The Last Innocent Hour


Barbara Taylor Sissel - 2000
    It lurks at the periphery of Beth's vision. Her husband Charlie can't help, if she could even remember him; he's doing time for a murder he didn't commit. The small child Beth was found with, whom she doesn't know either, was taken to foster care. There isn't much time now. If Beth doesn't recall the hideous events that stole her memory soon, the killer will strike again, and someone else will die.

It Ends with Her


Brianna Labuskes - 2018
    She’ll end it.FBI special agent Clarke Sinclair doesn’t give up easily. She’s spent years tracking serial killer Simon Cross, forced to follow his twisted clues and photographs across the country. Clarke knows that Cross selects only redheaded women and that he doesn’t target another victim until Clarke discovers the previous one.He’s never broken pattern…until now.A girl has already gone missing in upstate New York when a second one is kidnapped—a blonde. The killer’s MO has changed, sending Clarke back to the drawing board. The closer she gets to the truth, the deeper she’s drawn into an inescapable trap made just for Clarke. Whatever Cross’s ultimate game is, it ends with her.

Just Evil


Vickie McKeehan - 2011
    No one cared. But a stranger, bent on revenge, is out to change all that. Kit Griffin has finally overcome a painful childhood at the hands of her mother, former actress Alana Stevens. No longer living in the grasp of the cold, tyrannical woman, Kit has found a new life tucked away in little San Madrid, California, running a business she loves, surrounded by friends she considers family. For the first time her life is on track. That is, until Alana is found brutally murdered on Mother’s Day, pulling Kit back in to the dark horrors of her past. To make matters worse, the police consider her the prime suspect.Jake Boston, an old family friend and the man Kit has loved since she was a teen, is fighting his own demons as a suspect in his wife’s murder two years earlier. Despite his past, he’s determined to win Kit over once and for all. But before that can happen they need to convince the police there’s a killer working his way down a list with cold-hearted vengeance in mind. Forced to delve into Alana’s dark past, it becomes clear someone is out to settle a score. When Jake and Kit uncover a forty year old double murder that leads them straight to the door of a legal dynasty, they soon find out just how far the heirs will go to keep the past buried and eliminate all the loose ends to protect their empire. Will Jake and Kit become the next victims or will they find an unexpected guardian angel?

Love Me Anyway


J.L. Redington - 2013
    Greyson Beauchene, Head Ranger of Alaska’s Denali National Park is certain he will never have to deal with that because his park is too ‘out of the way.’ However, Ranger Beauchene soon finds out he is dead wrong. Greyson and his two assistants are flown by helicopter into a remote section of the park where hikers have found a casket, one of the biggest indicators the serial killer has found Denali. Greyson’s team is joined by one incredibly irritating and extremely demanding FBI Profiler and her two Agents. Very good at what she does, Aspen O’Connell sets out to take control of the crime scene and everyone involved in it, and Greyson is having none of it. Greyson, Aspen and their teams must work together to find this killer before he kills again. Events move quickly as the group pieces together clues from the crime scene and a profile is established. As they work through abduction attempts and visible threats, Greyson and Aspen struggle to put their growing feelings for each other in a place that will keep them focused on finding an evil, evil man and bringing justice to innocent victims.

Pushed Too Far


Ann Voss Peterson - 2012
    Police Sergeant Valerie Ryker solved that case, putting psychopath Dixon Hess in prison for life, and becoming the first female police chief of her tiny Wisconsin town.A COP'S UNFORGIVABLE MISTAKEThen the original murder victim turns up in a frozen lake, all in one piece and only recently dead, and Val must enter a race against time. In only forty-eight hours, Hess will be set free, and he wants payback. And Val, her town, and everyone she loves are at the top of his list.A KILLER'S NEXT VICTIMBut surviving Hess's vengeance is only part of her dilemma. For there's another killer in Lake Loyal. One who may be closer to Val than she knows...Val will need all the help she can get, including a sexy firefighter, her dead sister's daughter, and a tough Chicago cop named Jack Daniels. Everyone has a breaking point, and Val has just reached hers.From bestselling romantic suspense author Ann Voss Peterson comes a page-turning thriller of police procedure, passion, and revenge. Make sure you're holding your Kindle tightly with both hands.

Convictions


Julie Morrigan - 2011
    Published in 2011, it featured in the Grift Magazine readers’ survey of the best books of the year, and was voted one of the top five books of the year at the Crime Fiction Lover website. A stolen child. A family devastated by loss. A man of God. When 12-year-old Tina Snowdon and her little sister Annie gratefully accept a lift from a helpful stranger, she has no way of knowing that only one of them will make it home. As days turn into weeks with no news of Annie, Tina must face her mother’s anger; she would do anything to turn back the clock. As her life is torn apart by pain and recrimination, the only evidence the police have points to George Cotter, a respected pillar of the local church. But as the investigation continues, it seems that perhaps a deeper and more disturbing truth may lie behind Annie’s abduction. And until Tina learns what that truth is, she will always be the little girl who escaped, only to be imprisoned by her own grief and guilt.

Little Boy Lost


J.D. Trafford - 2017
    But when eight-year-old Tanisha Walker offers him a jar full of change to find her missing brother, he doesn’t have the heart to turn her away.Justin had hoped to find the boy alive and well. But all that was found of Devon Walker was his brutally murdered body—and the bodies of twelve other African American teenagers, all discarded like trash in a mass grave. Each had been reported missing. And none had been investigated.As simmering racial tensions explode into violence, Justin finds himself caught in the tide. And as he gives voice to the discontent plaguing the city’s forgotten and ignored, he vows to search for the killer who preys upon them.

Fatal Exchange


Russell Blake - 2011
    financial system.From the sweltering streets of Seoul to the sex-and-drug-driven underbelly of Greenwich Village, attempts at silencing a leak in an international counterfeiting operation leave a trail of butchery that leads inevitably to Wall Street, pitting a counter-culture heroine against a ruthless state-sponsored assassination team that will stop at nothing to achieve its lethal ends.As the body count climbs, Tess is assisted by Detective Ron Stanford, a NYPD homicide specialist tracking a brutal serial killer whose ritualistic cycle of murder and mutilation targeting bike messengers is escalating to fever pitch.Tess's battle to survive propels her into a deadly underworld where she must become judge and executioner, challenging her core beliefs about morality, justice and love.

First Lady Down


Daniel A. Adams - 2011
    But as one investigator digs deeper, he finds evidence that suggests the First Lady was really the target. But his superiors ignore him and he has to go it alone. Within a few short hours, he is elbow-deep in government agents, hired thugs, lying witnesses and enough killers to stock a small country. As he gets closer and closer to the secret cabal behind the assassination, they fight back. To stay alive, the investigator goes on the run--but where do you go when there's no place to hide. Chock full of intrigue, romance, sexy, hot women, action, pursuits and plenty of desk-level hard work. If you can put down FIRST LADY DOWN after you start reading, you will be the first reader to do it.

Rejection (Lou Drake Mysteries)


Thomas K. Matthews - 2010
    Ten years later, fifty pounds heavier and three months from retirement, Drake works patrol in the backwater borough of Malcolm New York. He spends his idle time reading crime novels and writing one of his own.When Drake breaks protocol on another brutal murder scene, endangering his rookie partner, his captain demotes him to the booking cage. But when another body is discovered and both victims are identified as struggling literary agents, the NYPD Chief of Detectives decides Lou's writing experience could benefit the case and pairs him with his old partner one last time.As they look for clues in the struggling publishing industry, Drake finds himself thrust into the middle of a serial murder case where a methodical perpetrator is systematically killing those who rejected him. Drake must revive his old detective prowess and trust his writer's intuition to try and solve the case, while possibly exposing the truth about the old Hennings investigation - a secret that would expose a web of corruption that could shake the NYPD to its core.

An Act of Self-Defense


Erne Lewis - 2010
    It was ranked #1 political thriller by Amazon reader reviews for 8 months in 2012-2013. It has been favorably compared to Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged many times, but also to George Orwell’s 1984, Michael Chrichton’s State of Fear and Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. In this novel the U.S. is nearing economic collapse as a result of political corruption, an un-repayable national debt, the selling of legislation by members of Congress, central command of the economy and devaluing of the national currency. Power hungry members of Congress have made democracy and the Constitution a sham with legislation making it almost impossible for a challenger to defeat an incumbent and absolutely impossible for a third party to compete. In a dramatic and very public manner the libertarian TLR accuse Congress of having “increased your powers far beyond the constitutional limits of your offices. You have become a political aristocracy taking our property and our production as if we are your serfs.” They give Congress “three days to approve a proposed Term Limits Amendment to the Constitution or, unless you first resign, the long-term incumbents will be term-limited in the only way you leave us.” If the amendment passes and is then approved by the people, it will prevent professional politicians from ever again serving in Congress. They announce to the nation, “Ours is the only form of revolution now possible in the United States. But our revolution has this advantage: If lives must be taken, it will be those that have stolen the lives and rights and property of the people, or, perhaps it will be our own.” In a brutal hunt for the TLR, the Department of Justice wrongly targets term-limit supporters and those who have opposed the administration or the Department of Justice. But it is clear the TLR will not be easily found or stopped when the first senator is “term-limited” in spite of all that federal authorities can do to stop them. The TLR are inside the federal law enforcement agencies that are hunting them. The characters on both sides in the struggle are as realistic as I could make them. Brave souls who defend liberty and family, lovers and cowards and even NSA, FBI and CIA agents confront their consciences and make their choices to aid the TLR or smash them. The novel examines a critical issue: If our liberties—our right to own ourselves and make our own choices in life—are diminishing with every year, is deadly force justified as a self-defense issue? If not, will we ever regain our individual rights? Erne el@ernelewis.com

Sleight of Hand


V.F. Streets - 2021
    But with a past that still haunts her, she prefers to serve justice on the bad guys, instead of helping them go free. So when she gets offered a job to frame a wife-beating police officer, despite her reservations, she takes it.But when the facts don’t add up, and the man she’s hired to frame turns out to be the lead investigator for a suspicious death, Bristol decides to change sides before more lives are lost. Unfortunately, that means teaming up with her rival, Cole Sullivan, a move that carries risks of its own.As the questions pile up and every lead dead ends, Bristol's move to double-cross her employer leads to the discovery that her past choices have made her a pawn in a much bigger game, a game that now threatens those closest to her.Now, there is only one choice she can make to save the ones she loves … she must surrender herself to the truth she’s spent her whole life running from. A truth that could destroy her from the inside out.

Illegal


Paul Levine - 2009
    lawyer with nothing to lose...A beautiful Mexican woman and her son who disappear crossing the border...And the corrupt rancher who schemes to destroy them all.  Set in the world of human trafficking and sex slavery, this a "masterful tale from one of the most skillful practitioners of the modern thriller.""Chilling and rings with authenticity. Levine invests his characters with believable humanity. Compulsively readable thriller." -- Booklist

Encrypted


Carolyn McCray - 2012
     Praise for Encrypted... "Imagine a roller coaster ride filled with historical twists and turns, fabulous action, and a great love story. You'll soar to the skies then grip your seat on the way down. Encrypted will leave you breathless in the end." Amber Scott Author Fierce Dawn "If you like Lara Croft you'll love the heroine, Ronnie. From one explosion to the next my heart raced with each turn of the page. And the plague making a come back? Written with such realism, after reading Encrypted, you may never want to leave your house again." Elena Gray Author Full Body Contact Overview: A code written in unbreakable Angelic script. The resurgence of the Black Death. Can an FBI Agent and the Robin Hood Hacker save the world from another Dark Ages? More praise for Encrypted... "Dan Brown blinked and Carolyn McCray took over. Encrypted is the best thing that I've read in the thriller genre, hands down. It's got history, mysticism, shadowy organizations manipulating world events. Oh, and did I mention the most incredible opposites attract relationship EVER? This novel knocked my socks off." Ben Hopkin Book Reviewer "Halting the spread of a weaponized redo of the Black Plague? Intending to plunge the world into a medieval hellish vision of the Hidden Hand? It's never good when the dead could turn out to be the lucky ones. That's a lot of responsibility resting on the shoulders of a brilliant cyber hacker and a sexy FBI agent. Makes you wonder who's calling the shots? God, the angels or a 13th century cult that would make Lucifer blush." Taylor Lee Author Grandmaster's Legacy "Action packed from the first sentence, 'Encrypted' kept me turning pages. From hackers, special agents, to the plague, you won't be able to put this one down until the end!" Kelli McCracken Author What the Heart Wants If you enjoy the intrigue of The Bourne Identity, the historical texture of Dan Brown, and the roller coaster action of Indian Jones, you are going to LOVE "Encrypted!" **If you were looking for Carolyn's extremely controversial historical thriller, simply search under 30 Pieces of Silver (#1 Kindle Bestseller in Men's Adventure and War categories, but be warned, it is WAY more controversial than Encrypted.) **If you were looking for near future action/adventure roller coaster, try Carolyn's MoonRush. It's 2049 and the rush is on! To the moon! **If you were looking for Carolyn's taut romantic suspense with an MMA kick, search for Full Body Contact under her pen name Cristyn West **If you were looking for Carolyn's #1 historical thriller set in ancient Rome, simply search under "Fated McCray." Beware though, there is a thread of paranormal romance that sneaks up on you like an asp in the night... **If you were looking for Carolyn's thriller short stories, An Engagement to Remember and Dark Lullaby check out Bullet, Brass, and Babes, the ultimate thriller anthology!

Revenge


Mark Young - 2011
    After a high stakes gamble ends in personal tragedy, Travis walks away from years of training and a highly successful law enforcement career. Determined never to look back, he starts a new life and a new career, teaching criminology at the university and building a cabin in the idyllic Idaho Mountains. He hires a beautiful river guide, Jessie White Eagle from the Nez Perce tribe, to guide him safely down the Lochsa. The turbulence of the whitewater, however, is just the beginning of his troubles. Travis finds himself in the crosshairs of a killer—calling himself Creasy—bent on revenge.This fast-paced thriller takes readers on a wild ride down Idaho’s whitewater rivers, along the historic Lolo Trails once tread by the Nez Perce nation, and onto the city streets of California. Tighten your helmet. This ride never stops until the last shot is fired and the final body falls.