Russell Wiley Is Out to Lunch


Richard Hine - 2010
    A media executive for the failing Daily Business Chronicle, his career is teetering on the brink of collapse, and his sexless marriage is fast approaching its expiration date. With his professional and personal lives floundering, it’s no wonder Russell is distracted, unhappy, and losing faith in himself. Making matters worse are his scheming boss, a hot-shot new consultant determined to see Russell ousted, and the beguiling colleague whose mere presence has a disconcerting effect on Russell’s starved libido. Disaster seems imminent…and that’s before he makes a careless mistake that could cost the paper millions. Russell realizes he must take drastic action if he is going to salvage his career, his love life, and what little remains of his self-respect. Sardonic, edgy, and true to life, this gripping novel offers an insider’s view into a newspaper's inner sanctum and the people who oil the wheels of the "old media" machine.

The Body in the Boot


Patrick C. Walsh - 2015
    Now a private detective and, after bereavement and pain, he doubts himself and is no longer sure if he has the will or the energy to make a success of his new career. His first case comes by chance as a mother’s grief sends him into a town’s red light district to find out how her daughter died. Mac soon finds himself working with a team of local police detectives who are hot on the trail of a cold-blooded serial killer. Mac has to dig deep and rediscover all his talents in order to solve the case of The Body in the Boot. ALSO AVAILABLE - THE DEAD SQUIRREL - The second Mac Maguire mystery. THE WEEPING WOMEN - The third Mac Maguire mystery

The Brothers Three


Layton Green - 2017
    A fantasy addict and apprentice contractor in New Orleans, struggling to make ends meet, he has long wished for an escape from the real world.Late one night, he and his brothers receive a surprise inheritance: a staff with a mysterious stone on top, a pair of rogue's bracers, and a sword that Will can barely lift. A man with strange powers shows up to take the sword, and the three brothers barely escape with their lives. Searching for an explanation, it is not until a magical key whisks them across time and space, into a terrifying version of New Orleans ruled by wizards, that Will accepts the truth about his family's past.It seems Will Blackwood has found his adventure. But this isn't one of his fantasy novels, or a gaming campaign with friends. In his father's world, magic and monsters are real. Choices are life and death. And they have no idea how to get home . . ."An extraordinary new series" - Book Reader's HeavenO.D. Book Reviews says: "Action packed and exciting . . . reading this book has left me wanting to go on a fantasy bender.""So far in this year of books this is my absolute favorite. Not a moment of boredom." - Reading in Ecuador"I love this book!" - Book Room Reviews"One of the best fantasy quest books that I have read in a long time" - Blood Rose Books"A fantasy geek's dream come true . . . I love Green's writing and his ability to sweep me completely into a story."- Girl Who Reads Book Blog"I do believe Layton Green has moved into my top 5 author category - not an easy feat to attain!" - A Novel Source"Layton Green is an absolutely brilliant writer" - Everything to Do With Books

The Devil's Madonna


Sharon Potts - 2012
    But the impact on her grandmother and the answers that Kali gets are anything but what she expected. Kali’s questions intensify the profound paranoia that has dominated her grandmother’s adult life -- that someone from the past has found her – and with Kali’s demand for the truth, Lillian sinks into a life of nightmares and paralyzing fear. Will her life in 1930’s Berlin, her loves and lies, and the true meaning of the small painting that she has hidden for more than seventy years be exposed to reveal the hideous secret that has haunted Lillian to this day? Or will the hunt to uncover her past lead to the imminent murder of Lillian and her pregnant granddaughter? Perhaps murder is the only means to keep Kali and her unborn child from a future that no one in the world would ever want to face?

Jayden and the Mysterious Mountain


Katrina Cope - 2013
    He is taken to a five star hotel – no, actually a school called The Sanctum, camouflaged in the mountains. The students build and operate high tech equipment, including surrogate robots all to fight against terrorism. Or are they? By the way, you don’t want to annoy Scarlet who runs the general operations of the building. She is one cheeky AI and plays nasty if you cross her.

I Choose You


Charles A. Bush - 2014
    She was valedictorian of her Yale undergrad class, is ranked top of her Yale Medical School class, and unlike her promiscuous roommate, she would rather spend her free nights reading Jane Austen than out partying. Undeniably, the lifelong promise that she made to her dying mother to become a doctor, is firmly in her grasp and she is focused not to let anything or anyone deter her from fulfilling it. That is, until the last day of her second year of medical school, when her friends surprise her with a summer vacation to England. While in England, she breaks one of her many sacred rules and falls for, Jude, a professional footballer with an appetite for wild parties and beautiful women. Over the course of their improbable summer romance, Jude introduces Emily to a new world of excitement and spontaneity, leaving her to question the secluded life she had always known, while Emily shows Jude the depths of the human heart and all the joy it can bring. However, once the summer ends, their love is tested by distance, social class, and the sacrifices needed to make enduring love blossom. And when fate intervenes by sending their lives spiraling on separate paths, will a memorable summer romance years ago be enough to bring them back together? I Choose You is a charming love story that has been compared to the unforgettable romances of A Walk to Remember, and Dear John (Nicholas Sparks). Bush explores the many intricacies of young love and the choices we must make to live life to the fullest.

Grey: The Balance: Book One


Nick Shamhart - 2011
    Too often life is viewed in terms of good and evil, black or white, and the balance point tipping in either direction is ignored. Why should the afterlife be any different? We are given a choice when we die to move on to the Source, stay on earth and slowly evolve into more of what we were (good people become angels and bad people become demons), or a chosen few can work to keep the Balance between them. The title character Grey is such a warrior who works to maintain that balance. He wishes to retire by moving onto the next phase of existence (the Source), so he needs to train a replacement. Grey recruits Pete to learn how to destroy demons and when necessary smack angels around to keep them in line. With help from an eclectic crew of other metaphysical “policemen and women, like the no nonsense Raven,” Grey and Pete stop the biblical demon Legion from destroying a small town in Illinois, setting off a chain reaction that could upset the balance in this supernatural buddy cop comedy.The novel is written in two styles. Each chapter begins in a soliloquy from the title character Grey, where he tells pieces of his back-story intertwined with philosophical muses in his western argot that pertain to the subsequent chapter. Said chapter is then told in a third person narrative.

The Shadow Man


Mark Murphy - 2012
    But when a random airport parking lot hit-and-run links him to a dead body in a Florida hotel and an acquaintance is found dismembered and stuffed into a garbage bag, Malcolm finds himself on the run as a suspected serial killer. But he's no murderer. Or is he?Who is the mysterious Thin Man who lurks at the edges of his vision? Are the ravens that crowd the skies overhead a warning of impending doom--or do they exist at all?With the help of Seminole tracker Billy Littlebear, Malcolm tries to untangle the web of clues left behind by a mysterious chameleon-like killer known as the Shadow Man. But will he be too late? The Shadow Man is a complex, atmospheric thriller in the tradition of Stephen King. Darkly evocative and relentless in its twists and turns, it dares the reader to put it down--even for a minute.

Jenny Kissed Me!


Thomas Allen - 2014
    She and Jonathan had secretly loved one another in high school, but never shared those feelings except for that one time in the library their senior year. Jenny had impetuously kissed Jonathan—a moment neither forgot. Four decades have passed. Five thousand miles away they meet as strangers on tour in Italy. Will they have the opportunity for a second chance? A clean, wholesome, timeless story , with universal themes built around admirable, charming characters.Some folks are bothered that most love stories seem a bit contrived and have a suspension of belief. They normally label themselves as realists--"not into that fairy-tale stuff." But what better way to deal with the real world, 24/7, than to take a break, experience a lovelier world-- one that transforms the mood and lifts the spirit, giving hope to something better. Although my story is fictional, the magical thing about it is that it could really happen.

Bodega: Tales from the Bodegaverse


Edward Forsyth - 2019
    Lover. Sniper. Thief. Scourge of the wicked. In fact, scourge of anyone if there's money to be made. A lawless man in a galaxy overrun by villains, Mork beasts, Dildonians and the dreaded imperial forces of Crem Slumdump. Aided by his otherwise unemployable crew of drunks, criminals, assassins and broken down combat droids, Bodega seeks fortune, and trouble seeks him. Armed with his array of hi-tech gadgets, and of course his famous las-gun, Bodega careens around the corners of the known Universe in his ship, the Disco Volante, guided by his unique sense of justice, and his love for the psychic entity known only as Majesta.Bodega: Tales from the Bodegaverse contains all the episodes of Bodega previously transmitted via the Triforce Podcast, and heaps more Bodega action besides. What're ya waiting for, pard?

183 Times a Year


Eva Jordan - 2015
     Lizzie—exasperated Mother of Cassie, Connor and Stepdaughter Maisy—is the frustrated voice of reason to her daughters’ teenage angst. She gets by with good friends, cheap wine and talking to herself—out loud. 16-year-old Cassie—the Facebook-Tweeting, Selfie-Taking, Music and Mobile Phone obsessed teen—hates everything about her life. She longs for the perfect world of Chelsea Divine and her 'undivorced' parents—and Joe, of course. However, the discovery of a terrible betrayal and a brutal attack throws the whole household into disarray. Lizzie and Cassie are forced to reassess the important things in life as they embark upon separate journeys of self-discovery—accepting some less than flattering home truths along the way. Although tragic at times this is a delightfully funny exploration of domestic love, hate, strength and ultimately friendship. A poignant, heartfelt look at that complex and diverse relationship between a Mother and daughter set amongst the thorny realities of today’s divided and extended families.

The Northern Queen


Kelly Evans - 2015
    Brice’s Day, England, 1002. At the order of King Aethelred, thousands of Danes are murdered in a frenzy of ethnic cleansing.Outraged, the Danish King, Sweyn Forkbeard, swears he will take Aethedred’s head, and his crown. But Sweyn needs allies. Chief amongst his supporters is Aelfgifu, an English noblewoman and head of a once great family.She has her own reasons to hate Aethelred, and as a pagan, she is sympathetic to the Danish cause. When Aelfgifu marries Sweyn’s son, Canute, war is inevitable.But if Aethelred is weak, his Norman queen is not. And Emma will stop at nothing to destroy the woman at the heart of the Viking army.Love, ambition and revenge combine in an epic struggle for justice during the most turbulent period in England’s history.The Northern Queen is Kelly Evans’ first novel. Meticulously researched, the novel takes place in the early eleventh century and tells the story of Aelfgifu of Northampton, a woman lost to the pages of history. Until now.Real people, real battles, real history.

Antioch (The Sword of Agrippa #1)


Gregory Ness - 2014
    Join a controversial scientist in exile on a journey through a near future ruled by cyber mobs and a violent ancient past he confronts when he closes in on dark energy discovery. 400 pp. debut multi-genre dystopian sci-fi mixed with historical fiction and elements of alchemy and mysticism that trace back to ancient Egypt.Book Viral, Feb 27, 2017"Antioch is, in every sense of the word, a masterpiece and epic beginning to what will undoubtedly be an epic series and one you must certainly add to your reading shelf. It is recommended without reservation."First Goodreads review of 2nd edition:"Antioch, by Gregory Ness is a masterful piece of writing. I had the opportunity to read an earlier version of this book published in 2014. I considered it a good book at that reading, but now, having just read the 2016 edition, I rate this book as excellent! Without spoiling this beautifully done story, it takes us back and forth between the present, which is some years ahead of contemporary times, and thousands of years into the past, and then rolls us back and forth in an ever-consuming tale between now and then. The detail and imagery laced into the text about ancient Rome and Egypt, as well as Persia and Turkey, and their cultures and people, animates them, as if the reader is walking the stony streets of Alexandria. There is a beautiful love story which transcends time, depiction of brutal wars and great power struggles between Rome, Egypt and others – and the perspective of how Julius Caesar was, as a man, and a leader, makes the history books seem shallow in design. But what really makes this story shine is the way the author draws us into the world of our memories, of past lives we have lived, and the scientific dialogues and intrigue which are unfolding in the now, and how, all of this ties into the grand story which we are reliving thousands of years before when Pharaohs were the most powerful rulers on Earth, when Caesar and his armies marched into Egypt and when the infamous Cleopatra had the two most powerful nations of that time, in the palm of her hands. Antioch makes you think about the nature of who we really are, about the veracity of having lived countless past lives, about the scientific import of a tiny organ in our brain – a portal which not only allows us to interact with the world around us, but quite possibly, is also the very link to our immensely distant past. An entertaining, gripping, beautifully written and highly insightful piece of work."

The Darkest Heart


Dan Smith - 2014
    But it seems his old life isn't quite done with him yet when he's tasked with making one last kill. It's one that could get him everything he has ever wanted; a house, some land, cash in his pocket, a future for him and his girlfriend, Daniella. But this one isn't like all the others. This one comes at a much higher price.The Darkest Heart is a journey through the shadowy heart of Brazil and the even darker mind of a killer, where fear is a death sentence and the only chance of survival might mean abandoning the only good thing you've ever known.

The Drought


Steven Scaffardi - 2011
    But following his break-up with long-term girlfriend, Stacey, he finds himself single again. He's been out of the game for a while and is a little out of practice. Soon, the very irregular and increasingly worrying issue in Dan's life is the extended drought he finds himself suffering. And we're not talking the climate change, scorched earth, God I'm parched variety. You've got to hand it to Dan though - it certainly isn't from a lack of trying. With stalwart mates Ollie, Jack and Rob on hand to lend their collective pearls of male wisdom and arrange the odd road trip, you'd think Dan's days of languishing in a sexual wilderness would be numbered. Even best friends can't help prevent the kind of surreal holes Dan just can't seem to help digging himself into. And with each failed attempt, his self-esteem plummets to the point where he wonders if 'little Dan' will ever work again. Good job he has Kelly, his reliable and sympathetic colleague, to confide in. As a woman, she can perhaps shed some female light on why he's failing so miserably with the opposite sex, balancing out the testosterone-fuelled 'advice' from the lads. Surely Dan can't go wrong with Kelly teaching him the various intricacies of a woman's mind. Steven Scaffardi's first novel will have every guy laughing out loud in recognition and every girl secretly worrying - is this how men really think? A new talent to watch out for on the 'lad-lit' scene.