Book picks similar to
The Kingmaker by Daniel Martin Elliott


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Color of Blood


Keith Yocum - 2018
    His wife’s death left him devastated but he’ll do anything to lose himself into work at the Inspector General’s office of the CIA. A brilliant, if prickly investigator, he’s spent his career chasing down the Agency’s thieves and liars. When his boss forces him to take a low-level assignment to investigate a missing employee in Australia, he soon finds that even in the red dust of the Outback, there is romance – and death – just a sweltering heartbeat away.

The Subway


Dustin Stevens - 2017
    Placed there by the Witness Protection Program, he has assimilated into the existence set up for him, trying to gain some level of enjoyment from the life he never asked for and even less wanted. An existence that is completely destroyed by a single phone call, nothing more than a message telling him that his last remaining tether to his old life has been severed in a most tragic and unexpected way. Having no choice but to abandon his adopted life and return to his roots, Scarberry finds himself dropped into a situation far more harrowing than he ever could have imagined. Allied with a single sheriff’s deputy – a young woman he knew only briefly in his youth that is fighting battles of her own – the two face a network of illegal gun runners, apathetic bureaucracy, and federal agency, ultimately squaring off with the very thing Scarberry’s been trying to avoid for so long…

Building Empires


Sherryl D. Hancock - 2017
     After the devastating loss of her little brother, the gang leader decides to turn her life around and starts playing for the other team. As the head of a new anti-gang task force, FORS, she dedicates her life to bringing down those who tore her life apart. Along with former gang leader and best friend, Joe Sinclair, FORS works to break some of the toughest gangs around. But the road is a dangerous one and there are enemies at every turn. Building Empires is a tough business when you’re not the only one building them…

The Good Client


Dan Decker - 2020
    Uncertain about the problem from Timothy's cryptic texts, Mitch Turner slips into his suit and heads over to visit Timothy, unable to imagine any reason why Timothy would be calling for help at such a late hour. Mitch arrives to find the police at Timothy's apartment and learns that Timothy's roommate was murdered. Mitch immediately retrieves Timothy from the police before they can get him to say anything more and while in the process has a run-in with his ex-girlfriend who is now a detective. Mitch takes Timothy back to his office to debrief, but not long afterward, the police show up and arrest Timothy for the murder of his roommate. There are no witnesses. There are no other suspects. The police consider it an open and shut case, but the only thing that keeps Mitch from arranging a plea bargain is his belief that his client did not do it. The deeper Mitch digs, the more he learns that his client has secrets that he wants to be kept quiet at any cost, even at the expense of going to jail for something he did not do. Mitch soon learns he must work at odds with his client to provide the best legal representation possible, going around Timothy as he fights to keep his client out of jail. If you like legal thrillers, this novel is for you. Mitch Turner is a fast-talking lawyer who takes risks where others might not. Fans of John Grisham, Michael Connelly, and Scott Turrow will enjoy this story. Pick up your copy today! Sneak Peek: I sent the message and tried to figure out what my next step ought to be. I had intentionally not asked for details but I needed to know what I was walking into. The communications should be privileged, but I wasn’t going to trust to that, especially not in the heat of the moment. If the fool had thought to encrypt his phone this might have been easier. My instruction to password protect his phone had been done more to protect me than him. If it wasn’t encrypted it was already too late. From now on I was going to require every employee to encrypt their phone. Of course, I expected this would be the first and last time I would ever have an employee call me for criminal defense work. “Ok. What next?” Timothy sent as a text. “Our communications should be privileged,” I texted back, “assuming you want me to be your attorney. Are you retaining my services as your attorney?” The message came back instantly. “Yes.” “In a typical situation I would have you pay a retainer and sign an agreement, but we do not have time. We will go over the details later. I am assuming you are willing to pay. Correct?” While this might have seemed a little self-serving, I just wanted to make sure that I had evidence to back me up if I needed to prove an attorney-client relationship had formed. What I had already done should have been sufficient, but I liked to be thorough. “I will pay whatever I can. My dad can wire you the retainer.” “Please be succinct in response to my next question. Assume the cops will read it so admit nothing.” I waited. “What are we dealing with here?” I sent a moment later. It was a minute or two before Cooper replied. “My roommate is dead on his bed. Somebody blew out his brains.”

The Cookbook - a novel


Cass Tell - 2015
    She is falling in love with the ideal man while advancing in her professional career. Then her neat and ordered life crashes. She receives a strange email from her deceased grandmother. Coupled with this, her apartment is burgled and her cookbooks are stolen, the ones she was instructed to preciously guard. After hiring a quirky private detective she goes on a quest that leads to an impossible truth. This exciting action thriller is interlaced with memories of tastes, smells and laughter in the kitchen, and how a grandmother lovingly prepared a young girl to face enormous challenges. Not only did Kate learn the craft of cooking, but also values from old-world traditions. These savoury breaks in the story provide unusual twists not typically found in bestseller action-thriller novels. Those lessons passed from one generation to the next give Kate the strength to face powerful forces. While solving mysteries she is led on a journey of self-discovery, having to ask hard questions. What is this disconcerting game that her grandmother is playing and for what purpose? Is her past just an illusion? And, why are these malevolent people intent on extracting some unknown truth from her? There are unique and unexpected rewards with this book. Recipes for dishes in the novel are found on the author’s website, thereby prolonging the pleasant memories of the story. Kate is a gourmet cook and you can recreate her delectable delights, whether for a special candlelight dinner for two or for an entire family. ‘The Cookbook’ carries themes of romance and love, and of faith and hope as it explores the limits of how much trust one can give to others. When everyone is against you, how can you stand up with toughness and tenacity against the world? One reviewer wrote, “This book is like a superb meal. It’s a wonderful mix of the pleasures of cooking and the enjoyment of an action read. One can only say, ‘Bon Appetit!’” If you love an adrenaline driven escape found in a fun action story, this is it.

Collected Sherman Iron Mysteries: Organized Crime Private Investigator Murder Mysteries


Bowen Greenwood - 2021
    

The Fulcrum / The Power of Three / Unchained


J.C. Ryan - 2019
    Sometimes they fly by us in a blur or a series of blurs, barely marked or remembered. But every so often, a moment comes along that is so forceful, it becomes a fulcrum that sets us on a new course. Such an event happened for Rex Dalton on March 11, 2004 at Atocha Station, Madrid, Spain. Power of ThreeRex Dalton was sent on a mission to Afghanistan to gather information about the opium trade. His mission brief was to find out who were the key players, the trade routes, and to follow the money trail from the producers, distributors into the coffers of Taliban and other terrorist organizations. Before long he had opened a can of worms revealing spine chilling deceit and corruption that reached into the highest hallways of power in Afghanistan, America, and Europe. His submissions to his superiors to take action to wipe out the drug stores, labs, and the drug lords, fell on deaf ears. Eventually, the deliberate inaction and ineptness of US politicians drove Dalton to take unsanctioned action and it stirred a hornet's nest which even he, one of the world's most lethal assassins, might not survive. UnchainedRex Dalton and his new friend, the military dog, Digger escaped from Afghanistan and made their way into India where they started a new life. Within a few weeks, Dalton had a new name, a new passport and no worries about money. He and Digger were on their way to Kapal Mochan, India, where Rex intended to dip his hand into a sacred spring.But then Digger started shifting around in the front passenger seat and looking at him as if to say, "So, when are you going to stop and give a dog a chance to go to the toilet?"

Due Diligence


D.J. Harrison - 2013
    She is a smart cookie and is rewarded an unexpected £20,000 ‘thank you’ from a client for smoothing the way on a due diligence assignment to clinch a deal. At the same time Jenny’s lover Martin, a partner at the accountancy practice, goes missing. When he turns up dead, Jenny thinks that keeping her secret and hiding her grief are her biggest problems. Just how naive can some people be?Deception, bribery and violence suddenly send Jenny’s life whirling sickeningly out of control. She quickly finds herself on the wrong side of the law. She suffers grossly when sentenced to serve time. Self-preservation inside only earns her more black marks on her record.Facing the loss of her home, her child, and her career, will Jenny be able to get herself back on track? Or is she set on a fatal collision course with the shadowy forces behind Martin’s death? Will her new security guard friends be able to flex enough muscle to protect her?It’s a dirty business where dirty money is concerned. Dirty dealings in the boardroom and chicanery in the world of motorsports provide an intriguing background to this fast-paced and ingenious thriller. Due Diligence is a high-octane race for survival in the company of a spirited young woman who discovers hidden reserves of talent when the going gets tough.

Reprisal (Hank Rawlings - On the Hunt Series Book 2)


E.H. Reinhard - 2020
    Who is the ruthless killer targeting FBI agents in Texas? In this gritty crime thriller, Special Agent Hank Rawlings and his team track a deadly opponent — but the hunters risk becoming the hunted…

Before the Killing


Marjory Kaptanoglu - 2021
    The next day, her boyfriend, Julian, is implicated in a brutal killing.Seven years later, a freak occurrence gives Cassie the ability to travel through time without altering it. Revisiting Julian in the past has her falling in love all over again. Convinced of his innocence, she goes back to witness the murder and the events leading up to it. Afterward, she struggles to find a way to prove what really happened, while the killer stalks her past and present lives, determined to silence her.

Solomon Bull: When the Friction has its Machine


Clayton Lindemuth - 2017
    You’ll find all the “thrilling… visceral… unsparing…” prose that earned his debut Cold Quiet Country the coveted starred review from Publishers Weekly. Blackfoot Indian Solomon Bull is the son of a rebel who died in the seventies fighting for the American Indian Movement. He trains for an Arizona race called Desert Dog, run through cactus beds, aqueducts, up sheer rock walls and through clouds of Africanized killer bees. The race will tell Solomon whether he’s a mere man, or heir to his murdered father’s revolution. Solomon tries to focus on Desert Dog. Ex-mercenary Cal Barrett designed the race to shred people, and rumor is he recruits winners into a clandestine paramilitary outfit. But on a whim Solomon bets his roommate he can cost dirty Senator Clyman ten points in his reelection bid. After antics involving spray paint and a highway billboard, the senator’s security chief suddenly shows up everywhere Solomon is… Then Rachel, hailing from the Treasury’s office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, introduces herself by soaping Solomon in the shower after a long run. She’ll do anything to get Solomon to infiltrate Cal Barrett’s clandestine organization. Something big is going down soon, she promises. Senator Clyman’s security man attacks. Rachel hounds. Solomon’s picked a bigger fight than intended. But now his roommate introduces Amanda, a prostitute who looks like an angel but for the boots and cigarette burns all over her back. She tells a story about Senator Clyman and an innocent Navajo boy that frames Solomon’s identity question in stark terms. Will Solomon turn his back on the victims of true evil? Will he become a cog in the machine his father died fighting? Solomon Bull is a young man learning why men exist. It’s about love, sacrifice, and a Native American on the pendulum between assimilation and war.

Winter Falls: A Jimmy Blue novel (The Jimmy Blue Series Book 1)


Ian W. Sainsbury - 2021
    They should have made sure.Twenty years after Tom Lewis watched his parents die, those responsible are being killed. One by one.Gentle, brain-damaged Tom, a giant of a man who can barely speak, can’t be responsible for their deaths. Can he?When Tom Lewis was shot, something new was created. Something unique. Something deadly. Something patient enough to plan revenge for twenty long years.Meet Jimmy BlueAn explosive revenge thriller from award winner Ian W. Sainsbury.NOTE: This novel was previously published in three parts under the series title Bedlam Boy.

The Final Tour


A.J. Stewart - 2017
     Warrior. Patriot. Traitor? Jacques Fontaine always wanted to serve but he never expected to lead this band of brothers. Different nationalities, different languages, a collection of misfits. And the world's elite terrorist hunters. Sent to Iraq during the US drawdown on what appears to be a routine investigation, they find themselves under attack from insurgents, the military and unseen forces with widespread political connections. With their careers—if not their lives—under threat, Fontaine must lead his unit through the fire if this isn't to become their final tour of duty. "There is absolutely nothing to not like about this series debut if you like thrillers!" - Reader Review "Action packed story with realistic elements." - Reader Review USA Today bestseller list 6 April 2017

With Wanton Disregard


Gwen Banta - 2018
     Tim is at a crossroads in his life when he meets Lauren: the beautiful wife of a prominent Long Beach physician who has been brutally murdered. In spite of the mounting evidence against Lauren, Tim fights to prove that she is not involved. But when Lauren suddenly goes into hiding, more savage murders occur in the exclusive Long Beach enclave of Belmont Shore. As Mulrooney pieces together the evidence proving that the murders are connected to the Connolly case, he makes a startling discovery about the next intended victim, and must risk his reputation, his shield, and his life to solve the case - and stay alive.

Who Killed Anne-Marie?


C.M. Thompson - 2018
    Anne Marie Mills is out of work, out of love and out of whisky. Everyone else is out of patience. When Anne-Marie is found dead who is to blame? The neighbours who despised her drunken rants? The husband who wondered how much more he could take? Or is there another killer in the neighbourhood?Reviews"Masterfully written sequel to What Lies in the Dark... superb and suspenseful thriller about a marriage gone deathly wrong." LM Bryski, author of 'Book of Birds' and 'Blood Chill'."A winner from the opening scenes: the filthy kitchen, the grumbling husband, the wife in her stinky pyjamas hiding in what used to be their bedroom. It makes you read on. Each character really comes alive." Rhonda Lomazow, blogger.