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A Cape May Diamond by Larry Enright


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River Ghosts


B.R. Robb - 2008
    Richard survives, a witness to violence and, he believes, his own cowardice. On the strength of Richard's testimony, a white jury convicts Henry Clayton, a teen bearing swastika tattoos, and sentences him to death. His future in ruins, Richard soon perceives that the mix of his parents satisfies neither side.Sixteen years after the murders, Richard receives a letter from the prosecutor's office. DNA evidence has exonerated Henry Clayton. Richard is the man who remains imprisoned, alone within his discredited nightmare. Henry Clayton soon arrives, dressed in the clothes of a preacher, claiming rebirth, extending his hand not only to return Richard to faith, but to use this faith to find the real killer. Even as Richard begins to take a step in a new direction, his youth and voices from his past reach out to oppose Clayton.But how can a traumatized memory from so long ago defeat a perfect science? Its frightening insight into the best and worst of men and their institutions, thoughtful intrigue, and superb attack upon preconceptions make River Ghosts a mystery devoid of coincidences or tidy endings, that will grip readers from the stunning opening to its powerful last page.

Come Back


Sally Crosiar - 2017
    But what if your aunt begs you to perform at her 60th birthday bash? She cared for you like neither of your parents ever did. And something about her voice on the phone seems off? Vi can’t say no. How bad can three days be? She can act like she has no secrets for that long, can’t she? What if you’ve fretted about why your kid ran away and you hadn’t seen or heard from her in ten long years? What if you know tongues are wagging again all over town – this time about why she’s staying with her aunt and not you? Ben Johansen worries the girl will shame him again before he can make her say why she left. What if you’ve schemed and plotted to get the perfect life? But your stepdaughter could take it all away? Would you be scared? Tammy Johansen is. Down to her bones. What if Ben finds out why Vi ran, and that Tammy has always known? She’s built her life around loving Ben. What if he won’t forgive her? What then? What if the girl you worked so hard to get over waltzes into the diner where you’re having breakfast? What if you know you should hate her for the suspicion her disappearance rained down on you? But you can’t? What if you know neither of you are the same people you were? Would you still want her? Nate Barlow does. Against his better judgment. What if you and Nate pinky-swore to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth? Would you keep your oath and risk your last drop of hope? Of all the questions Vi faces when she comes back to Freedom, Iowa, this might be the biggest? Three days? It’s no ride on a pink duck.

The Rowan Tree


Robert W. Fuller - 2013
    Upon graduation, she takes a fellowship to Africa, and they lose touch. When, decades later, they meet again, they discover that their prior bond was but a rehearsal for the world stage.THE ROWAN TREE reaches from the tumultuous 1960s into humanity’s future, encompassing the worlds of politics, sport, ballet, presidential leadership, and world governance. An international cast of characters personifies the catalytic role of love in political change.Replete with illicit loves, quixotic quests, and inextinguishable hope, THE ROWAN TREE foretells a dignitarian world much as the story of King Arthur and the round table sowed the seeds of democracy.

Rhubarb


M.H. Van Keuren - 2012
    After all, as a traveling salesman, he’s spent more than enough hours on the road listening to late-night talk radio to know about these things. The odd thing is that these aliens are coming to tiny Brixton, Montana…to eat at the truck stop.Martin, too, has been coming to Brixton for years. It’s a convenient crossroads town, but the real draw is Cheryl, the housekeeper who sets out the breakfast at the local motel. Martin has just about worked up the courage to ask her out when she disappears.When Martin begins to ask questions, what he uncovers about Cheryl’s family and Brixton’s history is far weirder than anything he’s ever heard on the radio. Especially if it’s true that Cheryl’s salvation lies in discovering a long-lost secret recipe for rhubarb pie—which might just be the best, and the most dangerous, pie in the galaxy.

The Silla Project


John C. Brewer - 2012
    A scientist at Los Alamos, he was married to the love of his life - until a botched government raid left his wife dead in his arms and him accused of constructing an illicit nuclear weapon in his basement. Though Mitch knows he is innocent of the charges, evidence says otherwise and he's convicted and sent to prison for the rest of his life. So when black-clad commandos abduct Mitch during a prison transfer it feels more like a rescue. Until he learns that his saviors are from North Korea.Transported to a secret nuclear lab in the rugged mountains of the Workers Paradise, Mitch is given a choice- and after what his country did to him, he's in no mood to be tortured to death. And his captors are nothing like he thought, lampooned by the same media that labeled him a terrorist. Industrious and hard working, most of them are just trying to avoid malnutrition and the secret police. The only person who doesn't accept him is a fanatical and equally beautiful scientist, Chun Hyon-hui, who's mixed North Korean and Western blood leaves her ostracized by all.Forced to work together for the good of the fatherland Hyon-hui begins to realize that perhaps her zeal is misplaced, and Mitch's unexpected affection for the brilliant scientist begins to melt his stony heart. When the North finally tests their bomb, developed with Mitch's help, he knows that he must somehow undo what he has done and escape with the woman he's come to love, impossible as it seems. But how can Mitch break out of the most repressive nation on Earth, and will Hyon-hui even want to go with him?Nearly a decade of research went into writing The Silla Project, providing a glimpse into the nuclear program and the political tyranny of North Korea, one of the most threatening and enigmatic nations on Earth.

The Art of Inheriting Secrets


Barbara O'Neal - 2018
    Raw with grief and reeling from the knowledge that her reserved mother hid something so momentous, Olivia leaves San Francisco and crosses the pond to unravel the mystery of a lifetime.One glance at the breathtaking Rosemere Priory and Olivia understands why the manor, magnificent even in disrepair, was the subject of her mother’s exquisite paintings. What she doesn’t understand is why her mother never mentioned it to her. As Olivia begins digging into her mother’s past, she discovers that the peeling wallpaper, debris-laden halls, and ceiling-high Elizabethan windows covered in lush green vines hide unimaginable secrets.Although personal problems and her life back home beckon, Olivia finds herself falling for the charming English village and its residents. But before she can decide what Rosemere’s and her own future hold, Olivia must first untangle the secrets of her past.

The Color of Water in July


Nora Carroll - 2011
    For all that time, she’s been haunted by loss—of her innocence and her ability to trust and, most of all, of a profound summer romance that might have been something more. So when her grandmother leaves the house to her, Jess summons her courage and returns to a place full of memories—and secrets.There, she stumbles upon old letters and photographs of a time not so much forgotten as buried. As she begins to unravel the hidden histories of her mother and her grandmother, she makes a startling discovery about a tragic death that prompted her family’s slow undoing. With every uneven and painful step into the past, Jess comes closer to a truth that could alter her own path—and open a door to a different future. Revised edition: This edition of The Color of Water in July includes editorial revisions.

Paracosm - Bleath: The Hauntings


Anya Allyn - 2015
     The mayor of Bleath provides Zoe with accommodation at the empty Wilmont house. It's not the friendly farmhouse Zoe was picturing, and worse, the house seems to change day by day. The walls change and strange objects appear. Late at night, scratching noises scrape along the staircase banister and inside the trinket box under her bed. And out in the wheat field below her bedroom window, ghostly figures wait . . . . Is Zoe slipping into an imaginary world of her own? Or are the things she's experiencing terrifying real? PARACOSM is a standalone novel. It is part of a wider world, having a deep connection to The Dark Carousel series.

The Keeper of Happy Endings


Barbara Davis - 2021
    For generations her family has kept an exclusive bridal salon in Paris, where magic is worked with needle and thread. It’s said that the bride who wears a Roussel gown is guaranteed a lifetime of joy. But devastating losses during World War II leave Soline’s world and heart in ruins and her faith in love shaken. She boxes up her memories, stowing them away, along with her broken dreams, determined to forget.Decades later, while coping with her own tragic loss, aspiring gallery owner Rory Grant leases Soline’s old property and discovers a box containing letters and a vintage wedding dress, never worn. When Rory returns the mementos, an unlikely friendship develops, and eerie parallels in Rory’s and Soline’s lives begin to surface. It’s clear that they were destined to meet—and that Rory may hold the key to righting a forty-year wrong and opening the door to shared healing and, perhaps, a little magic.

Only Time Will Tell


James Kipling - 2014
    Will she make the right choice? An unknown woman is murdered and detectives Pierce Carson, Chelsea Madden and a new recruit, Dean Weston, are assigned to the case. Their search for the killer leads to several dead ends and a suspected drug connection, as even more people are killed. In the process of helping to solve the first murder and those that follow, Chelsea realizes that she is walking a very thin line between personal revenge and professional responsibility. She too has suffered at the hands of a murderer, who brutally snuffed out the life of her parents, giving her a reason to join the police force. To complicate matters, she finds herself attracted to Dean. She knows little about the newcomer to Homicide, only that he’d been a successful undercover agent. Normally a loner, she finds him surprisingly easy to talk to, as she unburdens herself of her past, kept secret for years. As the case becomes more complicated and passions are stirred, questions arise about a mole in the force, and Dean is on the list of possible suspects. Chelsea is torn between trust and doubt, fear and love; her desire for vengeance and belief in the system of which she is now a part. The strands of the plot become intertwined, with unexpected twists and turns, and Chelsea finds herself caught in a life and death struggle in a most unexpected way. Only time will tell if she survives to right the wrong or decides to let it go and find a new direction for her life. Detective Chelsea Madden is the cool, calm, and collected hero of Only Time Will Tell. Putting her life on the line, she doesn’t pull any punches, searching only for the truth, and for the person who takes lives on her watch. Intelligent, resourceful, and uncompromising, Chelsea will take readers on a memorable, white-knuckled journey in this suspenseful, gripping serial killer thriller. <

The Flies of August


P.J. Lee - 2013
    

The Rabbit Girls


Anna Ellory - 2019
    As the wall between East and West falls, Miriam Winter cares for her dying father, Henryk. When he cries out for someone named Frieda – and Miriam discovers an Auschwitz tattoo hidden under his watch strap – Henryk’s secret history begins to unravel.Searching for more clues of her father’s past, Miriam finds an inmate uniform from the Ravensbrück women’s camp concealed among her mother’s things. Within its seams are dozens of letters to Henryk written by Frieda. The letters reveal the disturbing truth about the ‘Rabbit Girls’, young women experimented on at the camp. And amid their tales of sacrifice and endurance, Miriam pieces together a love story that has been hidden away in Henryk’s heart for almost fifty years.Inspired by these extraordinary women, Miriam strives to break through the walls she has built around herself. Because even in the darkest of times, hope can survive.

Finding Emma


Steena Holmes - 2012
    She's the little girl standing in the supermarket, the child waiting for the swings at the playground, the girl with ice cream dripping down her face. But it's never Emma.Emma's been missing for two years.Unable to handle the constant heartache of all the false sightings, Megan's husband threatens to walk away unless Megan can agree to accept Emma is gone. Megan's life and marriage is crumbling all around her and she realizes she may have to do the thing she dreads most: move on.When Megan takes a photo of a little girl with an elderly couple at the town fair, she believes it to be her missing daughter. Unable to let go, she sets in motion a sequence of events that could destroy both families lives.Proceeds from each book sold will be donated to Missing Children's Society of Canada - www.mscs.ca - an organization dedicated to reuniting families.

Black Death in a New Age


Kathy T. Kale - 2013
    Today, some plague bacterial strains have acquired resistance, while others have been weaponized for war. In light of this threat, Dr. Dana Sparks, an immunology professor at Duane University is searching for a vaccine. Desperate for tenure and to catch the eye of her old flame Nick Biget, Dana needs to prove her worth. Opportunity to shine arrives when the plague hits her small college town days before a vice presidential visit. But Dana is sidelined by her department chairman and outside experts, including Nick. Accused of incompetence and worse, Dana is left on her own to combat fast-acting deadly bacteria that are spreading quickly.

A Certain Threat


Roger Burnage - 2012
    Grahame in this work. Merriman is plunged headlong into the world of espionage and when Grahame is seriously wounded it falls to Merriman to carry on the investigation.Young James Merriman must keep all his wits about him to foil these plans especially when his adversary is revealed to be an exceptional French agent Henri Moreau who hopes that by helping the Irish to throw off the English yoke, France will be able to use Irish ports from which to attack England.