Book picks similar to
The Aztec Secret by Joe Topliffe
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crime-thriller-mystery
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The Manuscript
Nathan Hystad - 2020
An unpublished manuscript. A long-buried secret. Jeremiah Trent works as a Seattle homicide detective. When he’s contacted by a friend from his childhood, he packs his bags and heads to a mansion in remote Colorado. As he arrives at the best-selling author’s home, Jerry can’t shake the feeling it was a mistake visiting the people from his past. The mystery deepens when Jay offers them a chance to read his newest manuscript, one chapter at a time. When Jerry digs in, he finds the story is their own from twenty-five years ago, only with different character names and a changed setting. Abby, Ken, Jay, and Jerry’s tale unravels, and when a body is discovered by the local Police Department, one that has been there for years, everything escalates into a shocking conclusion. The Manuscript is a suspense thriller by Nathan Hystad, the author of The Event and Lights Over Cloud Lake.
The Lion of the South
Jessica James - 2018
Can she allow her brother to die so that others might live? A tale of espionage, intrigue and deception during the Civil War. AS THE CIVIL WAR grinds into its second year, an audacious and mysterious figure known only as the Lion of the South emerges from the shadows to rekindle the Confederacy's spirit of defiance. With no one to turn to and nowhere to run, Julia is caught in a tangled web of secrets and deception. The only way to save her beloved brother from the hangman's noose is to unmask the Lion. But who is he? When she finally discovers the enigmatic hero's true identity, Julia sets off on a desperate journey to stop the vengeful plot she unknowingly helped set in motion. But time is running out. The elusive Lion is walking straight into the Yankees' trap. Despite the danger, Julia is determined to save the two men whose lives hang in the balance—and redeem herself from the deadly mistake she has made. From award-winning author Jessica James comes another suspenseful historical fiction that will keep you turning pages.
My Fake Forbidden Boyfriend
Lindsey Hart - 2020
Revenge is a dish best served cold or smoking hot if it's in the form of Adrian Builder, America's No.1 top model!I can already see it… the headlines for tomorrow's tabloids.Female CEO of world-famous clothing line gets dumped for a model at her own label.Damn it.If only there was a way to exact revenge on my slimeball of an ex,And also save my reputation at the same time.Oh, wait…maybe there is.What if I can change the headlines?Female CEO of world-famous clothing line dumps her ex for America's Most Sexy Heartbreaker.There is only one problem though.How do I get America's Most Sexy Heartbreaker to fake it with me?Especially when he is on a huge spree turning down all deals from my company.The Jerk.But maybe the nth time is the charm… yeah, right.Honestly, I fully expected him to refuse this time as well…Until he actually signed on the dotted lines.Seems like he is interested in our contract… if there is me thrown into the equation.Not that anything will happen with the smartass.It's all pretend.And access to my heart is Forbidden.No way am I letting another man in, especially one who could make panties burst with just a glimpse of his nuclear smile.But when faking it gets a little too real…Can I stop myself from falling for the big bad wolf of the fashion industry?
Deadly Little Lies
Stephanie DeCarolis - 2021
A loving husband, a career as an attorney, and a cozy apartment in Manhattan to call home.But when she gets a message from an old college friend, her blood runs cold. Remember me?ONE DEADLY LIEJuliana drops her phone as though she’s been scalded. The name Jenny Teller shines out from the screen… but Jenny can’t have sent that message.Because Jenny is dead.Juliana’s other college friends have all received the same message. The four of them are the only ones who know the truth about the night Jenny died. It’s a secret they have kept buried for fifteen years.WHO DO YOU TRUST?With ‘Jenny’ now blackmailing them and threatening to expose their secret, only one thing is certain. Someone else knows the truth about that night… or one of them is lying.
Tournament of Chance: Dragon Rebel
S.G. Rogers - 2012
Amongst them are a trio of shape-shifting wizards, former rulers who claim to be from the past. She travels to the savage island of Boravagg, seeking to free the wizards' magic from the Dragonstone. If she succeeds, she'll restore the kingdom. The prospects for her survival, however, look incredibly bleak.Prince Dane has been waiting for centuries to reclaim his kingdom, wrested away from his family by treachery and deceit. When he discovers his fate may depend on a young green-eyed beauty with a skill for archery, he's skeptical at first. As time goes on, he finds himself increasingly attracted to her strength and character...but can he change his arrogant ways enough to win her heart?
Deadly Trespass
Sandra Neily - 2017
National finalist: Women’s Fiction Writers Association “Rising Star” contest. Cassandra Patton Conover is about to become an outlaw. Searching for her wayward dog in Maine’s dense woods, she finds her best friend Shannon crushed under a tree. Then she finds tracks larger than any animal she knows and a mystery only wild animals can help her solve.Before she can absorb the loss of her friend, Patton is hired to guide a surly reporter who suspects extinct wolves have returned to Maine, but the forest has too many agendas. A billionaire hopes wolves will become a save-the-forest strategy. A timber company plans to exterminate the pack. A game warden loyal to his Penobscot tribe, his attraction to Patton, and his law enforcement life, has too many tough choices, and a black ops mercenary rips open Patton’s wounded life so he can aim her at the wolves.When gold wolf eyes issue a challenge at her tent door, Patton is drawn deeper into Shannon’s mysterious murder and the wolves’ fate. To find her friend’s killer, she must find and trust the pack. To save her dog, the wolves, and her own life, she must step outside the law, sacrifice her career, and embrace a wild world.
Quiet Time
Stephanie Kane - 2001
He demands total respect from his family. He'll accept nothing less. The Scotts are quiet, they keep to themselves--and to the neighbors, they seem like any other family. Then the Scotts' facade shatters one sun-drenched morning in May.Sari Siegel is engaged to Tim Scott when his mother is found murdered. Sari barely knows the Scotts, but even she can sense the terrible secrets that seethe below the surface. Sari knows something about Peggy's murder, but she isn't telling... at least not yet. For if she does, her own dreams of a perfect life with Tim will shatter.There are some family traditions no one wants to keep.
Payback Jack
Timothy Gene Sojka - 2021
Why is Driskill determined to die on death row, and why have so many people pledged to stop him?
Longshot
Sean Platt - 2020
For the first time in his life it feels like he can do no wrong. But it's gonna take more than a boatload of chips to survive the alien apocalypse. It might even require him to pull together the motley crew of left-over lowlifes and Vegas vagabonds to embark on a high-risk crusade.In order to get a dying alien to Area 51, and hopefully save the world, John's only hope is a disillusioned showgirl, a snarky comedian, a cynical slot machine junkie, and the rest of the Las Vegas leftovers.Unless they die, and destroy the universe along the way.It's a race against time as the aliens arrive in this new stand-alone book in the Alien Invasion universe.
Desolation Run
James Snyder - 2013
Actually, he has two. Or maybe three. The first is that he'll be dead from cancer, less than a year, which doesn't particularly concern him: "Things I've been through, dying is just one more page in a long bad book." But spending his last living days, taking his last living breath, behind steel bars does. That's the second problem: Inmate #78903 in the notorious level-four Washington State prison known as Horseneck Bay.Then there's the money. Two million dollars of stolen military payroll, supposedly buried in some remote and mysterious south-Texas mountain range called Los Despoblados, or The Uninhabited, which sounds to Oreny like one of those places his Mama Maybell always told him to avoid. But he'll worry about that later. He has to get there first. Problem number three.That's when he brings those two smoldering dynamite sticks he's attached himself to--his Luke-boy and Jaime--on board to help his tired old body break out of Horseneck and go dig up that money and then hightail it across the border into Mexico. And when they do break out, and Luke decides to bring his girlfriend Lauren along, and her enraged ex comes after them, and then the manhunt starts multiplying faster around them than those cancer cells inside him, Oreny still thinks he can control them. The problems, that is. At least, until Cade arrives.Cade, the prison investigator Oreny knows is dangerous and unpredictable as a six-foot-two wolverine on eight gallons of adrenalin gone bad. And who won't stop until he catches them and does to them what Cade does best.Cade, Oreny knows better than anything else, is their biggest problem of all.
The Light We See
J. Lynn Bailey - 2019
From Carpinteria, California, we left.In Arizona, we barely spoke.In New Mexico, I gave him a promise that I knew I couldn’t keep.In Texas, we slept under the stars.In Oklahoma, he told me a story I wouldn’t soon forget.In Louisiana, he gave my soul a voice.Between Arkansas and Mississippi, we took full advantage of an opportunity.In Tennessee, I studied his face.In Kentucky, he introduced me to his parents.In Ohio, he found my heart.In West Virginia, we drank whiskey and told ourselves that truths are better left untold.In Maryland, we felt the weight of the night.In Pennsylvania, his wife called.And in New York, I asked myself one question:Would he be able to let me go when it was time?
The Uncaging
Meridee Jo - 2019
Six years later, when Shelley reappears unharmed, the whole town must navigate the strange behavior of the young girl, the wrongful imprisonment of a mother, and the fear that the kidnapper is striking again. Shelley's devoted older sister, Sasha, determines to do whatever it takes to keep Shelley safe. The Uncaging is a story of the trauma we hide, the ways we cope, and the lengths we go to to protect our family.
The Circle
Stephen J. Galgon - 2019
The power to control law enforcement, politicians at the highest levels, the judicial system as a whole. To have what you want when you want it, whatever it is. All you have to do is kill someone . . . before someone kills you. MEMBERS of THE CIRCLE don’t have to imagine such a life. They live it. The liberation of being both hunter and hunted. The salvation that comes with such freedom. A chance to feel truly alive. A chance to savor each precious moment. Because in THE CIRCLE any moment could be your last. DOUGLAS GOODWIN isn’t rich. He isn’t powerful. What could the sacred society of THE CIRCLE possibly want with him—just a regular guy with a regular job leading a regular life? What would drive them to coerce a young man who has always valued integrity over hedonism into their midst? And why would Doug agree to submersion in a world of secrecy and murder? It’s unthinkable. THE HARSH REALITY? Doug has been inducted into an institution where friends become enemies overnight, loyalty is a nothing more than a punchline, and conscience is a burden. Where he will be hunted and expected to hunt other members to their death. With no escape from THE CIRCLE’s ubiquitous influence and domination. HOW FAR WILL DOUG GO? How much will he sacrifice to preserve his way of life? Will he be swayed by the money, the women, the power? Or will THE CIRCLE consume him, as it has hundreds of others before him, and leave nothing but another nameless corpse in its wake?
A Strict Lesson
Eliza Quinn - 2020
It was right there in the rules; rule number one, to be exact. So what if it was his own personal rule? But when Tatiana Edwards enters his classroom, he knows things are about to heat up. Because she’s attractive as can be and there’s a look in her eyes begging him to dominate her.Tatiana wants to seduce her anatomy professor.Tatiana isn’t happy about her unexpected move, but when she meets her new anatomy professor, she can’t stop thinking about him. She can’t stop imagining him taking control and taking her. Is he the kind of guy that’s into all the dark things she wants? Or is he as vanilla and boring as most of the guys that try to come on to her?There’s only one way to find out!