Book picks similar to
Codename: Christmas Carol by Jes Drew
christian
science-fiction
thriller
superpowers
Jacob T. Marley
R. William Bennett - 2011
. ."These chillingly familiar words begin the classic Christmas tale of remorse and redemption in A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Now R. William Bennett rewinds the story and focuses the spotlight on Scrooge's miserly business partner, Jacob T. Marley, who was allowed to return as a ghost to warn Scrooge away from his ill-fated path. Why was Marley allowed to return? And why hadn't he been given the same chance as Ebenezer Scrooge? Or had he? Written with a voice reminiscent of Dickens, Jacob T. Marley is a masterfully crafted story sure to become a Christmas favorite.
The Silencer
Ditter Kellen - 2019
Especially when it's personal. Former FBI profiler, Oliver Quick, has spent the past six years obsessed with catching a serial killer known as the Silencer. But the trail’s gone cold. Until the FBI asks for his help on a case involving a mutilated woman found beneath the pier of a local tourist attraction. The chase is on, with Oliver hunting not one but two serial killers. The Silencer is back, and he’s toying with Quick. Oliver finds himself trapped in a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with one of the most notorious serial killers to ever live. Will he finally catch the Silencer and put his demons to rest, or is the Hunter about to become the Hunted…
Run Away
Laura Salters - 2015
It doesn't matter that there's no body. All that blood can mean only one thing.It isn't the first time Kayla's had blood on her hands. After finding her brother dead by his own hand, she tried to outrun her grief by escaping to Thailand. Heartbroken, the last thing she expected was to find love on the smoggy streets of Bangkok. But everyone Kayla loves seems to wind up dead.Returning home to England, Kayla is left with a barely-functioning family, a string of gruesome nightmares, and the niggling feeling that nothing is as it seems. And as she confronts her brother's suicide, she starts to suspect that something is very wrong.Three months. Two tragedies. One connection: there's more to both cases than anyone is willing to admit. And Kayla's determined to uncover the truth…no matter what the cost.
Christmas at the Farmhouse
Rebecca Boxall - 2020
A wonderful Christmas read." Victoria Connelly, bestselling author of The Rose Girls. As the anticipation of Christmas builds in the Nielsen family’s cosy farmhouse, Jo, Magnus and their grown-up children begin to congregate for a hybrid Danish-Jersey festive season, each with a surprise of their own – though the surprise that arrives over Christmas is the most life-changing of all. Fifty years earlier, in 1969, Susan Jones finds herself being pursued by Mr Jenners, her former English teacher, and at the age of seventeen is packed off to a Home for Unmarried Mothers in London by her uncompromising father. As Christmas approaches, all she can do is desperately hope to be rescued, but will anyone be able to reach her in time?The two timelines of this festive story gradually weave together in a tale that examines whether love and hope can eventually triumph over even the deepest sadness.Rebecca Boxall is the award-nominated author of five bestselling novels – Christmas at the Vicarage, Home for Winter, Christmas on the Coast, The Christmas Forest and Christmas by the Lighthouse.
Tunnel Vision
Susan Adrian - 2015
He's decent at tennis and Halo, and waiting to hear on his app to Stanford. But he's also being followed by a creep with a gun, and there's a DARPA agent waiting in his bedroom. His secret is blown.When Jake holds a personal object, like a pet rock or a ring, he has the ability to "tunnel" into the owner. He can sense where they are, like a human GPS, and can see, hear, and feel what they do. It's an ability the government would do anything to possess: a perfect surveillance unit who could locate fugitives, spies, or terrorists with a single touch.Jake promised his dad he’d never tell anyone about his ability. But his dad died two years ago, and Jake slipped. If he doesn't agree to help the government, his mother and sister may be in danger. Suddenly he's juggling high school, tennis tryouts, flirting with Rachel Watkins, and work as a government asset, complete with 24-hour bodyguards.Forced to lie to his friends and family, and then to choose whether to give up everything for their safety, Jake hopes the good he's doing—finding kidnap victims and hostages, and tracking down terrorists—is worth it. But he starts to suspect the good guys may not be so good after all. With Rachel's help, Jake has to try to escape both good guys and bad guys and find a way to live his own life instead of tunneling through others.
The Wielder: Sworn Vengeance (The Wielder Series)
David Gosnell - 2014
After sending the dzemond soul reaper Maldgorath running for his life, you’d think Arthur MacInerny’s life with the six spirits grafted to his soul would have become a little simpler. But no... Maldgorath not only takes a shot at revenge on Arthur and his band, but plunges the world into turmoil. He attacks Rome with thousands of his summonlings, which sets his grand plan into motion. That plan is use radical Islam as a lever to create chaos among the world’s religions. The world turns on itself and Arthur along with others have to go into hiding. But Arthur isn’t one to stay on the sidelines. He is sworn to vengeance against Maldgorath not only for the death of his son, but for the family of the warrior he killed while duped into thinking the church was responsible. The second installment in the six-part series, follows Arthur, his band of summonlings and other friends he’s picked up along the way as he pursues his Sworn Vengeance.
Dragon Games: The Legion Academy
Marisa Claire - 2019
The call is so powerful that no one can resist. The only way to stop the calling is to trek up the treacherous Drakken Peak to confront your destiny.Dima Marren is a simple peasant from the small village of Pithe in the Darkken Empire. Her life was never meant to amount to anything, until she hears the Call of the Dragons. Honor and wealth await, if she can survive what’s to come.If chosen, riders must attend the Legion Academy and take part in the deadly Dragon Games--a brutal competition designed to cull the weak.On her quest, Dima meets Arlen, a gorgeous, but infuriating Noble Rider who reveals the truth about the academy and games. Despite hating one another, they will need each other to survive what's to come.If she can trust him, the truth will change everything.
The Timepiece and the Girl Who Went Astray
O.R. Simmonds - 2021
When the Timepiece’s previous owner is brutally murdered by unknown assailants, Will flees, only to see his girlfriend, Abigayle, vanish before his eyes when she comes into contact with this remarkable watch. He now finds himself alone in an unfamiliar city, wanted for a murder he didn’t commit and the prime suspect in a woman’s disappearance. Whether he knows it or not, Will does have one advantage – control over the most powerful force in the universe: time. The only problem is that he has no idea how to wield it. Those who do, members of a secretive and long-forgotten organisation, are also on his trail and there are no lines they won't cross to recover the Timepiece.
Ensnared
Rita Stradling - 2017
He’s a genius and an inventor. When he’s hired to create the robot Rose, Alainn knows taking the money is a mistake. Rose acts like a human. She looks exactly like Alainn. But, something in her comes out wrong.To save her father from a five year prison sentence, Alainn takes Rose’s place. She says goodbye to the sun and goes to live in a tower no human is allowed to enter. She becomes the prisoner of a man no human is allowed to see. Believing that a life of servitude lies ahead, Alainn finds a very different fate awaits her in the company of the strange, scarred recluse.[This novel contains adult situations and is only suitable for readers who are 18+]
Coming For You
Kristi Belcamino - 2019
To the rest of the world, she's a gifted graphic designer, marvelous cook, and doting Minneapolis mother. But then her world is shattered when her teenage daughter is murdered. Has her life of lies caught up with her? Detectives are asking dangerous questions and going after the wrong man. It's up to Sofia to find her daughter's murderer before her elaborate deception is exposed and she loses whatever semblance of a life she has left.Grab it now to see what is keeping early readers up all night!
Condition Black (A novella)
Tom Barber - 2013
Everyone around him is dead. He has no idea where he is, or who shot him and his squad down.He soon discovers he’s on one of the moons orbiting Mars, not far from the main colony and his transport back to Earth. Two members of a mining team stationed on the moon come out to investigate. They take Miller back to their base where he manages to send out a call for help.He has ninety minutes to wait for rescue.But those ninety minutes are going to feel like a lifetime.Miller quickly realises that something in the station is wrong.There seems to be more to this place than meets the eye.Strange and unsettling events suggest things are not quite as they appear.As the minutes until his rescue tick by and he begins to finally figure out what is going on, Miller is forced to confront echoes from his past as well as his deepest fears in a situation that is becoming more terrifying by the second.And he soon learns that some nightmares don’t stop when you wake up.
The Gift of the Magi
O. Henry - 2009
Henry, originally published in 1906, has become one of the best known and most beloved of Chistmas tales. An exuberant couple urged on by their love, make great sacrifices in order to purchase the perfect Christmas gift for the other. The husband sells his gold watch in order to buy expensive combs for his wife's luxurious locks. While the wife sells her hair to the wigmaker in order to buy a chain suitable for her husband's handsome timepiece. When all is revealed on Christmas Eve, the sweet irony of their dual generosity leaves them, whether they know it or not, as the wisest of gift givers: "But in a last word to the wise of these days let it be said that of all who give gifts these two were the wisest. O all who give and receive gifts, such as they are wisest. Everywhere they are wisest. They are the magi."The artist Joel Priddy employs the same twists of reciprocity in his own work and is well suited to adapting and updating this classic for a modern audience.
A Shenandoah Christmas: A Novella (Winds of Change)
Lisa Belcastro - 2014
His Christmas wish is to marry the woman he loves. But where has she gone? Andrew Roberts hasn’t felt such anticipation for Christmas day since he was five years old. This year he has plans, life-changing plans. He is going to propose to Allyson Flanders, the woman of his dreams. He’d lived his first thirty years as a confirmed bachelor, contented with dating, managing the family’s fleet of ships, fishing, and sailing anywhere he wanted, whenever he wanted.Until . . .One date with Allyson, and Andy was hopelessly caught by the smartest, kindest, most beautiful woman he’d ever met. He had no complaints. Life with Allyson was better than anything he’d ever imagined. They spent hours of every day together, casting lines into the waters off the shore of Martha’s Vineyard, talking, laughing, and dreaming. He hadn’t spent a day without being in Allyson’s company.Until . . . Something happened after Thanksgiving. Something he can’t figure out. Something he can’t name. But that something has created more distance than a two-month sail from Vineyard Haven Harbor to Sri Lanka. Allyson had no time for him, barely spoke to him, and made secret plans without him.The diamond and sapphire ring resting in the black velvet box looked lonely, but not as lonely as Andy felt. Where was she spending her time? Why didn’t she return his phone calls? Had she found someone else? Was there any hope his Christmas wish might still come true? A Vineyard RomanceRomance, Faith, and Adventure on the Island of Martha’s Vineyard
Advance
K.A. Duggan - 2016
A system designed to transport humansfrom one place to another, efficiently and effectively, in the blink of an eye.Faith sets out to save those incapable of saving themselves.But who really needs saving?As the story she’s chasing unfolds, Faith realises just how intertwined herlife really is with Advance Industries.When the formidable Kye steams into her life, he has her head spinning and her heart fluttering.Handsome, confusing and full of strange endearments, he also has a story to tell.But who should she believe?Can she regain her supposed lost memories?And if so, can she hold on to them long enoughto achieve her goal?Especially when the loved ones she forgot about are in danger!
Let Bhutto Eat Grass
Shaunak Agarkhedkar - 2022
India tested a nuke just months earlier, and Pakistan is desperate to acquire a few for themselves. Unfortunately for Bhutto, Pakistan’s Prime Minister, his scientists are nowhere close to building a nuclear weapon.Capt. Sablok, an intelligence analyst, is convinced that the Pakistani agent in Europe is passing sensitive weapons technology to back to Pakistan.But his evidence is weak. His inexperience and reputation for alcoholism conspire against him, and his Section Chief declines to authorise an operation.Sablok, however, has finally found a sense of purpose after two miserable years, and he will not give up without a fight. The only other person he trusts in R&AW is a washed-up Case Officer who was an outstanding field agent once.But can the two of them rein the ISI in before Pakistan steals all the technology it needs?