Book picks similar to
Rough Diamonds by Stephen Leather


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All the Good Girls


Willow Rose - 2020
    Four teenagers from one of Miami's affluent neighborhoods are murdered on a boat. Another is found in a dumpster. All five of them go to the same school and are on a list of witnesses to another crime. Because he's in bad standing with his boss, Harry is given the task of protecting a possible future victim, but Harry isn't always known to follow his boss's orders. Soon, he'll risk everything while racing to stop a killer who has left everyone else in the homicide squad shaking in terror. ALL THE GOOD GIRLS is the first book in the Harry Hunter Mystery Series.

Pretty Girls Dancing


Kylie Brant - 2018
    The tragedy left her family with a fractured life—a mother out to numb the pain, a father losing a battle with his own private demons, and a sister desperate for closure. But now another teenage girl has gone missing. It’s ripping open old wounds for the Willards, dragging them back into a painful past, and leaving them unprepared for where it will take them next.Bureau of Criminal Investigation agent Mark Foster has stumbled on uncanny parallels in the lives of the two missing girls that could unlock clues to a serial killer’s identity. That means breaking down the walls of the Willards’ long-guarded secrets and getting to a truth that is darker than he bargained for. Now, to rescue one missing girl, he must first solve the riddles that disappeared with another: Kelsey Willard herself. Dead or alive, she is his last hope.

If She Knew


Blake Pierce - 2018
     Kate thought she left the FBI behind after 30 years as their top agent, respected for her brilliant mind, tough street skills and her uncanny ability to hunt down serial killers. Yet Kate, bored with the quiet town, at a crossroads in life, is summoned by a friend she can’t turn down. As Kate hunts the killer, she soon finds herself at the forefront of a manhunt, as more bodies turn up—all suburban moms in perfect marriages—and it becomes apparent there is a serial killer stalking this quiet town. She unearths secrets from her neighbors she wishes she never knew, discovering that all is not what it seems in this picture of model streets and neighbors. Affairs and lying are rampant, and Kate must sift through the town’s underbelly if she will stop the killer from striking again. But this killer is one step ahead of her, and it may end up being Kate who is in danger.

Oakdale Confidential


Anonymous - 2006
    This is the scandal they can't ignore.It's a major event in Oakdale -- a black-tie gala honoring the Marron family's fifty years of support for Oakdale's Memorial Hospital. But high spirits are cut short when patron of honor Gregory Marron Jr. is delivered in his limo dead on arrival, from an apparent heart attack. Three women in the crowd have reasons of their own to suspect murder. . . .Event organizer Katie Peretti never understood her boyfriend Mike Kasnoff's reasons for not attending the party -- until now. Wrongly implicated in a crime against the Marrons, Mike served a stiff sentence, and has nursed a simmering rage ever since. Maddie Coleman, the teenaged sister of the limo's driver, Henry, knows that her brother owed Marron thirty-thousand dollars. She also knows he couldn't pay him back, and had only one recourse for permanently erasing the debt. Carly Snyder's suspicions are more personal. The wife of police detective Jack Snyder, Carly was one of Marron's mistresses. In a heated moment she wanted her shameful past dead and buried -- a wish her husband possibly honored.Now Katie, Maddie, and Carly, each of them desperate to protect the man they love, are crossing paths in an investigation that's uncovering more poisonous secrets in Oakdale than they ever imagined. The means, motives, and suspects are shifting with each new twist -- and one of these determined women may not live to see the killer revealed.

Wicked Storm


Chase Austin - 2019
    A cage match. Only one chance.Will Sam Wick succeed? Task Force-77 (TF-77) is a black ops team of NSA and the US Military. This is the team, the U.S. government calls when it needs to get people out of the most dangerous places on earth.Sam Wick. Task Force 77's best. Master Extractor. Perfect Assassin. Where the government cannot and will not go, he will.

Final Steps


John Carson - 2018
    Army Ranger... A disgraced Royal Marines Commando... And a female assassin who will bring their worlds crashing together... Max Doyle was found guilty of killing his superior officer in Afghanistan. He was given a life sentence and put in Leavenworth military prison. Nathan Kane was imprisoned for executing a contractor in the hills of Afghanistan. Stripped of his rank and given a dishonorable discharge, he was sentenced to ten years in an English prison. Kane is approached by an official from the British government with a job offer. Broke, divorced and with no prospects, he considers the offer: find an elusive British assassin known as Rose Arcana. It should be a simple job, Kane thinks. But nothing in life is simple... On the other side of the world, Max Doyle has been told that his wife and daughter were murdered in their home. He is escorted out of prison to attend their funerals. After landing at the air base, he is approached by a woman he has never seen before. She talks to him and he notices that his MP detail have gone. She makes him a job offer. He'll be released on license in exchange for him coming to work for a covert department called the Phoenix Group. The first job he will be employed to do is hunt down a British assassin, a female known as Rose Arcana. Joining forces with Kane, Doyle begins the hunt, but there is more to the job offer than either man was told. It appears Rose is working with a team of assassins who will stop at nothing to keep their secret safe. Something is wrong, and they quickly discover that things aren't as they first seemed. And somebody wants to make sure that neither man survives the conflict. But Doyle and Kane survived the worst in the killing fields of Afghanistan and they're more than ready to take on an enemy on American soil...

Stryker


Bobby Andrews - 2016
    ISIS has unleashed a weaponized version of the deadly Ebola virus, killing 97% of the world’s population. Only the immune and those who hunkered down in remote locations remain. Through the chaos strides a giant of a man known only as Stryker. He is a former Force Recon Marine, who has lost as much as anyone, but fights to preserve his honor and creed in the face of slave traders and rogue military elements who prey on the innocent. Together with his former Drill Instructor, Sarge, they struggle to eliminate the remaining evil elements in society, even as the nation’s infrastructure crumbles and life becomes considerably more difficult. Together, they care for three young women who survived the plague and attempt to give them lives that are as normal as possible under the circumstances. Follow along as they travel through a world gone mad, determined to defend the weak and innocent against long odds.

Sudden Threat


Anthony J. Tata - 2008
    But as he sifts through the wreckage of a downed C-130 in the tangled jungle, he finds a dead U.S. Special Forces paratrooper who is not supposed to be there and is thrown into a contest of wits and resiliency in the uncharted rainforests of Mindanao. Manipulated by the secret plans of a powerful quartet of upper-echelon Rolling Stones groupies in Washington, DC, Garrett and U.S. Armed Forces establish their bona fides as true patriots on the cutting edge of freedom as they struggle for survival against the rising tide of Islamic extremism and the reemergence of the Empire of the Sun in the ever-expanding Global War on Terror. In the stunning prequel to his award-winning novel Rogue Threat, A.J. Tata creates an uncanny sense of presence on and off the battlefiel

Return of the Darkening: The Complete Series


Ava Richardson - 2016
    Books 1, 2 & 3. Dive into a dragon filled adventure! When scruffy Seb and noble Thea are paired as dragon riders, they never imagined they'd be the Kingdom's last hope... Book One: Dragon Trials High-born Agathea Flamma intends to bring honor to her family by following in her brothers’ footsteps and taking her rightful place as a Dragon Rider. With her only other option being marriage, Thea will not accept failure. She’s not thrilled at her awkward, scruffy partner, Seb, but their dragon has chosen, and now the unlikely duo must learn to work as a team. Seventeen-year-old Sebastian has long been ashamed of his drunken father and poor upbringing, but then he’s chosen to train as a Dragon Rider at the prestigious academy. Thrust into a world where he doesn’t fit in, Seb finds a connection with his dragon that is even more powerful than he imagined. Soon, he’s doing all he can to succeed and not embarrass his new partner, Thea. When Seb hears rumors that an old danger is reemerging, he and Thea begin to investigate. Armed only with their determination and the dragon they both ride, Thea and Seb may be the only defense against the Darkening that threatens to sweep the land. Together, they will have to learn to work together to save their kingdom…or die trying. Book Two: Dragon Legends Ever since scruffy Sebastian Smith and Lady Thea Flamma were paired as Dragon Riders, their lives have been forever changed. The unlikely duo forged an unbreakable bond, but now with dark stirrings in the south their bond will be put to the ultimate test. Seb discovers Lord Vincent has returned and he wants to unleash an ancient evil that will destroy the lives of everyone in the kingdom – The Darkening. In order to defend the realm against unspeakable foes, Seb, Thea, and their shared dragon, Kalax, set out on an arduous journey to find the sacred Dragon Stones – before their dark power ends up in the wrong hands. But to conquer an old enemy, Thea must find a way to overcome her own inner demons, and Seb has to muster the courage to become the brave leader his kingdom needs . . . Book Three: Dragon Bonds The Darkening has risen... Agathea Flamma and Sebastian Smith now face an overwhelming enemy. The rapid spread of the Darkening, a threat arising from the mists of legend, looms over the entire land. With both their families torn apart by the conflict and betrayal lurking around every corner, one mistake could doom the kingdom. They'll have to decide where to put their faith: blood ties or newfound friends? After the destruction of the Dragon Academy, it’s up to Thea and Seb to gather their loyal comrades—and forge uneasy new alliances—to quell the ancient menace and face the evil Lord Vincent. With civil war raging, the Dragon Riders must race against time to find the legendary Dragon Stone, the only tool they have to fight against the endless darkness that threatens to swallow them all.

Fury in the Gulf


Peter Nealen - 2020
    But the Saudis are leaning on the Americans to prevent an overt response. Meanwhile, the clock is ticking for the hostages.Enter the mercenaries.John Brannigan retired from the Marine Corps, and isn’t all that happy about it. Now, with American lives in the balance, he’ll come back to the action, recruiting a small crew of men ready to stare death in the face.They’re alone, outnumbered, and outgunned.There’s no backup coming.Have they signed up for a mission, or a suicide run?

The Consultant


Tj O'Connor - 2018
    For years, Jonathan Hunter and his brother Kevin Mallory had not spoken—until Kevin’s final words, “… Khalifah … Not Them … Maya.”Pursuing his brother’s killer, Hunter stumbles into a nest of horrifying terrorist activity by Middle Eastern refugees, which sparks a backlash across America. In the shadows, Hunter’s mentor, the omnipotent Oscar LaRue, is playing a dangerous game with Russian Intelligence. Neither Hunter nor LaRue realizes that a new threat—the Iranian threat—has entered the game. Stakes rise as two shadowy players are one step ahead of Hunter and LaRue—Khalifah, a terrorist mastermind, and Caine, a nomadic assassin who dances with the highest bidder.As attacks escalate and the country drifts toward another Middle East conflict, innocent refugees become trapped between the terrorists and the terrorized. Prejudice, hate, and fear vent everywhere. Is this who we’ve become? Before the country explodes, Hunter must find Khalifah, learn the next terror target, and pray he’s in time to stop further annihilation.

The Mourning Hours


Paula Treick DeBoard - 2013
    Kirsten Hammarstrom hasn't been home to her tiny corner of rural Wisconsin in years-not since the mysterious disappearance of a local teenage girl rocked the town and shattered her family. Kirsten was just nine years old when Stacy Lemke went missing, and the last person to see her alive was her boyfriend, Johnny-the high school wrestling star and Kirsten's older brother. No one knows what to believe-not even those closest to Johnny-but the event unhinges the quiet farming community and pins Kirsten's family beneath the crushing weight of suspicion. Now, years later, a new tragedy forces Kirsten and her siblings to return home, where they must confront the devastating event that shifted the trajectory of their lives. Tautly written and beautifully evocative, The Mourning Hours is a gripping portrayal of a family straining against extraordinary pressure, and a powerful tale of loyalty, betrayal and forgiveness.

The Party


Robyn Harding - 2017
    A lifetime of regrets.Sweet sixteen. It’s an exciting coming of age, a milestone, and a rite of passage. Jeff and Kim Sanders plan on throwing a party for their daughter, Hannah—a sweet girl with good grades and nice friends. Rather than an extravagant, indulgent affair, they invite four girls over for pizza, cake, movies, and a sleepover. What could possibly go wrong?But things do go wrong, horrifically so. After a tragic accident occurs, Jeff and Kim’s flawless life in a wealthy San Francisco suburb suddenly begins to come apart. In the ugly aftermath, friends become enemies, dark secrets are revealed in the Sanders’ marriage, and the truth about their perfect daughter, Hannah, is exposed.Harkening to Herman Koch’s The Dinner, Christos Tsiolkas’s The Slap, and Liane Moriarty’s Big Little Lies, The Party takes us behind the façade of the picture-perfect family, exposing the lies, betrayals, and moral lapses that neighbors don’t see—and the secrets that children and parents keep from themselves and each other.

Just Another Job


Brett Battles - 2011
    Not everyone who gets shot is supposed to be shot.And those who are shot don’t always die right away.It’s not Quinn’s job to kill people, but it is his job to clean them up.Sometimes, though, they’re not quite ready to go.A night in the life of someone who works it the shadows, JUST ANOTHER JOB is a three thousand word, short story that features a young Jonathan Quinn, protagonist of the award winning Jonathan Quinn Thriller series.

The King Tides


James Swain - 2018
    And that of strangers, too. Wherever she goes, she’s being watched. Each stalker is different from the last, except for one thing—their alarming obsession with Nicki.Desperate times call for desperate measures, and Nicki’s father is turning to someone who can protect her: retired private detective and ex–Navy SEAL Jon Lancaster. Teaming up with FBI agent and former abduction victim Beth Daniels, Lancaster can help—his way. He’s spent most of his career dispatching creeps who get off on terrorizing the vulnerable. Unlicensed, and unrestricted, he plays dirty…But this case is unusual. Why so many men? Why this one girl? Does Nicki have something to hide? Or do her parents?Trawling the darkest depths of southern Florida, Lancaster faces a growing tide of secrets and deception. And the deeper he digs, the more he realizes that finding the truth won’t be easy. Because there’s more to this case than meets the eye.