Ben Bova's Grand Tour SciFi Series: Mars, Moonrise, Moonwar, Return to Mars


Ben Bova
    Mars and Return to Mars follow the struggle of settling on Mars, and Moonrise and Moonwar follow the events of colonizing the Moon – all struggling against the limitations Earth would set on these bold innovators. Mars: A team of astronauts face many challenges on a mission to Mars—including subzero temperatures, violent meteor showers, and a deadly virus. Native American geologist Jamie Waterman must navigate political intrigue at home, team conflict on the base, and a harsh and unforgiving environment to protect his own life and those of his crewmembers.Moonrise: A private company has established the first permanent human settlement on the Moon. But all is not as it seems there. Facing internal conflict and external protest, the company threatens closure—and former astronaut Doug Stavenger must protect the base and its inhabitants from the Moon’s harsh environment and the threat of murder.Moonwar: The second of Ben Bova’s Moonbase Saga, Moonwar picks up seven years after the events of Moonrise—when Doug Stavenger succeeded in protecting his beloved lunar colony. But the nanotechnology that keeps the colony functioning is now illegal on Earth—and the settlers must defend themselves against new threats from Earth.Return to Mars: Six years after the first manned expedition to Mars, a second is being planned, and Native American geologist Jamie Waterman is assigned as commander. He must face deadly internal rivalries, dangerous "accidents" that look like sabotage, and an intense new attraction to one of the crew members—and keep his crew safe while exploring the secrets of the Red Planet.

The Spy Who Came For Christmas


David Morrell - 2008
    A desperate man, dressed all in black, feverishly seeks refuge for himself and the squirming bundle he holds tightly against his breast. Agent Paul Kagan’s bundle is a baby who has the power to change the course of global events. His pursuers are his former colleagues—members of the Russian mafia who will stop at nothing to accomplish their mission. Now Kagan is a spy on the run—he must ensure this baby’s survival, even if it will cost him his own life. Just a short distance away, Kagan will find an unexpected pair of allies—a mother and her young son, who huddle together after a horrible episode of domestic violence leaves them home alone, with no means of transportation.And so, with the exquisitely honed skills of his profession and the help and good faith of a weary woman and a disillusioned boy, Kagan must take on forces that will stop at nothing. In the course of a wild and violent night, the unlikely trio learn lessons of generosity, courage, and selflessness, discovering within themselves the luminous strength of the true Christmas spirit.

The Jeeves Omnibus


P.G. Wodehouse
    My Man Jeeves 1919Right Ho, Jeeves 1922Death At The Excelsior, Others 1914

Op-Center


Jeff Rovin - 1995
    It is run by a crack team of operatives both within its own walls and out in the field. When a job is too dirty--or too dangerous--it's the only place our government can turn.But nothing can prepare Director Paul Hood and his Op-Center crisis management team for what they're about to uncover--a very real, very frightening power play that could unleash new players in a new world order...

Hidden Steel


Doranna Durgin - 2008
    The drugs used to subdue her have affected her memory. Who is she and why was she captured? Her escape leads her through the streets of San Jose and into the life of Steve Spaneas.

Miami Requiem


J.B. Turner - 2013
    They wanted her dead". Since her first day on the Miami Herald, rookie reporter Deborah Jones has been agitating for a shot at one particular story. William Craig is on Death Row, convicted of killing Senator Jack O'Neill's only son. There is no question of his guilt. Craig murdered the young man who was acquitted of raping his granddaughter. There are only five weeks and one day until his execution. And Craig has not given a single interview. Deborah Jones has assembled a whole dossier on the case, including court transcripts and every newspaper clipping. She wants to know what prompted Craig to exact revenge. And she has her own, very personal reasons for wishing to uncover the truth. Managing editor of the Herald Sam Goldberg is well aware that Senator O'Neill has powerful friends. The two men have crossed swords on a number of occasions. But against his better judgement, he decides to give Deborah a chance to prove herself. Only with one warning - 'Be careful. Florida may be the Sunshine State to most people. But it's not. It's a swamp. Don't ever forget that.'

No Mercy


John Gilstrap - 2009
    Jonathan Grave, covert rescue specialist, always gets results. No names. No feds. No trace evidence.When an Indiana college student is abducted, Jonathan and his team of ace operatives unravel a deadly scheme the government wants ignored. Someone wants to control a devastating secret. Someone rich, powerful, and willing to kill anyone to get it. Even the people Jonathan loves most.

High Hunt


David Eddings - 1973
    Now, high in the mountains on a quest to see who could bag the biggest deer, old jealousies and hatreds were being dusted off and revived. Everyone knew an explosion was coming. No one knew who would survive. And none of them were willing to turn back. Reissue.

A Haven in Ash


Robert J. Crane - 2017
    A horde of beasts known only as the scourge has ravaged the land, leaving only the village of Terreas to survive. Hemmed in on all sides by the scourge, the denizens of Terreas eke out a lonely existence, trying to survive in a land that is all but dead. Jasen Rabinn is a teenage boy trapped in Terreas but with a mind rooted outside the boundaries of his village. He longs for adventure, and when the mysterious Baraghosa – a sorcerer of a sort not native to Luukessia – comes to Terreas, a chain of events is set in motion that will carry Jasen beyond his simple town. To adventure. To danger. To his destiny.

The Quickie


James Patterson - 2007
    But while she's sneaking around, her husband is hatching a plan of his own. After a torrid quickie with a co-worker, Lauren hears a struggle outside her window and looks out just in time to see her husband loading her lover's limp body into the trunk of a car. When the body shows up in a pool of shallow water, she races to the scene of the crime. But Lauren Stillwell is no regular wronged woman. She's a NYC cop—and she's just been assigned to this case. Unable to tell anyone what she saw and unwilling to turn her husband in, Lauren is paralyzed by a secret that will tear her life apart. But as she attempts to point fingers away from her husband, she uncovers something shocking: her husband didn't have an affair—what he did was far worse than she could have ever imagined.A gripping story of secrets and infidelities that begins where Adrian Lyne's movie Unfaithful leaves off, The Quickie will have readers' hearts pounding to the very last page.

Nine Lives


Tom Barber - 2012
    A major terrorist cell is planning a series of attacks across London over the next forty-eight hours. The government has surveillance on the group, a man undercover, and prepare to move in, to take out the terrorists before they can strike. But they lose contact with their inside man. And the cell vanishes into thin air, dispersing into the streets, armed and intent on completing their assault on London. The best Counter-Terrorist teams in the country are told to take them down before it's too late.Nine terrorists.Nine lives.The Armed Response Unit is one of these teams. Efficient and ruthless, the task force is ordered to locate the leader of the cell. As they hunt him down, they begin to realise that this is far bigger than any of them could ever have imagined. Bombings, rocket attacks, betrayal and a series of unexpected and shocking twists leave the ARU fighting to stay alive.There's Archer, the youngest member of the team, keen to prove himself and justify his spot on the task force. His best friend, Chalky, who is forced to fight both the terrorists and his own demons. Porter, Deakins and Fox, tough and experienced men who’ve never dealt with anything of this magnitude. And Mac, their sergeant, who must make the quickest of decisions and lead his men against the invisible enemy.As events unfold, other people are drawn into the danger. The Prime Minister, desperately trying to find a solution and protect the capital. A mysterious female Mossad agent, who appears out of nowhere and joins the fight against the cell. Two Special Agents from the DEA, one of whom was a member of the SEAL team that stormed Osama Bin Laden’s compound and who for some reason is struggling with the memory. And the vicious, powerful leader of a Middle Eastern drug cartel, who operates in the shadows and is somehow connected to the terrorists.With crowds all over London celebrating the New Year, and with nine terrorists somewhere amongst them, the Armed Response Unit is faced with the most dangerous night of their lives. As the savage, shocking plans of the enemy are fully revealed, the ARU officers are faced with the ultimate question.How many times can a man cheat Death before Death evens the score?

Firetrap


Earl Emerson - 2006
    In Firetrap, Trey Brown is a man tormented by race, by family, and now by a political firestorm that has erupted because fourteen people died in an illegal Seattle nightclub . . . and someone must take the fall.Captain Trey Brown is a black man in a Seattle fire department where the color of his skin keeps him largely on the outside looking in. As a child, Trey was adopted by a white family whose children were bred for wealth and power–but now Trey simply does his job, rides his Harley, and lives in bitter solitude. Then the Z-Club goes up in flames, killing more than a dozen people, all of them black, and the city's African American community demands to know: Did these people die because of their skin color?Jamie Estevez, the beautiful, ambitious reporter who becomes Trey's partner in the investigation, is everything Trey is not. Outgoing and gregarious, she tries to bring the lone-wolf fireman back into the world. But as their relationship heats up, Trey is forced to relive a painful episode from his past, when he was accused of a horrible crime and shunned by his adoptive parents. Suddenly, two mysteries–one of passion and family, the other of fire and murder–are unraveling around Trey. But so is everything he has done to protect himself. . . .Firetrap is vintage Earl Emerson: a gritty, emotionally charged novel set in a world of camaraderie and urban chaos, where one man has been a hero, a villain, and a victim–and hasn’t even faced the deadliest danger yet.

A Moment of Wrong Thinking


Lawrence Block - 2002
    The first novel, The Sins of the Fathers, appeared in 1975, and A Drop of the Hard Stuff—the 17th and most recent—was published in 2011. Over the years Scudder has also been featured in 11 short works of fiction; A Moment of Wrong Thinking, which first appeared in EQMM in 2002, is one of them.Short stories have provided me with the opportunity for a glance back at Scudder's life before the first of the novels, when he was a working member of the NYPD. A Moment of Wrong Thinking puts the spotlight on Vince Mahaffey, the veteran plainclothes cop with whom Matt was partnered in his early days on the job in Brooklyn. "They put me with him so he could teach me the ropes," Matt recalls, "and he taught me plenty,including some things they'd have just as soon I never learned." There are references to Mahaffey in several of the novels, but this story gives us a closer look at him.A Moment of Wrong Thinking is included in The Night and the Music, my collection of all 11 Matthew Scudder short stories.

The Otherworld Witches Series 3-Book Bundle: Dime Store Magic, Industrial Magic, Haunted


Kelley Armstrong - 2014
    Sure to mesmerize fans of Deborah Harkness, Laurell K. Hamilton, and Karen Marie Moning, these novels introduce a trio of kickass heroines who perfectly showcase Armstrong’s thrilling imagination.  DIME STORE MAGIC   Paige Winterbourne was always either too young or too rebellious to succeed her mother as leader of the elite American Coven of Witches. Now that she’s twenty-three, the Elders can no longer deny her. But even Paige’s wildest antics can’t hold a candle to those of her new charge, Savannah, who is all too willing to use her budding powers for evil, and evil is all too willing to claim her. For this girl is being pursued by a dark faction of the supernatural underworld. It’s an initiation into adulthood, womanhood, and the brutal side of magic—and Paige will have to do everything within her power to make sure they both survive.  INDUSTRIAL MAGIC  Someone is murdering the teenage offspring of the underworld’s most influential Cabals—a circle of families that makes the mob look like amateurs. And none is more powerful than the Cortez Cabal, a faction with which Paige is intimately acquainted. Her boyfriend is none other than Lucas Cortez, the rebel son and unwilling heir. But love isn’t blind, and Paige has her eyes wide open as she is drawn into a hunt for an unnatural-born killer. Pitted against shamans, demons, and goons, it’s a battle chilling enough to make a wild young woman grow up in a hurry. If Paige gets the chance.  HAUNTED   Eve Levine—half-demon, black witch, and devoted mother—has been dead for three years. She has a great house and an interesting love life, and she can’t be killed again, which comes in handy when you’ve made as many enemies as Eve has. All she needs to do is find a way to communicate with her daughter, Savannah, and she’ll be happy. But the Fates have other plans. They want Eve to hunt down an evil spirit called the Nix, who has escaped from hell, before she does any more damage. But the Nix is a dangerous enemy: The only way to stop her is with an angel’s sword—and Eve is no angel.  Praise for Kelley Armstrong and the Otherworld series  “Gripping . . . [a] sexy supernatural romance [whose] special strength lies in its seamless incorporation of the supernatural into the real world.”—Publishers Weekly, on Dime Store Magic   “One of my favorite writers.”—New York Times bestselling author Karin Slaughter   “Up there with the big girls of the genre like Laurell K. Hamilton.”—The Kansas City Star   “Armstrong writes page-turning prose.”—Booklist   “One of the masters of urban fantasy.”—Fresh Fiction

Liars & Thieves


Stephen Coonts - 2004
    When he arrives, he finds the guards shot dead and a ruthless team of American commandos killing everyone in sight. Carmellini escapes in a hail of bullets with what seems to be the sole survivor-a stunningly attractive translator, who then steals his car and abandons him after a deadly mountain car chase. But someone else survived the massacre-someone who holds the answers to a deadly conspiracy.Catapulted into a life and death struggle, Tommy must employ all his savvy and skill just to stay alive. But to find out who is hunting him and why, he'll need the help of retired Admiral Jake Grafton. Now they must learn to tell friend from foe as they fight their way through a poisonous wilderness of intrigue, all the way to a presidential convention in New York City-and to the surprising identity of someone standing on the verge of absolute power who has jeopardized the safety of the entire nation to prevent a dark secret from ever seeing the light of day...