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Colony of Whores by Matthew Stokoe
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Judas Child
Carol O'Connell - 1998
This hasn't happened for fifteen years, since Rouge Kendall's twin sister was murdered. The killer was found, but now Rouge, twenty-five and a policeman, is forced to wonder: was he really the one? Also wondering is a former classmate named Ali Cray, a forensic psychologist with scars of her own. The pattern is the same, she says: a child called out to meet a friend. The friend is the bait, the Judas child, and is quickly killed. But the primary victim lives longer. . .until Christmas day. Rouge doesn't want to hear this. He's spent the last fifteen years trying to avoid the memories. A little girl has haunted his dreams all these years - and he has three days to finally put her to rest. Filled with rich prose, resonant characters, and knife-edged suspense that have won so many fans, Judas Child is Carol O'Connell's most powerful novel yet.
Shadows of Regret
Ross Greenwood - 2019
Katie committed a terrible crime. Sixteen years was the price she had to pay. Once released from prison, she finds the world has changed. But Katie is a survivor. Isolated and alone, she struggles to make sense of her new life. Starting again isn’t easy, especially after what she’s done. Despite not feeling free or safe, Katie overcomes her fears and confronts the future. Although history won’t remain forgotten. Gradually, memories of the past are revealed. When Katie finally exposes the awful truth and sees there are others who share the blame, she must choose her path. Will she seek redemption, or will she take revenge?
Nothing More Than Murder
Jim Thompson - 1949
But he sure loves her movie theater. It's a modest establishment in a beat-down town--but Joe has the run of the place, and inside its walls, he's king. Without the theater, he'd be sunk. Without his leadership, the theater would close in a heartbeat. If it isn't the life Joe imagined for himself, at the very least, it's livable.Everything changes when Joe falls for the housemaid Carol, and the two can't keep it a secret from Elizabeth. Elizabeth won't leave Joe the theater unless he provides for her...but he's put all his money into the show house.Carol and Joe's only hope is the life insurance policies they've taken out on each other. If one of them were to be presumed dead, they'd have more than enough money to solve all their problems...No one knows murder better than Jim Thompson and in this incisive foray into the dark dealings of the mid-20th century movie industry, he doesn't disappoint, in the riveting story of a love triangle gone horribly wrong, and just how far one man will go to hold on to a desperate dream.
Severance Package
Duane Swierczynski - 2008
on a hot Saturday in August.When Jamie arrives, the conference room is stocked with cookies and champagne. His boss smiles and tells his employees, "We're a cover for a branch of the intelligence community. And we're being shut down." Jamie's boss then tells everyone to drink some champagne, and in a few seconds they'll fall asleep---for good. If they refuse, they'll be shot in the head.Escape is not an option. Jamie's boss has shut down the elevators and rigged the fire towers with chemical bombs. Panic sets in, chaos erupts, and no one is sure whom to trust. Jamie quickly realizes that there's only one way he's ever going to see his family again: the hard way.
Northern Sky
Mark Radcliffe - 2005
His dream is to play with them again, but the club's new owner has ambitions plans that may not involve Ed, and his ex may be less than willing to take him back. This is a funny and touching novel, written with real Northern soul by one of the country's most popular and knowledgeable commentators on music.
Playing with Fire: A Legal Thriller
James Taylor Adams - 2015
Thwarted in a previous attempt to bring charges for other nefarious crimes, Ms. Battle is determined to put the crime boss behind bars, and this time she has what looks like an airtight case. Claiming he has been framed, Carmine hires the blue blood, Harvard-educated attorney Harrison Fletcher, Jr. who was recently fired from his position as Assistant DA for refusing to compromise his ethics, to help him prove his innocence. Assisted by his beautiful wife and a scruffy, alcohol-loving detective, Harry sets out to discover who set the fire and why. As what really happened that June night becomes clear, evidence begins to disappear. With the defense’s case starting to crumble, Harry devises a way to prove Carmine’s innocence. But will the plan work?
I Miss The World
Violet LeVoit - 2016
LeVoit knows how to seduce you with a lullaby when she's going for blood." --Danger Slater, author of Puppet Skin"It is masterful, it is beautiful and awful, it is sweepingly and breathtakingly artistic, the impact of seeing some great natural wonder or work of art for the first time." --The Horror Fiction Review"Revelatory, gut-punching, brilliantly anarchic perfection." --J David Osborne, author of Black Gum
The Secrets We Keep
Kate Hewitt - 2018
For all of them. Never mind that the rental house is a bit small – it’s theirs for the summer. A place to hide… Their isolation is disrupted when they meet the family from the big house next door. Three children Charlotte, Zoe and Max and their glamorous mother Rebecca – who seems absolutely determined to invite Tessa in to their lives. But Rebecca is harbouring a dark secret of her own. One that will put not only her family at risk, but Tessa’s too. And when she discovers she has no option but to leave her children for several weeks, Tessa feels like the only person she can trust. Suddenly Tessa finds herself living a life she could only have dreamed of. Wealth, a large brood of children, and Rebecca’s handsome husband Josh visiting at weekends. But even as powerful bonds are forming between them, secrets have a way of catching up with people. And as the summer comes to an end, who will learn to love again and who will risk losing everything?
Asleep From Day
Margarita Montimore - 2018
Ever since, she’s haunted by surreal dreams and an urgent sense that she’s forgotten something important. One night, she gets a mysterious call from Oliver, who knows more about her than he should and claims he can help her remember. She accepts his help, even as she questions his motives and fights a strange attraction to him.In order to find Theo and piece together that lost day in September, Astrid must navigate a maze of eccentric Boston nightlife, from the seedy corners of Chinatown to a drug-fueled Alice-in-Wonderland-themed party to a club where everyone dresses like the dead. In between headaches and nightmares, she struggles to differentiate between memory, fantasy, and reality, and starts to wonder if Theo really exists. Eventually, she’ll need to choose between continuing her search for him or following her growing feelings for Oliver. Astrid might go to extreme lengths to find what she’s lost... or might lose even more in her pursuit to remember (like her sanity).
Ghosts in the Machine (A David and Martin Yerxa Thriller - Book 3)
Ed Markham - 2017
No one can explain what killed him. Another tech industry titan is missing. No one can explain how he disappeared. The FBI assigns David and Martin Yerxa to investigate. But father and son are outside their comfort zone among the Internet CEOs, tech journalists, and intelligentsia of Northern California. Together, David and Martin must unravel the mystery of one man's death and another's disappearance while battling the larger forces that seem to be working against them. Ghosts in the Machine is a tense, thought-provoking thriller that will leave you guessing until the final shocking pages.
Picnic in the Ruins
Todd Robert Petersen - 2021
The Ashdown brothers were hired to steal maps from a "collector" of Native American artifacts, but instead of delivering as promised, the brothers are out to strike it rich.But their ineptitude has alerted the local sheriff to their presence--and forced their employer, a former lobbyist seeking lucrative monument land that may soon be open to energy exploration, to send a fixer to clean up their mess before it upsets her machinations. Sheriff Dalton, following the Ashdowns' trail, soon discovers he's not dealing with a simple burglary--and any hope the sheriff had for peace and quiet is long gone.
Everything Is Lies
Helen Callaghan - 2018
At least that is what she's always believed.Everyone has secretsUntil the day she arrives at her childhood home to find a house ringing with silence. Her mother is hanging from a tree. Her father is lying in a pool of his own blood, near to death.Especially those closest to you The police are convinced it is an attempted murder-suicide. But Sophia is sure that the woman who brought her up isn't a killer. As her father is too ill to talk it is up to Sophia to clear her mother's name. And to do this she needs to delve deep into her family's past - a past full of dark secrets she never suspected were there . . .What if your parents had been lying to you since the day you were born?
Deceived
Julie Anne Lindsey - 2013
Her night terrors don't go away, and, soon, despite her father's caring calls and visits, Elle starts to believe she's losing her mind. She knows she's being followed; a ribbon is tied around her doorknob, and there are those cigarette butts that keep turning up on the doormat, in violation of a strict smoking ban on campus. Then there's Bryan, an intriguing boy Elle meets at a flea market and later finds out is a student at her school. Yet on campus, he pretends he doesn't recognize her - until the day he divulges just how much danger she's in. In her search for an answer to all the madness, Elle unravels the truth about her dad's real identity, why someone has lied to her all her life, and the terrifying truth that she may be the only one who can save her from the one who's following her now.