Book picks similar to
Summer of '79 by Darren Sapp
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3-half-stars
Beat the Reaper
Josh Bazell - 2009
Peter Brown is an intern at Manhattan's worst hospital, with a talent for medicine, a shift from hell, and a past he'd prefer to keep hidden. Whether it's a blocked circumflex artery or a plan to land a massive malpractice suit, he knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men.Pietro "Bearclaw" Brnwna is a hitman for the mob, with a genius for violence, a well-earned fear of sharks, and an overly close relationship with the Federal Witness Relocation Program. More likely to leave a trail of dead gangsters than a molecule of evidence, he's the last person you want to see in your hospital room.Nicholas LoBrutto, aka Eddy Squillante, is Dr. Brown's new patient, with three months to live and a very strange idea: that Peter Brown and Pietro Brnwa might-just might-be the same person ...Now, with the mob, the government, and death itself descending on the hospital, Peter has to buy time and do whatever it takes to keep his patients, himself, and his last shot at redemption alive. To get through the next eight hours-and somehow beat the reaper.Spattered in adrenaline-fueled action and bone-saw-sharp dialogue, BEAT THE REAPER is a debut thriller so utterly original you won't be able to guess what happens next, and so shockingly entertaining you won't be able to put it down.
Becoming Moon
Craig A. Hart - 2015
Following his dream of becoming a writer, he turns away from everything he knows, and enters adulthood embittered, angry, and resentful.As he struggles to make a name for himself, he is presented with the opportunity of a lifetime. Although it requires a betrayal of his principles as an artist, he resigns himself to what appears to be fate. The writer’s compromise brings money and recognition, but these are fleeting and he soon finds himself caught in a web of depression and financial hardship. Desperate and sinking quickly, the writer begins taking trips to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, where he hopes to reconnect with his muse. During one of these excursions, he meets Nigel Moon, a grizzled fellow author nearing the end of his career. Moon gives the writer a second golden opportunity and the chance to prove himself in the face of personal doubts—but only if the writer is able to set his past aside.Equal parts witty and dark and wry and tragic, the text uses simplicity as its focus. Raw and honest, Becoming Moon is an unforgettable book about exorcising past demons and finding personal redemption.
Ransom
Lois Duncan - 1966
A loner whose uncle doesn’t even know he’s missing. An Army brat whose family will never be able to raise enough money. And a cheerleader who can’t count on her stepdad, but knows her father will come through.
The Spies That Bind
Ally Carter - 2018
Cammie Morgan has spent her whole life dreaming of becoming a Gallagher Girl, but she has no idea what she’ll face when she arrives at The Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women. Secret passages? Check. Lab experiments that might make you lose your eyebrows (and other body parts)? Check. Classmates who are the smartest, strongest, most intimidating girls in the world? Double check. Cammie might be a Gallagher legacy, but she's about to learn that the most intimidating part about the Gallagher Academy are the Gallagher Girls themselves. Soon Cammie and her clumsy-but-genius roommate Liz, and the glamorous Bex have to learn the most important lesson of the seventh grade: getting into spy school is hard. Surviving spy school is harder. Ally Carter is the author of many beloved series, including Heist Society and the Embassy Row novels, and Not If I Save You First.
The Summer List
Amy Mason Doan - 2018
Until one summer night, when a shocking betrayal sent Laura running through the pines, down the dock, and into a new life, leaving Casey and a first love in her wake.But the past is impossible to escape, and now, after seventeen years away, Laura is pulled home and into a reunion with Casey she can’t resist—one last scavenger hunt. With a twist: this time, the list of clues leads to the settings of their most cherished summer memories. From glistening Jade Cove to the vintage skating rink, each step they take becomes a bittersweet reminder of the friendship they once shared. But just as the game brings Laura and Casey back together, the clues unravel a stunning secret that threatens to tear them apart…“This is a lovely debut by Doan, exploring themes of motherhood, daughterhood, and first love with tenderness and humor. The writing is fresh and charming, a perfect read for anyone who spent her teenage years reading the racy bits of cheap paperbacks out loud to their best friends.”-Booklist, STARRED* review“Doan’s characters leap off the page…[An] accomplished debut novel…Will please readers who grew up with the novels of Judy Blume.”-Publishers Weekly“With a vivid sense of place and characters as real as your high school besties, this debut novel is sure to please fans of Kristin Hannah and Elin Hilderbrand.”-Library Journal“A poignant tale of mothers and daughters finding their ways home to each other.”-Kirkus Reviews“Summer Reads: Coolest Books of the Season”-Globe and Mail“Best New Books to Put in Your Beach Bag”-PopSugar “Best Books of Summer 2018”-Family Circle“Best New Books for Summer 2018”-Coastal Living“A trip down memory lane becomes a hunt for long-buried secrets in Amy Mason Doan’s gripping and poignant debut. An evocative tale of family, first love, and the unique and lasting gift of a friendship formed in girlhood.”-Meg Donohue, USA Today bestselling author“There is not a word or a plot line out of place in The Summer List, Amy Mason Doan’s fabulous debut. These characters and their stories are going to stick with you for a long, long time.”-Meg Mitchell Moore, author of The Admissions and The Captain’s Daughter“An ideal summer read…a compelling blend of love, betrayal, secrets and reconciliation…”-The Oregonian“An amazing debut.”-Authorlink“Read this one on the beach with your BFF.”-HelloGiggles"The perfect summer read. Beautifully drawn characters creating a page-turning mystery. I stayed up way too late to find out what happened! Impossible to put down!”-Bestselling author M. O’Keefe“In her mesmerizing debut, Amy Mason Doan challenges everything we think we know about family and forgiveness. Readers will be swept up in this haunting story of buried secrets and lost love.”-Lynda Cohen Loigman, author of The Two-Family House“With its exquisite detail, The Summer List wouldn’t let me go, and the unexpected ending gave me chills…Irresistible.”-Jennifer S. Brown, author of Modern Girls“A tender novel about friendship lost and rekindled, and uncovering the truth of the past.”-Polly Dugan, author of So Much a Part of You and The Sweetheart Deal“Moving…compelling…beautifully written characters.”-The Girly Book Club
Tigerman
Nick Harkaway - 2014
After a long career of being shot at, he’s about to be retired. The mildly larcenous, backwater island of Mancreu is the ideal place to serve out his time, a former British colony in legal limbo, belching toxic clouds of waste and facing imminent destruction by an international community concerned for their own safety. The perfect place for Lester is also the perfect location for a multinational array of shady businesses. Hence the Black Fleet of illicit ships lurking in the bay: spy stations, arms dealers, offshore hospitals, money laundering operations, drug factories and torture centres. None of which should be a problem, since Lester's brief is to sit tight and turn a blind eye.Meanwhile, he befriends a brilliant, internet-addled street kid with a comic book fixation who will need a home when the island dies. When Mancreu's fragile society erupts in violence, Lester must be more than just an observer: he has no choice but to rediscover the man of action he once was, and find out what kind of hero the island—and the boy—will need.From the award-winning author of Angelmaker and The Gone-Away World, Tigerman is a novel at once deeply heartfelt and headlong thrilling—about parenthood, friendship and secret identities, about heroes of both the super and the everyday kind.
Epicenter
Sonia O'Brien - 2008
And she certainly doesn't expect a massive earthquake to hit downtown Los Angeles, trapping her in a crumbling high-rise with a cold-blooded killer.As McKenna struggles to elude her enemy amidst the massive destruction, others in the building fight their own battles. Payson Griggs takes on a perilous search for his former girlfriend, while his friends find themselves in dire circumstances in the tower's parking garage. Anna Stevens faces the prospect of childbirth in an elevator shaft as her firefighter husband combats the raging blazes that are headed straight for Lincoln Tower. And all the while, McKenna's father and her best friend race to find her before death does.
Where There's Smoke: Charlie Walden's First Case
Peter Murphy - 2017
But he soon finds himself struggling to keep the peace between three feisty fellow judges who have very different views about how to do their job, and about how Charlie should do his.And as if that’s not enough, there’s the endless battle against the ‘Grey Smoothies’, the humourless grey-suited civil servants who seem determined to drown Charlie in paperwork and strip the court of its last vestiges of civilisation.No hope of a quiet life then for Charlie, and there are times when his real job – trying the challenging criminal cases that come before him – actually seems like light relief.
If you like Rumpole of the Bailey, you'll love Walden of Bermondsey
Praise for Walden of Bermondsey
'No one writes with more wit, warmth and insight about the law and its practitioners than Peter Murphy. He has no equal since the great John 'Rumpole' Mortimer' - David Ambrose'Though his exasperation is sometimes palpable, what triumphs over everything is his sense of humour. And it is the humour that makes Walden of Bermondsey such a delightful read. Think of him as what Rumpole would be like if he ever became a judge, and you get some idea of his self-deprecating wit and indomitable stoicism. Add a dash of Henry Cecil for his situation and AP Herbert for the fun he has with the law, and you get a sense of Peter's literary precedents' - Paul Magrath
Patricia Fisher Cruise Mysteries #1 -4
Steve Higgs - 2019
But her hilarious and inspired flight from that situation results in this 50 something unfulfilled housewife taking an around the world cruise she really cannot afford. The cost is soon a minor worry though, as one gin-fuelled pity party later, she is accused of murder and embroiled in the 30-year-old theft of a priceless jewel. In our greatest challenges, we find our true strength and Patricia is the best example of how true that is. Let her story make your heart soar as she shrugs off the ashes of her failed marriage and becomes the incredible woman she was always meant to be. This 4 book boxed set will give you hours of mirth-filled, often pulse-pounding, cozy mystery with no cussing or smuttiness and no graphic descriptions of sex of violence. Book 1 – The Missing Sapphire of Zangrabar. A thirty-year-old priceless jewel theft and a man that really has been stabbed in the back. Can a 52-year-old, slightly plump housewife unravel the mystery in time to save herself from jail? With only a Jamaican butler faking an English accent and a pretty gym instructor to help, she must piece together the clues and do it fast. Or when she gets off the ship in St Kitts, she’ll be in cuffs! Book 2 – The Kidnapped Bride. A cruise ship filled with gangsters, a missing woman, and a new head of security that can’t do his job. What’s a middle-aged sleuth to do? Patricia just wants to spend more time in the company of Alistair Huntley, the offensively handsome captain of the Aurelia who seems only too happy to host her. But as the Aurelia sets sail from Miami, it does so with a dangerous new addition: there is a mob boss among the passengers and he’s on the run – from more mobsters! Book 3 – The Director’s Cut. It’s well known that working in movies can be cutthroat, but no one expected that to be taken literally. It’s party time on board the Aurelia! On the LA to Hawaii leg, a Hollywood film crew are shooting scenes for a new action movie and Barbie has been given a bit-part role. It’s all great fun and Patricia isn’t surprised when her cute, blonde friend attracts the attention of the handsome A-lister male lead. Book 4 – The Couple in Cabin 2124. How do I always attract trouble and drama? When a crewmember takes his own life but hands Patricia a cryptic note and a request to save Anna just before he jumps, she feels she has no choice but to honour his dying wish. Who is Anna though? Praise for Patricia Fisher: She's over 50, feisty and oh so clever at solving murders. This first book has so many twists, turns and red herrings the reader has to pay close attention to catch all the clues. Love Steve Higgs’ books and this new series did not disappoint. Patricia started out as a betrayed wife and moved into a strong, smart woman role. I love her and her side kicks already and this is only the first book. Can’t get enough of Steve’s stories and wait anxiously for the next to publish in all of his series. Higgs continues the 'cozy mystery' genre in this unexpected and empowering new series with no loss of empathy for human variety.
Slade's Glacier: A Novel
Robert F. Jones - 1981
Jack Slade and Sam Healey, flying partners during World War II, establish a bush pilot business in Alaska after the war. When their C-47 Dakota is forced down on a glacier by a wolverine in the cargo deck that breaks out of its cage, they discover a valley that offers the realization each man's dreams. To Jack Slade, itOCOs the ideal place to homestead, raise a family, and live simply as a professional hunting and fishing guide; to Healey, the pool of crude oil he locates under the glacial ice promises the wealth he always wanted. In scenes that range from AlaskaOCOs coastal fishing ports to the high, fierce wastelands of the interior, we watch each man lay the plans for their individual goals?and ultimately come into fatal conflict. Along the way, they meet a wide, colorful variety of Alaskan types, including Charlie Blue, a Tlingit Indian, shaman, and seer; Norman Ormandy, the tough saloonkeeper of Gurry Bay; and Malec Mummad-Afi, a wealthy exiled Iranian oil king and sheep hunter.
Peter and the Frankenstein
Darren Pillsbury - 2011
Rowling (the HARRY POTTER series), Darren Shan (CIRQUE DU FREAK), R.L. Stine (the GOOSEBUMPS series), and Stephen King (IT)! Volume Three in the PETER AND THE MONSTERS series! Follow the adventures started in PETER AND THE VAMPIRES (Volume One) and PETER AND THE WEREWOLVES (Volume Two)!Tragedy has struck Peter’s best friend Dill. In his effort to help, Grandfather might have actually made things worse. But help is on the way in the form of a new ally, and important information surfaces that might explain the Curse now haunting Peter and his family. In this volume, Peter battles more supernatural mayhem, including:A scientist who pieces together a family of monstrous creations…A pack of small creatures that kill the local baker, and plan to make Peter their next victim…Peter’s own dark side, which rears its ugly head in a violent rampage…A mysterious ‘snow demon’ out of Native American legend that menaces Peter on a ski trip…And a couple of ‘walking dead’ who try to put Peter in the morgue during a visit to the hospital. The PETER AND THE VAMPIRES series is for teens and adults who, when they were kids, were looking for stories that kicked butt. The protagonist might be young, but the stories are dark, funny, and edge-of-your-seat suspenseful.PETER AND THE FRANKENSTEIN is the third in an ongoing series that includes PETER AND THE VAMPIRES (Volume 1) and PETER AND THE WEREWOLVES (Volume 2). This book is 150,000 words (450+ pages) and contains some mild language, violence, and scary situations.
Avenged
Daniel Judson - 2013
Betrayed in an attempt to secure proof of the crime, she finds herself alone in an unfamiliar city—mysterious Old Montreal—her prey now the predator, and only five days left to finish the job for which she has sacrificed so much.Already pushed to the limits of her considerable resources, Elena must suddenly recalibrate her mission when her estranged half-brother Miles enters the picture, desperately in need of her protection. But keeping Miles alive may cost Elena her one shot at settling the score. Unless…Elena is quick and Elena is clever, but to honor her father as well as avenge him, she’ll have to do the impossible.This book was initially released in episodes as a Kindle Serial. All episodes are now available for immediate download as a complete book.
The Dead Don't Dance
Charles Martin - 2004
The end of summer and a baby about to be born. But in the midst of hope and celebration comes unexpected tragedy, and Dylan Styles must come to terms with how much he's lost. Will the music of his heart be stilled forever—or will he choose to dance with life once more, in spite of sorrow and heartbreak?The Dead Don't Dance is a bittersweet yet triumphant love story—a tale of one man's spiritual journey through the darkness of despair and into the light of hope.
Love, Lies, and Hocus Pocus: Beginnings
Lydia Sherrer - 2016
By night? She sleeps, of course. In between, she studies magic and tries to keep her witch friend Sebastian from dragging her into trouble. Unfortunately, trouble comes looking for her on a regular basis.When Sebastian needs help breaking a magical curse, Lily knows things are not as they seem. Their quest to unravel the truth and free a tormented soul uncovers hints about Lily's mysterious past--and those working to hide it from her. As if that were not enough, Sebastian gets them stuck in a time loop and Lily must track down the culprit. But they are not the only ones interested in this strange phenomenon, and it becomes a race to the source of the magical disturbance, with all their lives hanging in the balance.Full of unexpected twists and snarky humor, Love, Lies, and Hocus Pocus: Beginnings is book one of the Lily Singer Adventures urban fantasy series. If you enjoy magic-filled adventures like Harry Potter and Supernatural, then you'll love this delightful new series. Pick up Beginnings and enter your magical escape today!WARNING: This story has been known to cause loud snorts of laughter, inexplicable craving for tea, and loss of work productivity.
Magic Bitter, Magic Sweet
Charlie N. Holmberg - 2016
She doesn’t know why she can do this and remembers nothing of who she is or where she came from.When marauders raid her town, Maire is captured and sold to the eccentric Allemas, who enslaves her and demands that she produce sinister confections, including a witch’s gingerbread cottage, a living cookie boy, and size-altering cakes.During her captivity, Maire is visited by Fyel, a ghostly being who is reluctant to reveal his connection to her. The more often they meet, the more her memories return, and she begins to piece together who and what she really is—as well as past mistakes that yield cosmic consequences.From the author of The Paper Magician series comes a haunting and otherworldly tale of folly and consequence, forgiveness and redemption.