The Escape Artist


Brad Meltzer - 2018
    government's most top-secret and high profile cases. America's most important funeral home. To work there, mortician Jim "Zig" Zigarowski has one rule: never let a case get personal. But when a new body arrives--of young female sergeant Nola Brown, who was a childhood friend of Zig's daughter--Zig can't help himself. Looking closely at Nola's body, he realizes immediately: this isn't Nola. Indeed, his daughter's friend is still alive. And on the run. Zig's discovery reveals a sleight of hand being played at the highest levels of power--and traces back through history to a man named Harry Houdini. "Nola, you were right. Keep running."

The Mercenary Option


Dick Couch - 2003
    Officially, the group is a rogue operation with no government affiliation. But when the impossible becomes absolutely necessary, IFOR is...THE MERCENARY OPTIONShortly after the terror attacks on America, the American president announces the construction of an oil pipeline across Afghanistan. To stop this, and deter further Western encroachment in Central Asia, a vindictive Saudi prince retains ex-KGB terror broker Pavel Zelinkow -- a prime mover behind al Qaeda's 9/11 attack. Zelinkow plans to steal two nuclear weapons, detonating one of them among the pipeline construction crews and their military guardians, while the target of the second bomb is a mystery. U.S. special operations forces cannot be used against the terrorists hiding in Iran, so IFOR is called into action for the first time on a mission that will test them to their limits: take out the terrorists, recover the nukes, and get Zelinkow -- dead or alive.

Cry Wolf


Wilbur Smith - 1976
    By the author of THE SEVENTH SCROLL and BIRDS OF PREY.

Space Jockey; The Green Hills of Earth


Robert A. Heinlein - 1947
    "The green hills of Earth" is the fascinating tale of the Blind Singer of the Spaceways, a legend from Marsopolis to the Jovian asteroids. Jake Pemberton is a "Space jockey" on the regular run from Earth to the moon-- when disaster strikes, it takes guts to ride his ship home safely.~~~Warner Audio Publishing : 2145.Duration: 70 mins.Reader: Colin Fox.

Two Complete Novels: Disclosure / Rising Sun


Michael Crichton - 1996
    An up-and-coming executive at DigiCom, Tom Sanders is a man whose corporate future is certain. But after a closed door meeting with his new boss--his former lover who has been promoted to the position he expected to have--Sanders is caught in a web of deceit where he is branded the villain. As Sanders scrambles to defend himself, he uncovers an electronic trail into the company's cynical and manipulative secrets.Rising SunOn the forty-fifth floor of the Nakamoto Tower in downtown L.A.--the American headquarters of the immense Japanese conglomerate--a grand opening celebration is in full swing. On the forty-sixth floor, in an empty conference room, the dead body of a beautiful woman is discovered. The investigation begins...and immediately becomes a headlong chase through a twisting maze of industrial intrigue. With a no-holds-barred conflict in which control of a vital American technology is the fiercely coveted prize, the saying "business is war" takes on a terrifying reality.Now for the first time ever, two of Michael Crichton's most captivating and controversial novels are combined in one exciting volume. Her is America's top suspense writer at the top of his form.--jacket

Countdown to Go Set a Watchman: A Celebration of To Kill a Mockingbird, Sampler


Harper Lee - 2015
    

Alistair MacLean's Rendezvous


Alastair MacNeill - 1995
    At his father's funeral, James McIndoe meets a man who is able to reveal the secrets of his father's wartime experiences.Based on a short story by Alistair MacLean.

The Dogs of War


Frederick Forsyth - 1974
    At certain times of the day the mountain emits a strange glow. Only Sir James Manson knows why. The mountain contains ten billion dollars worth of the world's most valuable mineral, platinum. Now the only question is, how to get hold of it. Sir James knows how. Invade the country with a band of savage, cold-blooded mercenaries. Topple the government and set up a puppet dictatorship. Unleash the dogs of war.

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen


Kevin J. Anderson - 2003
    As the British Empire lies in mortal jeopardy, a top-secret initiative unites several of the most illustrious (and sometimes infamous) personages of the age: Allan Quartermain, famed explorer and adventurer; Captain Nemo, master of the undersea submersible Nautilus; Dr. Henry Jekyll, and his brutish alter ego, Mr. Hyde; Rodney Skinner, the Invisible Man; Dorian Gray, the ageless subject of a diabolical portrait; Mina Harker, surviving victim of the late Count Dracula; and a scrappy American secret agent named Tom Sawyer. Together, they form... LXG When a criminal mastermind known only as "The Fantom" plots to hurl the world into war, the League must race across the globe to foil the masked madman's insidious scheme. But they may not have reckoned with the traitor in their midst...!

Op-Center


Jeff Rovin - 1995
    It is run by a crack team of operatives both within its own walls and out in the field. When a job is too dirty--or too dangerous--it's the only place our government can turn.But nothing can prepare Director Paul Hood and his Op-Center crisis management team for what they're about to uncover--a very real, very frightening power play that could unleash new players in a new world order...

Let Bhutto Eat Grass


Shaunak Agarkhedkar - 2022
    India tested a nuke just months earlier, and Pakistan is desperate to acquire a few for themselves. Unfortunately for Bhutto, Pakistan’s Prime Minister, his scientists are nowhere close to building a nuclear weapon.Capt. Sablok, an intelligence analyst, is convinced that the Pakistani agent in Europe is passing sensitive weapons technology to back to Pakistan.But his evidence is weak. His inexperience and reputation for alcoholism conspire against him, and his Section Chief declines to authorise an operation.Sablok, however, has finally found a sense of purpose after two miserable years, and he will not give up without a fight. The only other person he trusts in R&AW is a washed-up Case Officer who was an outstanding field agent once.But can the two of them rein the ISI in before Pakistan steals all the technology it needs?

The Visitor (A Roald Dahl Short Story)


Roald Dahl - 2012
    Here, Uncle Oswald gets more than he bargained for in Arabia . . . The Visitor is taken from the short story collection Switch Bitch, which includes three other black comedies which capture the ins and outs, highs and lows of sex (including another Uncle Oswald story, Bitch). 'One of the most widely read and influential writers of our generation.' (The Times ) This story is also available as a Penguin digital audio download read by Richard E. Grant and Derek Jacobi. Roald Dahl, the brilliant and worldwide acclaimed author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, Matilda, and many more classics for children, also wrote scores of short stories for adults. These delightfully disturbing tales have often been filmed and were most recently the inspiration for the West End play, Roald Dahl's Twisted Tales by Jeremy Dyson. Roald Dahl's stories continue to make readers shiver today.

Kill Zone


Jack Coughlin - 2007
    But moments before he is rendered unconscious, the general notices that his captors speak American English. What’s going on? Gunnery-Sergeant Kyle Swanson is vacationing in the Mediterranean when he receives orders to mount a top-secret mission to rescue the general. But as the Marines prepare to land in the desert, they fall victim to a terrible accident. Swanson, the only survivor, then discovers they were flying into a deliberate ambush. But how could the enemy have details of a mission known only to a few top US government officials? Swanson takes off alone to locate the captured general and realizes he is fighting a particularly ruthless enemy: American mercenaries working for a very high-level group within the White House, whose hidden goal is total control of the US military. The fate of the captured general and that of the nation now rest solely in Swanson’s hands. 'Stunning action, excellent tradecraft, insider politics, and the ring of truth. Just about perfect' Lee Child

The Brethren / A Painted House


John Grisham - 2003
    — Trumble is a minimum security federal prison, home to drug dealers, bank robbers, swindlers, embezzlers, tax evaders, and three former judges who call themselves The Brethren. They meet each day in the law library where they spend hours writing letters. They are finetuning a mail scam, and it's starting to really work. The money is pouring in.Then their little scam goes awry. It ensnares the wrong victim, a powerful man on the outside, a man with dangerous friends, and The Brethren's days of quietly marking time are over.A PAINTED HOUSE: The land is as unforgiving as its people.September 1952. The cotton is almost ready in the fields of Arkansas. The harvest will soon begin. Luke Chandler is a seven-year-old who lives with his family in a small, unpainted house on rented land. In the next six weeks, the Chandlers and a hired band of hill people and Mexicans must bring in the cotton that is their livelihood and the guarantee of their survival on the land.Soon heat, rain, fatigue, a killing and the unraveling of a family secret threaten to destroy the Chandlers' hopes and will transport Luke abruptly from childhood innocence to experience.(from paperbackswap.com)

Sharpe's Rifles / Sharpe's Eagle


Bernard Cornwell - 1993
    Lieutenant Richard Sharpe and a detachment of Riflemen are cut off from the British army and surrounded by enemy troops. Their only hope of escape is to accept the help of an unlikely ally, a Spanish cavalry officer, Major Blas Vivar. Unknown to Sharpe, the Spaniard harbours a desperate and quixotic ambition...Sharpe's EagleBold, professional and ruthless, Lieutenant Richard Sharpe leads his men into action at Talavera, the bloodiest battle of the Peninsular War. He is not fighting for victory alone. He has a woman's honour to avenge, the pride of the regiment to restore and his own career to preserve. The danger is as great from his enemies on his own side as from those across the battlefield...