Book picks similar to
Toe to Toe by Deborah Leblanc
fiction
book-club
contemporary
all-time-favs
Median Gray
Bill Mesce Jr. - 2020
Adam Plantinga, author of 400 Things Cops Know and Police Craft. At a time when New York’s mean streets were their meanest, one NYPD detective at the end of his career takes one last chance to correct a 20-year-old injustice, and another cop at the beginning of his career tries to stop him before a police department already scarred by corruption investigations takes another hit.
The Red Hand
Michael Stephen Daigle - 2019
Could a serial killer be stalking his hometown of Ironton, N.J.?One by one the bodies pile up. Nine victims are killed over several months, all from different walks of life and different parts of Ironton. Each killed in a different way, forming no clear pattern, as might be expected from a single killer.The Red Hand is the prequel to The Swamps of Jersey, the book that launched the Frank Nagler Mysteries. This investigation takes place before economic hard times, political corruption and a government money scandal hit the former industrial center of Ironton, N.J.This story is atmospheric, moody, dark and thrilling.
Alexander Crowley - A New King in Town
Don Barr - 2018
Starring Alexander Crowley a smart arsed shoot from the hip trickster (Supposedly the bastard Great Grandson of Aleister Crowley the 20th Century Occultist) who is on the run from his recent escapades. He decides to lay low in a holiday home borrowed from a dubious benefactor and his swashbuckling adventures throughout the summer draw on supernatural foundations and circumstances that are well researched and contain a modicum of reality. From the minute he enters the town our hero is pitched at odds with the local mobsters, demons and deities. There is an intriguing and exciting cast of supporting characters who are a delight; Booby De-Faux - a needy “Sidekick” The Spirit Saint who acts as “Minder” supported by her mysterious cat “The Black Manilishi” A Vampire assassin and a Killer King are also along for the ride and even romance is on the cards as our character, a renowned and successful womaniser seems this time to be looking for a meaningful relationship amongst all the chaos. Strap in!
Extreme
Joan Gelfand - 2020
When Hope joins FearToShred, a Silicon Valley extreme gaming startup, Hope's mission is to groom the scrappy company for prime time. Enter Doug Wiser, her very married ex. While the two work in tandem, nefarious forces are at work behind the scenes. Adding to the excitement of this thriller are the stars and heroes of surfing and skateboarding. With a keen eye on women in tech, business ethics and dangerous stunts, "Extreme" will leave you breathless.Winner of the Cervena Barva and Chaffin Fiction Awards, Joan's work has appeared in The Huffington Post, Vanity Fair, Rattle, Pank! The Meridien Anthology of Contemporary Poetry, The Los Angeles Review of Books, Chicken Soup for the Soul and over 200 literary journals, blogs and magazines.A member of the National Book Critics Circle, Joan has worked for California Poets in the Schools, Poetry Out Loud, Chiat/Day Advertising and other Bay Area companies. She currently coaches writers and teaches in the San Francisco Bay Area.
The Fall of the Phoenix
Daniel Kelly - 2018
Seldom, however, will they have been narrated with such close attention to the minute particulars of battle, to its reek and terror and pain, as in this startling account by Daniel Kelly. Kelly looks minutely at every detail of archaic combat, as well as at the lives and feelings shaped by it. His Troy is not only a scene of shining glory, but also a grimy struggle for survival and mastery. And he introduces surprising questions: what if not everything in the Trojan war came to pass just as Homer tells us? What if the future of the Roman empire were hidden in the burning ashes of Troy's - and not in the way we might expect?
The Threat Below
Jason Latshaw - 2015
Now, a small remnant – the descendants of the few survivors who were able to escape the massacre below – lives above the clouds, on the top of a Mountain. When they discover that their water supply is being poisoned Down Below, an expedition, including seventeen year-old girl Icelyn Brathius, must descend and face the monsters, the Threat Below, that wiped out civilization centuries ago. Icelyn quickly learns that all is not what it seems as she uncovers secrets hundreds of years old and struggles to stay alive in a world where no human is fit to survive.
Genesis
Miranda Nading - 2015
Max Dumerick has spent his life doing the dirty work of the highest bidder. When his last job awakens his reluctant conscience, he finds himself teaming up with an unlikely duo to try to stop a would-be god. When Melanie Edwards realizes she is being hunted, her desire to protect her family forces her to make hard choices… ones that will lead her into the belly of the beast. Abandoned by the woman he loves and left with nothing but infrequent, cryptic messages, Ryan Edwards stumbles across evidence of the coming apocalypse... and must make a choice between warning the world and protecting his daughter.
Surviving Chaos: How I Found Peace at A Beach Bar
Harold Phifer - 2021
No one knew about his past growing up with a mother who suffered from mental illness; a greedy aunt; a mindless and spoiled older brother; an absent father.It wasn't until an explosion in Afghanistan that his memory was blasted back into focus. This book is the result of a long, cathartic chat with a stranger at a beach bar, where Harold finally found some peace.
Floating in Darkness - A Journey of Evolution
Ron Garan - 2021
An adventure that illuminates a path toward understanding the meaning of life and our place in the universe.-Humanity faces an unprecedented crisis that threatens all life on Earth. Desert Storm fighter pilot and NASA astronaut Ron Garan addresses this head-on in Floatingin Darkness: A Journey of Evolution, the follow-up to his critically acclaimed first book, The Orbital Perspective: Lessons in Seeing the Big Picture from a Journey of 71 Million Miles.-Ron takes us on an extraordinary journey through outer space and inner space. He explores the dancing, intersecting orbits of religion, spirituality, and science while grappling with his own role in the violence of combat and the effects of war on all aspects of human life. We witness Ron struggling with mortality while also basking in the sheer wonder and beauty of our world and beyond. From this perspective, Ron maps out a viable path forward—to solve our crisis, we need a giant leap in humanity’s evolutionary process. We must transcend individual and collective ego and embrace the true nature of our interdependence with this fragile planet and all life within its biosphere. -Ron shows us how to discover our purpose, detoxify our divisive culture, and become a “white blood cell” in a growing immune response to heal our world.-Floating in Darkness is a blueprint to build a restorative and positive future for all.
Mistress Suffragette
Diana Forbes - 2017
Over a series of encounters, he promises Penelope the financial security she craves, but at what cost? Skilled in the art of flirtation, Edgar is not without his charms, and Penelope is attracted to him against her better judgment. Initially, as Penelope grows into her own in the burgeoning early Women’s Suffrage Movement, Edgar exerts pressure, promising to use his power and access to help her advance. But can he be trusted, or are his words part of an elaborate mind game played between him and his wife? During a glittering age where a woman’s reputation is her most valuable possession, Penelope must decide whether to compromise her principles for love, lust, and the allure of an easier life.
The Octunnumi Fosbit Files Prologue
Trevor Alan Foris - 2020
Equally, there are no secret access points to these hidden worlds that don’t exist, and there is no, 'unfinished business from the past' that is set to destroy, well, anything. There is no disaster looming.Anyway, regardless of any potential threat that may or may not be present, this publication, The Octunnumi and any reference to any other beings is a work of fiction.And for the record, Scariodintts, should they exist, are perfectly lovely beings whose purpose in life is grossly misunderstood.
The Awakening: Fate in Motion
Suzanne Boisvert - 2018
Manipulating the dark side of humanity and controlling many government leaders. he has now found the way back in. But, what does he really want? When Lanie Montrose ascended to the top of the music charts she felt an even deeper void within. Just when she began to feel free from the shackles of fame, she finds herself locked in a strange hospital with no idea of how she got there. Hidden memories emerge of an age-old foe from a distant world overwhelming her with more questions about her past and fate. Dr. Suki Carter has never been able to settle the desire to protect her lost and lonely patient, Lanie. Then, one touch of her grandfather’s clock opened a new consciousness. Lanie is not who she says she is and there is something otherworldly about that eerie clock. On the East Coast, a secret journal is found with bizarre entries reminding CIA agent James Sinclair of the unbelievable conspiracy stories from his estranged mother. Alien Beginnings…The shadow government... Now, his sceptic mind needs answers. Critical clues have been scattered, woven into the fabric of our history and genetic code. Powerful gifts are strategically hidden inside of us all. Our protectors have prepared for this moment. The Awakening has begun… Sar is close… Our fate is in motion.
The Candidate and other stories
Samuel R. George - 2019
He never expected an afterlife, and the fabled abode is nothing like the fable, which never mentioned a salmon with human arms and legs, or a flying saucer captained by lizard man.In “Harold,” you’ll meet a homunculus who is certain he is a one of a kind, a freak of nature. Imagine his surprise when he discovers an island populated by thousands of his kind. There he finds adventure, love, and danger. He must face thugs his size, sinister large people, a dangerous house cat, and a plethora of perplexing situations.Irresolute poets find their plush postmortem refuge is anything but when it soon becomes a type of Hell in “Between Life and Oblivion.”Discover the true story of Helen, the famous face that launched a thousand ships, in the tale “A More Likely Odyssey.”Within these pages you’ll be taken on journeys beyond imagining. You’ll meet characters and explore familiar worlds through different eyes. Look beyond the hedge…
Chasing the Red Queen
Karen Glista - 2018
Forced not only to move to a strange city, but to share a room with her glamorous, new stepsister, Makayla Hampton, her life spirals out of control. Makayla lures her from goth to glam, straight into an exclusive club, not only for wealthy elites but Immortal Descendants. Donja crosses paths with Torin Mancini and he’s too damn handsome to be real. Torin, who has concealed his identity as a powerful ancient sprit for eight hundred years, sets his eyes on Donja; there’s something about her blood, something he can’t walk away from. He’s not alone. A deadly predator has picked up her scent. Stalked, she reaches out to Torin, but the lure of her blood has him on edge. As Torin battles his heart desires and feelings he thought buried and gone, one thing is clear: they have as much, if not more to fear of each other than the predator who would have her life. Is love enough? Can she accept him for what he is and better yet, can he control his hungry, hungry eyes? A beautiful love story with relentless action, elite battles and steamy moments… unforgettable!
Teenagers War: Vietnam 1969
Michael Zboray - 2019
The buses pull out of the holding station every hour. They are headed for Travis Air force base just north of the city, filled with a seemingly endless supply of young men who are themselves filled with doubts and fears. Of course, the doubt and fear is not allowed out in the open. It is instead tucked neatly away in a very private place. A place it can hide and grow, like a virus, as the journey continues.