Book picks similar to
Rough Draft by James W. Hall


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They're Watching


Gregg Andrew Hurwitz - 2009
    They're Watching reminded me what it's like to be in the thrall of a great story: helpless until the end, loving every minute of it."--Lisa Unger, New York Times bestselling author of Die for You Patrick Davis is a man with troubles. First his Hollywood dreams crumble and then his storybook marriage hits a snag. Now, DVDs start being delivered to his house--DVDs which show that someone is watching him and his wife, that the two of them are being stalked and recorded by cameras hidden in their house. Then the e-mails start, and someone offers to fix everything, to take the mess his life has become and make it all right. Patrick figures it's the offer of a lifetime. But Patrick couldn't be more wrong. With every step he falls deeper into a web of intrigue that threatens everything he values in this world. Before he knows it, he's in and in deep--and his only escape is to outwit and outplay his unseen opponents at their own game.

Whistleblower


Tess Gerritsen - 1992
    Horrified by his broken body, Cathy rushes him to the hospital, praying for his survival.But, her nightmare had just begun. Because Victor is running for his life, and their shocking encounter has put Cathy in mortal danger. Victor has uncovered a terrifying secret - and the trail leads all the way to Washington, where powerful men will go to any lengths to silence him.Victor's story sounds like the ravings of a mad man, but the haunted look in his eyes-and the bullet hole in his shoulder-tell a different story. As each hour brings pursuers ever closer, Cathy has to wonder, is she giving her trust to a man in danger or trusting her life to a dangerous man?

The Midnight Club


James Patterson - 1989
    He's out to get Alexandre St-Germain, the most powerful member of the Midnight Club -- a secret international society of ruthless crime czars, all of whom are 'respectable' businessmen.And Stef's the ideal man for the job -- until he's levelled by a blast from St-Germain's shotgun and left for dead. Now, Stef is back, wheelchair-bound, yet sworn to destroy St-Germain.With the help of a beautiful journalist and a Harlem cop, Stef is determined to crack the Midnight Club. And he's up against odds that are as unknown as they are deadly!

Strip Tease


Carl Hiaasen - 1993
    Film simply can't catch the layers of humor, satire, and imagination that author Carl Hiaasen creates in each of his novels. When a deranged Florida congressman falls for a gorgeous but virtuous stripper, he dedicates himself to pursuing this tasselled princess. Not only is she a real beauty, she's a damsel in distress. The effects of his quest will ripple through the spotlights of the strip joint, the sugar cane fields of south Florida, and some powerful political careers. Fueled by innocent lust and dizzy miscalculations, this story will keep you howling with surprise. George Wilson's colorful narration is the perfect vehicle for Carl Hiaasen's twisted fairy tale.

Born to Be Wild


Catherine Coulter - 2006
    She's fun and lovable and has lots of crazy friends, most of whom hang out at her house in the Colony, the famous gated community in Malibu. Unfortunately, there is one bad thing to poleax her champagne life--someone is trying to kill her.You'll meet Mary Lisa's family in Goddard Bay, Oregon. She's blessed with her father, cursed with her mother, and betwixt and between with her two nutzoid sisters.And how about guys? There aren't any hotties in L.A. of interest to Mary Lisa, but in Goddard Bay--there are District Attorney John Goddard and Chief of Police Jack Wolf. And guess what? Even in the boondocks, bad stuff can happen.Mary Lisa's best friends, Lou Lou Bollinger_and Elizabeth Fargas, become embroiled in the baffling attempts on Mary Lisa's life in L.A., with unexpected results.I hope you laugh a lot with Born to Be Wild, root for Mary Lisa in all of her roles, and all in all, have a fine time with this book.

Killer Instinct


Joseph Finder - 2006
    He's a witty, charismatic guy who's well liked at the office, but he lacks the "killer instinct" necessary to move up the corporate ladder. To the chagrin of his ambitious wife, it looks as if his career has hit a ceiling. Jason's been sidelined.But all that will change one evening when Jason meets Kurt Semko, a former Special Forces officer just back from Iraq. Looking for a decent pitcher for the company softball team, Jason gets Kurt, who was once drafted by the majors, a job in Corporate Security. Soon, good things start to happen for Jason - and bad things start to happen to Jason's rivals. His career suddenly takes off. He's an overnight successOnly too late does Jason discover that his friend Kurt has been secretly paving his path to the top by the most "efficient" - and ruthless - means available. After all, Kurt says, "Business is war, right?"But when Jason tries to put a stop to it, he finds that his new best friend has become the most dangerous enemy imaginable. And now it's far more than just his career that lies in the balance.A riveting tale of ambition, intrigue, and the price of success, Killer Instinct is Joseph Finder at his best.

Wild Justice


Phillip Margolin - 2000
    After five subsequent New York Times bestsellers, Margolin now returns to the haunting terrain of Gone, but Not Forgotten with a mesmerizing tour de force of psychological suspense, an electrifying tale of revenge and retribution that shows a master storyteller at the very peak of his craft.Thursday: Subject is still combative after four days of applied pain, sleep deprivation and minimal food.Vice squad detective Bobby Vasquez, for months on the trail of a slippery underworld figure, receives an anonymous tip that directs him to a mountain cabin. He races through the idyllic Oregon woods, expecting to close the book on a long-standing vendetta. What he finds instead opens a Pandora's box of horror that will haunt him to his dying day.8:10: Subject bound and gaffed and placed in upstairs closet at end of hall. Turned out lights in house, drove off, then parked and doubled back. Watched from woods.Within hours, Vincent Cordoni -- a brilliant surgeon with a history of violence and drug abuse -- is arrested for a heinous crime. Facing a seemingly insurmountable wall of evidence, he turns to Portland's top criminal defense attorney, Frank Jaffe-who, along with his ambitious daughter, Amanda, must put on an inspired defense. Amanda's first taste of criminal defense work is as intoxicating as it is chilling, but it raises moral questions she's loath to address. Is she defending an innocent man? Or is she using her considerable skills to set a monster free? Then Cardoni disappears under bizarre circumstances. Four years later, a second set of murders has begun ....8:55: Subject exits house, naked and barefoot, armed with kitchen knife. Remarkable strength of character. Breaking her will be a challenge.Has Cardoni resurfaced to ply his deadly trade anew? Is there a copycat killer? Or has the real killer been someone else all along? The police will do everything they can to stop Cardoni -- but they have to find him first.Following a twisting trail of clues, including a harrowing diary that clinically records the killer's horrible deeds, Amanda Jaffe and Bobby Vasquez join the hunt-and themselves become targets of the twenty-first century's first genuinely monstrous psychopath.:

Blind Faith


C.J. Lyons - 2012
    But for Sarah Durandt the nightmare is just beginning... Sarah has just witnessed the execution of the man who confessed to killing her husband and son, among others. She leaves with no closure as the killer has refused her repeated requests to reveal the site of her family's graves. Sarah returns home to her small town of Hopewell in the Adirondacks Mountains and vows to search until she finds Sam and Josh.Her hunt leads her to a trail of lies and unearths a new killer. In a race to save everything she holds dear, Sarah is forced to place her faith in the man who betrayed her...her husband.

We'll Meet Again


Mary Higgins Clark - 1999
    When Julia is released from prison at the age of 36, the first item on her agenda is to settle the score with her former friend.

The Night Crew


John Sandford - 1997
    Small, dark-haired, shy but tough, a Wisconsin farm girl on the streets of Los Angeles, she roams the city with her small band of video free-lancers in their truck from ten to dawn, looking for news: accidents, robberies, murders, demonstrations — anything they can shoot and sell to the local stations or the networks. It's an exhilarating life . . . until the day two deaths shake their world.The first is the jumper. Five stories up, perched on the ledge of a hotel window, dark pants, white shirt, just standing there — and then he's gone, falling through the air towards the cameras. The second is Jason, one of Anna's cameramen. Strangely affected by the jumper, he quits the scene early that night, not to be seen again until his body turns up on the beach several hours later, shot in the head. The police wonder if it's drug-related, but Anna isn't so sure, and the more she looks into it on her own, the more the ghosts of the past — hers, Jason's, and finally the jumper's — begin to emerge, until her whole world turns as dark and dangerous as the night itself.

No One to Trust


Iris Johansen - 2002
    And he has the means to get whatever he wants. And what Rico Chavez wants most is Elena Kyler--and he wants her dead. Trained as an assassin, Elena didn’t need anyone to survive. But now she finds herself on the run from one dangerous man and turning for help to another.Sean Galen was a man without illusions. He knew it was only desperation that caused Elena to accept his help--a mother’s desperation to save her young son from a psychopath father who would raise their son in his own chilling image. And yet he was determined to get this woman who had never been able to trust anyone or anything in her whole life to accept him as her ally. But both Galen and Elena know that Chavez’s power and wealth mean there is no place they can be safe and no one they can trust--not even each other. Already Chavez’s assassins and connections to those in the highest positions of power have turned this into a war with no rules. With two shocking acts of brutal violence, Chavez shows he will stop at nothing and that nothing will stop him. Soon a trail of horrifying murders will follow Galen and Elena across country to a last stand and a shattering showdown. For Chavez is a master of control and he wants more than just to take Elena’s life. He wants her alive long enough to see him destroy every reason she has for living. He wants her to turn against everything and everyone she ever believed in. He wants her to commit the ultimate act of betrayal. And by the time he is through, he wants her to beg him to take the only thing she’ll have left to give: her life.

Standoff


Sandra Brown - 2000
    Tiel calls her editor and learns that Sara was "kidnapped" by her boyfriend Ronnie and is pregnant. Tiel is at a gas station store when an armed couple robs the cashier and orders all the customers to the floor. The girl goes into labor and Tiel realizes that she has a huge story on her hands. A tense standoff begins as the FBI and Russell Dendy wait outside. Tiel learns that Sabra and Ronnie are more afraid of her father-who plans to put the baby up for adoption-than of the FBI and would rather die together than surrender and be kept apart. Now it is more than just a story to Tiel as she fights to prevent these two kids from becoming a tragedy.

Black Out


Lisa Unger - 2008
    Her husband, Gray, loves her fiercely; together, they dote on their beautiful young daughter, Victory. But the bubble surrounding Annie is pricked when she senses that the demons of her past have resurfaced and, to her horror, are now creeping up on her. These are demons she can't fully recall because of a highly dissociative state that allowed her to forget. Disturbing events trigger strange and confusing memories for Annie, who realizes she has to quickly piece them together before her past comes to claim her future . . . and her daughter.

Panic


Jeff Abbott - 2005
    He arrives to find her brutally murdered body on the kitchen floor and a hitman lying in wait for him.It is then he realises his whole life has been a lie. His parents are not who he thought they were, his girlfriend is not who thought she was, his entire existence has been an ingeniously constructed sham. And now that he knows it, he is in terrible danger. Evan's only hope for survival is to discover the truth behind his past.

Superstition


Karen Robards - 2001
    But during the broadcast a woman is murdered - in exactly the same way as Tara was all those years ago.As an attraction grows between Nicky and enigmatic police chief, Joe Franconi, another identical murder occurs. Only, this time there's a note...Is the original killer back to claim three more lives? If so, could Nicky be the next victim?