Book picks similar to
BAD INTENT by Michael Tabman
crime
fiction
law-enforcement
thriller
The Deadly Caress
O.N. Stefan - 2014
When it becomes evident that her mother has been murdered, Amanda sets out to discover her mother’s killer. Her quest takes her to Wollongong to find the man who she thinks holds the answer to the killer’s identity. While visiting this man, she has to run for her life as a hail of gunshots pockmark the walls and shatter the windows. Someone will stop at nothing until she is dead. If she thought things were bad enough, they are about to get much worse...
Solway Tide
Andy Jarvis - 2014
Outspoken, sassy and determined to make it up through the ranks, she's assigned to follow the case of a body found in the sea only to find herself the one being pursued. Far from being a run-of-the-mill murder tale this gripping page turner takes the genre by the horns throwing it in a totally new direction. A nightmare of a tale that challenges the very philosophy and motivation behind genetic experimentation and what possibly could be the 'hidden agenda' behind modern medical research. A setting on the remote west coast of Cumbria provides an eerie, atmospheric, heath land backdrop to this imaginative, twisting story of murder, corruption and the darker side of human nature.
The Assassin's Prayer
Mark Allen - 2013
But some sins refuse to stay buried and Kain finds himself fighting not only a ruthless nemesis from his shadowy past, but also the scars on his soul, which are torn open by the arrival of a woman from his past. With its full-auto pace, high-powered action, and raw emotion, The Assassin's Prayer is a relentless tale of redemption for those who know that bullets sometimes speak louder than words.
The Tightrope Men / The Enemy
Desmond Bagley - 2009
But it is only the beginning of a hair-raising adventure in which Denison finds himself trapped with no way to escape. One false move and the whole delicately balanced power structure between East and West will come toppling down…THE ENEMYWealthy, respectable George Ashton flees for his life after an acid attack on his daughter. Who is his enemy? Only Malcolm Jaggard, his future son-in-law, can guess, after seeing Ashton's top secret government file. In a desperate manhunt, Jaggard pits himself against the KGB and stalks Ashton to the silent, wintry forests of Sweden. But his search for the enemy has barely begun…Includes a unique bonus - Desmond Bagley's pen portrait, written for the original publication of The Tightrope Men.
Bad Moon Rising
Frances di Plino - 2012
Abiding by his vision, he marks them as his. A gift to guide his chosen ones on the rightful path to redemption.Detective Inspector Paolo Storey is out to stop him, but Paolo has problems of his own. Hunting down the killer as the death toll rises, the lines soon blur between Paolo’s personal and professional lives.
Sea Raptor: A Deep Sea Thriller
John J. Rust - 2014
Army Ranger, until an unfortunate incident forced him out of the service. He is soon hired by the Foundation for Undocumented Biological Investigation and given a new mission, to search for cryptids, creatures whose existence has not been proven by mainstream science. Teaming up with the daring and beautiful wildlife photographer Karen Thatcher, they must stop a sea monster's deadly rampage along the Jersey Shore. But that's not the only danger Rastun faces. A group of murderous animal smugglers also want the creature. Rastun must utilize every skill learned from years of fighting, otherwise, his first mission for the FUBI might very well be his last.
The Reluctant Detective
Adrian Spalding - 2019
He just wanted a quiet life. Something his mother was not going to allow. There again he never for one moment imagined he would have to look into the death of a 90-year-old lady who was gambling away her family fortune. The Hayden Detective Agency has no need of clients. The very existence of the Agency allows Martin Hayden to claim his large monthly allowance from the family fortune - without lifting a finger. Martin’s biggest problem is his interfering mother, who understands her idle son too well. She takes steps to find him not just clients but also a personal assistant to keep an eye on him. Under pressure from the women in his life, Martin agrees to take on his first client. How hard can it be to follow a 90-year-old woman who spends her time losing money at roulette tables? As it turns out harder than Martin ever thought possible, especially with the old lady dying in strange circumstances. Soon the Reluctant Detective is grappling with shady estate agents, an intellectual artist, missing charity money and an irritating Indian waiter. Luckily for Martin there is help in the form of Colin, a transvestite who, apart from having very good fashion sense, is an expert at breaking into houses.
Old Habits
John Carson - 2019
Women were being abducted and murdered, then their corpses were displayed in open shallow graves. Marshall's FBI partner, Jessie Kent, was taken. During the hunt for her, Marshall tracked the killer down, but he was shot five times and left for dead. Less than an hour later, the killer took his own life. None of the remaining victims were ever found. Until now. A female detective comes down to Marshall's home town to ask for his help. Somebody has found the decomposed victims and is displaying them. Despite no longer being with the FBI, Marshall sees this as a chance to find Jessie, and take her home for a proper burial. And to lay to rest the feelings of guilt he's been carrying for the past four years. He agrees to go back with Dani Fox, but it's soon clear somebody doesn't want him back in town. He's warned off, but he ignores it. Then the killings start. Somebody has just accelerated the game from displaying corpses to adding new victims. And this time, he's making it personal...
Desert Heat (Victor Loshak #4)
L.T. Vargus - 2022
A human body draped over the limbs of a cactus. Sand scouring the naked flesh every time the wind blows.A shocking death launches Special Agent Victor Loshak on a new investigation with an ominous message: They know everything. He heads to Tucson, Arizona, where a recent murder spree seems to be linked to the human trafficking conspiracy he's been working in secret for months.Loshak still has dreams about the Kansas City case. Nightmares about the team of techs peeling up the floorboards in a suburban home. Finding the rotting bodies face down in the muddy earth of the crawlspace. A grisly discovery that ultimately led to more questions than answers.Now he may be closer than ever to solving the puzzle.If you follow the conspiracy rabbit hole all the way down, you eventually reach the bottom.The task force working the desert murders seems oblivious to the conspiracy link, and Loshak must tread lightly. He doesn't know who to trust, what information to share.The tendrils of the human trafficking ring lead in all directions outward from that Kansas City crawlspace. Their influence reaches the highest levels of government and law enforcement. They have eyes and ears everywhere.Even with the complications, the Tucson case slowly unravels the web of connections behind the crimes, both the murders and the conspiracy.Questions get answered. Names and faces are laid bare. Puzzle pieces snapping into place at long last.But the revelations bring about the gravest danger yet.
In a Deep Dark Wood
Tina Pritchard - 2021
She tells the police exactly what she saw, but their investigation doesn’t seem to make much headway.Fran tries to settle back into a normal life, but is tormented by guilt – was there something she could have done to save the boy? Fran can’t let it go and finds herself drawn to Tyler’s grieving mother, Mel, both finding some strange connection through this shared trauma.Then someone launches a terrifying campaign of intimidation against Fran and her husband, Laurie. Could it be the killers? Are they letting her know she had better be careful what she says? Who she sees? And why is Mel acting so strangely? Does she know more about her son’s death than she is saying?Fran can’t help herself – she needs to know the truth. But when she begins to dig, she uncovers the terrible secret of the deep, dark wood – a secret that will change her life forever.
The Man in the House
Emmy Ellis - 2019
He waits. He strikes. DI Helena Stratton has been through the wars on a previous case—torture that has scarred her for life, gifting her with nightmares. This new one is no different. On top of that… A partner she can’t stand. DS Andy Mald needs to buck his ideas up. A boyfriend she’s just ditched. Or is he a stalker? A triple murder. Who is doing such hideous things to the bodies? Someone out there knows. And he’s desperate to be the man in the house.
Project Sparta
B.B. Gallagher - 2016
Alongside nine other adolescent prodigies, he would be forged into the US government’s deadliest weapon - no matter the cost.Five years after Project Sparta, Xander hunts a rising terrorist, code-named Agent Zero, who is plotting an attack on Washington, DC. With the clock ticking, Xander and his fellow recruits must play Agent Zero’s game of cat and mouse to stop the attack before it is too late.But when the Spartans discover Agent Zero is one of them, who can Xander trust?
Erased
Jordan Marshall - 2011
They programmed her to forget everything. She was supposed to be the perfect patsy, until something went wrong… When Sara wakes up on the roof of a Union Square department store with a sniper rifle in her arms and the body of a political activist in the street below, she can’t even remember how she got there. A mysterious stranger calls and instructs her to turn herself in. He warns that her life has been erased and she’ll never see her family again if she doesn’t cooperate. Sara is terrified, and in a desperate attempt to sort out her past and prove her innocence, she goes on the run. Sara quickly finds herself one of America’s most wanted criminals. The police and the FBI are convinced she’s a known terrorist. The black ops team that framed her is out to kill her before she can expose them. Her only hope lies in rookie FBI agent Brandy Jackson. Unfortunately, Brandy and her partner have every reason to believe Sara is the real killer and they’re being pressured from above to close the case as quickly as possible. As the evidence mounts, Sara even begins to question her own memories. What if she’s not the dedicated mother and hardworking attorney she thinks she is? What if she really is the killer?
Encryption
Bill Ward - 2014
The Security Services of the UK, USA and China all want to control the new software. The Financial Director has been murdered and his widow turns to her brother-in-law to help discover the truth. But he soon finds himself framed for his brother’s murder. When the full force of government is brought to bear on one family, they seem to face impossible odds. Is it an abuse of power or does the end justify the means? Only one man can find the answers but he is being hunted by the same people he once called friends and colleagues.