Book picks similar to
Minstrel's Bargain by Richard Ayre


horror
1st-in-series
confessions-comp
cold-war

Of Lords and Commoners


Lynne Hill-Clark - 2016
    A breath of fresh air, as it tells the tale of a commoner thrust into a world of lords and vampires. It spans many years with many historical events, times, and places not like your average twilight telling in a high school back ground. I would recommend this book to anyone.” — SandersThe only future Vallachia could have imagined, as well as her wonderfully simple life disappears when she finds herself in a struggle to figure out the rules of a strange new world. She longs for her old life and the one she truly loves remains out of reach, as she embarks on an inconceivable journey.Vallachia quickly finds herself on the wrong side of a brewing battle for vampire domination. Not knowing who to trust could have fatal consequences … for millions of people.

Stormy Waters


Miron Ben Ari - 2016
    Adam Bernstein wakes up on the beach at dead of night, next to a mutilated body, with a pounding, bloody headache and no memory. Terrified, he flees the crime scene, on a quest to discover his identity, his freedom and his life. Will he find himself before THEY find him? Adam quickly learns that his former life holds everything he could ask for: plenty of money, a stunning girlfriend and an enviable talent for drawing. For a moment, it even seems like things might go back to being normal again. But everything is shattered when an unknown man attempts at Adam's assassination. He knows something dark lies in his past. But he can’t imagine just how dark it is. A man on a desperate race for survival Adam is trying to piece together the remains of his past. A dark, urban thriller about love, crime and blood that will leave you sweating. Get your copy of Stormy Waters now!

Vampire


K.M. Ashman - 2012
    But this is no ordinary mummy. Not only is it dressed in the manner of a commoner, it also contains a few blood cells that only seem dormant. Becky Ryan, a museum researcher, receives a macabre message from her father, just before he is found dead and follows the clues to uncover what is either a massive hoax, or the greatest ever discovery in the history of mankind. What she uncovers is beyond her wildest dreams…..and darkest nightmares

Children of a Broken Sky


Adam J. Nicolai - 2013
    In its wake, everything changed. Now the sun rises in the south, if it rises at all. Animals go mad. Crops ripen and die overnight. The Church - a body of miracle-workers who can heal the sick and walk through fire - warns that God's final judgment is at hand. THE WORLD WILL SOON END.Now, stories tell of men that speak with beasts and peasants who work their own miracles. The Church decries these heretics, hunting them like animals and demanding the same of the faithful. In a remote village, a small group of childhood friends are caught in the crossfire. Accused of heresy by the Church and sentenced to death, they escape their village as it burns behind them.BUT SOME MAY FIND HOPE.Their Church hunts them. A cursed world assails them. To survive, one of them will learn the true meaning of her beliefs; another, that some portents can be deceiving. But only one revelation has a chance to save them:That they are not forsaken. They have each other.Bestselling Kindle Suspense author Adam J. Nicolai invites you to a land beneath a broken sky, where sorceries clash with miracles, mountains are crowned with lightning, and faith - true faith - can topple empires.

The Shopkeep: A Morbid Tale (The Morbid Tales, #1)


Zachery Miller - 2017
    They’re just there for a steal and a quick buck, but what they don’t realize is that they’ve come for a whole different reason: the Devil’s Shopkeep awaits.

By the Light of His Lantern: A Novel


Abe Moss - 2019
    Disoriented, he blinks his eyes, rubs them for good measure, but the result is the same. The sky is as black as the beach below it. In this place, the sun and moon and stars are long dead. But the darkness, full of eyes and teeth, is very much alive. Others like him say it’s a curse. Someone he knows has sentenced him to an eternity here, and now Lewis must ask himself if it’s an eternity he deserves. Guided only by his own hands, hunted by otherworldly forces, it’s up to him to scour the darkness of his past in search of his own redemption. Only the truth will light the way.

American Z


J.G. Fletcher - 2017
    [zom - bie] program. A powerful group of elitists, known as The Society, has been secretly controlling governments for years, and are now on the brink of being able to control humanity itself. One man believes he is destined to stop them and is willing to do whatever it takes, including betraying those closest to him. American Z is sure to slowly eat away at your conscious, long after putting it down. American Z is not your typical "flesh-eating" Zombie book. It is based on a more disturbing, a more sinister concept of Zombies, that will haunt your thoughts and leave you second-guessing the world as you know it. You will never look at people the same way again after reading American Z.

Clean Kill


C.E. Nelson - 2016
    It was the chance of a lifetime for the band, touring with Prince, and a friend of a friend had a decked out tour bus they could use.  Things couldn't be better - except for the body in the bus.  A very clean body.Don Trask, Lead Agent for the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, finds it odd that someone would go to the trouble to bleach a body.  It was strange.  And things were about to become even more strange when additional bodies in Minneapolis and along the north shore of Lake Superior begin to appear.  All very clean.Don and his twin brother Dave, Sheriff of Lake County Minnesota, must now quickly stop the murderer before word gets out that a serial killer may be roaming the state - and another body is bleached.  Readers of John Sanford, Jeffrey Deaver, Michael Connelly, William Kent Krueger and like authors will enjoy this fast-paced thriller.  Scroll up to order now.   What readers are saying:"There's several suspects and then a twist at the end you never figured on.  This was a good enjoyable read." - PWA"Good Read!  I liked the characters and the fast-paced gameplay." - Lynda Hanson"Good Read.  Would recommend this book to anyone who likes this genre." - Martha Allen

Where the Monsters Live


Duncan Ralston - 2016
    His purpose is simple: to find the "Rabbit Man" among them, and put him in the ground.Months later, with no one to trust and the pedophiles he lives among growing suspicious of his actions, he learns nothing is simple where the monsters live.

Bear Creek


Dan Arnold - 2013
    He had spent his life wandering, working in cow towns and frontier outposts, usually as a law man. He was hoping to re-connect with his family in Wyoming, when a run away horse led him in a new direction, one that would pull all the disparate elements of his life together. John will find his family, only to see them go in search of their own destiny. In the process, he will see the high country and track killers in the night. He will be reunited with old friends who will help him face times of violence and danger, his personal limitations, political imperatives, and the evil intentions of men whose souls are lost to greed. Along the way he’ll win the trust of a community, the support of a governor and the love of a woman.Hold on tight, the industrial revolution is moving faster than the newest locomotive, faster than a horse can run, and faster than the fastest gun.John Everett Sage will handle whatever comes at him, with grace, humor, lightning fast reflexes, and his personal faith in God.

Murder in Wizard's Wood


Michael J. Allen - 2018
    At the same time, a vengeful mercenary company lays a trail of suspicious murders directly to Jedediah's door. Unwitting pawns to a deeper menace, both serve a centuries-long plot to steal magic's deepest secret.The bloody conflict thrusts Jedediah's family into Death's reach. As the body bag count rises and law enforcement closes in, Jedediah is forced to make desperate choices to protect his loved ones and magic itself by stopping the murders in his wood.

When Souls Linger


Nissa Leder
    She’s forced to spend the entire summer before her senior year at Cabin Creek Falls—a camp full of spoiled, rich kids where she’ll surely be out of place. Her plan is to make it through the summer minding her own business and staying out of trouble. But it doesn’t take long for Carter—Mr. Popular—to notice her or Quinn—the camp’s diva—to stir up drama. To top it all off, Bri encounters a lonely teen boy and a deranged woman who no one else can see. Has Bri gone insane in her grief, or are the boy and woman actually real? Which is worse?

The Brink


Martyn J. Pass - 2016
    Humanity had barely survived The Panic 70 years earlier and now the slow death brought on by the collapse of society seems unavoidable, especially as it seems the worst is still to come. Accompanied by a strange hound he rescued from the labs deep beneath the Fort, Alan sets out to aid the survivors who struggle to hold back mankind's final hour, joining up with a handful of soldiers desperately trying to fan the embers of mankind into life once more. But Alan has a secret he's desperate to hide and which threatens to be revealed with every action he takes. Can his fear of discovery be overcome so that mankind can stand a chance of surviving? Or will humanity topple over the brink as he stands by and watches? Following on from Project - 16, The Brink tells the story of a man who faces a destiny he neither wants nor is prepared for and starts Alan Harding on a path to legend.

A Kind of Woman


Helen Burko - 2017
    Barder does not return alone: with him is his new wife, Rachel, a beautiful blonde woman whom he met in Warsaw shortly after the war - a Jewish survivor who lost her entire family and remained alone in the world. Jacob fell in love with her and brought her to the states. Now he will defend her in the biggest battle of her life. A Jewish lawyer’s wife is accused of committing Nazi war crimes One evening, in a Broadway theater, Rachel is attacked by a woman who accuses her of being Matilda Krause - a German SS officer who served at the Nazi concentration camps. Rachel’s arrest and police investigation open the way to a sensational trial that will be written in the pages of history. With no one willing to protect a Nazi officer, Barder decides to defend his wife himself. Why would a Jewish survivor speak for a Nazi in the court of law? Barder is called to make an impossible case in the name of his beloved wife, and that of humanity altogether. The jury, the judge, and the readers will be astounded by what he has to say.

The Throwback


David Canford - 2018
    Years later Elwood's son, Thomas, is rescued by a slave girl, Mosa. Helping her in return, he discovers the secrets of his family which set him on a collision course with his father and the law. Mosa makes it North to freedom but even in New York, she finds her life is threatened. Receiving unexpected news, she risks her life to return South during the height of the Civil War. She hopes to wait out the war in relative safety away from any population center, but the war finds her and threatens to destroy those she cares about. A family saga of hatred, revenge, forbidden love, overcoming hardship and helping others from the author of Bound Bayou. For fans of books such as Yellow Crocus and Sister of Mine.