False Idols


Lisa Klink - 2018
    Wittman, FBI “the most famous art detective in the world” (The London Times). When a tanker ship laden with illicit cargo lands in Port Newark-Elizabeth Terminal, a highly trained group of government agents must pinpoint where, and more importantly who, the shipments are coming from. Could these shipments, full of looted arts and antiquities, be tied to funding a group of Middle East extremists? FBI Agent Layla El-Deeb escaped a childhood in the slums of Egypt for a new life in the U.S. But the Bureau has sent her back to pose undercover as an heiress in a Cairo she barely recognizes. City high-rollers’ dealings in the art world may be the key to infiltrating the terrorist network that threatens the history of Layla’s native home ad the safety of her adopted nation. The mission seems straightforward—trace priceless relics from their millionaire owners back to illegal digs and the terrorist groups profiting from their sale—but Layla becomes entangled in the opulent world she’s infiltrated, and she’s falling for the son of a major suspect. When a terrorist plot threatens both Egyptian and American lives, Layla is forced to decide where her loyalties truly lie.

Too Far Gone


John Ramsey Miller - 2006
    Casey LePointe West is heiress to one of the greatest fortunes in America. Now, as Hurricane Katrina roars toward New Orleans, these two women are finding common ground in a city of ghosts and grandeur...Alexa as the FBI’s representative in a case guaranteed to destroy careers, and Casey as a woman whose husband has gone missing—and who herself may be the next victim of a brilliant manipulator’s rage. From the violent wards of an insane asylum to the primordial Louisiana swamps, Alexa is entering the darkest corners of a deadly mystery, peeling back layers of family secrets, hidden relationships, and a twenty-five-year-old crime. And as a raging hurricane gathers strength, she is plunged into a frantic race against time, in the eye of a storm of violence...and just where a ruthless killer wants her to be.

The Organ Takers (The McBride Trilogy #1)


Richard Van Anderson - 2014
    Down but not out, he perseveres and is given a second chance to establish a career in surgery. But, as McBride stands on the threshold of a new life, the malignant underside of his fellow man intervenes. Under the threat of violence, David is forced to perform illegal organ harvests in a makeshift operating room hidden in a dilapidated meatpacking warehouse in lower Manhattan. Unable to resolve the excruciating moral dilemma faced each time he invades the body of an unwilling victim, David McBride fights to free himself from the situation and in the process, loses everything. When he finally loses the last shred of his humanity, he seeks revenge with surgical precision ... and instrumentation.

Takeoff


Joseph Reid - 2018
    All he has to do is accompany female pop star Max Magic to Los Angeles and deliver her to the FBI. But when their routine flight ends in a hail of gunfire at LAX, Walker has no choice but to take the frightened diva on the run.After a second attack leaves him battered and bloody, Walker realizes he cannot trust the FBI. To keep his client alive, he must use a patchwork of trusted aviation contacts to get her home to Austin, where the key suspects await.But as they race to stay one step ahead of their deadly pursuers, the biggest danger of all may be what they’re heading toward—the dark secrets that Max herself has been keeping…

Next Girl to Die


Dea Poirier - 2019
    Claire has finally carved out a life for herself as a homicide detective in Detroit, but the past comes calling when the local police back home ask for her help with a murder eerily similar to Rachel’s.Still haunted by Rachel’s cold case, Claire returns home, hoping to solve the crime and finally put her grief to rest. As she starts investigating, the last thing she needs is tenacious journalist Noah Washington asking questions she’s not ready to answer. But like her, Noah won’t give up until he finds the truth—and Claire reluctantly finds herself relying on him more and more when disturbing new details about Rachel’s death come to light.When the killer strikes once again, Claire knows he’s not done. Now he’s set his sights on Claire, who will have to find the courage she needs to survive a deadly confrontation years in the making.

The Two Minute Rule


Robert Crais - 2006
    Requiem unleashes his most powerful novel to date--a brilliantly plotted tale about justice, love, and the sins of a father and son.

Lie No More


Terry Keys - 2017
    . . some marriages have it all. Stay-at-home mom Candice Harstow started her day just like any other. Her lawyer-husband, John, was already off to work, and her son, Max, a high school senior, had left for school when a routine bout with household chores led to a discovery that would change their lives forever. Soon, Candice was fully entangled in the criminal world of guns, drugs, and international espionage, and someone wanted her dead. With no one to trust and time running out, she found herself playing a game that she just might not win. “A can’t-miss, pulse-pounding thrill ride – this book will leave you breathless and begging for more.” – Amazon Customer

Unknown Remains: A Novel


Peter Leonard - 2016
    Outside his office window, Jack hears a booming sound, and then the worst thing imaginable. He works in the World Trade Center, and it is September 11, 2001.His wife in Connecticut, Diane, is visited the next day by a grief counselor, and then the mob, where she learns her husband owes them $750,000. Their personal bank accounts have been emptied. She’s totally and utterly broke. Lost in grief and now shock, Diane soon learns her husband was not the loving spouse he appeared to be. But neither is she, owing to that Beretta she keeps tucked into her handbag.The perfect summer read, Unknown Remains boasts an exciting crime story, inventive plot twists, and a cast of rogues, who just might be using a national tragedy to cover up their own deep transgressions and greed.

White Fire (Pendergast): by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child -- Analysis


BookBuddy - 2013
    In this bestseller, Corrie is now a college student studying forensic criminology. While working on her thesis, she uncovers surprising evidence from an 1870s case regarding the deaths of 11 silver miners. FBI Special Agent Pendergast takes interest in her discovery, and readers try to solve the mystery alongside the main characters in White Fire. With the superb misdirection and unexpected twists in White Fire, Preston and Child keep readers guessing in this mystery thriller. Fans of the genre experience the historic meeting of Arthur Conan Doyle and Oscar Wilde in the beginning of the novel while enjoying the Sherlock Holmes references. Discover the underlying themes of White Fire as you engage in discussion questions with expert responses in this literary analysis. The insightful details behind this bestselling novel will add to the thrill as you race against the characters to solve the mystery.

Admit to Mayhem


D.J. Adamson - 2014
    We prefer the charade that we are in control. Lillian Dove, however, is constantly reminded she has very little control over her life and only has the ability to move to the choices that come her way. The Lillian Dove Series is a journey in recovery. While Lillian is a recovering alcoholic, like many who struggle with addictions come to understand, stopping drinking does not mean life returns to normal. However, as this series begins, Lillian does realize she has compulsions and addictions to many things, not just Absolut. How we handle dependency and denial is what allows for choice. In Admit to Mayhem, Lillian needs to admit her life has become unraveled again when she becomes an eyewitness to arson. Probing into a cold case of arson sixty years ago and the arson she witnessed at the beginning of this novel helps her admit to some of her own life’s challenges and successes. Admit to Mayhem, offering comedic dysfunction, is not only a suspenseful mystery but an important step for Lillian’s self-identity--and possibly for the reader’s.Admit: I admit that my life has become unmanageable.

When You're Smiling


G.S. Rhodes - 2021
    No one has heard from him. He’s disconnected from his friends, from his family, and from the job he dedicated his life to—the job that cost him everything.Then a new, all too familiar murder occurs on his patch and Kidd has no choice but to throw himself back into the fold. A young woman has been found with a smile cut into her throat, eyes carved into her cheeks, the brutal signature of The Grinning Murders—one of the most ruthless serial killers the country has ever seen. A killer who lies behind bars.However things are not as they seem and not everything adds up. Only one thing is clear: Kidd may be the only one who can figure this out before this copycat killer strikes again.

Blood Test / When The Bough Breaks / Over The Edge


Jonathan Kellerman - 1992
    

The Witness


John Ryder - 2021
    I can’t even tell you where she is. All I can say is that I’ve been told she’ll be dead by noon tomorrow.”Kyle Roche is a man who people hire to fix problems. But this time he’s been hired to protect a woman who doesn’t officially exist anymore. And he’s the only man who can find her and keep her safe in less than twenty-four hours…The daughter’s name is Savannah Nicholls. She had to go into Witness Protection because of a tragic mistake. She moved to the small town of Pagosa Springs nine days ago but even hidden as she is, she’s in mortal danger. Savannah’s mother says her daughter is just a nice girl, from a good family, that she’s never gotten in trouble in her life.But she also says someone knows where she is. And they want to kill her. Within minutes of making contact with Savannah, as Roche feels a bullet whistle by his ear, he knows instinctively that she’s right.But who is after Savannah? And how can Roche protect her when he isn’t allowed to know anything about who she is—or who her enemies are?

Hunter's Moon


Chuck Logan - 1996
    A survivor, he is guided in all things by his unfailing loyalty and honesty. But a tragic altercation in Minnesota's North Woods that leaves a young man dead and suspicions of murder hanging in the air tests Harry's courage as never before. Nothing could have prepared him for the eerie silence that has fallen over the incident, the challenge to his nerve, and the raw carnality of his best friend's wife.Digging for answers in a town ready to lash out in fear of the dark secrets he is moving ever closer to, Harry ignores the signs of danger at his own peril. Until it all ignites in a fire of unexpected betrayal and a bloody settling of accounts.

Dead Man's Hand


Luke Murphy - 2012
    …and the cards don't fall your way? When the brutal slaying of a prominent casino owner is followed by the murder of a well-known bookie, Detective Dale Dayton is thrown into the middle of a highly political case and leads the largest homicide investigation in Vegas in the last twelve years. What if you're dealt a Dead Man's Hand? Against his superiors and better judgment, Dayton is willing to give Calvin one last chance. To redeem himself, Calvin must prove his innocence by finding the real killer, while avoiding the LVMPD, as well as protect the woman he loves from a professional assassin hired to silence them.