How far would you go to protect everything you love? On the South Side of Chicago, you're only as strong as your reputation. Danny Carter and his best friend, Evan, earned theirs knocking over pawnshops and liquor stores, living from score to score, never thinking of tomorrow.
Then a job went desperately wrong, and in the roar of a gun blast, everything changed. Years later, Danny doesn't think about his past. He's built a new world for himself: a legitimate career, a long-term girlfriend, and a clean conscience. He's just like anyone else. Normal. Successful. Happy. Until he spots his old partner staring him down in a smoky barroom mirror. The prison-hardened Evan is barely recognizable. Having served his time without dropping Danny's name, his old friend believes he's owed major payback---and he's willing to do anything to get it.
With all he loves on the line and nowhere to turn, Danny realizes his new life hinges on a terrible choice: How far will he go to protect his future from his past? A debut novel that's drawn comparison to Dennis Lehane, Laura Lippman, and Quentin Tarantino, The Blade Itself is the story of a good man held hostage by circumstance; a riveting exploration of class, identity, and the demons that shape us, where every effort to do the right thing leads to terrifying consequences and one inevitable conclusion: The more you have, the more you have to lose.
California Demon by Julie Kenner (Demon Hunter Series # 2)
Welcome to San Diablo. The perfect place to raise a couple of kids and a lot of Hell. Especially if you're Kate Connor, retired demon hunter. Now, after fourteen years busting her tail as a suburban housewife, raising two kids, and supporting her husband's political ambitions, she's rejoined the workforce...well, secretly, at least. Between fending off demon attacks, trying to figure out why the mysterious new teacher at the high school seems so strangely familiar, and keeping a watchful eye on her daughter's growing infatuation with a surfer dude, Kate is the busiest-and most dangerous-soccer mom on the block.
Jillian
Greene is always getting caught in the act -- it's her job! Working at
Catch A Mate, Jillian gets paid by suspicious wives to smile, flirt and
prove that no man can be trusted around the opposite sex. Her only
ground rule? She never gets physical. Until a heart-stoppingly gorgeous
male walks in . . .
Marcus Brody has just been hired as bait to test female fidelity. But the last thing Jillian needs is a partner . . . especially an infuriating, irresistible man who's got her fantasizing about tearing off his clothes.
Can a savvy modern woman find happiness with the most tempting man she's ever known? Is there such a thing as a totally monogamous male?
Marcus Brody has just been hired as bait to test female fidelity. But the last thing Jillian needs is a partner . . . especially an infuriating, irresistible man who's got her fantasizing about tearing off his clothes.
Can a savvy modern woman find happiness with the most tempting man she's ever known? Is there such a thing as a totally monogamous male?
Dark Solus, An Assassin's Tale is a dark, science fiction fantasy novel about one of the deadliest assassins on the planet Eorth. The evil wizard Kalifen, along with the ruthless leaders of the Assassins, Thieves and Halflings guilds, murdered Dark Solus' parents when he was only a child. Haunted by their merciless execution, he now waits and prepares to exact his revenge on all those responsible for their demise.
Dark is transformed and trained by the Styg, the warden of the Stygian depths, and his grandfather Mephistopheles, an ancient silver dragon. Twelve years later, Dark is now ready to travel to the City of Duergar, the home of his enemies. Trained in the skills of assassination, and armed with lethal devices and knowledge of the dark arts, he has set himself only one mission.....to kill them all!
A Japanese cargo ship cruises the eastern Atlantic near the Azores- when it bursts into flames. A gang of pirates speeds to take advantage of the disaster- when their boat explodes. What is happening in that part of the world? As Kurt Austin, Joe Zavala, and the rest of the NUMA(r) Special Assignments Team rush to investigate, they find themselves drawn into the extraordinary ambitions of an African dictator, the creation of a weapon of almost mythical power, and an unimaginably audacious plan to extort the world's major nations. Their penalty for refusal? The destruction of their greatest cities.
Filled with the high-stakes suspense and boundless invention unique to Cussler, Devil's Gate is one of the most thrilling novels yet from the grand master of adventure.
Harry Bosch has been given three years before he must retire from the LAPD, and he wants cases more fiercely than ever. In one morning, he gets two.
DNA from a 1989 rape and murder matches a 29-year-old convicted rapist. Was he an eight-year-old killer or has something gone terribly wrong in the new Regional Crime Lab? The latter possibility could compromise all of the lab's DNA cases currently in court.
Then Bosch and his partner are called to a death scene fraught with internal politics. Councilman Irvin Irving's son jumped or was pushed from a window at the Chateau Marmont. Irving, Bosch's longtime nemesis, has demanded that Harry handle the investigation.
Relentlessly pursuing both cases, Bosch makes two chilling discoveries: a killer operating unknown in the city for as many as three decades, and a political conspiracy that goes back into the dark history of the police department.
Before Stephanie can even step foot off Flight 127 from Hawaii to Newark, she’s knee deep in trouble. Her dream vacation turned into a nightmare, she’s flying back to New Jersey solo, and someone who sounds like Sasquatch is snoring in row 22. Worse still, her seatmate never returned to the plane after the L.A. layover. Now he’s dead, in a garbage can, waiting for curbside pickup. His killer could be anyone. The FBI, the fake FBI, and guns-for-hire are all looking for a photograph the dead man was supposed to be carrying.
Only one other person has seen the missing photograph—Stephanie Plum. Now she’s the target, and she doesn’t intend to end up in a garbage can. With the help of an FBI sketch artist Stephanie re-creates the person in the photo. Unfortunately the first sketch turns out to look like Tom Cruise, and the second sketch like Ashton Kutcher. Until Stephanie can improve her descriptive skills, she’ll need to watch her back.
Over at the Bail Bonds Agency it’s business as usual—until the bonds bus serving as Vinnie’s temporary HQ goes up in smoke, Stephanie’s wheelman, Lula, falls in love with their “largest” FTA yet, lifetime arch nemesis Joyce Barnhardt moves into Stephanie’s apartment, and everyone wants to know what happened in Hawaii?!
Morelli, Trenton’s hottest cop, isn’t talking about Hawaii. Ranger, the man of mystery, isn’t talking about Hawaii. And all Stephanie is willing to say about her Hawaiian vacation is . . . It’s complicated.
Home is the place that knows us best. . .A woman returns to the past to find her future in this enchanting new tale of loss, acceptance, family, and love.
With its sandy beaches and bohemian charms, surfers and suits alike consider Folly Beach to be one of South Carolina's most historic and romantic spots. It is also the land of Cate Cooper's childhood, the place where all the ghosts of her past roam freely. Cate never thought she'd wind up in this tiny cottage named the Porgy House on this breathtakingly lovely strip of coast. But circumstances have changed, thanks to her newly dead husband whose financial—and emotional—bull and mendacity have left Cate homeless, broke, and unmoored.
Yet Folly Beach holds more than just memories. Once upon a time another woman found unexpected bliss and comfort within its welcoming arms. An artist, writer, and colleague of the revered George Gershwin, Dorothy Heyward enjoyed the greatest moments of her life at Folly with her beloved husband, DuBose. And though the Heywards are long gone, their passion and spirit lingers in every mango sunset and gentle ocean breeze.
And for Cate, Folly, too, holds the promise of unexpected fulfillment when she is forced to look at her life and the zany characters that are her family anew. To her surprise, she will discover that you can go home again. Folly Beach doesn't just hold the girl she once was . . . it also holds the promise of the woman she's always wanted—and is finally ready—to become.
"Three victims, three different states and three apparently unrelated cases. But when Boulder, Colorado, math professor Jayne Smyers discovers each victim had been an expert in the mathematical field known as fractal geometry, she knows their deaths can't be coincidences." "That's where Pepper Keane comes in. Hired by Jayne after federal agents fail to link the three deaths, he's a former Marine JAG turned private eye, with an encyclopedic knowledge of rock and roll and a trace of existential angst."
From Hawaii to Harvard, Pepper begins a fast-paced journey in search of proof that all the deaths were indeed murders - and were almost certainly committed by the same person. As the evidence mounts, Pepper fears that his favorite math professor may be the next target. But he's failed to do the math completely. As he crosses America in search of clues, he's become the newest expert in the field of fractals. And that makes him more than qualified to die.
After his wife leaves him for another man, Hugues Martin’s life revolves solely around two things – the celebrated five-star hotel he owns and manages in New York City and his daughter Heloise. At four, Heloise becomes the only woman in her father’s life; by seven, she is the undisputed queen of the Hotel Vendome.
And as the years pass, despite her mother’s abandonment, she basks in her father’s love, the devotion of the hotel’s staff, and the affection of its guests. But their little world is transformed forever when Heloise moves to France for hotel school and Hugues meets his match in Natalie Peterson, a woman who understands him and his love for the Vendome. Is there room in their lives for Natalie, or will her intrusion ruin their special bond? A novel about second chances and learning to trust again, Hotel Vendome is Danielle Steel at her best.
Kill Alex Cross is faster, more exciting, and more tightly wound than any Alex Cross thriller James Patterson has ever written!
The President's son and daughter are abducted, and Detective Alex Cross is one of the first on the scene. But someone very high up is using the FBI, Secret Service, and CIA to keep him off the case and in the dark.
A deadly contagion in the water supply cripples half of the capital, and Cross discovers that someone may be about to unleash the most devastating attack the United States has ever experienced. As his window for solving both crimes narrows, Alex makes a desperate decision that goes against everything he believes – one that may alter the fate of the entire country.
The partners at Finley & Figg—all two of them—often refer to themselves as “a boutique law firm.” Boutique, as in chic, selective, and prosperous. They are, of course, none of these things. What they are is a two-bit operation always in search of their big break, ambulance chasers who’ve been in the trenches much too long making way too little. Their specialties, so to speak, are quickie divorces and DUIs, with the occasional jackpot of an actual car wreck thrown in. After twenty plus years together, Oscar Finley and Wally Figg bicker like an old married couple but somehow continue to scratch out a half-decent living from their seedy bungalow offices in southwest Chicago.
And then change comes their way. More accurately, it stumbles in. David Zinc, a young but already burned-out attorney, walks away from his fast-track career at a fancy downtown firm, goes on a serious bender, and finds himself literally at the doorstep of our boutique firm. Once David sobers up and comes to grips with the fact that he’s suddenly unemployed, any job—even one with Finley & Figg—looks okay to him.
With their new associate on board, F&F is ready to tackle a really big case, a case that could make the partners rich without requiring them to actually practice much law. An extremely popular drug, Krayoxx, the number one cholesterol reducer for the dangerously overweight, produced by Varrick Labs, a giant pharmaceutical company with annual sales of $25 billion, has recently come under fire after several patients taking it have suffered heart attacks. Wally smells money.
A little online research confirms Wally’s suspicions—a huge plaintiffs’ firm in Florida is putting together a class action suit against Varrick. All Finley & Figg has to do is find a handful of people who have had heart attacks while taking Krayoxx, convince them to become clients, join the class action, and ride along to fame and fortune. With any luck, they won’t even have to enter a courtroom!
It almost seems too good to be true. And it is.
Olivia Dunne, a studious minister's daughter who dreams of being an archaeologist, never thought that the drama of World War II would affect her quiet life in Denver. An exhilarating flirtation reshapes her life, though, and she finds herself banished to a rural Colorado outpost, married to a man she hardly knows. Overwhelmed by loneliness, Olivia tentatively tries to establish a new life, finding much-needed friendship and solace in two Japanese American sisters who are living at a nearby internment camp. When Olivia unwittingly becomes an accomplice to a crime and is faced with betrayal, she finally confronts her own desires.
Beautifully written and filled with memorable characters, Creel's novel is a powerful exploration of the nature of trust and love.
24 new short stories from the hottest names
Fall in love with someone out of this world. If love transcends all boundaries then paranormal romance is its logical conclusion. From the biggest names around, here are 24 tales to take you to another time and place.
Let Alyssa Day, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Cheyenne McCray, Jeaniene Frost, Ilona Andrews, Kelley Armstrong, Maria V. Snyder, Carrie Vaughn, Allyson James Marland and others show you powers beyond your wildest imaginings.
Within these pages mythical beasts, magical creatures of all shapes and sizes, heart-stoppingly handsome ghosts, angels, and mortals with extra-sensitive sensory perception play out the themes of extraordinary desires.
If love transcends all boundaries, paranormal romance is its natural conclusion. Over twenty tales from some of the hottest names in romantic fiction to transport you to fantastical worlds in which mythical beasts, magical creatures of all shapes and sizes, heart-stoppingly handsome ghosts, angels and mortals with extra-sensory powers live out extraordinary desires.
Includes stories from Lara Adrian, Ava Gray, S. J. Day, Gail Carriger, Karen Chance and many more.
The Prince of Ravenscar by Catherine Coulter
Nicholas Monroe, widowed Prince of Ravenscar," is feeling pressure from his family to remarry. But the mysterious death of his first wife, Lily, still hangs over his head. Her brother, Richard, believes Nicholas is responsible for her death. When Richard finally confronts Nicholas, long-held secrets threaten to resurface-despite someone's desperate effort to keep them buried.
Red Mist by Patricia Cronwell (Kay Scarpetta Series # 19)
Determined to find out what happened to her former deputy chief, Jack Fielding, murdered six months earlier, Kay Scarpetta travels to the Georgia Prison for Women, where an inmate has information not only on Fielding, but also on a string of grisly killings. The murder of an Atlanta family years ago, a young woman on death row, and the inexplicable deaths of homeless people as far away as California seem unrelated. But Scarpetta discovers connections that compel her to conclude that what she thought ended with Fielding's death and an attempt on her own life is only the beginning of something far more destructive: a terrifying terrain of conspiracy and potential terrorism on an international scale. And she is the only one who can stop it.
London, 1760. For Jamie Fraser, paroled prisoner-of-war in the remote Lake District, life could be worse: He’s not cutting sugar cane in the West Indies, and he’s close enough to the son he cannot claim as his own. But Jamie Fraser’s quiet existence is coming apart at the seams, interrupted first by dreams of his lost wife, then by the appearance of Tobias Quinn, an erstwhile comrade from the Rising.
Like many of the Jacobites who aren’t dead or in prison, Quinn still lives and breathes for the Cause. His latest plan involves an ancient relic that will rally the Irish. Jamie is having none of it—he’s sworn off politics, fighting, and war. Until Lord John Grey shows up with a summons that will take him away from everything he loves—again.
Lord John Grey—aristocrat, soldier, and occasional spy—finds himself in possession of a packet of explosive documents that exposes a damning case of corruption against a British officer. But they also hint at a more insidious danger. Time is of the essence as the investigation leads to Ireland, with a baffling message left in “Erse,” the tongue favored by Scottish Highlanders. Lord John, who oversaw Jacobite prisoners when he was governor of Ardsmiur prison, thinks Jamie may be able to translate—but will he agree to do it?
Soon Lord John and Jamie are unwilling companions on the road to Ireland, a country whose dark castles hold dreadful secrets, and whose bogs hide the bones of the dead.
Golfers and non-golfers alike will be moved by the powerful transformation that takes place in Golf's Sacred Journey. 'Read it. Devour it. Keep it as a reference book. You'll be glad you did.
This book is about influence. The story is based on thousands of athletes the author has counseled, and the great mentors and teachers from whom he has learned, told through the lives of two characters---a rancher with a passion for teaching truth and a young golf professional at the end of his rope. They represent each of us in the various stages of growth. In life we must be willing to coach and be coached, for either one alone will leave us empty.
Posey Osterhagen can't complain. She owns a successful architectural salvaging company, she's surrounded by her lovable, if off-center, family and she has a boyfriend—sort of. Still, something's missing. Something tall, brooding and criminally good-looking…something like Liam Murphy.
When Posey was sixteen, the bad boy of Bellsford, New Hampshire, broke her heart. But now he's back, sending Posey's traitorous schoolgirl heart into overdrive once again. She should be giving him a wide berth, but it seems fate has other ideas….
Julia “Jules” Farentino knows that her teenaged half-sister, Shaylee, has been having problems lately. But when she learns of her mother’s plan to send Shay to an elite boarding school in southern Oregon, she’s skeptical. The Academy is a remote, secluded institution with a reputation for turning wayward kids around. With its emphasis on structure, discipline, and building self-reliance, it claims to succeed where other schools fail. But one of its students went missing six months ago and has never surfaced. And the further Jules digs into the school’s history, the more concerned she becomes.
On impulse, Jules applies for a teaching job at the Academy, and once there, her suspicions grow. Another student disappears, and two more commit suicide in strange circumstances – or were they murdered? Something sinister is lurking beneath the Academy’s serene façade. And uncovering the truth will mean confronting a powerful force of evil that’s willing to kill, again and again.
