Book picks similar to
Rising From the Ashes by Katy Pierce


calibre
good
mystery-crime
mystery-thriller

The Disappeared Girl


Martin J. Smith - 2014
     Two men stand out in a crowd overlooking the Ohio River. A plane is being taken from the water where it crashed decades before. Both men helped put it there. Jim Christensen’s daughter, Melissa, has been troubled of late. She has dreams that feel like memories, unsettling images percolate to the surface. She remembers a terrifying past, possibly her own, from a time before she was adopted by her father. Christensen’s work as an expert in memory makes him the ideal person to help unlock his daughter’s fragile grasp on her own history. But will he want to learn the truth of where Melissa came from? Who she was before? Who might still be looking for her? This dizzying novel of suspense takes the reader back into a dirty war and its human costs, into the fevered mind of one of its survivors, and through the crosshairs of a man desperate to keep his own history vanished.

Faerie Protective Services: An Urban Fantasy Thriller


Robert McKinney - 2020
    I'm a half-orc, a bodyguard, and a fair hand with a rifle. Back in the day, I fought in two wars. One was in uniform for good ole Uncle Sam. The other was under the banner of The Erlking - Iron Lord of goblins, half-bloods, and orcs.Being a vet two times over never bothered me until one hell of a job dragged me out of the mortal world, and back to the land of Faerie. Now I've got to get my client over the US-Mexico border before the next best thing to a fairy goddess finds, enslaves, and kills us - though maybe not in that order.Think I can make it past the elves, gunmen, and magical forces of nature standing in my way?

Red Tide


Peg Brantley - 2012
    It was Jamie Taylor and her dog’s job to uncover them. Trouble is, they dug up some new secrets as well. While some families would find closure, others would soon find their lives ripped apart.Assistant Special Agent in Charge Nicholas Grant becomes embroiled in the case while coming to terms with his own demons.A madman watches from the distance while officials expose his clandestine playground—his private playground—much sooner than he planned.But with any luck, not soon enough.

Three Great Novels: Perfect Husband / Other Daughter / Third Victim


Lisa Gardner - 2003
    Even locked up in a maximum security prison, he vowed he would come after her and make her pay. Now the cunning killer has escaped--and the most dangerous game of all begins.... After a lifetime of fear, Tess will do something she's never done before. She's going to learn to protect her daughter and fight back, with the help of a burned-out ex-marine. As the largest manhunt four states have ever seen mobilizes to catch Beckett, the clock winds down to the terrifying reunion between husband and wife. And Tess knows that this time, her only choices are to kill--or be killed. Lisa Gardner sold her first novel when she was 20 years old. In 1993 she graduated magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in international relations. She lives in Rhode Island, where she is at work on her next novel of suspense.

The Saladin Strategy


Norm Clark - 2011
    Survival from assassins and the discovery of a secret Jihadist plot unknown to our intelligence services forces Jack into an unsanctioned mission, which ultimately takes him to our nation’s capital. Details emerge and elevate the plot to the highest level. The Jihadist mission’s success will upset the global political balance and eliminate America’s influence in the Middle East with no support from her allies. Faced with an imperative to negate the threat, Jack deals with a dilemma. His opposition reaches high into the White House hierarchy and he trusts no one. Filled with twists and turns, Jack’s rogue mission races to a dramatic finale.

Worst Case (Charley Gallagher Mystery)


Jack Parker - 2014
    So he is completely unprepared for when he is assigned the case of a murdered high school gym teacher who was found beaten to death and wrapped up in a volleyball net. Encountering the likes of a compulsive overeater, a female gym teacher with an attitude, and an advice-giving dog, Charley's life gets a little crazy.

Terror Red


David Hunt - 2013
    Together with political consultant Christina Marchetti, he must take down a terrorist organization bent on hijacking planes, blowing up cities, and much more. Their pursuit of these heavily financed, ruthlessly trained killers hurls Gibson and Marchetti into a whirlwind of death and destruction. If they can't stop this murderous conspiracy, America could well be plunged into World War III. But can they stop them in time?

Treasure of the Mayan King


Alex Zabala - 2012
    Chauncy Rollock is an amiable archaeologist with just the right knack for solving logic problems. And the Mexican Military captain Gustavo De Leon is tired of fighting corruption at all levels of government. All three men and their families become entangled in the secret of the Mayan Riddle found on the steps of a newly discovered pyramid. Those who would use the treasure for personal gain are never far from their goal and must be stopped at all costs.The Yucatan will never be the same.Treasure of the Mayan King is a clean action-adventure novel that is safe and enjoyable for the whole family to read. “If you like Indiana Jones, you’ll love this book!”From the back cover:A violent tropical storm has uncovered a previously unknown Mayan pyramid in the Yucatan Peninsula. On the steps of this temple lies a riddle that leads to the hidden treasure of a great Mayan king. One man, the French linguist Dr. Sova, believes he knows the secrets of the riddle. But his efforts to find it are cut short and the information falls into the hands of unscrupulous people. The race is on to see who will be the first to find the treasure of the Mayan king!

Cyberstrike: London


James Barrington - 2020
    7/7/2005: Ben Morgan, a cybersecurity specialist with the Metropolitan police, starts another day at work. It will be the last normal day he ever has.The Present: In Hong Kong, a crime overlord is offered a deal by shadowy agents from Beijing: his life for a new kind of operation in London. Morgan, now a part of an off the books cyber-terrorism prevention unit, must do everything to stop its spread.This is a new kind of war: different goals, tactics, rules, stakes. And Morgan is caught right in the centre... A pulse-pounding thriller rooted in reality, perfect for fans of Frederick Forsyth, Andy McNab and James Deegan.

Kill Shot


Cameron Blake - 2017
    Caught between the past and the present, truth and lies, death or life, Abram must make a choice. Refuse and risk death; or assassinate the Prime Minister and embrace the darkness within. The veil between reality and fantasy quickly blurs as Abram is thrust into a world of espionage and murder, where terrorists are merely mercenaries for hire. Will killing the Prime Minister set him free of his past, or only serve to enslave him further to the very corruption he’s sworn to destroy?

Nothing Lost


John Gregory Dunne - 2004
    An illicit love affair with the potential to wreck lives. In his grandly inventive last novel, John Gregory Dunne orchestrated these elements into a symphony of American violence, chicanery, and sadness.In the aftermath of Edgar Parlance’s killing, the small prairie town of Regent becomes a destination for everyone from a sociopathic teenaged supermodel to an enigmatic attorney with secret familial links to the worlds of Hollywood and organized crime. Out of their manifold convergences, their jockeying for power, publicity or love, Nothing Lost creates a drama of magnificent scope and acidity.

Wormwood (Group Fifteen Files)


Mark Dawson - 2022
    Eloise Shepherd, one of MI6’s brightest rising stars, is working undercover in Soviet Russia as Magdalina Novikova. Her mission is to persuade nuclear physicist Stanislav Kalashnik to defect and bring his knowledge of Russian weapons back to the UK. On the verge of success, the operation fails suddenly and spectacularly.17 years later, Kalashnik is Chief Engineer at the power plant near Pripyat known as Chernobyl. His concerns for the safety of the plant are growing. When his views lead to accusations that question his patriotism, he finds himself in a very risky position.Meanwhile, back in London, Eloise Shepherd’s life and career are spinning out of control when she’s approached with a one-time offer to redeem herself. The mission: to get Kalashnik over Soviet borders once more. It’s an opportunity that could change everything and Eloise knows there’s no reward without risk. But she’s heading straight towards a danger far greater than she could ever have anticipated.

The Spy Killer (John Smith Book 1)


Jimmy Sangster - 2019
     "An exquisite series launch. A tight and often violent tale of intrigue. Spy fiction fans will revel in this dark, witty story." Publishers Weekly Ex-British spy John Smith is nearly broke, has bad teeth, is lousy in bed, and drinks too much. But he's no fool. He's a man who knows his own limitations and works within them. He blackmailed his way out of the secret service years ago and is barely making a living as a London private eye when his ex-wife comes calling and asks him to follow her philandering husband. But that sleazy, all-too-common job leads to some uncommon trouble...and Smith is thrown like a chunk of raw meat into a lion's den of international espionage, betrayal, and killing. His only hope of surviving is to outwit his clever and brutal adversaries at their own deadly game. "Very astutely plotted, with many surprising twists and a sharp bite" The New York Times "There's nothing ordinary about this adventure. It's big league intrigue." Kirkus Reviews "A deadly, cold, serious drama of counter-espionage." Atlanta Constitution "A witty spy story in the anti-James Bond tradition." The Cedar Falls Courier This novel was originally published under the title private I and was adapted into a feature film The Spy Killer starring Robert Horton, Jill St. John and Sebastian Cabot.

The Relic of the King


Bill Thompson - 2015
    Whatever it takes, there will be no sharing of the fame he’ll receive. Deep below a quaint street in London there’s a secret room. A sarcophagus has rested there for a thousand years. When an astonishing set of diaries is found, secrets lost for centuries are revealed. Even the journals themselves are amazing. They were written by a monarch whom history says never existed. Roberto Maas, a businessman who’s not what he appears to be, searches a medieval crypt for answers. You’d expect to find bodies in a crypt, but along with ancient corpses there are modern ones too. Roberto must be wary – his psychotic partner has dark secrets of his own. The mystery unravels and time begins to run out. Roberto Maas races to learn what the discoveries beneath the ancient city really mean.

Sad Wind from the Sea


Harry Patterson - 1959
    But things begin to look up when Hagen gets a lead on a bounty of gold, lying untouched at the bottom of a lagoon in the marshes of southern China. Unfortunately for Hagen, he's not the only one after the sunken treasure, and the race to the gold quickly escalates into a bloody struggle for survival on the treacherous waters of the South China Sea.