Book picks similar to
Duo #1: Vigilante/The Consultant by Claude Bouchard


ebook
good-reading
do-not-read
when-hell-freezes-over

Brick


Conrad Jones - 2016
    A cruel twist of fate makes his innocent family the targets of a vicious campaign of terror.As the detectives of Liverpool’s Major Investigation Team try to contain the violence, several key members of an organised crime family begin to topple, causing shockwaves across the world. Why was the teenager attacked? And will the villains be brought to justice?

Unbonded


D.K. Holmberg - 2021
    Trained from a young age to destroy those who wield it. The First of the Blade Series begins.Trained to destroy sorcery from a young age, Imogen Inaratha left that life behind, having come to see magic differently. When her brother asks for help, she embarks on a dangerous journey—and must face a part of her past she wanted to forget.An encounter with one of the mythical Porapeth changes the course of the journey. Protecting him forces her to face dark magical creatures and a powerful sorcerer determined to destroy the Porapeth in his quest for even more power.To succeed, she must learn the truth of the blade she’d long thought she’d mastered.She must truly become the First of the Blade.

Nomad


James Swallow - 2016
    But when a brutal attack on his team leaves Marc as the only survivor - and with the shocking knowledge that there are traitors inside MI6 - he's forced into the front line.However the evidence seems to point towards Marc as the perpetrator of the attack. Accused of betraying his country, he must race against time to clear his name. With nowhere to turn to for help and no one left to trust, Marc is forced to rely on the elusive Rubicon group and their operative Lucy Keyes. Ex US Army, Lucy also knows what it's like to be an outsider, and she's got the skills that Marc is sorely lacking.A terrorist attack is coming, one bigger and more deadly than has ever been seen before. With the eyes of the security establishment elsewhere, only Lucy and Marc can stop the attack before it's too late.

Dangerous Attraction


Sidney Bristol - 2015
    Whether his prey is criminal or victim, he always gets his mark. He's no hero, just a man doing his job. It’s all he has after a felony conviction after a bad judgement call. When the FBI call in a favor and ask him to look into a serial killer over the holiday break, he jumps at the opportunity to fill the long, cold days with something besides regret and bad movies. In Las Vegas, he's on the hunt for a prolific serial killer no one wants to admit exists. The leads are dry and the evidence gone, until she walks into his life. Bliss Giles—curvy, sassy and everything he can't have.What’s worse, Travis knows Bliss’ sister is the killer's latest victim. She fits the profile. Time is running out and the fastest way to retrace the killer's path is with Bliss at Travis' side. In the seat of danger. He vows to keep Bliss safe and his hands to himself, after all, a nice girl like her doesn't need a guy like him in her life. Too bad no one told Bliss Travis was off-limits. She tests his boundaries and pushes his control every minute they're together until he can't remember why wanting her is a bad idea.The hunters become the hunted in this tale of serial killers and SEALs for hire. One broken man must unpack his baggage, a woman has make a leap of faith and a sister chooses to live in this new, romantic suspense serial by NYT & USA Today bestselling author, Sidney Bristol. Warning: Hold onto your panties, because nothing is safe.

Narcissist in the Daffodils


Kristy E. Carter - 2018
    The last thing Leo Solomon wants to do after returning to his hometown is arrest the woman he loves or her cousin, but all the evidence keeps pointing to it being an inside job. Why would anyone commit a crime and then phone 911? Why is everyone so interested in the missing black book last seen in the victim's possession? Rumors swirl as everyone in town decides to weigh in on who they think killed Elizabeth and why. Penelope refuses to sit by and let the people she loves or her family business be put through the mud to protect a killer. Can Penelope and Leo get to the bottom of the crime before anyone else gets hurt?

The Rings of Grissom


Julia Huni - 2021
    Now she’s really in for a cleanup.Triana Moore lost her job as a maintenance technician when her boss discovered her true identity. But decluttering the galaxy isn’t just for janitors. When she visits the ringed planet Grissom with security agent Ty O’Neill for his sister’s wedding, Triana discovers just how messy life can get. Deported before she can finish her coffee, Triana barely misses an exploding shuttle. But in true space janitor fashion, she decides to investigate. With the help of a pair of mischievous twins, a hard-drinking grandma, and her old frenemy Vanti, will Triana save the wedding?Of course she will. But how crazy will it get along the way?The Rings of Grissom tells the continuing story of Triana Moore, (former) Space Janitor, but can be enjoyed by new readers as well. If you want to avoid spoilers, read Triana Moore, Space Janitor first.

Rising Up


J.J. Harper - 2015
    A romantic second chance novelBook 1 in the Finding Me SeriesLooking at myself in the mirror, trying to clean my broken skin, I realize I no longer recognize myself. What happened to me, when did I become this battered and bruised wreck?’ Heidi has to change not only her name but the country she lives in to survive, with the help of her best friend they flee. As Imogen, she tries to start her life again, away from the constant abuse that had become her life. She takes her first steps as a new woman and when, after a year she stumbles on a man that has the power to heal her. Who can help her overcome the horrors of her past her, Imogen question’s is she brave enough to let him? After catching his girlfriend cheating on him Mason hides away to lick his wounds and injured pride.I reflect back on the wasted years and reiterate to myself ‘No more women'.Until an unnerving feeling to get out again overwhelms him, so for the first time in six weeks enters his local bar and watches as two girls walk in for the first time.The connection that flows between Imogen and Mason is physical as well as emotional. So as their bodies called out to each other, she hesitates. Has the violence from her past taken away her ability to trust and to desire again? Or can this handsome stranger reawaken her dormant passion?‘How can my body react to somebody like this? I don't even know him, but hell my skin feels like it's singing out to him.'‘I notice two girls walk in, and just like that the twitchy feeling in my gut is back and a shiver runs down my spine.’As they embark on their new relationship Imogen begins to feel free of her past demons and embraces feelings she thought lost as Mason explores her body.Then when her past catches up with her, Imogen and Mason have to find out if is she strong enough to not only face her old demons but be brave enough to fight for her new life. Is she tough enough to rise up from her past and follow her heart to a new brighter future? Will the man sent to save her wait while she finds her strength again?“How can I be a part of you when I can’t even find any part of me?”This is a contemporary new romance novel, please be aware this story is not always a pretty one. It involves violence and scenes of non-consensual sex that may act as a trigger. Therefore, is recommended for readers aged 18 and over.

Runaway Girls


Alexandria Clarke - 2019
    As personal issues and an obsessive nature threaten her career, Alex follows a lead onto the Emerald Adventure, a cruise ship heading to the Bahamas for five days. But the killer's on board, and it's only a matter of time before someone else dies.Little Girl LostTen years after her parents’ death, Bridget Dubois returns to her hometown of Belle Dame, North Carolina. Her younger sister, Holly, is missing, and Bridget is determined to discover her whereabouts. No one knows what happened to Holly, so when Bridget starts to hear Holly’s voice in her head, she becomes the only one who has a chance of finding her little sister.

Punishment


Scott J. Holliday - 2018
    Thanks to a technologically advanced machine, detectives have access to the memories of the living, the dying, and the recently dead. But extracting victims’ experiences firsthand and personally reliving everything up to the final, brutal moments of their lives—the sights, the sounds, the scents, the pain—is also the punishment reserved for the criminals themselves.Barnes has had enough. Enough of the memories that aren’t his. Enough of the horror. Enough of the voices inside his head that were never meant to take root…until a masked serial killer known as Calavera strikes a little too close to home.Now, with Calavera on the loose, Barnes is ready to reconnect, risking his life—and his sanity. Because in the mind of this serial killer, there is one secret even Barnes has yet to see…

Rupture: An Eli Branch Thriller


A. Scott Pearson - 2009
    After years of research, Eli is on the cusp of a groundbreaking discovery that could light the way for the future. But, as Eli will soon learn, today's medicine has a dark side.While investigating the suspicious death of one of his patients, Eli uncovers an elaborate web of lies spun by his late father, a longtime professor of anatomy at Mid-South Medical College in Memphis. Instead of finding answers, Eli only finds more questions-and more victims, each meeting a sudden, violent end.Eli joins forensic pathologist Meg Daily to find a common thread among the victims. As they piece together the chilling puzzle, Eli and Meg plunge headfirst into the world of deadly medicine-a world way too close to home.Trapped in the paradox of ending one life to save another, Eli and Meg find that in this life-or-death race against time, one false step could be fatal.

The Ice Cage


Olivier Nilsson-Julien - 2012
    Tracking down the killer, Magnus is caught up in a battle with a nationalist plot to bring down the country.Magnus isn't Lisbeth Salander or Harry Hole, he is an ordinary guy, a reluctant action hero setting out to understand his father, but ending up in a deadly face-off with a mass murderer.Magnus left Scandinavia as a child when his parents divorced and hasn’t been back since, so The Ice Cage is also about Magnus rediscovering his lost Nordic side - the man he could have been, the life he could have lived if he hadn’t moved to London as a child. Magnus has to come to terms with the past and pick up the threads of a parallel life with the help of local police officer Eva – the real action hero.The Ice Cage is a gripping journey with a cinematic feel, great characters, edgy storytelling and sharp insights into Scandinavian life - thoughtful, entertaining and pacy at the same time. Unlike most Scandinavian thrillers, it's told from a British point of view, offering a dark, powerful and even humorous look at modern-day Nordic society.

Coming Home


Jennifer Vander Klipp - 2019
    And avoid Seth Blake. Becca dreads seeing her girlhood crush to whom she confessed her love before she went off to college. Embarrassed by her childish behavior, she can only hope Seth has forgotten and will see her as a woman. She plans to return to school as soon as possible and make a life for herself. Rumors of ghosts, accidents at the camp, and overheard conversations convince Becca that her brother’s death was no accident. Despite evidence that she’s the next target, she puts her own feelings and college aside to stay and uncover the truth. Seth is happy to see Becca, but as a grown woman she’s a stranger to him, stirring up feelings he can’t identify. When he finds a piece of evidence implicating him in Thomas’s death, he struggles with helping Becca find answers while keeping her from learning he could have prevented it. As the stakes get higher, Seth must keep both of them alive long enough to offer a future to this grown woman he’s fallen in love with.

Truth Lies Waiting


Emma Salisbury - 2014
    And you're now being framed for it. Only the person framing you is a cop... Davy Johnson is a young man from the wrong side of the tracks with a target on his back. After a spell in prison he is trying to make a life for himself but one cop won’t leave him alone, following him around and carting him off to the station just for the fun of it. The harassment turns sinister when Davy witnesses his nemesis overstep the mark with a local junkie – and makes the mistake of telling him he’s been seen. What happens next sees Davy framed for a string of murders with no one to help him but the gang leader he turned his back on when he got out of jail – but what will he want in return? With the help of an ex con and a local cabbie Davy goes on the run to prove his innocence but as the body count rises he discovers a connection between what’s happening now and a tragedy involving his father many years before. Will he be able to work out the truth from the lie in time to save the killer’s next victim? Scottish crime fiction with a sting in the tail...

Shared History


Emma Chamberlain - 2018
    Forced to have words, after years of avoidance, the two sift through their own rubble, pulling to the surface the dark secret that caused them to prematurely split-up.

Prime Asset: Episode 1


C.G. Cooper - 2013
    Following the trail to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Stokes and his men must find the culprit and rescue their colleague before it’s too late. The only problem is that the enemy lies in wait, hoping for a final showdown.With an outside group of aggressors making a play for dominance, the former Marine must lead his team through the hazardous snow-filled mountains to eliminate their adversary.How many bodies will be left when the snow melts?