Book picks similar to
Courier by Terry Irving
thriller
mystery
first-reads
fiction
The Mystery Box
Eva Pohler - 2011
Soccer mom Yvette Palmer lives an ordinary life in San Antonio, Texas when a box is delivered to her by mistake, and in taking it to its rightful owner—a crotchety neighbor named Mona who shares her back fence—is drawn into a strange and haunting tale.Mona’s ratty robe, mood swings, and secretive behavior all raise red flags, and Yvette is sure someone else is living there despit Mona’s claim to live alone, but Yvette is unable to break away as she listens to how Mona transformed from a young college woman about to be married to the odd, reclusive, ghost of a woman she is now.As Yvette listens to her neighbor's tale, she discovers a shocking connection, but doesn't know whether Mona's come to help or to harm her and her family.
Death in the Beginning
Gary Williams - 2011
First, he discovered a magnificent manmade cave in the Canary Islands off the African coast. Then, while exploring a newly-found gunpowder magazine inside a 300-year-old stone Spanish fort in St. Augustine, Florida, a man emerged. The man is killed by police before his identity can be ascertained. All evidence indicates that the man had been sealed in the room for centuries. When Curt uncovers a link between the Canary Island cave and the unidentified man, he realizes that he has stumbled upon a secret lost in history; the catalyst for the Fountain of Youth legend. But the revelation holds terrifying consequences. And there are those willing to murder to guard the truth. As Northeast Florida braces for a deadly hurricane, Curt and his friends are drawn into a monumental conspiracy which could alter the balance of power…and destroy humanity.
A Fitzjohn Mystery Vol 1-3 Box Set
Jill Paterson - 2013
Assigned to the case is Detective Chief Inspector Alistair Fitzjohn. Fitzjohn is a detective from the old guard, whose methodical, painstaking methods are viewed by some as archaic. His relentless pursuit for the killer zeros in on Alex’s brother, James, as a key suspect in his investigation. Compelled to clear himself of suspicion, James starts his own investigation and finds himself immersed in a web of intrigue, ultimately uncovering long hidden secrets about his brother’s life that could easily be the very reasons he was murdered. This gripping tale of murder and suspense winds its way through the university’s hallowed halls to emerge into the beautiful, yet unpredictable, Blue Mountain region where more challenges and obstacles await James in his quest to clear himself of suspicion and uncover the truth about his brother. MURDER AT THE ROCKS When Laurence Harford, a prominent businessman and philanthropist is found murdered in the historic Rocks area of Sydney, Detective Chief Inspector Fitzjohn is asked to solve the crime quickly and discreetly. After barely starting his investigation, uncovering a discarded mistress and disgruntled employees, a second killing occurs. Meanwhile, Laurence’s nephew, Nicholas Harford, has his certainties in life shaken when he becomes a suspect in his uncle’s death, and receives a mysterious gold locket that starts a chain of events unravelling his family’s dark truths. ONCE UPON A LIE Little did, businessman and entrepreneur, Michael Rossi know that the telephone call he answered on that fateful Friday would be the catalyst for his death, and the subsequent recovery of his body from the waters of Sydney Harbour the following morning. Recalled from leave to take on the case, Detective Chief Inspector Fitzjohn confronts the first of many puzzles; how Rossi spent the unaccountable hours before he died. This leads him on a paper-trail into a tangled web of deception, jealousy and greed that unravels the mystery surrounding Michael’s death. Unaware of her nephew’s fate, Esme Timmons retires for the evening, unsuspecting of the events about to unfold; events that will, ultimately, expose a grim lie, buried deep in the past.
White Jade
Alex Lukeman - 2011
WHITE JADE is a fast-paced thriller that spins a web of deceit and murder across the globe, featuring characters caught up in a deadly international power game. Former Recon Marine Nick Carter works for the Project, a covert black ops unit reporting to the President. He's taciturn and tough, with a dark history of emotional and physical scars. Selena Connor is a beautiful, strong and skilled linguist. When her wealthy uncle is murdered by someone looking for an ancient book about the elixir of immortality, she's thrown into Nick's dangerous world. Nick is assigned to protect Selena and help her recover the missing text. The search escalates into a life and death adventure reaching from the gold country of California to the high country of Tibet, from Washington to Beijing. Along the way Nick and Selena begin a relationship forged by danger, combat and betrayal. Someone is out to take over China and attack America--and Nick and Selena are right in the line of fire. International intrigue, terrorist acts, romance, patriotism and the threat of nuclear war form the core of the book, the first volume in a series featuring Nick, Selena, the Project and the ongoing, complex relationship between the main protagonists.
Red Hot Steele
Alex P. Berg - 2014
She's a powerful forensic psychic, and she's got sass oozing out of her boots.In a debut case teeming with fire mages, foundries, and a dead guy who's crispier than bacon, it's pretty clear Daggers isn't the only one getting a heaping helping of RED HOT STEELE.***This is book one of the Daggers & Steele mystery series. Book two, COLD HARD STEELE, is now available. Search for it above or use the following link: smarturl.it/chsamebook
Habit
T.J. Brearton - 2014
A young woman in a remote farmhouse has called 911 on an intruder and is killed. The clue path leads Healy to several suspects, but when the victim’s brother opens fire on the cops, the department is ready to close the case. Healy persists with his own investigation, leading him into the world of human trafficking where an escort service is used by government officials. Healy tracks a potential killer, who is holding a child hostage. But the case is not yet closed, and another killer must be brought to justice.
The Thinnest Air
Minka Kent - 2018
Her husband, Andrew, is a charming and successful financial broker. She has two lovely stepchildren and is living in affluence in a mountain resort town. After three years of marriage, Meredith’s life has become predictable. Until the day she disappears.Her car has been discovered in a grocery store parking lot—purse and phone undisturbed on the passenger seat, keys in the ignition, no sign of struggle, and no evidence of foul play. It’s as if she vanished into thin air.It’s not like Meredith to simply abandon her loved ones. And no one in this town would have reason to harm her. When her desperate sister, Greer, arrives, she must face a disturbing question: What if no one really knows Meredith at all? For Greer, finding her sister isn’t going to be easy…because where she’s looking is going to get very, very dark.
Escape: The First Omnibus WTF I-III
W.J. Lundy - 2014
Brad and his comrades realize the war for humanity has only just begun. And there's no guarantee any of them will survive the long journey home...Escaping The Dead:Alone in a foreign land. The radio goesquiet while on convoy in Afghanistan, a lost patrol alone in the desert. Withhis unit and his home base destroyed, Staff Sergeant Brad Thompson suddenlyfinds himself isolated and in command of a small group of men trying to survivein the Afghan wasteland.Every turn leads to danger. The local populationhas been afflicted with an illness that turns them into rabid animals. Theypursue him and his men at every corner and stop. Struggling to hold his teamtogether and unite survivors, he must fight and evade his way to safety.Tales Of The Forgotten:The world is at war with the PrimalVirus. Military forces across the globe have been recalled to defend thehomelands as the virus spreads and decimates populations.Out on patrol and assigned to a remote base inAfghanistan, Staff Sergeant Brad Thompson's unit was abandoned and left behind,alone and without contact.They survived and have built a refuge, but nowthey are forgotten. No contact with their families or commands.Brad makes a tough decision to leave the safety ofhis compound to try and make contact with the States, desperate to find rescuefor his men.What he finds is worse than he could have everpredicted.Only The Dead Live Forever:The escape from Afghanistan was only thebeginning.The Trio survived the initial fall, and built arefuge, they thought they had reached safety, but only to find themselves onceagain abandoned and surrounded by the primals. No contact with their familiesor commands, no relief from the rabid enemy. The fight continues as Brad andhis men struggle to survive in a post-apocalyptic world where the enemy is farmore dangerous than anything they had been trained for.Over land sea and air they will do anything to reach home.
The Legend of Devil's Creek
D.C. Alexander - 2012
More abductions and killings soon follow. Justin Riddley, recently transferred to the island’s small college, faces growing evidence that one of his new friends and fellow students may be the murderer. John Marshall, redemption-seeking captain of the local police force, leads the frantic murder investigation and struggles to figure out whether the killings are tied to the island's dark and violent past. Tormented by tragic wartime memories, and more convinced with each day that it is humanity’s fate to destroy itself, Marshall races against both the murderer and the specter of his own mental breakdown. As blood continues to spill, Riddley and Marshall wonder whether there may be a dark, universal force that drives evil deeds great and small, and whether the nature of one’s childhood might sometimes, in the end, be all that separates the saint from the psychopath.
The Fixer
Rex Carpenter - 2014
His clients call him a fixer. His enemies, a hitman for hire. For the right price, he’ll fix your problem. A call comes in. A meeting in a bar. A contract is agreed upon. But when the contract is for killing a US Senator, Bannister’s problems are just beginning. Worst of all, JC thinks he’s being set up. But the why and the who is just out of his reach. Bannister must find out who is behind the double-cross, complete the contract and satisfy his very powerful client before his solution changes the political future of the country. Or gets him and his entire team killed. The Fixer is an explosive new thriller series by Rex Carpenter that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the last body drops. WARNING: The Fixer is for mature audiences. It contains strong language and violence. If it was a movie, it would be rated R. If it was on TV, it would be on cable. If it was an album it’d have a Parental... you get the picture.
The Templar Concordat
Terrence O'Brien - 2010
And that's the proof the Hashashin get when they steal what the Vatican doesn't even know it has. Now the infallible decrees of two Twelfth Century popes and three kings, stolen by the Hashashin, threaten to catapult the bigotry, bias, and religious blood baths of the Third Crusade straight into the Twenty-First Century. When Templars Sean Callahan and Marie Curtis are drawn into the mess, they face an ancient enemy that has already nearly won the battle, a newly elected Mexican pope being undermined by entrenched Vatican powers, world class scholars who will sell their prestige to the highest bidder, and terrorists lingering over lattes in sidewalk cafes. Moving from Rome to London, Switzerland, and Saudi Arabia, Callahan and Curtis are desperate to find some way to stem the success the Hashashin are having enlisting the majority of moderate Muslims in their Jihad. Out maneuvered at each step by the Hashashin, only a last ditch roll of the dice has any chance of success. But it's the only chance they have."If you loved the idea of Dan Brown's bestsellers, but weren't socrazy about all the arty esoterica, Terrence O'Brien's The TemplarConcordat could hit your sweet spot...." Kindle Nation Daily
The Woman
David Bishop - 2011
This is a story of just one woman. As the story unfolds Linda gradually learns that some people do deserve to die, but that she is not one of those people. Linda Darby is a seven-year divorcee, living quietly in a small let-the-world-go-by beach town on the coast of Oregon, who day trades for a living. Her only close friend is a widowed elderly woman who manages a small consulting company, which, as is later discovered, never has visitors, sends and receives its business correspondence only by courier, and is not listed in any phone directory. No one in town knows what kind of consulting the company does, but the rumor is that whatever they do is done for the government. Linda doesn’t date local men. When her celibacy grows intolerable, she visits nearby towns to frequent the watering holes of successful men. Her motto: No relationships. No second dates. No use of her real name during one-night stands. Then one evening, Linda goes for a walk and nothing for her is ever the same. She is dragged into an alley by two men, but saved by a third, a stranger who disappears as suddenly as he appeared. The next day she finds out the two men in the alley had been killed, the town’s first murders ever. The following day she learns that hours before she had been dragged into the alley, her close friend was tortured and killed.
The House's Money (Indecent Fortunes)
Owen Sullivan - 2015
Dressed to kill and running on pure ambition, he enters the ranks of mortgage-backed securities trader twice his age, for one of the most prestigious firms in San Francisco. Life couldn't be sweeter. Butt the roller coaster ride has only just begun. Upon meeting Stephanie, an equally enterprising young real estate appraiser, his dreams appear to be unstoppable. But unbridled love too often hides the truth in its shadow and not everything is as it appears. As he discovers the world of real estate investment, experiencing a soaring financial wave never seen before in the housing market, Matt is welcomed with open arms into a seductive arena almost too good to be true. When insatiable greed raises its ugly head, jealousy and betrayal follow quickly behind. In a moment of brutal clarity, his world shatters with the realization he is merely a pawn in someone else's wicked game. Just as quickly as it all begun, the housing bubble begins to burst and his dreams slip through his fingers as he desperately struggles to hold on to a world that never really existed.
Against The Odds
Mara Jacobs - 2012
And I'm good. Very good.But, I also have a little bit of a problem with placing bets on a sporting events. Not so good.Sometimes my little problem becomes a whole lot of trouble and I need to resort to some, shall we say, less than stellar actions to get out of debt. So, I become my alter ego, JoJo, and fix college basketball games. Hey, a victimless crime, no one's the wiser, and it's better than the alternative, which is a drive into the desert with my loan shark and a shovel in the trunk. Although, it has to be said, my loan shark is pretty good looking.I love Vegas, and I love the life I've built, but when one of my friends is murdered, and another one shot at, I know I need to take a serious look at myself. And I need to call in the big guns. Even if that means teaming up with detective Jack Schiller, a man who's dealing with his own problems. But dang, he sure is sexy.I'm just trying to juggle protecting my friends, helping sexy detective Jack while not letting him get to close, and finding a murderer. And, oh yeah, no one can learn about JoJo.Because if they do, there's no way I'll be able to bluff my way out.
The Einstein Prophecy
Robert Masello - 2015
Shipped to Princeton University for study, the box contains mysteries that only Lucas, aided by brilliant archaeologist Simone Rashid, can unlock.These mysteries may, in fact, defy—or fulfill—the dire prophecies of Albert Einstein himself.Struggling to decipher the sarcophagus’s strange contents, Lucas and Simone unwittingly release forces for both good and unmitigated evil. The fate of the world hangs not only on Professor Einstein’s secret research but also on Lucas’s ability to defeat an unholy adversary more powerful than anything he ever imagined.From the mind of bestselling author and award-winning journalist Robert Masello comes a thrilling, page-turning adventure where modern science and primordial supernatural powers collide.