Book picks similar to
Addleton Heights by George Wright Padgett
mystery
steampunk
e-books
coming-of-age
The Wrecking Crew
Taylor Zajonc - 2016
But when his expedition threatens the ambitions of billionaire industrialist Charles Bettencourt, Jonah’s survival depends on hijacking a hostile submarine and assembling an unproven crew who must simultaneously investigate the source of a mysterious oceanic plague and face down Bettencourt’s commandos.A thrilling, fast-paced adventure set in the world’s last frontier, THE WRECKING CREW will resonate with James Rollins and Clive Cussler fans alike.
Murder in Silence
Gary Kassay - 2011
With no witnesses, no forensic evidence, and two bizarre clues to follow, the case falls to Inspector Duke Becker, head of the high profile Special Investigations Unit, Homicide. Becker and his squad must find the killer before more cops are murdered. The case will lead Becker on a wild chase through the streets of New York City, back over 15 years into the past and to a cover-up that will rock City Hall. Along with his brash, wildly dressed young partner, Jimmy Nova, the beautiful Michelle Goldman, Augie "Doggie" Rivera, and the Mutt and Jeff team of Bobby Green and Joe Robinson, Becker will need to enlist his boyhood friend in charge of CSU, Manny Velez. Add a ruthless newswoman known to the NYPD as "Wicked Witch Wilson" and a new love interest for Becker in the gorgeous and brilliant Dr. Elizabeth Cunningham, Becker is about to embark on the most difficult and dangerous case in his 20 plus years. Will Becker and his squad be able to catch the killer before more cops die or will the killer have the last laugh?
The Girl in the Steel Corset
Kady Cross - 2011
except the "thing" inside her.When a young lord tries to take advantage of Finley, she fights back. And wins. But no normal Victorian girl has a darker side that makes her capable of knocking out a full-grown man with one punch...Only Griffin King sees the magical darkness inside her that says she's special, says she's one of them. The orphaned duke takes her in from the gaslit streets against the wishes of his band of misfits: Emily, who has her own special abilities and an unrequited love for Sam, who is part robot; and Jasper, an American cowboy with a shadowy secret.Griffin's investigating a criminal called The Machinist, the mastermind behind several recent crimes by automatons. Finley thinks she can help and finally be a part of something, finally fit in.But The Machinist wants to tear Griff's little company of strays apart, and it isn't long before trust is tested on all sides. At least Finley knows whose side she's on even if it seems no one believes her.
Dead of Night
Paul J. Teague - 2019
A freak accident. A violent pursuit. Now they must try to stay alive until daylight ... When Jack and Lucy hit a man in their car whilst driving through fog, they think it's just a random accident. But when cars pull up and an armed manhunt begins, they know that they're running for their lives. With a marriage that's on the rocks and a new baby who's driven a wedge between them, the couple are hanging on to their relationship by their fingertips. But thrown into the deadly world of industrial espionage, they must fight to keep each other alive and rescue their child, whose life is in peril. As Jack and Lucy hurtle towards the abyss they will find that the real enemy was among them all the time. Paul J. Teague has also written a trilogy of thrillers. Book 1 is Don't Tell Meg, Book 2 is The Murder Place and Book 3 is The Forgotten Children.
Renhala
Amy Joy Lutchen - 2012
A chance discovery leads Kailey to a meeting with elderly Gunthreon, actual master of persuasion. Gunthreon, who seems to know too much of Kailey's history for her liking, opens Kailey's eyes to a coexisting realm she never knew existed: Renhala, while entrusting her with the knowledge of her newfound power as karmelean, serving as a beacon to the Higher Ones. Kailey slowly starts revealing new talents, and Gunthreon is fascinated with what she starts achieving. She soon discovers that Renhala is in danger, and this danger has been leaking into her own realm. As she uncovers secrets within herself, and attempts to toughen up, she fuses with an unlikely band of fellow travelers (including a dragon, woodsprite, six-hundred-pound greble, her faithful female canine companion, and a "giver"), falls into an unexpected love triangle, deals with her sexy and flirtatious best friend's "issues," and finds the courage to master a new deadly weapon. On her mission to save Renhala, Kailey will find herself running from life-threatening disasters, such as greble Tartarin, who likes to remind Kailey that when he catches her, he plans on eating her brains with ice cream; she'll run from the deadly meeples: small cute bunnies with talons and an undeniable thirst for imposing self-destruction on others. Kailey will also run into the possibility that a centuries-old Renhalan rumor is true, that advanced technology existing in Kailey's realm shortens all life spans. As blood is shed and puzzles near completion, Kailey pulls from deep within herself, conjuring up mystical qualities that enable her to astonish as once predicted at her birth, but despite the newfound strength, Kailey will discover that monsters not only come in ugly packages, but can be easily disguised as those she has come to love and trust.
A Little of Chantelle Rose
Cristina Hodgson - 2017
Except her name...At the age of twenty-four, Chantelle Rose has all a city girl can expect: a tiny bed-sit in South London, a lousy poorly-paid job, a tyrannical boss, and quite a few exes added to an ever-growing list. Desperate for change, she becomes an extra in a seedy crime film. When that leads to the opportunity of a lifetime – a role to play with a million dollars to win and seemingly nothing to lose – she accepts without thinking twice. After all, what could possibly go wrong? In any event, she´ll earn enough to buy her dream home, set up her own business and never worry about money again. And what about love? Two men have won her heart: Robbie – sultry, silent, mysterious; and Lionel – Hollywood heart-throb, charm, wealth, adventure. But who can she trust? Who is bent on scaring her away, and why? There seems to be more at stake than just her heart. Will a million dollars be worth it?
Rain of Terror
Donna Cummins - 2014
Clad in hooded black robes, carrying torches that blazed with evil fury, they came. With chanting—at first a distant murmur, then growing and building, louder and louder—incessant, demanding, hideous chanting, they came.Mother had been rocking both Jeremiah, my four-year-old little brother, and me on our rickety rocking chair, its swaying motion in itself a soothing comfort on a dark night. But more than that, mother sang to us in her clear and lilting voice as she often did, chasing away the ghosts and goblins that sometimes haunt a young boy’s mind. As I was about to drop off to sleep, the noise and the clatter from outside our cabin startled me back to consciousness. Mother’s voice mixed with the incessant chanting that came closer and closer. Her voice faded. We could see the lights from their torches through the window panes, and mother rose quickly from the rocker and hurried Jeremiah and me into our bedroom. She cautioned us in whispery tones to stay quiet, to stay in our room, pretend to be asleep; and then on tiptoe, she rushed out the door, closing it quietly after herself.Within minutes, I heard Mother scream a piercing wail that emitted both terror and defeat. They came through our bedroom door, robes rustling, wild eyes searching, hands reaching, and carried Jeremiah and I from our beds. They dragged Mother out the front door, through the dark forest, up the mountainside, our captors pulling my brother and I close behind. I remember the brittle sound of the fallen leaves under our feet, the cold chill of the night air brushing against my face, the pale moonlight frosting the tips of the last remaining leaves on the black, skeletal oak trees that rose above us. And we kept climbing, climbing, farther and farther up through the forest. And as we walked, a cold wind came up, turning the leaves; and the racing clouds changed into thunderheads. And then the first bolt of lightning lit the sky and illuminated the hellish scene around us—the shadowy, dark figures stomping through the bushes and underbrush, the swaying glow of lanterns through the trees. All the while their chanting reverberated across the landscape, mixing with the sound of the howling, barking, snarling, pawing dogs that followed in their midst."
Just One Damned Thing After Another
Jodi Taylor - 2013
They don't do 'time-travel' - they 'investigate major historical events in contemporary time'. Maintaining the appearance of harmless eccentrics is not always within their power - especially given their propensity for causing loud explosions when things get too quiet.Meet the disaster-magnets of St Mary's Institute of Historical Research as they ricochet around History. Their aim is to observe and document - to try and find the answers to many of History's unanswered questions...and not to die in the process. But one wrong move and History will fight back - to the death. And, as they soon discover - it's not just History they're fighting.Follow the catastrophe curve from 11th-century London to World War I, and from the Cretaceous Period to the destruction of the Great Library at Alexandria. For wherever Historians go, chaos is sure to follow in their wake....
Information Cloud
Peter James West - 2012
Information Cloud is the first novel in the series, mixing elements of military science fiction, adventure and hi-tech action with an epic tale that travels through a vast land. After the Iridium Wars, a cataclysmic event that killed the vast majority of Megarothia's human and animal populations, the planet has been left to ruin. Only Lord Hades, the Techno Prophet, foresaw this event and was able to save a few thousand survivors beneath a powerful structure that became known as the Dome Shield. Major Rachel Henson is a soldier in the Security Forces, a military organisation that now governs the fragmented land. She's combat trained, and highly effective, but it's becoming increasingly obvious that there's something very wrong with her. She isn't like other people, and she's developing a reputation for being more capable than anyone can explain. Lord Hades has been absent for many years, driven to desperation by his tormented visions of the Second Black Day. He fears that technology will be the end of man, but whatever he tries, he is powerless to stop the factions of the Orange Zone from destroying each other. The race is on to create ever more disturbing machines to win yet another war.
The Constantine Affliction
T. Aaron Payton - 2012
London is a city in transition. The Constantine Affliction - strange malady that kills some of its victims and physically transforms others into the opposite sex - has spread scandal and upheaval throughout society. Scientific marvels and disasters, such as clockwork courtesans, the alchemical fires of Whitechapel, electric carriages, and acidic monsters lurking in the Thames, have forever altered the face of the city.Pembroke "Pimm" Halliday is an aristocrat with an interest in criminology, who uses his keen powers of observation to assist the police or private individuals - at least when he's sober enough to do so. Ellie Skyler, who hides her gender behind the byline "E. Skye," is an intrepid journalist driven by both passion and necessity to uncover the truth, no matter where it hides.When Pimm and Skye stumble onto a dark plot that links the city’s most notorious criminal overlord with the Queen’s new consort, famed scientist Sir Bertram Oswald, they soon find the forces of both high and low society arrayed against them. Can they save the city from the arcane machinations of one of history's greatest monsters - and uncover the shocking origin of . . . THE CONSTANTINE AFFLICTION.
The Bite on the Line
Simon Cantan - 2013
About how he’s shooting through a forest on a rocket powered railcar. About how a grinning thief is clinging to the same bar beside him. Most of all, though, about how he’s heading for Bytarend; a town no-one has heard from in almost a hundred years. There has to be a reasonable explanation for their silence, after all. Osric tries to think of a reason that doesn’t end in his horrible death...... he can’t come up with one.
A Bazaar Murder
Amy Phipps - 2015
Heartbroken and wounded by his betrayal she agrees to move in with her grandmother, Margaret. After being volunteered to help with the church bazaar Amanda and Margaret stumble over the body of Florence Hardy. Juniper Falls wealthiest woman not to mention rudest. As the list of suspects keeps growing by the minute the girls recruit neighbor and Ex-Sheriff Henry and eccentric gossip-loving Olive to help investigate. Along with a little help from a St. Bernard named Twinkie they may just catch a killer.
Untimed
Andy Gavin - 2012
Hell, his own mother can't remember his name. So when a mysterious clockwork man tries to kill him in modern day Philadelphia, and they tumble through a hole into 1725 London, Charlie realizes even the laws of time don't take him seriously. Still, this isn't all bad. Who needs school when you can learn about history first hand, like from Ben Franklin himself. And there's this girl... Yvaine... another time traveler. All good. Except for the rules: boys only travel into the past and girls only into the future. And the baggage: Yvaine's got a baby boy and more than her share of ex-boyfriends. Still, even if they screw up history - like accidentally let the founding father be killed - they can just time travel and fix it, right? But the future they return to is nothing like Charlie remembers. To set things right, he and his scrappy new girlfriend will have to race across the centuries, battling murderous machines from the future, jealous lovers, reluctant parents, and time itself.
Erased
Jordan Marshall - 2011
They programmed her to forget everything. She was supposed to be the perfect patsy, until something went wrong… When Sara wakes up on the roof of a Union Square department store with a sniper rifle in her arms and the body of a political activist in the street below, she can’t even remember how she got there. A mysterious stranger calls and instructs her to turn herself in. He warns that her life has been erased and she’ll never see her family again if she doesn’t cooperate. Sara is terrified, and in a desperate attempt to sort out her past and prove her innocence, she goes on the run. Sara quickly finds herself one of America’s most wanted criminals. The police and the FBI are convinced she’s a known terrorist. The black ops team that framed her is out to kill her before she can expose them. Her only hope lies in rookie FBI agent Brandy Jackson. Unfortunately, Brandy and her partner have every reason to believe Sara is the real killer and they’re being pressured from above to close the case as quickly as possible. As the evidence mounts, Sara even begins to question her own memories. What if she’s not the dedicated mother and hardworking attorney she thinks she is? What if she really is the killer?
Hallowed be thy Name
Anthony Hulse - 2014
Father Driscoll pursues Ethan, along with journalist Pamela Hutchins; their intentions differing. After worldwide publicity, the Church and various religious leaders attempt to thwart the man who claims he can heal the sick. Ethan alleges he is visited by Moroni, an apparent holy vision. Gangster, Abdul Rahim sees the financial potential and pursues Ethan to India and Africa, where his cult is thriving. A series of macabre deaths follow Ethan in his quest. Is he really heaven sent, or is he a servant of evil? A frightening tale of deceit, treachery and dishonour. Not for the faint-hearted.