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Before the Clock Strikes


E.G. Michaels - 2014
    An innocent teenage sleepover takes a tragic turn as a young girl is killed while she lay sleeping on a friend’s sofa. Philadelphia Detective Kyle Simmons races against the clock to quickly find the proof to nail the killer before neighborhood racial tensions boil over and a simple murder case turns into a violent turf war. *** This is a 35K length novella. It precedes "The Countdown". ***

The Grace Painter


Mark Romang - 2012
    But then a bungled hostage scene destroyed his career. Now all London wants is to be left alone to lick his wounds. He thought he left his past far behind him when he fled New York City for the backwaters of Louisiana. But eight years later a young girl from a nearby parish is kidnapped, and London steps out from the shadows. Recruited to help find the missing girl by a down-on-her-luck FBI agent, London quickly finds himself thrust into the starring role of a daring rescue attempt. But before London can rescue the child from her kidnappers, he first must find a way to forgive himself for a past misstep, a blunder that forever altered his once promising life.Her partner killed, and cut off from her superiors by a Category 5 hurricane, FBI Special Agent Annie Crawford is at the end of her rope. She has only hours left to find a little girl before the unthinkable happens. And the only person she can find to help her is a mysterious stranger who paints murals inside his plantation house by candlelight. Worse, in order to rescue the child, Annie must revisit a place that terrifies her, a dilapidated fishing shack with a morbid history of crime and violence. The clock is ticking for Annie, Matthew London, and most importantly…the kidnapped child.

When the Tiger Kills


Vanessa Prelatte - 2015
    As a result, she has dedicated her life to law enforcement. Now a homicide detective in her hometown of Mountpelier, Colorado, she and her partner, Sergeant Rafe Melbourne, find themselves in a race against time to save a missing girl from a serial killer who seems to be equally obsessed with visions of an ancient goddess and young girls with long, pale blonde hair. Meanwhile, the two detectives must juggle the kidnapping investigation with another case, this one involving a young man who was stabbed to death, his body left under a tree. At first it looks like a simple drug deal gone wrong. However, after encounters with the victim's angry, bitter stepsister and his self-absorbed, histrionic mother, Dawn and Rafe begin to suspect that there is more to this case than meets the eye. With the help of Dawn's husband Ty, a former Air Force major now in charge of the local unit of the Civil Air Patrol, Cimarron and Melbourne work to bring a murderer to justice, even as they pull out all the stops to find the missing girl - before her time runs out..

The Insanity Plea


Larry D. Thompson - 2014
    The murderer slices her running shorts from her body as his trophy and tosses the body over the wall to the rocks below. As dawn breaks, a bedraggled street person, wearing four layers of old, tattered clothes, emerges from the end of the jetty, waving his arms and talking to people only he hears. He trips over the body, checks for a pulse and, instead, finds a diamond bracelet which he puts in his pocket. He hurries across the street, heading for breakfast at the Salvation Army two blocks away, leaving his footprints in blood as he goes. Wayne Little, former Galveston prosecutor and now Houston trial lawyer, learns that his older brother has been charged with capital murder for the killing. At first he refuses to be dragged back into his brother’s life. Once a brilliant lawyer, Dan’s paranoid schizophrenia had captured his mind, estranging everyone including Wayne. Finally giving in to pleas from his mother, Wayne enlists the help of his best friend, Duke Romack, former NBA star turned criminal lawyer. When Wayne and Duke review the evidence, they conclude that Dan’s chances are slim. They either find the killer or win a plea of insanity since the prosecution’s case is air tight. The former may be a mission impossible since the killer is the most brilliant, devious and cruel fictional murderer since Hannibal Lecter. The chances of winning an insanity plea are equally grim. It will take the combined skills of the two lawyers along with those of Duke’s girlfriend, Claudia, a brilliant appellate lawyer, and Rita Contreras, Wayne’s next door neighbor and computer hacker extraordinaire, to attempt to unravel the mystery of the serial killer before the clock clicks down to a guilty verdict for Dan.

Rosé's... Bent Stem


Nomita Khanna - 2019
     Tana, a diligent, young nurse with a troubled childhood, can’t believe her luck when she finds Vikram, a rich widower who says she is the ‘love of his life’. The strong attraction quickly turns into something else, unraveling her life. Nightmares that wrecked her childhood are back—and ripping her world apart. Evil has already claimed victims. Is it about to take another? As the four walls of her majestic Lutyens bungalow begin to close in on her, she spirals down into a dungeon. In this twisted world with betrayal at every step, she decides not to stay miserable and becomes the person she never thought she could be. The path to escape is swarming with grisly ambushes and ... intrigue. No one really knows what happens behind closed doors or what goes inside a person’s mind. How far will someone go to protect their secrets or to get what they want? Farther than anyone can imagine. PEOPLE ARE UNKNOWABLE.

Secret of the Himalayan Treasure


Divyansh Mundra - 2017
    THE GREATEST TREASURE IN THE HISTORY OF MANKIND. THE MOST EPIC MYSTERY OF THE ANCIENT WORLD.When the richest man of India confesses to being part of a secret society in a live press conference; chaos ensues. His daughter Aanya Vashishtha takes the help of Aarav Kohrrathi, a brilliant but egoistic treasure hunter and his friend Rehann to solve the mystery of The Ring of the Seven, a society of influential men who are tasked to protect the greatest treasure in history. What starts off as a quest to uncover her father’s secret leads them to something bigger which they themselves couldn’t have fathomed. They take help from her father’s associate, Shayna Maheshwari, a billionaire banker and someone herself involved with the secret, as they progress towards a treasure hidden somewhere in the Himalayas.They brave bullets, puzzles, deadly chases, cult of assassins, and betrayal as their quest takes them across the length and breadth of South Asia; from the bustling metropolises of Mumbai and Delhi to the ancient temples of Nepal; from the serene beaches of Sri Lanka to the towering mountains of the Himalayas. They try to uncover a set of secret books of ancient wisdom, which are believed to reveal the map of the treasure, and strive to discover the identities of the masters of The Ring of the Seven to solve the penultimate mystery.In a tale of love and loss, logic and emotions, religion and history, action and adventure, and the trial of a few good men against the most powerful organization in the history of mankind; will Aarav and his companions be able to uncover the secret of the Himalayan Treasure?

Flight For Control


Karlene Petitt - 2012
    But her husband, Captain Bill Jacobs, has his concerns. While her twin daughters are off at camp, and Bill is actively campaigning for the Pilot Union Presidency, Kathryn secretly begins her investigation. What she learns will shock the nation. Flight For Control is a thriller that reads like a mystery. But to Kathryn, there is no mystery on the condition of the airline industry—it’s broken. Planes are crashing. Pensions are lost. Pilots are financially and emotionally bankrupt due to fatigue, furloughs, and loss of seniority. It’s time that someone takes control before it’s too late—unless it already is. Your life is in your pilot’s hands. Do you know who’s flying your plane?

Influenza: Viral Virulence


Steven Ohliger - 2015
    However, on the horizon, a dark, massive storm was building. Due to an extremely virulent flu strain and an ineffective flu vaccine, the world was about to experience the worst pandemic in history. With almost 90% of the population dead, Michael, along with his good friend, Lorie, must escape the virtually vacant university town and make their way home. Force to deal with dwindling resources, scavaging, and vicious marauders puts the couple in life and death situations. Michael struggles within himself to maintain his moral humanity while dealing with the evils of a post-apocalyptic world. Facing increasingly difficult confrontations and obstacles, they forge ahead on their adventurous journey hoping that they can survive long enough to see their families once more.

Survival: Hijacking into Freedom: Based on a True WW2 Story


M. Ben Yanay - 2016
    When his brigade is put to the service of the fleeing German forces, at end of the Second World War, Janus finds himself driving an SS truck under heavy soviet attacks in the Hungarian woods. With his wife and children on his mind, he tries to escape. An engulfing human drama based on real historical events In the woods, Janus meets Bob, an Afro-American pilot from the famous all black "Tuskegee Squadron" unit. Bob is shot down at war and captured by a group of Partisans, where he meets Ina, a Russian medical officer who dreams of a new life in America. Against all odds, and despite their different backgrounds, religions and languages, these three uncommon heroes manage to capture a German train locomotive and try to drive it to their freedom.All the while, Janus's wife, Terry, endures war with their three children, first in the city, and then at the Ghetto of Debrecen, their hometown. After her middle child is murdered, the family is sent to extermination in Auschwitz, but miraculously saved at the last moment. A remarkable view of World War II read with bated breath Towards the end of the war, these four stories converge into one unbelievable drama, providing a gripping and multidimensional view of a most significant period in the history of humanity. Get your copy of Survival now!

American Terrorist


Wesley Robert Lowe - 2016
    Smart—IQ off the charts. Lethal—more kills than Chris Kyle. Black belt martial artist. And vulnerable, sexy and complicated. A video of desecration and beheading in a small Syrian village appears briefly on the deep web. When the sword-wielding executioner proclaims Jihad on America, no one knows whether to take him and his ragtag marauders seriously. Can they deliver? Or is this a cover for a more devious conspiracy? Rayna Tan, ex-Canadian Special Forces and newly minted covert operative, heads the mission to disarm the potential attack and discovers rats among the radicalists—not every terrorist is a true believer.

Prehistoric


Michael Esola - 2015
    However, the boardwalk is incomplete and in need of more funding. The creator, John Corstine, assembles a group of potential investors for a weekend tour of the boardwalk. Little do they know that high up in the rainforest canopy, they are being watched, but more importantly, they are not alone.

The Repairman: A Mike Reardon Novel


L.J. Martin - 2013
    You son in debt to a dope dealer, your captain steal your plane or boat? Someone has put a hit on you? If you can find Reardon, he'll repair the problem...even if he has to reach beyond the law.

Face Value


Ian Andrew - 2015
    When siblings Zoe and Michael Sterling insist that their middle-aged parents have gone missing, Kara and Tien are at first sceptical and then quickly intrigued; the father, ex-intelligence analyst Chris Sterling, appears to be involved with an elusive Russian thug. Using less than orthodox methods and the services of ex-colleagues with highly specialised talents, Wright & Tran take on the case. But the truth they uncover is far from simple and will shake Zoe and Michael as much as it will challenge Tien and anger Kara. An anger she can ill afford for she is being hunted by others for the killing of a street predator who chose the wrong prey. The only constant in this darkening world is that nothing and no one can be taken at face value.

Deadly Sleep


Valerie Keogh - 2014
    She is also a serial killer. She kills neatly, three victims every six months, moving around the UK, hiding in plain sight. Everything goes according to plan until she moves to Bath. Because in Bath the police are hunting a serial killer who kills and tortures his victims. A psychic connection develops between the two killers, Nicola sees him and what he does to his victims in her nightmares.She is starting to lose control and she really can't afford to do that. In an attempt to break the link, to have the other killer caught, Nicola goes to the police with what she knows. But can she help them without exposing herself? A serial killer and a burnt out policeman - can they really work together to stop him? And at what cost?

Someone Knows Something


Christa Weisman - 2019
    It lives in your bones and pulses in your blood, waiting for just the right moment to expose your sins. J.R. Hudson was the golden boy of Timber Falls. Born into privilege as the mayor’s son, he was the envied quarterback on the high school football team with big dreams and aspirations. Along with his teammates and best friends, Ethan Young and Caleb Weston, the trio ruled senior year at Timber Falls High and the small Washington town they lived in. And then one day they vanished. Now the town is in a desperate attempt to solve the mysterious disappearance of these strong, dynamic young men. Searching for answers dredges up dark secrets and haunting revelations, revealing the grim truth—that maybe these boys weren’t as perfect as they seemed. Author note: Set in the mid-1990s, before cellphones and social media was present, this book reminds us that when someone went missing, they left no trace. The boys are high school teens, though due to graphic scenes and mature content, this book is recommended for 18+