Worse Than Being Alone


Patricia M. Clark - 2012
    Kitty and Roni are building their fledgling investigative agency by following workers' comp cheats. Every PI's dream of catching real criminals seems to be coming true when they begin to suspect one of their targets is engaged in more nefarious activities than just a bogus comp claim. Their cat and mouse game gets twisted when they realize they are the ones being stalked. A personal and potentially lethal inquiry emerges after Roni's father marries a woman with a checkered past, and they fear he has found his Worse Than Being Alone. When their investigation points to a shady past involving a trail of life insurance payouts and dead husbands, they wonder if Dad has married a Black Widow or an extremely unlucky woman. As that case boils over, along comes the most talented con artist of them all. After his angry employer hires them to check him out, Kitty and Roni slowly come to realize he has the makings of a master criminal. They uncover numerous identities along with multiple workers' comp claims. Then here are his almost daily trips to the same bank wearing different disguises.Surprises abound as Kitty and Roni break up a sex slave ring, thwart a bank robbery, nab a shoplifter, and document a Black Widow's treachery. A sudden death leaves them stunned as they second-guess their activities, forcing them to confront a murderer.

The Trials of Max Q


Derek Ciccone - 2011
    But when his world came crashing down, Jack left the big city and his family's powerful firm, to seek solace in a small village of Cooperstown, New York. There, he re-discovered his love of the law.But the peaceful village is shattered when a body is found on the estate of the county's most famous resident, and American hero, Drew Anderson. A man considered to be so perfect that he is nicknamed Max Q after the benchmark for systems perfection during a space launch.. And it isn't just anybody who is found dead—the victim is widely considered to be one of the world's most infamous women.When Anderson is arrested for the murder, Jack ends up with the case that everyone wants to “go away,” and some are willing to go to the deadly lengths to make sure it does. Against all odds, Jack and his partner, Jessica Shepherdson, must risk their reputations, their careers, and eventually their lives, in an explosive race for the truth.

DELIVERANCE (The Territories Trilogy, #1)


COLE JACKSON - 2015
    However, that’s when the proverbial shit hits the fan. Hunted by an armed and dangerous people trafficking ring, it will take all of Marshall’s training and more to get out alive.Packed with fast-paced action, you will love this gripping suspense thriller!

The Dog Who Ate The Airplane (Adam & Bagel, #1)


Edward Coburn - 2012
    Forced back to the United States by the resurgence of his mother's cancer, he decided to take a job as columnist for the Tweet; the newspaper purchased by his long-time friend Larry Archibald in the small West Virginia town of Canary Corners. He moved into the Canary House, an apartment house reputed to have resident ghosts. His next door neighbor Livinia Blossom told him the story of Canary House and introduced him to her grandniece, Marti, who quickly became his semi-constant companion. What Adam didn't realize was how soon his investigative and finder skills would be called into play to solve a murder. He was also unaware of how much assistance his dog Bagel, and the clues he provided, would be during the investigation.Authors note: This book series will never have any curse words (not one), any overt sex (the most is the occasional smile, wink and maybe slight innuendo), or overt bloodshed (someone is always murdered, but, as the reader, you only find out after the fact. You will not be a witness to the murder).Mine are "Gentle" books that a young person can read and pass to a parent without embarrassment or a parent can read the book first and then pass it to a young person.

National Security


Marc Cameron - 2011
    A public landmark. A suburban shopping mall. And now, the human body itself. Three Middle Eastern terrorists have been injected with a biological weapon, human time bombs unleashed on American soil. They are prepared to die. To spread their disease. To annihilate millions. If America hopes to fight this enemy from within, we need a new kind of weapon. Meet Special Agent Jericho Quinn. Air Force veteran. Champion boxer. Trained assassin. Hand-picked for a new global task force that, officially, does not exist, Quinn answers only to the Director of National Intelligence and the U.S. President himself.His methods are as simple, and as brutal, as his codename.

The October Five


Thomas Fincham - 2009
    The man is found strangled in his bed.Unknown to him, five individuals frequently meet in a room. They have been meeting for decades.During the course of the investigation another man is found murdered. This time the victim's throat has been slashed.Is there a link between the two victims? Can Whaler solve the cases before there are any more murders?THE OCTOBER FIVE is a spiraling page-turner that examines friendship, loyalty, and justice.

The Names of the Dead


Kevin Wignall - 2020
    Now he's out - for revenge.Former CIA officer James 'Wes' Wesley paid the ultimate price for his patriotism when he was locked up in a French jail for an anti-terror operation gone wrong - abandoned by the Agency he served, shunned by his colleagues and friends, cut off from his family.Now he is shattered by the news that his ex-wife, Rachel, a State Department analyst, has been killed in a terrorist attack in Spain. He also discovers that his young son, Ethan, is missing. But Wes didn't know he had a son - until now.Why was Rachel in Spain? And why did she keep his son secret from him?Granted early release, Wes takes flight across Europe to search for the truth and exact his revenge. But can he catch the spies who betrayed him before they track him down? In order to find the answers and save his son, Wes realises he must confront the dark secrets in his own past - before it's too late.

The Calling


Cheryl Shireman - 2012
    Cooper is the last person one might expect to experience such a conversion, and no one is more skeptical of this sudden turn of events than Cooper’s wife, Sally.Cooper has not only found God, he has also decided to build a church. He faces a few obstacles. He has never read the Bible, he has no money, and he has a well-deserved reputation as a slacker. Throw in a couple of scheming women who aren’t ready to give up sleeping with Cooper, a jealous husband with a grudge, and things begin to get complicated.Filled with a cast of characters you are sure to love (and hate!), Cooper Moon: The Calling is a story of love, faith, determination, dreams, sin, lust, hope, revenge, and despair – just like real life. The novel is the first of the four-book Cooper Moon series.Read the book that Kirkus Review describes as "At its core, this is a story about class, karma and ordinary people trying to accomplish difficult goals that require extraordinary strength of body, mind and spirit...a strong, engaging voice ...A satisfying, feel-good novel about human shortcomings, perseverance and serendipity."

The Search


William Casey Moreton - 2011
    His world suddenly upside-down, he embarks on a desperate search for answers as the official rescue effort begins. As he races to find his wife, John is pursued by a cold-blooded killer when he becomes entangled in a scheme to steal millions of dollars from a New York Mafia boss. In the rush of action as the search intensifies, John’s life becomes a high-stakes guessing game of learning who to trust and who to fear.

The Photograph (Eastbrook 1)


Kristen Otte - 2014
    All Rachel knows is that her mother disappeared around the time her father was killed in action in the Gulf War a few months after she was born.Her discovery of the photograph sends Rachel on a search for her mother against her grandparents’ wishes and propels her life into a tailspin. She never imagines her search will reveal a series of lies that jeopardizes every important relationship in her life and ultimately lead Rachel to question her identity.Recommended for teens ages 12-16.

NanoStrike


Pete Barber - 2012
    First responder, Detective Chief Inspector Quinnborne, defies orders and hunts for the weapon’s unhinged genius creator. The authorities label Quinnborne a traitor, but when the nanotechnology spirals out of control, his grit and bloody-minded determination become humankind’s last thin hope of surviving a weapon of mass destruction that can be deployed at will and against which there is no defense.

Cooch


Robert Cook - 2010
    His father is a wheel-chair bound former Marine and Medal of Honor winner who gives Alex advice as to how to survive in a violent world. His mother is the daughter of a Bedouin sheikh who sends a young Alex off, during his summer breaks, to experience the Bedouin life. The combination of a very young start in learning the art and craft of violence, combined with a thirst for knowledge combine to help him to become both a noted designer and user of explosives and an expert in Islamic affairs. Violent, yet thoughtful, Cooch represents the best in fast-moving, popular thrillers.

Kiss the Girls


Pete Brassett - 2014
    And although he quickly builds up a semblance of normality around himself, his underlying inability to cope with the trauma of battle finally triggers a series of violent events that will become another man’s life-long obsession to reveal.

The Secret of Lions


Scott Blade - 2013
    Often they were burned in public, lost in mountainous torrents of fire.One painting survived the flames.One painting held a fatal secretBarbara Howard was a young American art student; who studied in London. She was obsessed over discovering the unknown identity of the artist who painted the mysterious painting called THE SECRET OF LIONS.Barbara was determined to do what scholars had failed to do, uncover the story behind the painting.She investigated and discovered Evan, a secretive groundskeeper, working behind the scenes on a chilly London campus. Embarking on a passionate affair with Evan, Barbara learned the secret behind the painting. It became a secret that she could never escape.The story that Barbara uncovered would change her life forever.

Deadly Straits


R.E. McDermott - 2011
    Griffin, R.E. McDermott delivers a thriller to rival the masters.When marine engineer and very part-time spook Tom Dugan becomes collateral damage in the War on Terror, he's not about to take it lying down.Falsely implicated in a hijacking, he's offered a chance to clear himself by helping the CIA snare their real prey, Dugan's best friend, London ship owner Alex Kairouz. Reluctantly, Dugan agrees to go undercover in Alex's company, despite doubts about his friend's guilt. Once undercover, Dugan's steadfast refusal to accept Alex's guilt puts him at odds not only with his CIA superiors, but also with a beautiful British agent with whom he's romantically involved.When a tanker is found adrift near Singapore with a dead crew, and another explodes in Panama as Alex lies near death after a suspicious suicide attempt, Dugan is framed for the attacks. Out of options, and convinced the attacks are prelude to an even more devastating assault, Dugan eludes capture to follow his last lead to Russia, only to be shanghaied as an 'advisor' to a Russian Spetsnaz unit on a suicide mission.Deadly Straits is a non-stop thrill ride, from London streets, to the dry docks of Singapore, to the decks of the tankers that slake the world's thirst for oil, with stops along the way in Panama, Langley, Virginia, and Teheran. Richly spiced with detail from the author's 30 years sailing, building, and repairing ships worldwide, it is, in the words of one reviewer, "fast-paced, multilayered and gripping."