The Best People: A Tale of Trials and Errors


Marc Grossberg - 2019
    He survives early rough bumps and ethical challenges. Then, through networking, he lands two high-profile clients. With his brash moxie and brilliant legal strategy, he gets outstanding outcomes that put him on the success trajectory to the upper echelons of the city's divorce bar. But, faced with difficult choices in high-stakes litigation, will he balance his thirst for recognition and respect with his sense of right and wrong?​The Best People also follows Pilar Galt, a sensuous, intelligent single mother from the Houston barrios, for whom a temp assignment evolves into a relationship with the richest man in town. Her path intersects with Paddy's and eventually converges with his during a pivotal time in her life when she must overcome self-destructive tendencies to survive. A legal drama and social satire set after Enron and before the devastation of Hurricane Harvey, The Best People portrays a Houston as it is: a glitzy meritocracy populated with larger-than-life characters. It is the landscape where the country-club and café-society sets clash amidst clever legal maneuvering, big law firm politics, a Ponzi scheme, and judicial corruption.

To Leave a Memory


Pat Dunlap Evans - 2015
    The clever dialogue, surprising humor and the poignant ending will make you feel like the characters of the Ward family are just like your own.To Leave a Memory -- The StoryWhen history professor Andrew Ward ignores his wife Lizzy's premonition that something will happen if he allows their son to go out one stormy night, tragedy strikes. Andrew is too anguished to admit he was wrong and, over the years, he and Lizzy drift into avoidance.Forgotten in the marital divide, young daughter Jane can't forgive her brother's death. Nor can Andrew's brother Thomas, an arrogant millionaire and a perpetual prickle in Andrew's side.When Lizzy decides to leave, Jane -- who is now a tech guru and mother of three -- urges her mother to repair her marriage. Oblivious to the women's plans, Andrew hides in his office, trying to write a grand apologia to atone for his heartbreaking error. But when a second tragedy strikes, each family member faces a difficult choice. And Andrew must find the way to leave a memory.

The Going Back Portal


Connie Lacy - 2019
    So when her grandmother claims a Cherokee Indian woman is living on a neighboring farm, she dismisses it as early Alzheimer's. Because, obviously, there is no farm nearby. Not in the present anyway. But when she follows Nana's lead, Kathryn is transported back in time to the year 1840 where she finds a young Cherokee woman left behind when her family marched west on the Trail of Tears. Forest Water is ensnared in a perilous struggle to keep her ancestral lands against a violent white man who claims the farm, and then claims her as well. Desperate to help her new friend, Kathryn becomes entangled in a battle between good and evil with much higher stakes than she imagines.Each of these young women falls in love with a man from her own time, but there are threats, both seen and unseen, that could cost them their lives.

Living Proof


Peter J. Thompson - 2003
    The subjects, like Ramon, are taken from homeless shelters and prisons, and serve their country as unwilling lab rats.Ramon didn’t commit the murder that put him on death row. But he’s guilty of something worse—surviving the virus and escaping his captors. Ramon escapes, and begins a life on the run, a dead man hunted by would-be executioners determined to silence him. There’s only one person he can turn to—Lena Dryer, the reporter who covered his case and watched him die. Together, they must uncover the dark truth about the facility and its deadly secret.A secret that could alter the course of human history.A secret they may be too late to stop.Government secrets. Biological weapons. Human subjects. Fans of the dark imaginings of Stephen King and the breakneck pacing of Robert Ludlum will fall in love with “Living Proof.”

Rooked


Caitlin Sara - 2018
    . . Despite her desire for control, Ara Hopkins has always felt like a pawn—constantly being maneuvered by those surrounding her. Carrying a riddled past of abandonment by her mother, a jealous step-sister and exploitation by men she was supposed to be able to trust, Ara craves a social media certified life. So, when she meets her husband, a New York congressman’s son, she believes she’s finally won her game. Secure in a life her mother would approve of—and having firmly shut the door on her chaotic and miscalculated past—Ara feels she’s thriving. Until the night her husband is murdered. Thrust into a game of deceit and lies, Ara realizes that nothing is as it seems and that the past can quickly return to the present. The facade crumbles as relationships are tested and family boundaries crossed. Faced with losing it all, she discovers what a person is really capable of. Because in this game of life, it's either rook or be rooked. An intricately braided plot with unforeseeable twists and a sucker-punch ending, Rooked is a captivating thriller that shatters all perceptions.

24 + 1 Christmas Tales: Butterfly Adventures in Santa's Secret City


Alexander Ruth - 2011
    They are accompanied by their friends the three electric blue fireflies and the fearful phoenix. Whether it be helping to check wish lists, granting a white Christmas or manufacturing magical Christmas presents, the butterflies can be found everywhere: their mission is to make Christmas bigger, better and more perfect.

American Schism: How the Two Enlightenments Hold the Secret to Healing our Nation


Seth David Radwell
    Raw and bitter emotions such as anger and resentment have crowded out any logical debate. In this investigative tracing of our nation’s divergent roots, author Seth David Radwell explains that only reasoned analysis and historical perspective can act as salves for the irrational political discourse that is raging at present.      Two disparate Americas have always coexisted, and Radwell discovered that the surprising origin of these dual Americas was not an Enlightenment, but two distinct Enlightenments that have been fiercely competing since the founding of our country. Radwell argues that it is only by embracing Enlightenment principles that we can build a civilized, progressive, and tolerant society. American Schism reveals• the roots of the rifts in America since its founding and what is really dividing red and blue America;• the core issues that underlie all of today’s bickering;• a detailed, effective plan to move forward, commencing what will be a long process of repair and reconciliation.Seth David Radwell changes the nature of the political debate by fighting unreason with reason, allowing Americans to firmly ground their differing points of view in rationality.

Pebble in the Dark (Pebble in the Dark, #1)


Antony Botting - 2017
    Five sealed auction invitations, sent to heads of state to ensure that the Pebble does not fall into the hands of a clandestine organisation by the name of Onyx, trigger an unforeseen sequence of events. The residence of Ambassador Francis Sunderland is the venue for a celebration in honour of Wasyl Bohdanov, which takes a turn for the sinister. The Ambassador is contacted by an old friend, but it isn’t a social call. A young woman will stop at nothing to deliver the Pebble to Onyx. The organisation which took her in and protected her from a terrible past. The stage is set for humanity’s ultimate struggle for knowledge and power.

Rosé's... Bent Stem


Nomita Khanna - 2019
     Tana, a diligent, young nurse with a troubled childhood, can’t believe her luck when she finds Vikram, a rich widower who says she is the ‘love of his life’. The strong attraction quickly turns into something else, unraveling her life. Nightmares that wrecked her childhood are back—and ripping her world apart. Evil has already claimed victims. Is it about to take another? As the four walls of her majestic Lutyens bungalow begin to close in on her, she spirals down into a dungeon. In this twisted world with betrayal at every step, she decides not to stay miserable and becomes the person she never thought she could be. The path to escape is swarming with grisly ambushes and ... intrigue. No one really knows what happens behind closed doors or what goes inside a person’s mind. How far will someone go to protect their secrets or to get what they want? Farther than anyone can imagine. PEOPLE ARE UNKNOWABLE.

Assault and Buttercream (Lexy Baker Cozy Mystery Series Book 16)


Leighann Dobbs - 2022
    

The Company of Demons


Michael Jordan - 2018
    -- Cleveland Sun News"Jordan is a cross between John Grisham and Stephen King."-- Cleveland SceneThe brutal murder of a friend leaves lawyer John Coleman stunned and sends shockwaves through the city of Cleveland. The technique of the killing recalls memories of the Torso Murderer, who dismembered at least twelve people decades ago and then vanished—eluding even legendary crime fighter Eliot Ness. Jennifer, the victim’s beautiful daughter, hires John to handle her father’s estate, and romantic feelings for her soon complicate his already troubled marriage. When John finds himself entangled with a cold-blooded biker gang, an ex-cop with a fuzzy past, and the drug-addicted son of the dead man, he struggles to make sense of it all.But there is no escaping a growing sense of dread."A well-written and complexly plotted crime thriller." --Caroline McCullagh, Mensa Bulletin''The terror of the Torso Murderer returns in this gritty, Cleveland-centric tale. Jordan delights with crackling dialogue, true-to-life characters, an intensely paced plot, and an explosive finale. A must-read for fans of Lecter, Dexter, and the Ripper.'' --John Keyse-Walker, Author of Sun, Sand, Murder and Beach, Breeze, Bloodshed; winner of Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Award''Michael Jordan brings characters and scenes to life in this emotionally gripping and compelling breakout novel. Brilliantly crafted.''--Rick Porrello, author of To Kill the Irishman (adapted into a major motion picture), Superthief!, and The Rise and Fall of the Cleveland Mafia Corn, Sugar, and BloodThe Company of Demons by Michael Jordan is a wonderful blend of crime and mystery, a riveting story with sophisticated characters. [...] Michael Jordan is a great storyteller and he has the ability to keep the narrative emotionally intense and psychologically disturbing. The Company of Demons is a real page-turner.-- Reader's Favorite

The Body in the Boot


Patrick C. Walsh - 2015
    Now a private detective and, after bereavement and pain, he doubts himself and is no longer sure if he has the will or the energy to make a success of his new career. His first case comes by chance as a mother’s grief sends him into a town’s red light district to find out how her daughter died. Mac soon finds himself working with a team of local police detectives who are hot on the trail of a cold-blooded serial killer. Mac has to dig deep and rediscover all his talents in order to solve the case of The Body in the Boot. ALSO AVAILABLE - THE DEAD SQUIRREL - The second Mac Maguire mystery. THE WEEPING WOMEN - The third Mac Maguire mystery

When We Were Brave


Karla M. Jay - 2019
    TICHELAAR AWARD for BEST HISTORICAL FICTION — MARQUETTE FICTION2020 First Place Award, Historical Fiction for Reader's View Contest2020 Book Excellence Award for Historical Fiction2019 Distinguished Favorite for the New York City Big Book Award.2019 Silver Medal Winner, Historical Fiction, Readers Favorite Contest. Combining excellent historical research with a compelling storyline, the hard work of author Karla M. Jay really pays off the more deeply involved you become with the characters in her plot...As the plot threads and connections slowly come together, the conclusion marks the realities of war and sticks in your mind for a long time after. When We Were Brave is a highly recommended historical read.2019 FINALIST in The Wishing Shelf Book Awards- Adult FictionAug. 2019 Silver medal winner in Reader's Favorite Contest for historical fiction. Nov. 2019 New York City Big Book Award® Distinguished FavoritesIn WHEN WE WERE BRAVE, we find a conflicted SS officer, Wilhelm Falk, who risks everything to escape the Wehrmacht and get out the message about the death camps. Izaak is a young Jewish boy whose positive outlook is challenged daily as each new perilous situation comes along. American citizens, Herbert Müller, and his family are sent back to the hellish landscape of Germany because of the DNA coursing through their veins. In the panorama of World War II, these are the high-stakes plots and endearing characters whose braided fates we pray will work out in the end.

Slow Down


Lee Matthew Goldberg - 2015
    Neither is watching Dominick have an affair with the lead actress, the gorgeous but troubled Nevie Wyeth. For Noah's dream is to get both the film and Nevie in the end, whatever the cost. And this obsession may soon become a reality once Dominick's spurned wife Isadora reveals her femme fatale nature with a seductive plot to get rid of her husband for good.Slow Down, a cross between the noir styling of James M. Cain and the dark satire of Bret Easton Ellis, is a thrilling page-turner that holds a mirror up to a media-saturated society that is constantly searching for the fastest way to get ahead, regardless of consequences.

You vs You: 12 Ways to Kick Your Own Ass and Win


Todd Cahill - 2019
    People invite problems into their lives through poor choices, apathy, indecision, arrogance, anxiety, selfishness, and other traits they would rather not discuss but must be addressed. In this valuable book, Cahill shares what he has learned about these battles that either keep people from success and significance or usher them to victory. As a life coach and leadership trainer, he has taught thousands of people these lessons, and many of them are now experiencing a level of personal achievement, relational abundance, and financial freedom they never thought possible.  People often self-sabotage if they’re not mindful, wise, and willing. Cahill reinforces the idea that readers can choose today to fight against who they once were (or are) and become who they are made to be. You vs You is about that choice and the challenging, rewarding quest that ensues.