Book picks similar to
The Message by Hylton H. Smith


detective-crime
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The Innkeeper's Daughter, SAMPLE


Michelle Griep - 2018
    . .until she can no longer fight against his unrelenting charm.   All Johanna wants is to keep the family inn afloat, but when the rent and the hearth payment are due at the same time, where will she find the extra funds? If she doesn’t come up with the money, there will be nowhere to go other than the workhouse—where she’ll be separated from her ailing mother and ten-year-old brother.   Alex desperately wants to help Johanna, especially when she confides in him, but his mission—finding and bringing to justice a traitor to the crown—must come first, or they could all end up dead.

Massa's Baby


K.A. Williams - 2017
    She was the product of a Negro mother and a White father who she would go on to know as Massa. After spending over two decades on Mr. Cobweb's plantation, she was sold to Henry Winslow in Houston, Texas. Where she would eventually learn the mental bondage of slavery and the effect that it had on the Negro nation.

Beneath the Deep


J.T. Cross - 2014
    Cross, acclaimed author of the LOST VALLEY, returns with BENEATH THE DEEP, an epic underwater science thriller. When Megan O’Brien, an archaeologist on a quest for a lost underwater civilization, and her treasure hunting partner, Matt Turner, rescue a disgraced physics professor, they stumble upon a man with a stunning scientific discovery—a location under the ocean where quantum physics fails. Joining forces with Sam DeCourcy, a wealthy undersea salvage expert, they form a crack exploration team to dive and drill beneath the ocean floor in the Bermuda Triangle. Danger arises when a rival team aims to get there first and they’re armed with explosives and a plan that could kill them all. Now, racing against their competition, the explorers discover remnants of a mysterious lost civilization, and then, the game changer unfurls: evidence of an ancient intelligent species—and they are not happy to have company. J.T. Cross weaves science fact with science fiction to create a believable, riveting epic adventure that will appeal to readers of Michael Crichton and fans of James Cameron's THE ABYSS. **Acclaim for J.T. Cross** “Pulse-pounding action, brilliant speculation, and the introduction of a lost world filled with horrors and wonders. J.T. Cross is a lot of writer.” ―J.R. Rain, #1 bestselling author of MOON DANCE and THE LOST ARK.

Retribution


James Barrington - 2016
    But this is no ordinary assassination. Who is the third killer? Why was there no threat warning? And why did the killers kidnap one of the bodyguards, a former SAS soldier? Paul Richter is sent on the case. Before long he is in a deadly game of cat and mouse, wounded and chased through the English countryside. Richter will have to rely on all his combat skills and luck to avoid retribution…A standalone novella in the Paul Richter series, Retribution shows James Barrington at his best: fast, action-packed and giving absolutely no quarter. Watch out for more Agent Paul Richter thrillers 1. Manhunt2. Overkill3. Pandemic4. Foxbat5. Timebomb6. PaybackComing in 2017: the next full length Paul Richter thriller.

Winfield County


John McGauley - 2016
    Unprepared for the job, he finds that what appears to be a temporary appointment turns into a task much more challenging than he ever imagined. Full of colorful characters and action-packed scenes, Schofield discovers much about himself, his friends, and the secrets that are buried in the ground throughout the county.

Keep Your Friends Close and Enemies Closer: Love, Lies & Loyalty


Belleza - 2017
    Back in the day they were as thick as thieves going to school, partying, and fighting whoever got in their way. Now that they are older and more mature they are living their lives in different ways while still holding onto their friendship and going through their own trials with love. Tiara been rocking with her husband Antonio since they both had nothing. She played the background while she helped build him into the man that he is now. They had their issues before and he promised to change once they got married, but Antonio is falling back into his old habits and she’s slowly forced to face to truth that her happy home isn’t so happy. Porsha always believed that no man was off limits. Love was a thing she didn’t indulge im until she put too much time and attention into the wrong man and she’s fallen for this guy. She’s tired of getting put on the back burner and is willing to do anything to make him hers even if she have to break up a happy home. Renae got slapped with reality learning that a man gonna be a man regardless of the situation. She’s been riding with Charles for years and went even more hard once he got locked up and helped take care of the kids he had on her with another woman. Finding out he was still cheating she wiped her hands clean of the situation and decided to put herself first. Although heartbroken Jamar and Jason steps into the women's lives and try to show them that there is still good men. Playing the rebound can be a dangerous game but it’s a risk they are willing to take. Jamar been gone for a while and let the love of his life slip through his hands doing his time upstate. The bad part about it is the girl he love is with the man he use to call a friend. Jason have baby mama drama to the max and is trying everything to separate himself from Andrea. He’s broken hearts, and been hurt before but he’s determined not to hold himself back from finding the right one. Love shouldn’t be so hard but it’s became a task that unravel secret, lies and disloyalty and have them all questioning who’s a real friend?

Broken Cure


Doug Kane - 2020
    Alex is puzzled by the dying man’s test results. Soon, a pattern emerges that spurs him on to dig deeper despite resistance from the hospital’s CEO, Ted Beaumont. Beaumont’s only concern is avoiding bad press, but that should be the least of his worries.In the midst of his investigation, personal tragedy strikes, catapulting Alex into a lonely downward spiral where addiction and an unlikely lover fill the void. He is jolted back into focus by a second overwhelming loss. With no job to return to, he devotes himself to finding an explanation for the mounting patient deaths. Olivia Nillson PhD, a renowned biochemist and cellular toxicologist---knows too much. A phone call from Dr. Winthrop entices her to come forward. She joins him on a corrupted path that leads to an international plot involving a cunning biological weapon. Can they expose the conspiracy in time to save more innocent lives? Will anyone listen?

A Reacher Kind of Guy - Aftermath


Michael Kerr - 2012
    Her husband has been murdered, and she and her daughter are being hunted by two hitmen. Logan gets involved and the body count rises as he investigates why the women are such a threat to someone that they have to be eliminated.

Cassie McGraw Series: Books 1-3


David Archer - 2018
    Tall, handsome and a police detective to boot, he swept her off her feet and into a whirlwind relationship that led to an engagement ring.But things aren't always as they seem, and Cassie comes to discover that Mike has a dark side. When she learns just how dark it can be, she comes face-to-face with the greatest forward she could imagine, and it leaves her burned and scarred for the rest of her life.Cassie isn't one to wallow in misery. She takes her experiences and a degree in psychology and sets out to help other women avoid the kind of thing that happened to her, but then one of her clients comes to her in desperation. Her abusive husband has kidnapped her daughter, and it's up to Cassie to find the girl before it's too late.Of course, then the only trick is how to survive.

The Texas Job: (A Case Lee Novel Book 9)


Vince Milam - 2021
    

Ophelia's Room


Michael Scott Garvin - 2021
    The God-fearing citizens of the sleepy midwestern town are convinced evil has taken root.A young married couple, Charlie and Delia Mull are left to pick up the pieces of shattered lives after the unspeakable tragedy.Townsfolk whisper from church pews that pretty Delia Mull has brought the misfortune upon herself - a cursed family legacy. Others believe the horrific crime is merely another sign of a violent and godless age.A mysterious woman has rented the house six doors down. Betty Malcomb is the new teacher hired at the high school. Locals are suspicious of the reclusive outsider. Why has she traveled to their peeling little town? What reasons would make her stay?Located in the remote Kansas prairie sits the state penitentiary. Imprisoned in a concrete cell, a lone madman silently awaits his opportunity to complete his unholy calling.

Goliath: A Thriller


Oceanview Publishing - 2016
    On this maiden voyage, Captain Borodin is at the helm. He is the only one aboard aware of the mission.Soon an engineer discovers a defect—seemingly minor, but one with disastrous potential. Despite his attempts to correct the problem, a fire erupts, contained at first, then rapidly spreads out of control, consuming the behemoth ship.A Mayday call alerts Sonny Wade some two hundred miles from the burning ship. This could be the lifeline that Sonny and his rag-tag crew need to save their failing salvage business. But Dan Sharp, Sonny’s nemesis and former employer—the owner of the largest salvage business in northern Alaska—also hears the call. A brutal race is on to claim the burning ship before it sinks or runs aground, contaminating the entire north Pacific Rim—and not only with oil.

POINT: WILDERNESS WAR IN VIETNAM AND CAMBODIA - A MEMOIR


Jamie Thompson - 2019
    It’s a memoir of the author’s service as an infantry sergeant, squad leader and point man in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War.

Raven


Heather Atkinson - 2017
    She goes on the hunt, attempting to track him down before he destroys her good name completely. The vultures of the criminal underworld are circling, waiting until she is at her weakest before finishing her off. On top of that, she's being pursued not only by a gang of neo-Nazi meth dealers but a psychotic torturer, who is intent on claiming her magnificent raven feather tattoos as his prize. Most troubling of all, Aidan, her adored husband, has been missing for almost a year. She has no idea whether he is alive or dead. Uncertain who she can trust as the net closes in, Raven ends up in a desperate bid for survival and long-buried secrets threaten to blow her world apart. Contains strong language and scenes of violence and sex.

A Killing Place In The Sun


Robert F. Barker - 2020
    But to this Englishman, it’s his castle. And he wants it back.It began as a simple property dispute. It ended in all-out war.Ex-soldier and policeman, Peter Murray, returns to the beautiful holiday island of Cyprus to keep the vow he made to his late wife, Kathy, to complete the deal on the ‘Place In The Sun’ that was their shared dream before a tragic accident took her, and their son, from him.But Murray’s hopes are shattered when he finds the house being lived in by Russian mobster, Valerik Podruznig, and his family, as well as his small army of enforcers. Podruznig already sees the potential in the house Murray built - and has no intention of giving it up.From Murray’s initial attempts at peaceful negotiation, what begins as a simple property dispute soon escalates, through threats, intimidation and violence, before exploding into all-out war. In the face of Podruznig’s casual disregard for the law, Murray has to call on all his policing experience and military know-how to counter the Russian’s efforts and stay alive.Equal parts crime novel, heist thriller, and military adventure, and set against the backdrop of the popular holiday resort of Pafos, A Killing Place In The Sun recounts the struggle for supremacy between two determined adversaries, one as ruthless and dangerous as the other is principled and daring, as they each seek the resolution they desire.Hanging over the action, is the mystery of what happened to the consignment of gold that disappeared during Murray and his team’s last military mission, and its connection, if any, to the house in the sun. Things are complicated further when the local police chief’s vivacious daughter's feelings of sympathy for Murray’s plight start evolving into something deeper. And when her life is threatened, it triggers a nail-biting climax that finally brings Murray and Podruznig face-to-face in a way that is not just unexpected, but puts several twists on all that has gone before. As the new dawn casts its first shadows over what has, by now, become, A Killing Place In The Sun, the shattering truth finally reveals itself. But who will be left alive to witness it? Find out by buying it, today.Robert F Barker was born in Liverpool, England. During a thirty-year police career, he worked in and around some of the North West’s grittiest towns and cities. As a senior detective, he led investigations into all kinds of major crime including, murder, armed robbery, serious sex crime and people/drug trafficking. Whilst commanding firearms and disorder incidents, he learned what it means to have to make life-and-death decisions in the heat of live operations. His stories are grounded in the reality of police work, but remain exciting, suspenseful, and with the sort of twists and turns that crime-thriller readers love.5* Praise for Robert F Barker's books'A gripping read about an exceptional detective and the complexities in his life'(Last Gasp)'Fabulous writer and solid knowledge of police procedures. Can't wait for more from this writer' -Last Gasp'A fantastic page turner with a hugely sinister and disturbing villain at its heart' -Family Reunion'As exciting and ‘real’ as anything I have read in a police detective novel in a long time' - Family Reunion'Well written and fast paced.... a great read for crime-thriller fans' - Final Breath'Loved, loved, LOVED this book! Couldn't put it down. Always left on the edge of my seat wanting to know what happened next!'(Last Gasp)'A very well crafted mystery that keeps you guessing and on the edge of your seat'(Final Breath)'Jamie Carver is a mix of genius... and emotional wreck!' - Out Of Air'So compelling and well written that I can't wait to read the next in the series' (Final Breath)