SUMMER OF THE PLAGUE (Molly Titchen Book 2)


Gordon John Thomson - 2015
    In the spring of 1665, England is recovering from a terrible winter, yet the country has other severe problems to face as the sun finally returns. The King, Charles II, had been welcomed back as a saviour on his restoration five years before, but is now resented by increasing numbers of his own people. And in March, the King declares war on the Dutch, England’s great seagoing trade rivals… Worse news comes to Restoration London, though, when there is an outbreak of the plague in April. This is terrible news in particular for the wealthy young physician and merchant Henry Raven, who believes that the outbreak is not natural but has been caused by an old enemy plotting his revenge against the city of London. Henry Raven, together with his friends from the Royal Society, Dr William Croone and Robert Hooke, organize the city’s fight against the spread of the disease. Raven’s delectable young mistress, Molly Titchen, is a precocious seventeen-year-old actress at the new King’s theatre in Drury Lane who is torn between her devotion to Henry Raven, and her love of strutting the stage in breeches parts. When Molly gives a bed for the night to one sick young actor, her kind action is misunderstood by Raven who believes that she has been unfaithful to him. Then Molly falls on hard times herself, and is aided not by her jealous lover, but by a strange Moorish apothecary, and a mysterious Frenchman, Philippe Desargues, Comte de Mésanger... Henry Raven has other problems to trouble his mind too, apart from his fight against the plague and his wish to save his relationship with Molly. Firstly, a close childhood friend, Esther Linney, has disappeared from her cottage on the estate of Raven’s family home in Dorset, Salwayash Manor, and gone to London. Raven’s sister Catherine asks her brother to find Esther in London, and discover why she left Dorset in such mysterious circumstances. Raven also has to deal with the fact that his sister has clearly fallen in love with their wealthy neighbour, the recently widowed Ralph Warboys, who is a handsome man yet one with a haunted past. And then strange events unfold in the quiet Dorset countryside when two young girls are found dead in suspicious circumstances... As the plague rages through London, Raven finds himself having to defend Esther Linney against a charge of witchcraft, while also trying to save Molly from an implacable enemy. But his greatest challenge is to discover the secrets of an old family curse, and to unmask a cruel murderer…

Uncle Dust


Rob Pierce - 2015
    Dustin loves to drink. Dustin loves his women. Dustin loves loyalty. He might even love his adopted nephew Jeremy. And, he sometimes gets a little too enthusiastic in his job doing collections for local bookies--so, sometimes, he loves to hurt people. Told in the first person, Uncle Dust is a fascinating noir look inside the mind of a hard, yet very complicated criminal.Rob Pierce has been nominated for a Derringer Award for short crime fiction, and has had his stories published in Flash Fiction Offensive, Pulp Modern, Plots With Guns, Revolt Daily, Near To The Knuckle, and Shotgun Honey. The editor of Swill Magazine, he lives in Oakland, California, with his wife and two children. He is equally comfortable taking romantic walks on the beach or dumping the body elsewhere. "I was imprisoned for bank robbery, where I read plenty of novels with a bank robber as the protagonist. Only a few writers entertained me with killer dialogue. I even contacted Elmore Leonard when I was paroled, told him crime writer to crime writer that he understood criminal dialogue real swell. Here's the thing: Had I read "Uncle Dust" while I was incarcerated I would've got out and contacted Rob Pierce before Elmore. The story and dialogue in "Uncle Dust" captured so much of that world and circumstance in all its squalid glory. Made me wish I'd done time with tough guy Dustin. I thoroughly enjoyed our criminal hero's mind as he observed the world, and himself, through a cynical thief's lens. And I think you will too."– Joe Loya, author of the critically-acclaimed memoir, The Man Who Outgrew His Prison Cell: Confessions of A Bank Robber.

The Nick Lawrence Series


Brian Christopher Shea - 2019
     Nicholas Lawrence, an accomplished investigator with the FBI, voluntarily takes a reassignment from his human trafficking unit in Austin, Texas. His transfer brings him to the bank robbery unit based out of Connecticut’s New Haven field office. Nick’s decision to relocate, stemming from the recent death of his father, is done in effort to care for his aging mother suffering from the onset of dementia. Nick soon finds himself in a desperate chase of a deadly terrorist and his greatest ally maybe a bank robbery suspect with a mysterious past. The Lion's Mouth Big things come in small packages. Nick Lawrence returned to Austin, Texas and rejoined his old unit, the FBI’s Violent Crimes Against Children task force. It’s not long before he finds himself in the middle of a well-organized human trafficking ring. Teaming with local law enforcement, he sets out to dismantle the group. Nick soon realizes that he’s in over his head and if he’s not careful…he might lose his. The Rabbit's Hole Sometimes what goes down does not always come back. Agent Cheryl Simmons of the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit has come to Austin, Texas. Simmons is known throughout the Bureau as a legend among their elite profilers. A career built on delving into the deeply twisted minds of murderers has forever changed her. She’s devoted the better part of the last four years to tracking an unpredictable killer, who’s garnered the nickname The Ferryman. For reasons unknown, the killer has targeted Special Agent Nick Lawrence. With Nick as bait, Simmons may finally have the upper hand. As Nick’s world collapses around him, The Ferryman tightens his grip.

Mission in Time: An incredible time-travel journey


Richard Scott - 2014
    The Time Machine by H. G. Wells was fun, as was the enjoyable A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle and Jack Finney's delightful Time and Again. If you enjoyed these books, you’ll definitely want to read Mission in Time. However, after reading Mission in Time, this might be the first time you actually find yourself believing in time travel. Imagine being sent on a time-travel mission expecting to arrive in a certain period of time and finding yourself in a very different era—a major period in the history of the United States. Imagine finding yourself with people totally unfamiliar with things you’ve been accustomed to all your life: your skills, foods, views on sanitation, means of travel, kinds of recreation and even your vocabulary. Imagine, too, that despite your advantage over the people you meet in history, you find yourself learning as much from them as they learn from you. Whether you’re a time-travel aficionado or a lover of historic novels, you won’t be disappointed with Mission in Time.

Tussinland


Mike Monson - 2014
    His inertia is broken when he becomes the chief suspect in the murders of his soon-to-be ex-wife and her new lover. Set in the town of Modesto, deep in California’s Central Valley, Tussinland is about sex, drugs, addiction, smart phones, Facebook and the internet, digital cable, anti-government militias, reality TV, fundamentalist homophobic Christians, families, 12-step groups, pornography, marriage, death, disease, and love.

Grave Girl: The Complete Trilogy


Amy Cross - 2019
    In the center of the village, the local cemetery might at first seem rather ordinary. Old gravestones lean in every direction, watched over by statues of angels. There are rumors, however, that the cemetery in Rippon hides one very dark secret. Could it be that this is where the Devil himself is buried? After running away from home in search of a fresh start, Samantha Marker can't afford to be picky about finding a new job. When she's hired to look after Rippon's cemetery, she thinks she can simply hide away from society and get on with her life. She soon discovers, however, that Rippon has begun to attract some very unwelcome attention. Dark forces are determined to recover the Devil's body, and they'll stop at nothing in their quest. Even if that means bringing about the end of the world. Thrown into a battle she doesn't even understand, Sam finds herself up against demons, ghosts and other nightmares. As if those dangers aren't bad enough, there's also the distinct possibility that all these battles might accidentally cause the Devil to rise from his grave. Even as she tries to save the world, however, Sam also has to deal with the consequences of a terrible mistake that she made long ago. How can she save humanity when she's already abandoned the one person who needs her even more? Grave Girl: The Complete Trilogy is an omnibus edition containing the three books in the Grave Girl trilogy: Grave Girl (2013), Raven Revivals (2014) and The Gravest Girl of All (2018).

Whispers Beneath the Pines


Carla Kovach - 2014
    The group plan to have one last adventure before they have to finally succumb to adulthood. What they think will be a week of sun, parties and romance soon becomes more sinister when they take a trip to the mountainous province of Mügla for the day. Eve soon realises that things are not what they seem. She sees that something isn’t right but her friends are oblivious. Can she convince them all before it’s too late? Suitable for adults only.

Molls Like It Hot


Darren Dash - 2019
    Now he drives one of London's iconic black cabs. On a dark, wet night, he gives a lift to a wounded gangster, and everything changes from that point on. When the gangster gets in touch some time later, offering Eyrie a small fortune if he will take care of a mysterious young woman for a few nights, Eyrie is suspicious and hesitant. He can see trouble ahead, but the money will change his life for the better, so he reluctantly agrees to become a temporary guardian. But some deals should never be struck, and his charge turns out to be far more of a handful than he had ever anticipated. As twist follows twist and the bodies start to mount, Eyrie gets backed into a blood-soaked corner and must resort to desperate, inventive measures if he is to stand any chance of seeing his mission through and making it out of the weekend alive.Fast-paced, action-packed, gritty London-based noir, inspired by the likes of Mickey Spillane, Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett, with a large tip of the hat to the Billy Wilder movie Some Like It Hot.

A F*ckload of Shorts


Jedidiah Ayres - 2012
    Two stories from this collection have been adapted into the films Viscosity and A F*ckload of Scotch Tape.

City On Fire: Five LAPD Thrillers


Dallas Barnes - 2020
    He silently hopes his life choices aren’t a reflection of what he sees wrong in others.Detective Bobbi Marshal is an attractive woman whose beauty turns heads. Ironically, she and her partner comprise the LAPD Wilshire Division sex team. Bobbi, mature, sophisticated, capable and compassionate, finds herself working and competing in a man’s world.Detective Sergeant Stryker and Detective West are a “Salt & Pepper” team, one white, one Black. Besides race, there’s one crucial difference between the men…at End of Watch, Stryker drives out of the ghetto into a White community where he lives. West has a much shorter drive, his home is in the ghetto.Now, it’s just a matter of time and cunning …and who makes the first fatal mistake. City on Fire includes: City of Passion, Badge of Honor, Deadly Justice, See the Woman and Yesterday Is Dead.

Black Irish Blues: A Caesar Stiles Mystery


Andrew Cotto - 2020
    Black Irish Blues is the return-to-origin story of Caesar Stiles, an erstwhile runaway who returns to his hometown with plans to buy the town's only tavern and end his family's Sicilian curse.Caesar's attempt for redemption is complicated by the spectral presence of his estranged father, reparation seekers related to his corrupt older brother, a charming crime boss and his enigmatic crew, and - most significantly - a stranger named Dinny Tuite whose disappearance under dubious circumstances immerses Caesar in a mystery that leads into the criminal underbelly of industrial New Jersey, the flawed myth of the American Dream, and his hometown's shameful secrets.Black Irish Blues is a poetic, gritty noir full of dynamic characters, a page-turning plot, and the further development of a unique American character.

The Rapist


Les Edgerton - 2013
    Master storyteller Les Edgerton guides us on a haunting journey inside the criminal mind to show that no matter how depraved a person appears to be, there might still exist a spark of humanity.

Saving Paradise (Pono Hawkins Thriller Book 1)


Mike Bond - 2019
    The real Hawaii is something else…” When a beautiful journalist drowns mysteriously off Waikiki, former Special Forces veteran Pono Hawkins, now a well-known Hawaii surfer and international surfing journalist, quickly gets embroiled in trying to solve her death. What he learns soon targets him for murder or life in prison as a cabal of powerful corporations, foreign killers and crooked politicians focuses the blame on him. Haunted by memories of Afghanistan, and determined to protect the Hawaii he loves from dirty politics tied to huge destructive energy developments, Pono turns to Special Forces buddies and his own skills to fight his deadly enemies, trying to both save himself and track down her killers. A national US best-seller, Saving Paradise is alive with the sights, sounds and history of Hawaii, is a rich portrait of what Pono calls “the seamy side of paradise”, and a relentless thriller of politics, lies, manhunts and remorseless murder.

The Wolves of Fairmount Park


Dennis Tafoya - 2010
    Even though they had a thousand dollars with them, they were good boys. Everyone says, “They were good boys.”

The Scarlett Bell FBI Series: Books 1-5


Dan Padavona - 2019
    Have you met Scarlett Bell? She's the expert profiler the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit calls upon to catch the nation's deadliest serial killers. Cunning, beautiful, deadly. And hunted. Someone wants Scarlett Bell dead. When a teenage girl is brutally murdered in an idyllic lake community, the local sheriff calls upon Scarlett Bell to find the murderer. Another girl goes missing, and the special agent must stop the killer before time runs out. The killer is a ghost, a phantom hiding in plain sight, and Scarlett must untangle a confusing web of evidence if she hopes to track him down. But Scarlett is the killer's next target.