The scrappy lead columnist for the Chicago Journal normally writes about politics, and, rather than shying away from fights, she tends to pick them, but every once in a while, Deuce’s search for a good story brings her face to face with more trouble than she was really looking for. In Award-winning journalist Jean Heller’s first action-packed mystery featuring the intrepid sleuth, Deuce learns in short order that if you mess with organized crime, you have to be tough—and you’d better be as much detective as reporter. The second volume finds Deuce on the wrong side of the NSA, the FBI and the CIA. At a minimum. Exhausted by these two white-knuckle investigations in one year, Deuce is content to focus on her column until she gains information that could help catch the relentless arsonist whose Burning Rage is consuming Chicago. Fans of hard-boiled female protagonists should hang onto their fedoras-- this one’s an action-packed extravaganza! "Good reporters do not always good novelists make, but Jean Heller is both." -- The Boston Sunday Globe "Superb ... It reads like a multimillion-dollar movie thriller." -- St. Louis Post-Dispatch “Deuce … finds dead-ends and danger at every turn. Part journalism procedural, part character study, THE SOMEDAY FILE is a humdinger of a mystery, the first of a welcome new series.” --Paul Levine, author of Bum Rap THE SOMEDAY FILE Deuce uncovers a series of crimes committed over nearly six decades, and, as her human interest story morphs into a hard-boiled, action-packed mystery, she finds herself dead center in a storm of threats and reprisals from the mob. Fortunately, she has many allies, but at least one of them, she suspects, is hiding a secret–- corruption? Murder? The veteran reporter knows: if you’re talking Chicago crime scene—it’s probably both. THE HUNTING GROUND The grisly discovery of a human bone while Deuce is out for a hike with handsome arson investigator Mark Hearst leads to the unearthing of a vast burial field, a human trafficking ring, and international intrigue. The pull-no-punches columnist-- and meticulous detective-- keeps turning up information, but the Journal’s lawyer appears daily, bringing warnings about “national security.” What, Deuce seethes, could be a greater matter of national security than the safety of the city’s children, who are being kidnapped and murdered? BURNING RAGE Whole blocks of Chicago real estate are falling to an arsonist, but no one knows why and everyone suspects the worst – terrorism. But no terrorist group has claimed the mayhem. From the moment she hears the earliest details of the first fire, her detective-instincts say the pieces don’t fit, and every other instinct tells the hard-hitting reporter she can’t walk away from the story – even though she knows she’ll regret it. WHO WILL LIKE IT: Fans of Chicago private investigators VI Warshawski and Libby Fischer Hellman’s Georgia Davis, get-the-story-or-die reporters like Hank Philippi Ryan’s Jane Rylan

    Secret Societies. Missing VIPs.When a billion-dollar corporation attempts to commit the crime of the century, an investigative reporter, Nathan Hughes, and his beautiful ex-girlfriend, Jenny Mars, begin to hear rumors of fraud, payoffs, and secret societies through a frightened whistleblower.Skeptical at first, both become the target of a ruthless assassin as they dig deeper into the business dealings of JVK Inc., an international company whose CEO is a cool and calculating manipulator.Soon, people associated with the case turn up missing and the FBI joins to assist in taking them down. Death lurks around the corner and lies spring up from every crack in the wall.Someone is burying the truth.

    Now, she wants it back. Lori had it all until that day: the perfect marriage, a job she loved, and a beautiful home in a small town. But when a tragic car wreck takes her husband's life and leaves her hospitalized, she has to learn to live alone again. Her friends look out for her, or so they say, but they don't believe her when she says she's being followed.Her counselor says she's suffering PTSD, and her sister says she's paranoid. But Lori knows herself better than anyone else does, and she's certain someone is watching her. What she doesn't know is why, but she'll do anything to find out - even if it costs her life.Tormented by nightmares, mood swings, and self-doubt, Lori's life is on the brink of collapse. Every move she makes will leave you begging for the truth until the very last page in this brand-new psychological thriller full of lies and conspiracies.

    But the vacation of a lifetime quickly takes a dark turn when a young, overly flirty bellhop starts following her everywhere. It gets even worse when he disappears, and Chloe is the sole witness.As bellhop after bellhop goes missing, she struggles to figure out what’s happening. When suspicion falls upon her, Chloe must not only try to rescue the kidnapped bellhops, but also to clear her name.Complicating things further is the relationship she forms with Mateo, Club Pacifica’s guest liaison. Charming and easygoing, he is everything that her fiancé at home is not, and she finds herself fighting a growing attraction to him. But can he be trusted?She soon discovers that she’s landed herself in a world of secrets, and, worse, that these are not just those of others, but also the secrets she keeps from herself.Can Chloe find her way through all the lies to finally discover the truth before it’s too late?

    

    The leader of the Soviet Union, General Secretary Yermolov, instructs Defense Minister Marshal Budarenko to go on a limited military operation that will put an end to the civilian uprising in some of the Warsaw Pact states. But Marshal Budarenko has other plans.The Marshal, a WWII hero and red-army legend, is a tough, militant man. He begins conspiring behind the USSR leader’s back, forming an intricate scheme that will allow him to move mass armed forces towards West Germany, and beyond.In the face of this emerging threat, the US and NATO allies declare the highest alert level and are left with no choice but to start deploying their nuclear warheads. WWIII seems inevitable.Set against a complex historical background, David Yaron weaves a thrilling, sophisticated story, which seems completely realistic. Yaron's writing is minimalistic yet full of details that only a military expert can recount, keeping the reader in constant suspense.

    THE WILDLY POPULAR DAN ROY SERIES RETURNS IN A BOX SET! MORE THAN 700 PAGES OF BREATHLESS SUSPENSE AND ACTION TO KEEP YOU AWAKE AT NIGHT! MIck Bose is here to stay!

    What at first appears to be the work of a serial killer soon turns out to be a deeper level of darkness and deceit, with relentless mercenaries, a shadowy informant and ghosts from the past for both McCall and Steel all involved.As unexpected alliances and Steel’s personal mission reveal a complex web of treachery, will he and McCall find a way to work together and solve the case?

    Ryan's bestselling Rex Dalton series.SideswipedWhen Rex nearly bumps into someone from his former life, it's time for Rex and Digger to get out of India. Rex goes to Thailand, where he plans to undergo cosmetic surgery to change his looks and hide from people in his past. But then he meets Sunstra. Her name means 'girl with beautiful eyes'. Right from the beginning they become fast friends, and before long there is a romance in the making. But then Sunstra disappears. Her family receives a ransom ultimatum: Sunstra is alive, but if her father doesn't sell his land, she won't stay that way for long. It's a race against the clock for Rex and Digger to save Sunstra's life, and time is running out. The Inca ConRex Dalton and Digger are exploring the remarkable history of Peru when they befriend a retired American couple. The couple invites them to join their expedition to a remote village high up in the Andes Mountains to inspect an archaeological site in which they want to invest. But on arrival in the village, it doesn't take long for Rex to discover that his new friends are victims of a cleverly designed con. This con is run by people who will do anything to make sure Rex and Digger don't interfere.The French GirlRex Dalton and Digger are looking forward to a trouble-free holiday on the idyllic islands of Vanuatu in the South Pacific Ocean. Swimming, playing on the beach, fishing, and hikes. Nothing but the laid-back lifestyle for the two of them. Then Digger introduces Rex to a beautiful French girl, not once, but twice. Soon, Rex and the girl become good friends. Then she disappears, and Rex is accused of having something to do with it. Thus, begins a series of dramatic and life-threatening events with international repercussions with Rex, Digger and the French girl in the center of it.

    The first is a teenage girl whose asthma suffocates her while sleeping. The second is a man shot on the tram that connects Roosevelt Island to Manhattan. Lying next to the man is the real puzzle: a woman who might appear to have died of natural causes if not for the handwritten note stuffed in her mouth that simply reads "Look back." Murder mystery thrillers are often driven by tough, fast-talking, streetwise detectives with a sad story about their past and a penchant for nabbing perps. The cop on the case in "Don't Close Your Eyes" is all these things and more. Meet Stephanie Chalice. She's a smart, beautiful, 28-year-old NYPD homicide detective whose acerbic repartee is like an arsenal of nuclear missiles--it convinces her male colleagues that she means business. Behind all the bluster, though, is a young woman with fierce passions who shows the same tremendous dedication to her ill mother as she does her job. Chalice is an excellent detective, but it comes at a cost. She suffers recurring nightmares, and obsesses that the diabetes that killed her father and weakens her mother will one day come for her. When a second woman is found dead with a rag in her mouth and another cryptic note nearby, Chalice realizes a serial killer stalks Manhattan's Upper East Side. Her detective work combines intelligence, persistence, a skilled partner, and well-connected friends. Secret allies also work on her behalf to thwart dangers that lie just beyond her periphery. As she follows a trail of clues and corpses to the murderer, she also pursues her own demons, uncovering startling truths about who she really is.

    It’s been a year since novelist Desmond Carmichael's wife Sandy was brutally murdered. Now, with someone stalking him and his four-year-old son, he fears that the wrong man has been imprisoned for the crime. Sandy’s parents and Detective Chuck Fournier have a different fear: that Desmond, despondent over Sandy’s death, has become too unstable to raise his own son.To prove them wrong, Desmond must work outside the law to defeat a threat born in the dust of an American wasteland, baptized by fire, and hellbent on riding the winds of karma.

     That’s the delicious underpinning of this sprawling, exuberant, generous-spirited cozy mystery series with a yummy side of international adventure. A little bit chick lit, a touch of cozy mystery, a whole lot of humor, romance, suspense—all in one box set! These two books continue the adventures of the five lawyer sisters that started with Blackbird Fly. On to The Girl in the Empty Dress, Give Him the Ooh-la-la, and The Things We Said Today... (also available in box sets) to these two stories that follow Merle Bennett's journey from the US to France, with her French boyfriend, Pascal. THE FRENCHMAN Ooh-la-la, who doesn't love a Frenchman? Merle Bennett goes back to France -- and her Frenchman -- in this fifth installment of the Bennett Sisters mysteries. Sure that La Belle France will cure all her ills, and help her write a novel about the French Revolution, she sets out to prove her theory correct. Pascal, her Frenchman, scoffs at this. As a policeman he knows France is pretty to look at but not all that pretty under the surface. While Merle writes and renovates her stone cottage, Pascal encounters an old enemy, a man he put in prison years before. When Pascal disappears Merle isn't sure if their relationship is over, or something terrible has happened. A soupçon of danger, a brush with 'madame guillotine,' and the quirky characters of the French countryside, all collide in this installment of the Bennett Sisters Mysteries, set in la belle France-- where, obviously, wine, sunshine, sunflowers, and Frenchmen cure all ills. Or do they? ODETTE AND THE GREAT FEAR A Gothic Romance by 'Merle Bennett' Deep in the French countryside-- as the country reels through rebellion, beheadings, and starvation-- a goat-herder named Odette is trying to survive. Just that-- survival is on her mind. Since she marched to Versailles with a group of Parisian women to protest the high prices of wheat, her life has spun out of control. She's fled the capital for the countryside. But what will happen to her? Can she stay in the Dordogne where the kindly farmers have taken pity on her? 'Odette and the Great Fear' is a novella from the novel, 'The Frenchman,' by Lise McClendon. Merle Bennett, the main character, is writing a novel. Here the story is fleshed out, characters come into focus, and outcomes are decided. Will Odette and her handsome stranger find each other? How did the Count get his horrible scar? Will the villagers burn out the nobles for good? All these delicious details, mixed with a terrifying and exhilarating time in history, make 'Odette and the Great Fear' a quick but intriguing read. Next up in the series is 'Blame it on Paris,' Bennett Sisters Mystery #8, after the Sister's French Cookbook, filled with delicious recipes inspired by the series. Get the cookbook for free by signing up for the newsletter at the author's website: LiseMcClendon.com - I hope you enjoy the books.

    No one cared. But a stranger, bent on revenge, is out to change all that. Kit Griffin has finally overcome a painful childhood at the hands of her mother, former actress Alana Stevens. No longer living in the grasp of the cold, tyrannical woman, Kit has found a new life tucked away in little San Madrid, California, running a business she loves, surrounded by friends she considers family. For the first time her life is on track. That is, until Alana is found brutally murdered on Mother’s Day, pulling Kit back in to the dark horrors of her past. To make matters worse, the police consider her the prime suspect.Jake Boston, an old family friend and the man Kit has loved since she was a teen, is fighting his own demons as a suspect in his wife’s murder two years earlier. Despite his past, he’s determined to win Kit over once and for all. But before that can happen they need to convince the police there’s a killer working his way down a list with cold-hearted vengeance in mind. Forced to delve into Alana’s dark past, it becomes clear someone is out to settle a score. When Jake and Kit uncover a forty year old double murder that leads them straight to the door of a legal dynasty, they soon find out just how far the heirs will go to keep the past buried and eliminate all the loose ends to protect their empire. Will Jake and Kit become the next victims or will they find an unexpected guardian angel?

    The setting is picturesque with old farmhouses, dirt roads, covered bridges, streams. It's also rich with Native and early American history. What sets it apart is a big secret. Jenny O’Rourke has been haunted by blurred memories of the town's dark secrets for over twenty years. Brick walls and tight lips have kept her from understanding why she was torn from her home and family in the middle of the night. And why her brother’s murder was brushed under the rug. To find the answers, she has to elude two powerful forces standing in her way ... an estranged but lurking father and the watchful eyes of the Witness Protection Program. She's about to break the only rule they have in common: Never go home. Jenny finds an opportunity, giving her access to everything she thought she ever wanted to know. What she discovers changes everything and leaves a small town in need of some major damage control.

    In spite of a genetic brain anomaly that makes it impossible for her to remember faces –even ones she’d seen just moments before—Claire tackles the cases that the cops aren’t interested in solving. She does it with American know-how and dogged perseverance. Along the way she discovers that life in the City of Light can be a new beginning—in every way that makes life pleasurable—even for a woman of a certain age. These books are a clean read: no graphic violence, sex or strong language. An adorable French bulldog is her loyal companion through her adventures.Genre: cozy amateur woman sleuth