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Still Coming


Joseph Flynn - 2011
    But what might happen if a large number of them refused to take no for an answer?One morning, Shepherdton College receives 437 envelopes from twenty-eight states. Each contains the same two-word message: Still coming.That’s just the beginning. The college president’s house burns down; the water in the country club swimming pool turns red; the ghost of a local war hero appears.Another message is received: We’re Here.Nerves fray, and if the “comers” aren’t trouble enough, a Peeping Tom turns into a home invader, and shows signs of becoming a full-blown sexual predator.The town fragments and people take up arms after one last message is received…Won’t Be Long Now.Still Coming is a psychological thriller for anyone, student or parent, who’s ever sweated a college admission decision.

Either Side of Midnight


Tori de Clare - 2013
    I rate this book as a ten-star and expect to see it as number one on the best selling list for many, many weeks.” Reviewed by Trudi LoPreto for Readers'Favorite.WHAT IF THE BEST DAY OF YOUR LIFE TURNED INTO YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE?When nineteen-year-old Naomi Stone is snatched from her husband at knifepoint on the night of their wedding and taken to a deserted cemetery, she knows her life is finished. Drugged and disorientated, she loses consciousness as she lies in an open grave with a gun to her head. But the following day, she mysteriously awakes to find herself unharmed and secured to a bed. She's in a beautiful bedroom in a secluded cottage in open countryside. Only one person knows she’s there – the man in the balaclava who’s holding her, feeding her, revealing nothing. Naomi senses the unfolding of a plan. She should be on honeymoon in the Caribbean. Instead, she’s trapped with an emotionless psycho with no hope of escape . . . And his voice is chillingly familiar.Who is he? What does he want? What's happened to her husband? Where is she? Will anyone find her before it's too late?

The Delta Chain


Iain Edward Henn - 2011
    She does not fit the description of anyone on Missing Persons lists. Fingerprints, dental records and DNA provide no leads.Detective Adam Bennett discovers a pattern of similar cases - unidentified bodies found along the coasts of Australia and the United States. These are six young men and women who seem to have never existed.When her brother meets a terrifying death in the wilderness, Kate Kovacs employs her IT skills to help track the killers. A baffling link is found between these two cases, leading Adam and Kate on a labyrinth trail to a scientific research center, to a Washington power elite, and to a secret reaching back over thirty years to a war-ravaged Vietnam.Ruthless forces are gathering, determined to keep the secret hidden. Adam and Kate just became their targets... THE DELTA CHAIN is a suspense thriller and an enigma with a scientific edge, combining murder and conspiracy that leads to an explosive climax.

Raveled


Anne McAneny - 2013
    Despite her infamous surname and people’s wilted memories, this jaded cynic of a daughter sinks her teeth in and refuses to let go. She can practically taste the bitterness of that long-ago, twisted night when two teenagers died, linked to her father by bad luck and a few strands of rope.Ignoring the dense local atmosphere where image trumps substance and lies become legend, Allison stirs the pot. The more layers she discards, the more elusive the truth becomes. And when a key source of information turns up dead, the dark edges of resentment coil in around her like a slowly tightening noose. As revelations get ugly, Allison may wish she’d never ventured toward the forbidden fruit of truth.

The Debt Collector


Jon Mills - 2015
    Four years later, Jack is free and he wants out of the game, but his boss won't let him go. Forced to take on one last job to make amends for what landed him in prison, he travels to the small town of Rockland Cove, Maine. There, he not only discovers that the target and money have disappeared; he finds himself falling for a damaged woman, and befriending an unruly son left behind. Under mounting pressure from his boss and local police--as well as the ghosts of his past--he must unravel the mystery and decide where his loyalties lie...before it's too late.

The Twelve Murders of Christmas


Tim Ellis - 2011
    Each day, victims are found stabbed with their clothes removed and their faces ripped off. A verse from the carol is daubed on the wall in blood. Will Quigg find the killer before he is forced to resign? Also, Quigg must choose between two women, or must he? And can he persuade the Chief to let Sergeant Begone be his partner on a permanent basis?

Pretty Killer


Johnny B. Truant - 2019
    There aren’t enough pills in the world to numb her fears of seeing her classmates again … especially after what she did all those years ago.Her sorority sister Heidi Blanchard, equally guilty, will be at the same exclusive restaurant that night. In the aftermath of their secret shame, Heidi’s turned lying into a sport and has lost her compass for truth. She’s there for a job … or so she thinks.Bindi Bridges, former guidance counselor at Bayshore, has no idea about the alumni dinner or Heidi’s job offer. She’s at Crave to learn who her husband’s been sleeping with, tipped by an unknown source.Mason Pace is there to meet a headhunter. His life is about to turn around — a relief, after the horror that happened eleven years ago.Seven others -- each seeking their own redemption and hiding their own sordid sins -- are just as ignorant of the sinister purpose behind this elegant event.Their host? A Hollywood star with glamour to spare and all the money in the world to spend on that most useful of hobbies: revenge and the extraction of secrets.The only guest not in attendance is the one who deserves to be there most: Casey Davis. What happened to Casey? And who’s to blame? Pretty Killer is Agatha Christie for the modern age. It’s Truant & King at their duplicitous best, weaving a tale with more layers than stratified ground in which a murderer digs a stone cold grave … proving that revenge isn’t always best when it’s cold — and sizzles when it’s piping hot.

Girl Jacked


Christopher Greyson - 2013
    They were old friends. He knew only one way to deal with pain. Hunt it down and kill it." Police Officer Jack Stratton is hiding. Hiding from the world. From pain. From the memories of losing his best friend, Chandler, in Iraq. Suffering from PTSD and isolated from those he cares about, the last thing Jack expects to hear is his foster sister Michelle, Chandler’s sister, is gone. The words cut straight to his core. Although the police think she just took off, he knows Michelle would never leave those she loved behind–like he did. Now he must take action, find Michelle, and bring her home or die trying. The first novel in the Jack Stratton Collection introduces us to handsome rogue, Jack Stratton. A debt of honor to his dead foster brother drives Jack into a world of deception and lies. As Jack’s walls begin to crumble, he must navigate the quirky characters that seep into the mystery of his foster sister’s disappearance. And in the sleepy community of Darrington, like so many places in this world, nothing is as it appears. The hidden mysteries that often go unnoticed begin to emerge as Jack and his new unpredictable sidekick begin to turn over the rocks. Following a trail that has grown cold, Jack must tread carefully to protect his job, his family, and his life. This stand-alone novel features rogue hero Jack Stratton. Look for other books in the Jack Stratton Collection including Jack Knifed, Jacks are Wild, and now Jack and the Giant Killer. They can be read in any order, however, they are best experienced in sequence.

Vengeance Blind


Anna Willett - 2018
     Recovering from a road accident that has left her half-blind and in a wheelchair, Belle Hammer is alone in her secluded house set in a sprawling ten-acre plot, deep in the forests beyond Perth, Australia. Her husband having left on a work trip, and living miles away from urban centres, Belle has only a few neighbours. And one of them, the creepy retired lecturer Arthur Howell, she doesn’t trust one bit . Was it Howell who was seen in the grounds of her house? Did he make the noise she hears in the inaccessible first floor of her home? Unable to travel, Belle is cut off from the world. Her only hope is the home care assistant her husband arranged for her. But all is not as it seems. Left to the mercy of a woman she increasingly fears, Belle’s world starts to close in on her. It will take all of her wits and courage to understand why she is being victimised and survive the ensuing ordeal. If she does. Vengeance Blind is the latest thriller by Australian author Anna Willet. Her other books, in order of publication, are: 1. BACKWOODS RIPPER 2. RETRIBUTION RIDGE 3. UNWELCOME GUESTS 4. FORGOTTEN CRIMES 5. CRUELTY’S DAUGHTER 6. SMALL TOWN NIGHTMARE

Locked Room: A Katla KillFile


Martyn V. Halm - 2012
    Using an updated version of a lethal puzzle that astounded forensic scientists at the end of the twentieth century, Katla recreates a diabolical killing method that became a landmark in the forensic sciences. Thwarting forensic scientists is not her only hurdle in fulfilling her contract, as her target has to be killed in his home, an opulent penthouse in a fortress-like apartment building…The Katla KillFile short stories chronologically precede the novels in the Amsterdam Assassin Series. Each KillFile features Katla Sieltjes, expert in disguising homicide, executing one of her contracts. While not mandatory reading, each KillFile provides insight both in Katla’s work methods and skill, and additional background information in her character and personal history. The KillFiles can be read out of order, as the contracts are random samples from her past.

The Spider Shepherd Collection 5-7: Dead Men, Live Fire, Rough Justice


Stephen Leather - 2013
    Dead MenFormer SAS trooper turned undercover cop Dan Spider Shepherd knows there are no easy solutions in the war against terrorism. But when a killer starts to target pardoned IRA terrorists, Shepherd has to put his life on the line to protect his former enemies; and as a Muslim assassin closes in on his prey, Shepherd realises that the only way to save lives is to become a killer himself. Live FireDan 'Spider' Shepherd is infiltrating a tightly-knit team of bank robbers, when a group of home-grown Islamic fundamentalist fanatics embark on a campaign of terror the like of which Britain has never seen. Car bombs and beheadings are only the prelude of what they have planned. And Shepherd is the only man who can stop them. Rough JusticeVillains across London are being beaten, crippled and killed by vigilante cops. Crime rates are falling, but the powers that be want Dan 'Spider' Shepherd to bring the wave of rough justice to an end. Shepherd has always known that there are grey areas in the fight against crime, and that sometimes justice gets lost in the process. But when his own family is brought into the firing line, Shepherd has some hard decisions of his own to make.

Black Oil, Red Blood


Diane Castle - 2012
    In fact, she proves it for a living. She sues oil refineries that would rather save a buck than comply with safety regulations designed to do important things like, you know, keep people alive.Chloe had a successful career until circumstances forced her to move to the bass-ackwards town of Kettle, Texas (human population: 4,000; gun population: 34,356). Big Oil industry giant PetroPlex employs half of Kettle's population, and there's no question the judge in the town's got oil stains on his hands. It's no wonder she's been on a losing streak lately. She suspects she's been litigating on an uneven playing field, but when her star expert witness turns up dead less than 48 hours before a make-or break hearing, she knows.What she doesn't know is the key piece of information that got her expert killed. It turns out PetroPlex is harboring a shocking secret-one that has the potential to skyrocket gasoline prices, spark an energy market meltdown, and trigger riots, chaos, death, and destruction on a global scale. Chloe must discover the secret and expose the villains before she is permanently silenced, all while juggling a troublesome ex-fiance and a tantalizing new flame along the way.

Watching


Calle J. Brookes - 2012
     That thought drove Dr. Georgia Dennis in every decision she made, personal and professional. A profiler with the Complex Crimes Unit of the FBI, she was tired of being second-guessed by her boss Michael “Hell” Hellbrook. Once they caught the sociopath responsible for stoning teenaged girls, she was gone from Hellbrook’s team faster than the ink could dry on the transfer papers. Georgia and Hellbrook are hot on the trail of a sadistic killer targeting women and girls with brown hair and brown eyes—women with a striking resemblance to Georgia. Hellbrook will do anything to protect his team, even the woman he never wanted on it in the first place. By keeping her at his side, he grows closer to her until the flame between them erupts and consumes them both. As they get deeper involved with the case and with each other, they do not realize someone else is watching, someone whose descent into madness threatens everyone around them. Is this watcher their killer, or someone much closer? PAVAD: PREVENTION & ANALYSIS OF VIOLENT ACTS DIVISION: PAVAD—the Prevention & Analysis of Violent Acts Division—is a special directorate of the FBI located in St. Louis. PAVAD was formed by Edward Dennis to combat today’s modern crimes in a modern nation. PAVAD consists of only the best of the FBI’s best, and addresses cases involving everything from kidnapping, money-laundering, extortion, all the way up to RICO violations. The PAVAD directorate has more than a dozen teams ready to mobilize at a moment’s notice to every corner of the United States…

Danger in Plain Sight: A Callie James Thriller


Burt Weissbourd - 2020
     Celebrated Seattle restaurateur Callie James is more than a little thrown when her ex-husband, French investigative reporter Daniel Odile-Grand, shows up after fourteen years asking for her help. Even more disturbing: as she throws him out, Daniel is deliberately hit by a car, hurled through the front window of her restaurant--broken, bloody and unconscious. He flees from the hospital and breaks into Callie's apartment, where he passes out. Reluctantly, Callie hides him. When she gets back to her restaurant, two assassins walk in, insisting that she find Daniel for them by tonight or pay the consequences. Overwhelmed and hopelessly out of her depth, Callie hires the only man she knows who can help her: Cash Logan, her former bartender, a man she had arrested for smuggling ivory through her restaurant two years earlier, and who still hasn't forgiven her. The assassins blow up her restaurant. It's Callie's nightmare. And the worst is yet to come as she and her unlikely, incompatible ally discover that the most perilous dangers are far closer to home than they'd imagined.

The Butcher of Benares


Mahendra Jakhar - 2014
    She is found to be a research scientist working with the Vatican Observatory, one of the oldest astronomical research institutions in the world. Hawa Singh, a senior inspector from Delhi crime branch on a visit to Benares, gets embroiled in the case. He finds that the murdered woman had been researching the Bhrigu-Samhita, an astrological classic dating back to pre-Vedic times, believed to be lost. The FBI sends in Ruby Malik, a Pakistani-American to investigate the murder. Soon, more bodies are found with bizarre connections to both the Bhrigu-Samhita and Christian orthodoxy. The Vatican seems to be carrying out a clandestine operation, seeking the secrets of Hindu astrology in the city most sacred to it. Secrets that the Vatican would kill to know. Hawa Singh, hardened by many gunfights and with a bullet already lodged near his brain in a previous encounter, teams up with Ruby Malik to unravel the mystery. Nothing is the same any more. The temple bells fade in the perpetual winter fog. There is blood on the streets of Benares, which becomes a battleground where faith and science collide. The worlds of astronomy and astrology come. Hawa Singh and Ruby search the opium dens and the domains of Naga sadhus, Aghoris and Doms in the cremation grounds, hunt a cannibal lurking in the maze that is Benares and clash with the figurehead king of the city, Kashi Naresh Maharaj Abhay Narayan Singh. The killer could be anyone. Only Hawa Singh and his beautiful co-runner on the chase, Ruby Malik, possess the mindset and the indomitable courage, to find the murderer at the heart of this mystery and in the process, find themselves.