Book picks similar to
The Red Death by David Pilling


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Sensing Danger


Wendy Vella - 2016
    To Honor and Protect is their creed, but the current Duke of Raven doesn’t make their task easy.Arrogant and aloof, James, Duke of Raven, is determined to forge his own path and to hell with folk tales that his ancestors created. But when the breathtaking Eden Sinclair saves his life by risking her own, their past resurfaces, and with it comes the uncomfortable realization that they are linked by more than history.Eden is forced to see the man behind the cool, haughty façade when she must use her special abilities to keep him safe. His suspicion of her soon turns into something else, something far more dangerous. Eden is torn between duty and self-protection. Does she have the strength to fight fate, in order to protect her own heart?BOOKS IN THE SINCLAIR & RAVEN SERIESSensing DangerSeeing DangerTouched By DangerScent of DangerVision Of DangerTempting DangerSeductive DangerGuarding Danger

The House of Closed Doors


Jane Steen - 2012
    Yet Nell is determined to elude the duties and restrictions of matrimony. So when she finds herself pregnant at the age of 17, she refuses to divulge the name of the father and even her childhood friend Martin is kept in the dark.Nell's stepfather Hiram sends Nell to live at the Poor Farm of which he is a governor, to await the day when her baby can be discreetly adopted. Nell is ready to go along with Hiram's plans until an unused padded cell is opened and two small bodies fall out.Nell is the only resident of the Poor Farm who is convinced that the unwed mother and her baby were murdered, and the incident prompts her to rethink her decision to abandon her own child to her fate. But the revelations to which her questions lead make her realize that even if she manages to escape the Poor Farm with her baby, she may have no safe place to run to.

Agent Zero


Jack Mars - 2019
    Kent Steele, 38, a brilliant professor of European History at Columbia University, lives a quiet life in a New York suburb with his two teenage daughters. All that changes when late one night he gets a knock on his door and is abducted by three terrorists—and finds himself flown across the ocean to be interrogated in a basement in Paris. They are convinced that Kent is the most lethal spy the CIA has ever known. He is convinced they have the wrong man. Do they? With a conspiracy around him, adversaries as smart as he is, and an assassin on his tail, the wild game of cat and mouse leads Kent on a perilous road—one that may lead back to Langley—and to a shocking discovery of his own identity.

Bloodline


Jess Lourey - 2021
    Perfect homes. Perfect families. It’s enough to drive some women mad…In a tale inspired by real events, pregnant journalist Joan Harken is cautiously excited to follow her fiancé back to his Minnesota hometown. After spending a childhood on the move and chasing the screams and swirls of news-rich city life, she’s eager to settle down. Lilydale’s motto, “Come Home Forever,” couldn’t be more inviting.And yet, something is off in the picture-perfect village.The friendliness borders on intrusive. Joan can’t shake the feeling that every move she makes is being tracked. An archaic organization still seems to hold the town in thrall. So does the sinister secret of a little boy who vanished decades ago. And unless Joan is imagining things, a frighteningly familiar figure from her past is on watch in the shadows.Her fiancé tells her she’s being paranoid. He might be right. Then again, she might have moved to the deadliest small town on earth.

Night Soldiers


Alan Furst - 1988
    A young man is murdered by the local fascists. His brother, Khristo Stoianev, is recruited into the NKVD, the Soviet secret intelligence service, and sent to Spain to serve in its civil war. Warned that he is about to become a victim of Stalin’s purges, Khristo flees to Paris. Night Soldiers masterfully re-creates the European world of 1934–45: the struggle between Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia for Eastern Europe, the last desperate gaiety of the beau monde in 1937 Paris, and guerrilla operations with the French underground in 1944. Night Soldiers is a scrupulously researched panoramic novel, a work on a grand scale.

All My Love, Detrick


Roberta Kagan - 2012
    What would you sacrifice for love? Your home? Your material possessions? Your family and friends? Your principles? Your life?PrologueDetrick, a seven-year-old Aryan boy, with blonde hair that shines like the rays of the sun rides his brand new bicycle down a main street of Berlin in 1923. Young and carefree, he’s fully experiencing freedom for the first time. It is mid-day and the street is filled with humanity. Vendors hawk their wares and haggle with potential shoppers, while a few of the new inventions called automoblies honk as make their way through the crowded roads. There is so much to look at, to smell, and to take in, the fresh baked bread, the chocolate candy, the fresh fruit. Detrick is swept away by all of the activities surrounding him, so he is not paying attention when suddenly a horse drawn cart appears causing him to fall. Embarrassed and upset he decides to walk his damaged bicycle home by a different path, one where he is unlikely to be forced to face his friends. A path through the Jewish sector of town. It is here that he meets Jacob Abdenstern, a lovable Jewish bicycle repair man who offers to help the little boy. Detrick having an alcoholic, anti-Semitic father finds a friend and much-needed paternal figure in Jacob. A relationship flourishes between the two of them that will alter both of their lives forever.

The Bear and the Wolf


Ruth Downie - 2017
    Her husband Brigius, a Briton who now serves Rome, is torn when the imperial prince Caracalla arrives in northern Britannia with his unit of vicious, dangerous Numidian cavalry, causing trouble and endangering the couple's once peaceful life. Heedless of the danger to both them and their world, the pair see only one way to ensure the continuation of peace in the north, and it carries a horrifying risk.From two acclaimed authors of Historical Fiction set in the world of Rome, The Bear and the Wolf is a tale for all ages sure to enthrall. Originally penned for the Alderney Literary Festival, this short story is available at this time only in eBook form.

Silken Threads


Patricia Ryan - 1999
    Attacked and disabled by a broken leg, he rents a room in the humble home of Joanna Chapman, a silk merchant’s widow. Joanna, having learned not to trust handsome, charming devils like Graeham, lets him think her husband is still alive in order to keep him at a distance. Mindful of his mission—and the promised reward—Graeham tries to resist his feelings for Joanna, but the white-hot desire simmering between them cannot be denied.Inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window

Nefertiti's Heart


A.W. Exley - 2013
    Permanently.1861. Cara has a simple mission in London - finalise her father's estate and sell off his damned collection of priceless artifacts. Her plan goes awry when a killer stalks the nobility, searching for an ancient Egyptian relic rumoured to hold the key to immortality.Nathaniel Trent, known as the villainous viscount, is relentless in his desire to lay his hands on both Cara and the priceless artifacts. His icy exterior and fiery touch stirs Cara's demons, or could he lay them to rest?Self-preservation fuels Cara's search for the gem known as Nefertiti's Heart. In a society where everyone wears a mask to hide their true intent, she needs to figure out who to trust, before she sacrifices her own heart and life.

Earning It


Angela Quarles - 2017
    One case of mistaken identity. One Navy SEAL faced with his high school crush. What could go wrong?Pepper was looking for a simple hookup. She'd just named a Madagascar hissing cockroach after an ex, so yeah, not exactly in the head space for a long-term relationship. She wanted to prove her douchey ex wrong--she wasn't cold.And her blind date? A hot lawyer.It should've been simple. A hot, sweaty afternoon quickie and never the two should boink meet again.But it wasn't simple. The blind date? Her old high school nemesis Luke Haas, or Haashole as she called him. All grown-up and… and… brawny and maddening and omg-so-hot.EARNING IT is a steamy second chance, enemies-to-lovers standalone romantic comedy from RITA Winning and USA Today bestselling author Angela Quarles with a happy-ever-after and no cheating or cliffhangers. Warning: there's a scene where guys get all hot and sweaty playing the ancient Irish sport of hurling, just sayin'.NOTE: This was previously published for 90 days in the boxed set SOME LIKE IT GEEK with the title TO SCORE OR NOT TO SCORE.

By the Sword


Christian Kachel - 2014
    The Macedonian Empire is on the verge of civil war following the sudden death of Alexander the Great. As a boy Andrikos watched as Alexander's army marched through his homeland of Greek Ionia after defeating the Persians at the Granicus River. Soon he will be embroiled in their world - and forced to flee his old life. Thrust into the army, Andrikos struggles to cope with the brutal training, as Alexander's surviving generals seek to divide and conquer the spoils of Olympus. But Andrikos is not destined to be a nameless soldier. By chance he is chosen for a clandestine mission - and is immersed in a world of intrigue, violence and brotherhood. The path that lies ahead of Andrikos requires him to shed his immaturity and take on the responsibilities and emotions of a man beyond his years. ‘The Spoils of Olympus: By the Sword’ is a historical epic which follows the advancements of one soldier from boy to man during a time of increasing political and military unrest for Greece and Macedonia. Christian Kachel lives in Washington D.C. ‘Spoils of Olympus: By the Sword’ is his first novel.

Millicent Glenn's Last Wish


Tori Whitaker - 2020
    As she nears her ninety-first birthday, her daughter Jane, with whom she’s weathered a shaky relationship, suddenly moves back home. Then Millie’s granddaughter shares the thrilling surprise that she’s pregnant. But for Millie, the news stirs heartbreaking memories of a past she’s kept hidden for too long. Maybe it’s time she shared something, too. Millie’s last wish? For Jane to forgive her.Sixty years ago Millie was living a dream. She had a husband she adored, a job of her own, a precious baby girl, and another child on the way. They were the perfect family. All it took was one irreversible moment to shatter everything, reshaping Millie’s life and the lives of generations to come.As Millie’s old wounds are exposed, so are the secrets she’s kept for so long. Finally revealing them to her daughter might be the greatest risk a mother could take in the name of love.

Temple of the Grail


Adriana Koulias - 2001
    France, 1254 High on a mountain in the Pyrenees, the monastery of St Lazarus is a forbidding place. Behind its ramparts and battlements heretical acts are said to take place and there is the rumour of a secret - a secret so dangerous that its keepers will kill to keep it hidden. At the end of a bitter winter, a delegation headed by the ambitious Inquisitor Rainiero Sacconi arrives to investigate the monks of St Lazarus. Andre, a Knight of the Templar Order, and his young scribe, Christian de St Armand, have been sent by the King of France to oversee the investigation. When monks begin to die, one by one, under strange circumstances, Andre and Christian try to unravel the mystery while being hampered at every turn by the inquisitor. By the time they stumble upon the secret of St Lazarus hypocrisy and violence will be exposed. And for Andre and Christian it will turn into a fight, not only for their lives, but also for their souls.

The Hands of Time


Irina Shapiro - 2011
    Meanwhile, Valerie Crane finds herself transported to the year 1605. Terrified and confused she turns for help to the Whitfield brothers, who take her in and offer her a home. Both Alexander and Finlay Whitfield fall in love with the mysterious woman who shows up on their doorstep creating a love triangle that threatens to consume them all. Valerie must make her choice, deciding between the brother who will lead her down the path of destruction or one who will give her a love she couldn’t find in her own time.

Deep Fathom


James Rollins - 2001
    Solar flares have triggered a series of gargantuan natural disasters. Earth-quakes and hellfire rock the globe. Air Force One has vanished from the skies with America's president on board.Now, with the United States on the narrow brink of a nuclear apocalypse, Kirkland must pilot his oceangoing exploration ship, Deep Fathom, on a desperate mission miles below the ocean's surface. There, devastating secrets await him--and a power an ancient civilization could not contain that has been cast out into modern day, where it will forever alter a world that's already racing toward its own destruction.