Life is a Beautiful Thing, Book One


Harmon Cooper - 2015
    Meta sci-fi satire. The future is futile. 2083. A pollute-addicted therapist named Meme battles his way through his mind and LA at the seat of his pants alongside a beautiful android escort with a surprising secret. With the Federal Corporate Government hunting him, will he make it to safety in time? The hunt is on. Part techno thriller, part dystopian science fiction, Life is a Beautiful Thing is a series that questions what it means to be human; a collection of novels that offers a shocking glimpse into a dark future fueled by corporate deceit and high-end intoxicants.

Kinesis


Ethan Spier - 2012
    But they are shocked to find the mutilated bodies of the two intruders in the front room of Leonard’s home, while he waits in the kitchen with the surviving members of his family. Clarissa Chapman is a DCI of Psychokinetic Investigations - a new area of police work - instigated after the first genuine case of psychokinesis was discovered, some fifteen years earlier. The Samson case is brought to her attention due to the strange way in which the two intruders were killed. She suspects Leonard Samson is a Kinetic. All Kinetics are blessed with a gift to move objects with only the power of their mind. But it is also a horrific curse. Within a few years of discovering their ability, they all develop violent insanity, and for this reason, are locked away in specially designed prisons for the benefit of public safety. After discovering that the authorities suspect him of being a Kinetic, Leonard Samson runs; unaware that the police are not the only ones pursuing him. As the days pass by, Clarissa becomes increasingly aware that certain aspects of the Samson case just do not add up...

The Narrowing Path


David J. Normoyle - 2013
    In Arcandis, those who want to live must claim the limited places in the Refuge, a series of underground caverns cooled by the sea.The teenage boys of noble birth are sent out into the city to demonstrate their wits and strength. Some prove themselves in combat, others display their empire building skills, still others attempt to kill off their rivals. Out of over a hundred, only six will be selected by the leaders of the great families and allowed a place in the Refuge. The rest will perish, one way or another.Not only is thirteen-year-old Bowe younger and weaker than most of the other boys, he has no family to support him. He is expected to die on the very first day of the narrowing path. Instead he begins a journey no one could have anticipated.

Deadly Deceit


Karen Randau - 2016
    Ensnarled in a cover-up that puts her in an assassin’s crosshairs, Rita must unravel a web of lies and connections that date back to Jared’s service in the Iraq war – before a mysterious kidnapper returns Rita’s daughter Zoe one body part at a time. This fast-paced thriller is one you won’t want to put down from beginning to end.

Fifth Avenue


Christopher Smith - 2010
    In the thriller Fifth Avenue, each intermingles within a revered society that is unprepared for what's in store for it when one man finally strikes in an effort to destroy another man for murdering his wife thirty-one years ago. Louis Ryan is that man. George Redman, his wife, two daughters and their close friends are his targets. Both men are self-made billionaires who came from nothing to stake their claim to Fifth Avenue. But when Louis Ryan hires an international assassin to literally rip the Redman family apart, a series of events that can't be stopped catapults them all through a fast-paced, hard-edged thriller in which nobody is safe. Secrets are revealed. The Mafia get involved. And George's two daughters, Celina and Leana Redman, come to the forefront. More than anyone, it's they who are caught in the throes of their father's past as Louis Ryan's blind desire to kill them all takes surprising turns in his all-out effort to see them dead.

Back to Lazarus


Judy K. Walker - 2014
    He beat and choked her to death. I'm told that he was found hanging from a homemade noose in his cell. I want to know why he waited so long to do it." Sydney Brennan isn't sure how to answer her client's question, short of holding a séance, and the Tallahassee detective has some questions of her own. Why does Noel Thomas remember so little about her childhood? Why is she delving into her father's suicide now? And, most importantly, why isn't Noel telling her the truth?Sydney crisscrosses the Florida Panhandle, reconstructing the tragic Thomas family history. The violence that destroyed the Thomas family connects to a present-day web of deceit and corruption through a desperate man willing to do anything to keep his secrets safe. To discover his identity, Sydney must go Back to Lazarus, back to the town where Noel's beautiful but troubled mother began her inevitable descent over twenty years ago. But by following in the footsteps of the murdered woman, does Sydney risk sharing her fate?Rooted in bars and back roads and Panhandle prisons, forgotten towns and forgotten people, at its heart Back to Lazarus is about stories: the stories people tell us, the stories we tell ourselves, and what happens when we realize it's all a lie.

The Truant Officer


Derek Ciccone - 2011
    Things then go from bad to worse, when it's revealed that her captor is one of the students she taught at a local high school.For better or worse...In Manhattan, US Attorney Aaron Eicher cringes upon learning the identity of the man who abducted Lilly McLaughlin. Nick was the one thing holding his case together against the son of Russian crime boss, Viktor Sarvydas—but now his star witness was on the run, and in mortal danger. It is just the latest surprise in a case that went against everything he'd learned in school—when it came to the Russian Mafya 1+1=3.Seeking refuge in Israel, fleeing the fallout of his son's arrest, Viktor Sarvydas smiles when he learns the news about Nick. He knows that it's now just a matter of time before he comes face to face with the man who was going to testify against his son.With the FBI, media, and dueling Russian assassins in a cross-country race to get to Nick and Lilly, it becomes clear that the only one who can truly save them is Darren. Will he get to them first, or will...death do us part?

The Other Side of the Bay


Sean Dietrich - 2014
    With reminiscence and narration, a local sheriff must comb through his own humid world to unravel the truth behind the death of a local boy. But it’s not as easy as it seems, because no one is talking. The Other Side of the Bay is a remarkable portrait of the unique people in the Panhandle of Florida. The story weaves itself into the tall longleaf forests, and along the crests of the uneasy bay, telling a tale of the human spirit. This is a novel of how things aren't always as black and white as they ought to be, and how right and wrong aren't always easy to tell apart. It's an evocative tale that delivers its reader to the apricot sun rises and sepulchral storm clouds of their own bittersweet memories.

The Sands of Osiris


Steven J. Shelley - 2015
     Starving and locked in a war with hostile aliens, the Terran Empire needs fresh real estate or humanity will face extinction. Jaeger Orleans is sent by the mysterious Farseer Cartel to steal a blueprint for a sustainable human colony on the ice world Solitude. A chance for humans to leave a long history of mistakes behind and begin again. Sent to a brutal desert prison for withholding the information from the Terran Corps, Jaeger is in a race against time to find Solitude and lead humanity to a brighter future.

Host


Robin Cook - 2015
    But when her otherwise healthy boyfriend, Carl, enters the hospital for routine surgery, her neatly ordered life is thrown into total chaos. Carl fails to return to consciousness after the procedure, and an MRI confirms brain death.Devastated by Carl’s condition, Lynn searches for answers. Convinced there’s more to the story than what the authorities are willing to reveal, Lynn uses all her resources at Mason-Dixon—including her initially reluctant lab partner, Michael Pender—to hunt down evidence of medical error or malpractice.What she uncovers, however, is far more disturbing. Hospitals associated with Middleton Healthcare, including the Mason-Dixon Medical Center, have unnervingly high rates of unexplained anesthetic complications and patients contracting serious and terminal illness in the wake of routine hospital admissions.When Lynn and Michael begin to receive death threats, they know they’re into something bigger than either of them anticipated. They soon enter a desperate race against time for answers before shadowy forces behind Middleton Healthcare and their partner, Sidereal Pharmaceuticals, can put a stop to their efforts once and for all.

His First His Second


A.D. Davies - 2014
    She’s nice. Too nice to be a police officer, if she’s honest.She is also one of the most respected criminal analysts in the country, and finds herself in a cold northern town assigned to Donald Murphy’s team, investigating the kidnap-murders of two young women—both strikingly similar in appearance. Now a third has been taken, and they have less than a week to chip away the secrets of a high-society family, and uncover the killer’s objective.But Richard—the father of the latest victim—believes the police are not moving quickly enough, so launches a parallel investigation, utilising skills honed in a dark past that is about to catch up with him. As Richard’s secret actions hinder the police, Alicia remains in contact with him, and even starts to fall for his charms, forcing her into choices that will impact the rest of her life.

Seven Patients


Atul Kumar - 2012
    It is not intended for the faint of heart. The stories are extreme and the descriptions graphic. Patients come and go, but some leave behind a memory so intense that it cannot be erased.Third year medical student Raj Mok quickly learns that patients don’t behave like his beloved medical texts led him to believe.The seven most outrageous patients of his first year in clinical medicine teach Raj that medicine isn’t always about healing and that killing isn’t always murder.

Into the Shadows


Karly Kirkpatrick - 2010
    This is the first book in the Into the Shadows Trilogy.Paivi Anderson has it all - friends, a spot on the varsity basketball team, wonderful parents, and quite possibly, her first boyfriend. It was everything a freshman in high school could ask for. Her perfect life begins to crumble when she discovers her name on a list distributed by a power-hungry presidential candidate. How could anyone think of Paivi as an Enemy of the State? Could it be because of her special powers? No one was supposed to know about them, but the mysterious messages in her tater tots say otherwise. In INTO THE SHADOWS, Paivi quickly learns who her friends are and is forced into a reality she didn’t see coming.

Awaken His Eyes


Jason Tesar - 2010
    Worshiped as gods for their wisdom and power, they corrupted the realm of the physical and forever altered the course of history.THE PROPHECY: Amidst the chaos of a dying world, a lone voice foretold the awakening of a warrior who would bring an end to this evil perpetrated against all of creation. But with the cataclysmic destruction of earth and rebirth of humanity, the prophecy went unfulfilled and eventually faded from the memory of our kind—until now!THE AWAKENED: The physical dimension is fractured. What remain now are numerous fragmented worlds moving simultaneously through time, sharing a common history, connected only by a guarded portal. On a parallel earth, in the city of Bastul, Colonel Adair Lorus disappears while investigating the death of an informant, triggering a series of events which will tear his family apart and set in motion the resolution of an ancient struggle.Kael, sentenced to death after rising up against the cruel leadership of his new step-father, is rescued from prison and trained in the arts of war by a mystical order of clerics. Excelling in every aspect of his training, Kael inwardly struggles to give himself fully to the methods of his new family, or the god they worship.Maeryn, bitter over the disappearance of her husband and supposed execution of her son, fears for her life at the hands of her newly appointed husband. Finding comfort and purpose in her unborn child, she determines to undermine his authority by reaching out to an underground social movement known as the Resistance.After being forced from his home, Kael’s former mentor, Saba, uncovers a clue to Adair’s disappearance. Sensing a connection to his own forgotten past, Saba begins an investigation which leads to the discovery of a secret military organization operating within the Orudan Empire.In book one of his debut series, Jason Tesar delves into the heart of an ancient legend, embarking on an epic saga that will journey from earth’s mythological past to its post-apocalyptic future, blending the genres of fantasy, sci-fi, and military/political suspense.

Vrin: Ten Mortal Gods


John Michael Hileman - 2006
    But if this is a computer-generated world, then how can he reconcile the complexity of its inhabitants, people capable of frustration, joy, and pain? Are they simulations, or something more? And what about the abilities which allow him to create or control whatever he wishes? Is he a god, as the people of Vrin believe? Grappling with his new-found powers, haunted by a conversation with scientists on the outside, and stalked by a mad god, Tardin must unravel an impossible mystery—to save a world that is not his own.