Book picks similar to
Take a Breath by S.K. Paisley


first-reads
fiction
mysteries-thrillers-of-every-color
novel

A Circumstance of Blood


Jeannette Batz Cooperman - 2015
     With fifty students, the majority fee paying, he looks forward to being able to offer places to another fifty students whose parents are unable to pay. Working on his staff is University friend Jimmy Cadigan, also a priest, and Father Francis Charron, an elderly priest, who had taught Colin at seminary school. Charron’s brilliant, but he assisted at an exorcism as a young priest and has never recovered from the experience. One of the academy’s students, 17-year-old Philip Grant, dresses like Oscar Wilde and hasn’t troubled to define his sexual orientation. Irreverent and rebellious, he’s researching the private lives of the faculty for a video mashup. He asks to borrow the Matteo Ricci map, a sixteenth century map which has been donated to the school. Philip’s enough of a handful, but then Auxiliary Bishop Matthew Ehrlich arrives at the school to tell Colin that he has a new pupil for him. The son of a local lawyer and psychologist, Graham Dennison has been accused of trying to kill his mother. Colin tries to refuse; Ehrlich, conscious of the fundraising prospects, insists. Miserable, Colin contacts his university friend Sarah Markham, a journalist who has just returned from Haiti. Sarah moves in and starts to develop a profile of the young man. She’s not convinced he’s violent at all. And then one of the boys is found dead from a possible drugs overdose. With her old friend panicking and other faculty members behaving strangely, Sarah starts to call in favours to get to bottom of the murder. Was she wrong about Graham? Can she unravel the mystery swiftly enough to save Colin’s school? Jeannette Cooperman spent a decade as an award-winning investigative reporter, then went on to teach, write, and work as editor-in-chief of St. Louis Magazine. She loathed being in charge and cheerfully sank to staff writer, her current full-time gig. On the side, she has written several non-fiction books. This is her first fiction book for Endeavour. Endeavour Press is the UK's leading independent digital publisher. For more information on our titles please sign up to our newsletter at www.endeavourpress.com. Each week you will receive updates on free and discounted ebooks. Follow us on Twitter: @EndeavourPress and on Facebook via http://on.fb.me/1HweQV7. We are always interested in hearing from our readers. Endeavour Press believes that the future is now.

The Halo Effect


Anne D. LeClaire - 2017
    Over dinner of lamb tagine, his wife, Sophie, would share news about chorus rehearsals for the upcoming holiday concert, and their teenage daughter, Lucy, would chatter about French club and field hockey. Only Lucy never came home. Her body was found, days later, in the woods.The Eastern Seaboard town of Port Fortune used to be Will’s comfort. Now, there’s no safe harbor for him. Not even when Father Gervase asks Will to paint portraits of saints for the new cathedral. Using the townspeople as models, Will sees in each face only a mask of the darkness of evil. And he just might be painting his daughter’s killer.As Will navigates his rage and heartbreak, Sophie tries to move on; Father Gervase becomes an unexpected ally; and Rain, Lucy’s best friend, shrouds herself in a near-silent fugue. Their paths collide in a series of inextricably linked, dark, dangerous moments that could lead to their undoing…or to their redemption.

Shadow Kill


David Caris - 2021
    Betrayed by his employer and left for dead, Kovac decides to lie low in Tokyo.His plan? Revenge...But when a young woman asks him to protect her from the yakuza, Kovac feels duty-bound to help. She’s a victim of abuse, and long experience tells him if he doesn’t step in tonight she’ll be a corpse before dawn.As Kovac works to uncover the truth of his last job, he finds himself drawn into a conspiracy which goes well beyond the yakuza to a new and terrifying multinational cartel. One that will stop at nothing to control the global drug trade.The kingpins are certain they’ve covered all bases. They're well-funded and utterly ruthless. But they’ve failed to account for one man – John Kovac.SHADOW KILL is the first in a fast-paced, unflinching thriller series that won't in any way shortchange you on action. Perfect for fans of Lee Child, Mark Greaney and Mark Dawson.

The Dead Key


D.M. Pulley - 2015
    In the confusion that followed, the keys to the vault’s safe-deposit boxes were lost.In the years since, Cleveland’s wealthy businessmen kept the truth buried in the abandoned high-rise. The ransacked offices and forgotten safe-deposit boxes remain locked in time, until young engineer Iris Latch stumbles upon them during a renovation survey. What begins as a welcome break from her cubicle becomes an obsession as Iris unravels the bank’s sordid past. With each haunting revelation, Iris follows the looming shadow of the past deeper into the vault—and soon realizes that the key to the mystery comes at an astonishing price.

Secret Identity


Alex Segura - 2022
    She’s an assistant at Triumph Comics, which doesn’t have the creative zeal of Marvel nor the buttoned-up efficiency of DC, but it doesn’t matter. Carmen is tantalizingly close to fulfilling her dream of writing a superhero book.That dream is nearly a reality when one of the Triumph writers enlists her help to create a new character, which they call “The Lethal Lynx,” Triumph's first female hero. But her colleague is acting strangely and asking to keep her involvement a secret. And then he’s found dead, with all of their scripts turned into the publisher without her name. Carmen is desperate to piece together what happened to him, to hang on to her piece of the Lynx, which turns out to be a runaway hit. But that’s complicated by a surprise visitor from her home in Miami, a tenacious cop who is piecing everything together too quickly for Carmen, and the tangled web of secrets and resentments among the passionate eccentrics who write comics for a living.Alex Segura uses his expertise as a comics creator as well as his unabashed love of noir fiction to create a truly one-of-a-kind novel--hard-edged and bright-eyed, gritty and dangerous, and utterly absorbing.

The Last Bush Pilots


Eric Auxier - 2012
    But Mother Nature--and a beautiful Native Alaskan--stand in their way. Southeast Alaska Seaplanes, Juneau. Retired airline captain, Chief Pilot Dusty Tucker pilots a renegade band of flying misfits. Meet legendary bush pilot Jake "Crash" Whitakker, equally adept at landing planes and ladies--and "crashin' 'em" as well; prankster pilot Ralph Olaphsen, who once set an extinct volcano ablaze on April Fool's Day; and no-nonsense Check Airman Holly Innes, trying to cut a respectable niche in the notoriously macho bush pilot world--while escaping a dangerous past.Amid Alaska's volatile skies, DC and Allen face escalating challenges in and out of the cockpit. As the two cheechackos, or greenhorns, learn the ropes, they are also roped into Crash and Ralph's hare-brained scheme, Operation Dirty Harry. Under the suspicious nose of Draconian FAA Inspector Frederick Bruner, the pilots hatch a plot to hijack and rescue a planeload of orphaned bear cubs. Moreover, mischievous Tlingit Indian Tonya Hunter, as wild and unpredictable as the land in which she lives, plays the two lovestruck cheechackos against each other.But the true villain of the story is Mother Nature herself. Alaska's notoriously fickle weather and rugged terrain take on a life of its own.Can the two cheechackos survive Her relentless onslaught and launch their fledgeling airline careers?"Airline Captain, popular blogger and author Eric Auxier brings his former Alaska bush flying experience to life in his second novel, "The Last Bush Pilots." The award-winning "Code Name: Dodger" is his first.  "Eric Auxier is the next Tom Clancy of Aviation." --Tawni Waters, Author, "Beauty of the Broken;" "Siren Song;" Grand Prize Recipient, Top Travel Writers 2010  "I flew through The Last Bush Pilots in one sitting, keeping my seatbelt securely fastened. A fast-paced tale, thoroughly enjoyed."--John Wegg, Editor Airways Magazine"Eric paints pictures with words that are every bit as beautiful and moving as anything ever drawn or photographed. " --Aviationguy.com

Look Behind You


Sibel Hodge - 2014
    She escapes through deserted woods with her life, but no one believes her story.And when she suspects her husband is lying to her, Chloe is forced to retrace her past, following in her own footsteps to find the truth and stay alive.But who is following Chloe?Look Behind You. You never know who’s out there.

When Hope Calls


David Lui - 2017
    They don't know who she is. They don't know where she is or her destination. All they have is a phone connection. Every clue draws them closer to her rescue...or pushes them to frustration. Within the next twelve hours, they must each make daring sacrifices and be tested to their limit.The clock is ticking, the odds are against them...will they be able find Mya?

Death in the Sunshine


Steph Broadribb - 2022
    Sure they’ll rest…when the killer is caught.After a long career as a police officer, Moira hopes a move to a luxury retirement community will mean she can finally leave the detective work to the youngsters and focus on a quieter life. But it turns out The Homestead is far from paradise. When she discovers the body of a young woman floating in one of the pools, surrounded by thousands of dollar bills, her crime-fighting instinct kicks back in and she joins up with fellow ex-cops—and new neighbours—Philip, Lizzie and Rick to investigate the murder.With the case officers dropping ball after ball, Moira and the gang take matters into their own hands, turning undercover homicide investigators. But the killer is desperate to destroy all the evidence and Moira, Philip, Lizzie and Rick soon find themselves getting in the way—of the murderer and the police.Just when they thought they could finally relax, they discover that someone has infiltrated their ‘safe’ community. Can they hunt down the murderer and get back to retiring in peace? And after all the excitement, will they want to?