buried in an underground library beneath an 8th Century monastery, but which has now been unearthed - with deadly consequences. A select few defend the secret of the library with their lives - and as Will closes in on the truth, they are determined to stop him, at any cost...Some crimes should never be solved; some secrets are best left buried.Secret of the Seventh Son is a debut thriller by Glenn Cooper about predestination and fate.

Zero


Eric Van Lustbader - 1988
    Until the tragic death of his father ignites the warrior spirit in his blood that will not be quenched until he uncovers the secret of his father's enigmatic life. His journey plunges him into a dangerous underworld, where he finds himself in lethal combat with a sinister Japanese organization that is bent on destroying the United States through global economic chaos. Doss is trapped. His only chance for survival is a final confrontation, face to face, with the vile assassin behind it all, Zero. "From the Paperback edition.

Careless Whispers


Carlton Stowers - 1986
    Yet only 52 days after the gruesome triple-murder was discovered, frustrated authorities suspended the case indefinitely. Patrol Sergeant Truman Simons, who had been called to the scene that night, saw the carnage first-hand -- and vowed to find the ferocious killer or killers. He soon became a man with a mission, risking his career and his family's safety in search of evidence. Plunging himself into a netherworld of violence and evil, Simons finally got close enough to a murderous ringleader to hear his careless whispers--and ultimately, put him and his three accomplices behind bars for the brutal slayings.Now, in his Edgar Award-winning account of the Lake Waco killings, acclaimed true crime writer Carlton Stowers lays bare the facts behind the tragic crimes, the twisted predators, and the heroic man who broke the investigation--with important updated information based on new developments in the case.

American Morons


Glen Hirshberg - 2006
    A woman chases the ghost of her neglectful father to a vanished amusement park at the end of the Long Beach pier. Two recently retired teachers learn just how much Los Angeles has taken from them.In these atmospheric, wide-ranging, surprisingly playful, and deeply mournful stories, grandkids and widows, ice cream-truck drivers and judges, travelers and invalids all discover -- and sometimes even survive -- the everyday losses from which the most vengeful ghosts so often spring.