Book picks similar to
Lallapaloosa by Rags Daniels


action
bold-indies
children
looks-like-crap

Black Lotus 2: The Vow


K'wan - 2020
    While working a nine-to-five proves to be less exciting than jet-setting around the world executing bad guys, it’s at least a lot safer. After so many years of searching, Kahllah has finally found peace--or so it seems.When a police officer is murdered and a familiar flower is left at the crime scene, all signs point to it being the work of the Black Lotus. Someone is trying to frame her! Things get even more complicated when the case is handed to Detective James Wolf, a former adversary who has since become a friend to Kahllah. The department’s most skilled tracker, Wolf’s orders are to bring in the Black Lotus, dead or alive.To clear her name, Kahllah is forced out of retirement and once again must don the mask of the Black Lotus. She races against time to catch the real killer while trying to outrun her most formidable rival. Their deadly game of hunter and prey leads to a shocking truth buried under a mountain of lies, as Kahllah attempts to find justice in a world devoid of light.

Bestiarii


James Tarr - 2018
    The U.S. has resorted to using private contractors—mercenaries—on a huge scale to prop up the failing Mexican army. One of the first things the guerrillas did at the start of the war was attack Pangaea, the famed animal park in remote northeast Mexico, a symbol of rampant capitalism. Officially all the creatures inside were killed. The truth is far different. For his estranged son Michael’s high school graduation present, hotel mogul Roger Rudd splurges on a secret and expensive hunting trip in Mexico, hoping it will bring them closer. They hitch a ride down from Texas on one of the contractors’ helicopters, which along the way picks up Tina Echevarria, a beautiful and feisty Mexican graduate student with a huge secret. When the helicopter crashes in the Sierra Madre Oriental mountains the combat-seasoned contractors, led by Irishman Seamus O’Malley, aren’t too worried…at first. Then it becomes obvious the helicopter didn’t crash, it was purposefully knocked out of the sky by an electromagnetic pulse—and the guerrillas are after one of their party. The disparate group begins a cross-country scramble trying to evade not just gunmen but the prolific and savage offspring of the artificially-created animals once filling Pangaea. Animals thought to be eradicated a generation before when Pangaea's walls were breached. Animals called theropods by park officials…but known to the rest of world as dinosaurs.

Fury in the Gulf


Peter Nealen - 2020
    But the Saudis are leaning on the Americans to prevent an overt response. Meanwhile, the clock is ticking for the hostages.Enter the mercenaries.John Brannigan retired from the Marine Corps, and isn’t all that happy about it. Now, with American lives in the balance, he’ll come back to the action, recruiting a small crew of men ready to stare death in the face.They’re alone, outnumbered, and outgunned.There’s no backup coming.Have they signed up for a mission, or a suicide run?

Key West Dead


Mark Nolan - 2021
    But when a mysterious killer begins targeting his friends, Jake vows to shut down the murderer's crime spree, even if it means settling the score through illegal vigilante justice.

Come Fly with Me


Gigi Sedlmayer - 2009
    She moved to Peru when she was five with Australian missionary and schoolteacher parents. Because Matica is trapped in the body of a two year old, her growth handicap has caused her to be rejected by the local people and they would not accept her into their community or allow her to play with the children. With patience and a sense of adventure Matica befriends a pair of condors. A strong bond and love develops between them. Matica rescues the egg the condors, Tamo and Tima, are trying to protect from poachers and nurtures it to hatching. The egg hatches on her 10th birthday and she names the new fledging Talon. Many adventures unfold, including her finally being accepted into the local community. And something totally unexpected... This is the beginning of many incredible adventures with Talon and Matica. It is a story of hope, determination and love.

Prisoner of Ice and Snow


Ruth Lauren - 2017
    Demidova’s prison for criminal children is exactly where she wants to be. Valor’s sister Sasha is already serving a life sentence for stealing from the royal family and Valor is going to help her escape . . . from the inside.Never mind that no one has escaped in three hundred years. Valor has a plan and resources most could only dream about. But she didn't count on having to outsmart both the guards and her fellow prisoners. If Valor’s plan is to succeed, she’ll need to make unlikely allies. And if the plan fails, she and Sasha could end up with fates worse than prison.

The Amun Chamber


Daniel Leston - 2010
    Believed irretrievably lost to all but legend, few dared dream the possibility that it might still exist . . .Until now! Guided by the discovery of an ancient artefact, a determined professor of archaeology and a beautiful New England heiress join forces in the quest of a lifetime. Overcoming treachery and deadly obstacles, they follow an ever-murderous trail that eventually leads them to a barren, desert valley containing a stunning secret -- one the modern world may not yet be prepared to accept.

The Alpha Billionaire In Love Trilogy: BBW Billionaire Romance


Alexa Wilder - 2016
    Over 1,000 pages of steamy, sexy, action-packed BBW billionaire romance! This is the second trilogy by Alexa and it includes The Stubborn Suitor, The Reckless Secret, and The Surprising Catch.THE STUBBORN SUITORCami Hendricks has a lot on her plate. She's a single mom, works full-time, and her ex is a nightmare. Plus, every time she sees her mother, Cami has to tolerate her jabs about her weight. As if all that wasn't enough, the first guy Cami thinks she might really like seems to be playing games with her. His hot and cold attitude is not what she needs, especially with her ex playing hardball for full custody of her daughter. Drew Sloane is torn - he can't get Cami out of his mind. Ever since he met her at a party, all he can think of is her beautiful face and her luscious body. But the timing couldn't be worse. Before he can dedicate himself to winning Cami, Drew has to untangle a delicate personal situation. Now that Cami has lost all trust in him, can he convince her that she's all he wants? THE RECKLESS SECRETWith his player past, will she ever be able to trust him? Maggie Emerson has had a crush on her brother's friend Declan for years. She knows he's not into girls like her - he's always surrounded by skinny model types. With her curvy body and a career choice that never made her wealthy family happy, Maggie is sure Declan will never fall for her. Except now that her job is in jeopardy, she has no one else to turn to... Declan Archibald knows he wants no one else but Maggie. He wasn't ready for her before, but now he can't get her out of his mind. He tried wooing her a few months ago, and it didn't work - Maggie just thought he was using her. So how can he convince her that his feelings for her are real? When he discovers she's in trouble, Declan jumps to help. Will her crisis bring them closer together or push them apart? Saving Maggie's job gets complicated, drawing dangerous secrets to the surface that threaten their already shaky bond. Maggie and Declan have plenty of chemistry, but can their growing love withstand so many obstacles?THE SURPRISING CATCHAshley Woodsen has sworn off all men. The love of her life walked out on their marriage over a year ago, for a slimmer, younger version of Ashley. She couldn't forget his hurtful parting words, and it was just easier to go it alone. So why does she feel her heart flutter and her insides tense every time someone mentions…him? Preston Alcott has always been a playboy. Wealthy, successful, and as alpha as they get, he’s never had a woman say no to him. So why is this gorgeous curvy nurse constantly turning him away? It seems like she’s looking for any excuse to keep from getting close to him. If Ashley’s reluctance to be with Preston wasn’t enough, fate puts them together in a small ski resort, cut off from the rest of the world by a blizzard…and surrounded by a few people who may have played part in a murder. As they try to unravel this mystery, they may just figure out what can finally bring them closer to each other. Preston is the only person Ashley knows she can trust here. Will she be willing to take a risk with her heart?

Running Out of Time


Margaret Peterson Haddix - 1995
    When diphtheria strikes the village and the children of Clifton start dying, Jessie's mother sends her on a dangerous mission to bring back help. But beyond the walls of Clifton, Jessie discovers a world even more alien and threatening than she could have imagined, and soon she finds her own life in jeopardy. Can she get help before the children of Clifton, and Jessie herself, run out of time?

Anaconda: The Writer's Cut


Hans Bauer - 2014
    ($4.99, 4.3 – 87 reviews, 365 pages). goo.gl/udfBuk. “It has been said that, among the continents, South America will teach it to you: God and the Devil are the same; this last great reservoir of primordial wilderness is at once both Garden of Eden and green sweltering Hell.” An epic adventure, Anaconda tells the story of twenty-something, middle-school biology teacher Andie Easter and six young colleagues who, in the dead of a Chicago winter, hatch a plan to spend their summer in Brazil, hoping to reverse their meager fortunes by joining a modern-day gold rush on a tributary of the mighty Amazon. Disoriented and increasingly isolated, the treasure hunters find themselves journeying though the remote domains of three colossal snakes: daughter, mother, grandmother. One by one, under terrifying circumstances, the teachers fall victim to the devastating effects of gold fever and the relentless brutality of the primeval South American jungle. Andie Easter must discover her inner Amazon as she struggles to survive the Mother of All Snakes.If you have a few moments to spare, your Amazon review will be greatly appreciated.

The Back Door Man


Dave Buschi - 2011
    Today. This morning. What cash you have in your wallet is it. ATMs and bank systems are down. You can’t get gas, groceries… Commerce has essentially come to a halt. Such is the backdrop of THE BACK DOOR MAN. Our society is computercentric. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn. We’re plugged in. Managing our finances online. Downloading apps for our iPhone. Reading the WSJ on our Kindle. There are things out there on the cutting edge we don’t even know we need to fear. THE BACK DOOR MAN takes us there. We see it through the eyes of James Kolinsky, a simple family man who works in information security. His day goes from bad to worse when he discovers that his greatest fear is his fault and what’s happened to him has happened to millions of others. He’s been set up. His family—make that the world—has been taken hostage. The next twenty-four hours we find out what James Kolinsky is really made of.

Innocent


Anne Cassidy - 2006
    Charlie blames their mum, for going off and leaving her and Brad and their Dad to fend for themselves. So when Brad is accused of killing a motorist with a well-aimed stone from a motorway bridge, Charlie is suspicious. It's just not Brad's style. When Charlie starts doing some investigating of her own she unearths a bigger, much worse secret, as well as discovering things about her brother, his best mate Denny, and her long-lost mother that turn her world upside down. In trying to prove her brother is not guilty, Charlie has lost her own innocence, for good...

Flash


Tim Tigner - 2013
    Aside from raging headaches and no idea what's happened, they appear to have nothing in common. Troy thinks it's 2001 and he's still a combat surgeon fighting terrorists in Afghanistan. Emmy believes it's 2002 and she's still grifting a living from the streets of L.A.Are they archenemies or coconspirators? Lovers or friends? What are they doing in the Caribbean, and why is a Croatian assassin determined to kill them? The only thing they know for certain is that they'll be spending the rest of their lives in prison if the police catch them before they learn the truth.

The Limit


Kristen Landon - 2010
    . . With this first sentence, readers are immediately thrust into a fast-paced thriller that doesn't let up for a moment. In a world not too far removed from our own, kids are being taken away to special workhouses if their families exceed the monthly debt limit imposed by the government. Thirteen-year-old Matt briefly wonders if he might be next, but quickly dismisses the thought. After all, his parents are financially responsible, unlike the parents of those other kids. As long as his parents remain within their limit, the government will be satisfied and leave them alone. But all it takes is one fatal visit to the store to push Matt’s family over their limit—and to change his reality forever. Kristen Landon's The Limit brings the popular dystopian thriller genre to a middle grade audience.

Click Here to Start


Denis Markell - 2016
    So when his great-uncle dies and bequeaths him the all so-called treasure in his overstuffed junk shop of an apartment, Ted explores it like it’s another level to beat. And to his shock, he finds that eccentric Great-Uncle Ted actually has set the place up like a real-life escape-the-room game!Using his specially honed skills, Ted sets off to win the greatest game he’s ever played, with help from his friends Caleb and Isabel. Together they discover that Uncle Ted’s “treasure” might be exactly that—real gold and jewels found by a Japanese American unit that served in World War II. With each puzzle Ted and his friends solve, they get closer to unraveling the mystery—but someone dangerous is hot on their heels, and he’s not about to let them get away with the fortune.