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Smoke and Mirrors: Trunk #1 - a noir crime thriller by Steve M
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Unstolen: You can steal, but you can't hide
Tony Batton - 2018
Almost.
He returns stolen items to their rightful owners.
For a price.
A man has to make a living, and Jake more than most. Because he's still paying for mistakes made a long time ago. And they weren't even his.
Armstrong Station
D.M. Pruden - 2020
Upon learning the woman was kidnapped and forced into slavery by an interplanetary crime cartel, Mel makes it her mission to secure the woman's freedom and return her to her home on Earth.Working against Mel's efforts, a corrupt inspector of Luna's notorious Morality Police also searches for the victim so he can eliminate anyone who can implicate him in her kidnapping.Working against the clock, Mel must find a way to keep the girl away from those who would do her harm, and protect her own skin at the same time. If she fails, her crew mates aboard Requiem may well pay with their lives.Armstrong Station is the first in a series of prequel books that chronicle Melanie Destin's life before the events in the Mars Ascendant series.
The Death Of Me
Natalie Hames - 2017
He studied. He planned. Every detail meticulously organised. Every detail perfect. The basement was ready, now all he needed was the girl. Grace Dalton was just fourteen years old when she was snatched from Greenwich Park on her way back from school. A beautiful, shy, but socially awkward girl, she would do anything to stay out of trouble and away from her bullies. Pressed for time and her tormentors blocking her usual route home, she makes a split second decision with catastrophic consequences. After facing public humiliation from a previous investigation, Detective Constable Philip Harris once again finds himself under savage media scrutiny when he's assigned to Grace's case. Determined to find her and solve the case to gain back his credibility, his frustrations mount when he repeatedly finds himself hampered at every turn. With no other suspects and the case rapidly becoming cold, the finger of blame points to Tom, Grace's father. Struggling to keep his personal resentment towards Tom away from the case and the press, DC Harris embarks on his own investigations to find who the real kidnapper is against the instructions from his superior officers. But when his digging leads him to a mysterious concealed road protected by impenetrable iron gates he soon realises his investigations have not only endangered himself, but also his family. Pitched alone against a highly organised crime syndicate and not knowing which side his colleagues are on, he's faced with some tough decisions. Either drop Grace's case, declaring it cold and allowing Tom to take the fall, or embark on a highly dangerous quest for her safe return. Time's running out, which will he choose?
Better To Give Than Deceive: Grifter Trilogy - Book 1
Kobrinica Press - 2014
But with an unpredictable cop on the take, a double-cross in the works, and a hitman dispatched to recover the money, time is a luxury the trio of grifters cannot afford to waste by trying to figure out who's double crossing whom if they hope to have any chance of recovering the money and staying alive.And before they lose what little leverage they have, Jared and Chance make a bold and daring move to rig Frank's trial and execute a plan that sets in motion events that lead to a dramatic verdict, unforeseen consequences, and the wisdom that it would have been better to give than deceive.Genre: Crime Fiction, Courtroom DramaThis book is also available in a profanity-free Alternate Edition. (ASIN: B00REN1UFK)
The Peacemaker
Blair Howard - 2020
Two old enemies who must work together to foil it.Under any other circumstances, hired assassin Cassandra Wu would be trying to kill her partner. But that’ll have to wait. Right now, they need to stop a war.After escaping U.S. custody in a deadly battle that leaves three FBI agents dead and another wounded, Wu is kidnapped by The Peacemakers, a Deep State organization dedicated to achieving peace on earth. Unfortunately, to bring that about they must initiate WWIII and Wu must assassinate an impossible target: the Russian president.Former British SAS sniper turned freelance assassin, Nero, is in hiding for crimes committed in the U.S. when former lover and FBI operative Ellie Millard pays him a visit and blows his cover. She forces him to choose: work for us and stop Wu, or go to prison.The last time Nero saw his arch enemy Wu, she almost succeeded in killing him. As Nero moves behind enemy lines in Siberia to track the elusive Wu, he uncovers a secret web of deep state operatives about to pull the strings on a deadly plot.To stop them, Nero realizes the only other person he can trust is the one he’s been sent to destroy: Cassandra Wu.Will Nero and Wu be able to put aside their differences and combine forces to stop The Peacemakers? Or will the temptation to kill each other prove too great?
Smoke and Mirrors
Angus McLean - 2015
But other operators are playing the same game, and it’s winner-takes-all in a high-octane, high-stakes chase across the globe.From Auckland to London to Samoa, Archer will not give up. But someone is always one step ahead of him. In the black ops world of intelligence, Archer must learn the first rule if he is to survive his first mission - believe nothing, trust no one.
Breach of Peace
Daniel Gibbs - 2019
Merchant ships operating in neutral space near the Terran Coalition and the League of Sol are disappearing without a trace. The latest report has something the others didn’t.
A survivor.
When news reaches the planet Lusitania during a cargo offload, Captain Henry and the Shadow Wolf’s crew are hired to extract the surviving operative before she’s silenced and the information she has is lost.But too many opposing forces are at work within the faction-torn republic – and they all want a piece of the prize.With directives from multiple government contacts, Captain Henry concedes to protect his ragtag crew. Years ago, he surrendered to dishonor and dismissal from the Coalition Defense Force in order to protect his fellow officers. This time he knows how to play the game.To save his band of brothers and sisters, Jim must walk a fine line between the operative’s survival and the threats against his crew from the League of Sol.
Before the time to negotiate runs out.
Tesla
Jason Walker - 2019
They are both devoted parents, living with their daughter, Dana, on a small island off the coast of Florida. They seem to have the perfect family life, but they are hiding a dangerous secret: they both work for the Orange Corporation, an umbrella company of the CIA controlled by the shadow government. From aliens to giants, they have seen all that the Hidden Hand has kept from the world. Almost.When a routine recovery mission puts Darren face-to-face with original Tesla documents, he makes an impulsive decision which will alter the course of not only his own fate but the fates of his wife and daughter forever. What will Darren do with the Tesla notes and diagrams? Will the shadow government discover what he has done? And will Anna turn her husband over to the Hidden Hand, or will she stick with him for better or worse—until death do them part?
The Frontline: Season 1 - Episode 1: A character driven, small town crime serial where the FBI and Police team up against an emerging domestic terrorism threat (The Kole County Series)
Michael Santino - 2021
A Surgeon’s Knot
William Lynes - 2020
This medical thriller will stay with you long past the final chapter." -Best ThrillersJackson Cooper, MD will never forget that first day, its stunning conclusion forever etched in his mind. His year as a surgical intern is a story of medical suspense, tragedy, and occasional terror, as a young physician deals with the world of surgery.The surgeon's knot is a surgical tie used in the operating room which the intern practices ceaselessly. The knot refers, as well, to the tangled world of the protagonist.Jackson's life soon becomes burned-out, resulting from events beyond his control as well as destructive behavior. Physicians, patients, and cases ranging from humorous to tragic are present.A Surgeon's Knot is a story of the dignity of medicine, the overwhelming duty to man, failure and recovery.
Shaking the Tree (The Man with Three Names)
Michael Donohue - 2011
Out of prison, but still on parole, the only thing he wants is to keep his head down, go to work and maybe grab a cold beer at the end of his shift. He doesn't even care that the program stuck him in Essex - a nice, but nowhere small town. With his head already full of bloody and painful memories, he'd like it just fine if his past and future stayed nice and quiet.Too bad the present just got really messy.A body in a tree. A missing briefcase. A Russian hit man. A DEA agent bent on revenge. A corrupt mayor. Not to mention a sheriff with dangerous ambition. A meth lab in the woods. And some pissed off bikers. Things are suddenly very interesting in sleepy Essex county. Bodies are turning up. Secrets are coming out. Questions are being asked. Fingers are being pointed. It's not good being the new guy in a small town.
First Justice
John Etzil - 2019
His first chance to get it could be his last… Jack Lamburt is out for blood. After a brutal terrorist murdered his pregnant wife, he’s sworn not to allow another innocent soul to suffer a similar fate. So how can he say no when an old flame in the CIA recruits him for a covert mission to stop an extremist plot to butcher thousands? Flying under the radar, the pair sets course for a Cuban hot zone and Lamburt’s first taste of battle. But the deeper they get into their black-ops assignment, the more he suspects their simple hit may be part of a shadowy conspiracy… with deadly consequences. Can Lamburt walk the path of vengeance without coming home in a body bag? First Justice is the fast-paced prequel to the Jack Lamburt Vigilante Justice thriller series. If you like gritty heroes, savage action, and moral dilemmas, then you’ll love John Etzil’s gripping novel.
Black Water
Ninie Hammon - 2020
Bailey Donahue has to stay dead. After witnessing her husband's murder, Bailey is ripped from her life and placed in the Witness Protection Program in the sleepy town of Shadow Rock. Believed dead by the mafia, Bailey is trapped in a torturous limbo, unable to return to her life -- and her eighteen-month-old daughter -- without risking the lives of those she loves most. Losing all hope, she attempts suicide, only to wake in the hospital and discover that not only is she alive, she's woken with a "gift" - she can paint portraits of events that haven't happened... yet. Her first picture: a girl drowning. She doesn't know who or where the girl is, or how to stop her prediction from coming true. When two locals offer their help, she feels like she must accept, even though her instincts are screaming that these good samaritans know too much about her. Can Bailey find the girl and prevent a tragedy — without letting anyone know that she’s still alive? Black Water is the first book of Ninie Hammon's new series, Through the Canvas. A riveting psychological thriller series about an ordinary woman ripped from her life, and drawn into dark and thrilling tales by mysterious forces she can't explain.
Rise of the Iron Eagle
Roy A. Teel Jr. - 2005
“The Iron Eagle” appears to only hunt and capture serial killers. Time is of the essence as with each passing day “The Eagle” gets more brazen. The deeper O’Brian and Hoffman dig into profiling the killer, the more they realize that this is more than a race against time – it’s a race laden with the realization that the killer may be one of their own. From the inside flap: The city of Los Angeles is no stranger to violence. It has both a colorful and grotesque history with it. Sheriff’s Homicide Detective Jim O’Brian and FBI Profiler Special Agent Steve Hoffman are also no strangers to the violence of the sprawling metropolis, but in the past decade something has changed. There’s a serial killer preying on other serial killers – some known by law enforcement, others well off radar. “The Iron Eagle,” a vigilante, extracts vengeance for the victims of Los Angeles’ serial killers. His methods are meticulous and his killings brutal. With each passing day, “The Iron Eagle” moves with impunity through the streets of Los Angeles in search of his prey. O’Brian and Hoffman create an elite task force with the sole purpose of catching “The Eagle” and bringing him to justice. But the deeper they delve, the more apparent it is that he may very well be one of their own. As the two men stare into the abyss of their search, the eyes of “The Iron Eagle” stare back.
Chasing Fame
Keith Houghton - 2017
. . would you kill for it?When a beautiful Hollywood starlet is brutally murdered, LAPD homicide detective Gabe Quinn is tasked with catching her killer.At first, everything points to her murder being an act of random madness. But after the killer slays another rising star and then posts movie clips of the two murders online, it's clear his motive is more than just revenge. He wants the world to marvel at his handiwork.With the Star Strangler making headlines, the high-profile case is put under a public microscope, casting Gabe into the media spotlight. The Hollywood elite are dying. The pressure is ramping up. And just to complicate matters, it's The Oscars weekend, which means the whole world will be watching Gabe and what happens next.Can he catch the killer before he steals the show?
One man wants celebrity ...One man wants anonymity ...Only one will succeed ...
★CHASING FAME★ is a standalone prequel novella to the #1 bestseller KILLING HOPE, the first book in the best selling GABE QUINN THRILLERS