A Cape May Diamond


Larry Enright - 2012
    I’ll never forget that day. The Vietnam War had ended with the fall of Saigon that April, and the world was mired in one of its worst recessions ever. Unemployment in the United States was nearly nine percent, inflation even higher, and leadership lacking. The Watergate scandal had cast a smear across American politics, resulting in Richard Nixon’s resignation in August 1974 to avoid impeachment, and his successor’s immediately pardoning him to close the book on an unhappy chapter in U.S. history.It was not a good time for anyone and a particularly hard time for the old Victorian town of Cape May. The crown jewel of the New Jersey shore had fallen into neglect and disrepair and was dying a slow death. Once the elegant summer home to presidents and kings, it had become the last refuge of the deposed.That’s where I met Tom Ryan. Tom was a king, or so he would have you believe, but unlike Richard Nixon, when Tom was dethroned, he wasn’t sent home with a slap on the wrist. He was sent to prison. He was a convicted draft dodger, but one of the lucky ones released early by President Ford as part of his mass clemency after Nixon’s pardon. The problem was, Tom had nowhere to go when he got out, so he took the money his dad mailed to him and spent it on a bus ticket to get as far away as possible to a place where nobody cared who he was or what he had done, a place where nobody cared about anything. That place was Cape May.As hard a time as it was for everyone, it was harder for me because that was the day I met Tom Ryan. I should have turned and walked away. I knew it when he first looked at me, but I didn’t, not my first mistake, but one that would make Monday, May 19th, 1975 the hardest day of my life. This is the story of how Tom Ryan and I met and how things never quite work out the way you think. You might find a love story in here somewhere. You might not. You might find a message hidden in one of the nickel pop bottles collected by the beachcombers from some of the most beautiful white sand beaches in the world. You might even find a little mystery, but life is a mystery, isn’t it?

Ticker


Lisa Mantchev - 2014
    But soon it’s discovered that Warwick killed dozens of people as he strove to perfect another improved Ticker for Penny, and he’s put on trial for mass murder. On the last day of Warwick’s trial, the Farthings’ factory is bombed, Penny’s parents disappear, and Penny and her brother, Nic, receive a ransom note demanding all of their Augmentation research if they want to see their parents again. Is someone trying to destroy the Farthings...or is the motive more sinister?Desperate to reunite their family and rescue their research, Penny and her brother recruit fiery baker Violet Nesselrode, gentleman-about-town Sebastian Stirling, and Marcus Kingsley, a young army general who has his own reasons for wanting to lift the veil between this world and the next. Wagers are placed, friends are lost, romance stages an ambush, and time is running out for the girl with the clockwork heart.

The Lost Scrolls


Michael J. Scott - 2011
    Jonathan Munro's house is broken into, and his former best friend and colleague, archaeologist Stephen Kaufman, is knifed in the streets of Ankara, he is thrust into a world of international criminals who will stop at nothing to claim the priceless artifact Dr. Kaufman unearthed - a scroll revealing the location of the missing autographs of the New Testament. Is it the find of the century, or a costly fraud?As he flees with Isabel, Kaufman's beguiling sister, Dr. Munro finds himself pursued by relentless mercenaries intent on seizing this incalculable treasure for themselves. Through some of Christianity's most revered historical sites, he and Isabel must race to unravel the clues and find the autographs before they fall into the wrong hands.

White Heat


Paul D. Marks - 2012
    Duke Rogers finds himself in a racially charged situation. The case might have to wait... The immediate problem: getting out of South Central Los Angeles in one piece during the 1992 Rodney King riots and that's just the beginning of his problems.Private investigator Duke Rogers finds an old "friend" for a client. The client's "friend," an up and coming black actress, ends up dead. Duke knows his client did it. Now, feeling guilty, he wants to find the client/killer. He starts his mission by going to the dead actress' family in South Central L.A. - and while there the Rodney King riots ignite. And while he tries to track down the killer he must also deal with the racism of his partner, Jack, and from the dead woman's brother, Warren. He must also confront his own possible latent racism - even as he's in an interracial relationship with the murder victim's dead woman's sister.

Moonlight on the Nantahala


Micheal Rivers - 2011
    Moonlight on the Nantahala is set in the Appalachian Mountains of Western North Carolina. It is a contemporary and woman's fiction novel with a hint of supernatural mixed in. Who is the phantom dancing in the mist on the Nantahala River? This tale of Edward Caulfield stands as a testament of the love he held in his heart for a woman he was never allowed to grow old with. Fate took Celia from Edward early in their marriage. On her deathbed Celia vowed they would be together again, not even death would separate them. In his twilight years he moves closer to town yet keeps the old home by the river that he and his beloved Celia shared. He maintains the old home as a shrine to her to cope with his grief. Betty, his strong willed housekeeper and friend keeps the widower on his toes with her humorous criticisms. Lena, a young woman, often trespasses on the old man's property to sit by the river in deep thought. They exchange their secrets and stories eventually. Lena's emotionally abusive husband and crumbling marriage weighs heavily on Edward. He sees her like the daughter he never had and wants to protect her. Loneliness and learning to trust again forges a critically needed friendship for them. On the Nantahala River's edge under an aging oak tree could the legacy of "The Perfect Rose" forever change a troubled heart?

A Cottage by the Sea


Ciji Ware - 1996
    . .But after a scandalous Hollywood divorce, Blythe Stowe considered it damage control for body and soul. The pain, the humiliation, the daily tabloids shouting details as her famous husband dumped her for her own sister demanded a serious getaway: to the wild coast of Cornwall and a cottage by the sea that her Wyoming grandmother claimed had been home to her ancestors.Some might call it chance . . .But Blythe encountered more than just a quaint retreat nestled amid vivid skies and gorgeous ocean. And she had the odd sensation that her wickedly handsome neighbor Lucas Teague was more than a British gentleman going broke. He might be her destiny . . .

Open Source


M.M. Frick - 2010
    Casey draws his evidence from open sources; by reading beyond the headlines. When his theorizing catches the attention of the wrong people and anonymous threats turn deadly, Casey looks to Susan Williams, an intelligent, but insecure, analyst for the New York-based consulting firm Intelligence Watch Group for help. The two soon find themselves in the crosshairs and fighting to save their own lives, while preventing an even greater injustice that could affect the balance of power in the Middle East and plunge the world headlong into the next Great War.

Stones: Data


Jacob Whaler - 2013
    Genghis Kahn. Julius Caesar. Attila the Hun. Mao. Stalin. For thousands of years, the Stones have been hidden among us, giving a privileged few the power to rule over masses, destroy old empires and create new ones. Now it's near the end of the 21st century. On the eve of a trip to Japan, Matt Newmark finds a dark rock in the shape of a claw, and it changes everything. With the help of a Shinto priest, he discovers it’s a Stone, a piece of ancient alien technology that gives him a sweeping view of history and control over time, matter and energy. But Matt is not alone. Mikal Ryzaard, a survivor of the Nazi death camps, has a Stone of his own and a burning vision to eliminate suffering and bring back Paradise. With all the resources of the world's largest multinational corporation behind him, he tracks down Matt and makes him an offer. Join me or die. This is the first book in the Stones series, a new techno-thriller quadriligy by Jacob Whaler.

The History of Things to Come


Duncan Simpson - 2015
    In his possession is a notebook once belonging to Isaac Newton. This is just the latest in a series of shocking crimes connected to objects once belonging to the famous scientist. The police are stumped and the pressure for an arrest is mounting. Enter Vincent Blake, London's leading stolen-art investigator. As Blake sets out to solve the case, a series of devastating events threaten to destroy everything he holds dear. Broken but undeterred, he comes upon a shocking discovery: within the coded pages of a mysterious crimson book, annotated in Newton’s own handwriting, is an explosive revelation. Possessing this secret knowledge turns Blake into a marked man. Caught in the crosshairs of two sadistic hitmen, Blake is propelled into a breathtaking race through London and its dark historical secrets. With time running out, will Blake solve Newton’s deadly puzzle before the world is plunged into a catastrophe of biblical proportions?

Soul and Shadow


Susan J. McLeod - 2007
    Is the man buried with the priestess really her husband? Or was she actually in love with a scribe called Kamenwati and separated from him in life as well as death? To answer these questions, Dame Ursula turns to Egyptology student and artist Lily Evans, who reluctantly agrees to help. Lily learns that she is psychically linked to Amisihathor and experiences a strange, unsettling phenomenon—the memories and emotions of the Egyptian woman. Luckily, Lily has her beloved pet Cleocatra and her irrepressible friend Katy to keep her grounded in reality. Or so she hopes.Dealing with the challenges of falling in love with Ursula’s grandson Kent, the reappearance of her ex-fiance Stephen and the demands of her mother and her boss Professor Briggs, Lily soon realizes she has taken on much more than she bargained for

The Millstone Prophecy


Jack Harney - 2011
    Lieutenant, Dax McGowan, attempts to track down and kill the pedophile priest who caused his daughter to commit suicide. A city-wide investigation soon turns into an international manhunt taking him to the gates of the Vatican and beyond with startling results. An intransigent hierarchy, a wimpish legal community's response, and his own conscience thwart the detective's efforts as his own life becomes imperiled in the process. Short chapters, fast action make for a hard to put down read.

Shadow of the Moon


Karah Quinney - 2012
    Those that lived upon the great land survived by banding together to fight against the forces of nature. Warriors protect the land that provides food and shelter for their villages. One village uses deadly force to lay claim to the hunting ground that has long been shared by all. A brave hunter captures the beloved daughter of the village leader in retaliation for the atrocities committed against his band. As they traverse the primordial forests and cross the treacherous sea ice they face untold dangers in an epic struggle for survival. Vengeance, anger and fear linger in the shadow of the moon as one woman’s gentle spirit is tested to the limits of endurance.

The Mine


John A. Heldt - 2012
    But when the college senior, days from graduation, enters an abandoned Montana mine, he discovers the price of reckless curiosity. He emerges in May 1941 with a cell phone he can't use, money he can't spend, and little but his wits to guide his way. Stuck in the age of swing dancing and a peacetime draft, Joel begins a new life as the nation drifts toward war. With the help of his 21-year-old trailblazing grandmother and her friends, he finds his place in a world he knew only from movies and books. But when an opportunity comes to return to the present, Joel must decide whether to leave his new love in the past or choose a course that will alter their lives forever. THE MINE is a love story that follows a humbled man through a critical time in history as he adjusts to new surroundings and wrestles with the knowledge of things to come.

Timebound


Rysa Walker - 2012
    But it all becomes horrifyingly real when a murder in the past destroys the foundation of Kate’s present-day life. Suddenly, that medallion is the only thing protecting Kate from blinking out of existence.Kate learns that the 1893 killing is part of something much more sinister, and Kate’s genetic ability to time-travel makes her the only one who can stop him. Risking everything, she travels to the Chicago World’s Fair to try to prevent the killing and the chain of events that follows.Changing the timeline comes with a personal cost, however—if Kate succeeds, the boy she loves will have no memory of her existence. And regardless of her motives, does she have the right to manipulate the fate of the entire world?

The Snow Gypsy


Lindsay Jayne Ashford - 2019
    Eight years ago, her brother disappeared while fighting alongside Gypsy partisans in Spain. From his letters, Rose has just two clues to his whereabouts—his descriptions of the spectacular south slopes of the Sierra Nevada and his love for a woman who was carrying his child.In Spain, it has been eight years since Lola Aragon’s family was massacred. Eight years since she rescued a newborn girl from the arms of her dying mother and ran for her life. She has always believed that nothing could make her return…until a plea for help comes from a desperate stranger.Now, Rose, Lola, and the child set out on a journey from the wild marshes of the Camargue to the dazzling peaks of Spain’s ancient mountain communities. As they come face-to-face with war’s darkest truths, their lives will be changed forever by memories, secrets, and friendships.