Book picks similar to
East Wind by Jack Winnick


mysteries
zbala
california
cops-and-robbers

Blabbermouth (A Brit Moran Mystery)


Joel Travis - 2010
    Fortunately, Moran’s injuries are not fatal; unfortunately, his compromising admissions have been heard by a motley assortment of bedside visitors, including a local police detective and the younger brother of Cesar Hernandez, Moran’s backer in his bookmaking business. The book follows, courtesy of Moran’s often hilarious first-person narration, the consequences of his ill-timed frankness, which include assault, vandalism, theft and murder. When the police identify Moran as the prime suspect in the killing, he embarks on an amateurish and offbeat quest for the truth. Readers who like to smile while reading a whodunit should hope that the author manages to enmesh his creation in further investigations.

The Price


Kerry Kaya - 2020
    Together they work for notorious East End gangster Billy King. Across the water in South London is Billy’s rival George Bannerman and the two firms are locked in a bitter turf war.Amid murder, drug deals, and rival firms, Fletch is harbouring his own secrets and it’s only a matter of time until those secrets are revealed, and when you break the rules you have to pay the price.

Tom Dugan Series: Books 1-3


R.E. McDermott - 2015
    Over 1,200 pages of pulse-pounding action and excitement, nail-biting espionage, and elaborate political intrigue.Meet Tom Dugan A globe-trotting marine consultant and very part-time CIA asset, Dugan was only supposed to take a few pictures in Chinese shipyards now and again, and provide discreet courier service under the cover of regular business travel. That is, until the Company needed a scapegoat, and it all went terribly wrong. Deadly Straits (Book 1) Falsely implicated in a hijacking, Dugan's offered a chance to clear himself by helping the CIA snare their real prey, his best friend, London ship owner Alex Kairouz. Reluctantly, Dugan agrees to go undercover in Alex's company, despite doubts about his friend's guilt. Once undercover, Dugan's steadfast refusal to accept Alex's guilt puts him at odds not only with his CIA superiors, but also with a beautiful British agent with whom he's romantically involved. Deadly Straits is a non-stop thrill ride, from London streets, to the dry docks of Singapore, to the decks of the tankers that feed the world's thirst for oil, with stops along the way in Panama, Langley, Virginia, and Teheran. Richly spiced with detail from the author's 30 years sailing, building, and repairing ships worldwide. Deadly Coast (Book 2) Tom Dugan has barely put his life back together and started to enjoy his newly formed business partnership with Alex Kairouz, when one of their ships is captured by murderous Somali pirates. When a possible link between piracy and terrorism comes in to play, the US and British governments halt all negotiations for captives, and a frustrated Dugan defies the authorities to take matters into his own hands. But his cobbled together rescue operation stumbles across something far more sinister than piracy — a rogue salvage operation for a long lost weapon of mass destruction. Dugan and his hastily assembled little band of volunteers find themselves the last line of defense between the world and a terrifying bio-weapon. Weaving historical fact with speculative fiction, Deadly Coast takes the reader from London board rooms into the very real world of modern day pirates — and their victims. Deadly Crossing (Book 3) Six months have passed, and back home once more, life is good for Tom Dugan by any measure as he rolls through the London night, the woman he loves in the taxi beside him. Then his phone rings, alerting him to the arrival of two old Russian friends with a very big problem.

The Long Drunk


Eric Coyote - 2011
    Murphy's life in the gutter was bad enough, but now bad gets worse. Murphy has one week to solve a cold-case murder that has police detectives stumped, or else his best friend dies. Inspired by Chandler, Steinbeck, and Quentin Tarantino, THE LONG DRUNK is a darkly comic crime/detective saga filled with sex, violence, booze, and plenty of foul street talk. Hard-boiled, heartbreaking, and gritty as hell, it thoroughly immerses the reader in the squalid yet resourceful underworld of the down-and-out. By juxtaposing the cruel realities of life on the street with the obscene wealth of the Hollywood elite, Eric Coyote creates an ultra noir masterpiece for the ages. THE LONG DRUNK, named to Kirkus Reviews' Best of 2012, will leave you cringing, laughing, and begging for more.

Random Acts of Unkindness


Jacqueline Ward - 2016
    Her fifteen year old son, Aiden, is missing. Jan draws together the threads of missing person cases spanning fifty years and finds tragic connections and unsolved questions.Bessy Swain, an elderly woman that Jan finds dead on her search for Aiden, and whose own son, Thomas, was also missing, may have the answers.Jan uses Bessy's information and her own skills and instinct to track down the missing boys. But is it too late for Aiden?Set in the North West of England, with the notorious Saddleworth Moor as a backdrop, Random Acts of Unkindness is a story about motherhood, love and loss and how families of missing people suffer the consequences of major crimes involving their loved ones.Random Acts of Unkindness is the first in the DS Jan Pearce series of novels.

Dead Fall


Matt Hilton - 2009
    He's never tolerated bullies, but this time it's personal. And no matter how many heads he has to bash to do it, Joe will find his man.Includes a sneak preview of Blood and Ashes, the exhilarating fifth novel in the Joe Hunter series.

The Calgary Chessman


Yvonne Marjot - 2011
    To Cas, torn between Scotland and her New Zealand home, the object seems as odd and out-of-place as herself. Intrigued, she begins to search for its origins, thinking it will bring a brief respite from isolation. Instead, the Calgary chess piece opens the door to friendships and new hope. Her son, meanwhile, brings home his own revelation to shake her world.

The Advocate


Teresa Burrell - 2009
    The search for her brother and her career as a juvenile court attorney collide when she defends a nine-year-old whose father will go to any length to obtain custody. Sabre finds herself immersed in a case with too many unanswered questions. Her quest for the truth takes her coast to coast and five years into the past. Confronted with mysterious clues and strange occurrences, Sabre is threatened by someone wanting to make her suffer the unbearable anguish of losing everything-including her life. As Sabre's passion to find the answers intensifies, she discovers a twisted history of desperation, deceit, and revenge. And she discovers how obscure and treacherous the truth can be.

Enigma Key (Eddie York Thriller #1)


Tom Defoe - 2018
     Eddie is tasked to recover the Enigma Key, an object that holds the balance of worldly power. Using information from an old computer game his grandfather had created to hide the key’s location, and working with unlikely allies, Eddie must push himself to new limits if he’s to fulfil his destiny and become a guardian. With help from skilled computer engineer, Solomon Finch, Eddie must work his way through a challenging string of international clues for the answer to a puzzle that reaches back centuries. If Eddie and his team fail to recover the Enigma Key before their rivals and clandestine global forces, then everything will change… Enigma Key is the first book in an exciting new thriller series from Tom Defoe and Darren Wearmouth and is for fans of Crichton, Rollins, Brown, and Preston & Child. Mixing history and edge technology, Defoe and Wearmouth invite you into a new world of fast-paced, exciting adventures. *Complete the book for a chance to win the latest Alienware laptop, a retro games console, and many other prizes!*

A Killing Game


Jeff Buick - 2020
    Except for one small detail – she’s been abducted without a trace. Who took her, and why, is a mystery. The case gets dropped on Curtis Westcott’s desk, but Boston’s Chief of Homicide has little to work with. No clues, no body, no motive. Renee had no enemies, no financial skeletons in the closet, and no bitter ex- boyfriends. Curtis and Aislinn Byrne, his go-to detective on tough cases, work the file hard but come up empty. Then Westcott attends a party and overhears a story that catches his attention – he and Aislinn have their first break. They dig in and unravel a complex series of crimes tied to Renee’s disappearance. As they peel back the layers they are convinced Renee is still alive, but that her abductor is on a precise schedule and has every intention of killing her. It’s a bizarre and twisted game, and time is quickly running out. A Killing Game is Book One in the Curtis Westcott series, set in Boston.

Detective First Grade


Dan Mahoney - 1993
    Only a New York cop can win it.His claim to fame is finding guns on the bad guys, and Detective Second Grade Brian McKenna has just spotted the beard carrying a piece. What he doesn't know is that he's about to shoot his way into a war with a highly disciplined, well-armed enemy so treacherous, not even the NYPD knows they exist.Exiled from the bright lights of Manhattan for breaking one too many rules, pressured by his girlfriend to quit the job, this is McKenna's last chance to win back his reputation and make the coveted rank of Detective First Grade. But if his moves aren't swift and right, a new breed of criminal-- who has found a leader in an exotically beautiful and ruthless woman-- will own his city.From the savvy and experience of a cop who gave over 25 years of his life to the NYPD comes a stunning novel of undeniable authenticity and unrelenting suspense.

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.

Disappeared


Colin Falconer - 1997
    Spanning two decades, this is a cocktail of love, betrayal, politics and revenge.

Tragic Deception


M.A. Comley - 2016
     For important background information, please read the novella CLEVER DECEPTION first. "Seek liberty, Foxy, and you'll find me."Sergeant Alexandra Fox came to America to find the man who had brutally murdered her sister. A man the press called The Escape Artist. Could a British Sergeant fit in with the NYPD? Not if Commander Patterson had anything to do with it.Suspended with only two friends in America-- Chief Brown, a long time family friend, and retired Sergeant Matt "Nobby" Adams, Alex has seven days to find three kidnapped babies, or look for a new job.Her investigation leads her into a world of deception, that turns tragic before it even begins, and a helping hand from the one person she hated the most--The Escape Artist.

Sunspot


Rob Leininger - 2014
    Nothing like it had ever been seen before---a twenty-billion square mile blot on the surface of the sun, and growing. Dr. Morris Tyler at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff has a theory that might explain what's happening, and the news isn't good. Which is why he's under surveillance after having been told to keep his theory to himself. Keeping his theory under wraps isn't easy, not when a gorgeous reporter for Parsec magazine, Gail Dionne, has him in her sights, out to get a story. Tyler's well-ordered world spins out of control when all these forces converge on him, and the world begins to grow colder as the sun . . . goes . . . out.