But there’s a catch. Kyle won’t be working for the firm but against it in a dispute between two powerful defense contractors worth billions. Now Kyle is caught between the criminal forces manipulating him, the FBI, and his own law firm–in a malignant conspiracy not even Kyle with all his intellect, cunning, and bravery may be able to escape alive.
Beyond Reach by Karin Slaughter (Grant County Series # 6)
For Lena has fled back to the place where she grew up hard, careening back through the shadows of her past and into a shocking underground world of bigotry and rage. And now only Jeffrey and Sara can free Lena from the web of lies and brutality that has trapped her—as this powerhouse of a novel races toward its shattering climax…and a final, unforgettable twist.
The Blue Zone by Andrew Gross
Now, a year later, her worst fears have happened: Her father has disappeared--into what the WITSEC agency calls "the blue zone"--and someone close to him is found brutally murdered. With her family under surveillance, the FBI untrustworthy, and her father's menacing "friends" circling with increasing intensity, Kate sets off to find her father--and uncover the secrets someone will kill to keep buried.
Bright Shiny Morning by James Frey
Dozens of characters pass across the reader's sight lines - some never to be seen again - but James Frey lingers on a handful of LA's lost souls and captures the dramatic narrative of their lives: a bright, ambitious young Mexican-American woman who allows her future to be undone by a moment of searing humiliation; a supremely narcissistic action-movie star whose passion for the unattainable object of his affection nearly destroys him; a couple, both nineteen years old, who flee their suffocating hometown and struggle to survive on the fringes of the great city; and an aging Venice Beach alcoholic whose life is turned upside down when a meth-addled teenage girl shows up half-dead outside the restroom he calls home.
Throughout this strikingly powerful novel there is the relentless drumbeat of the millions of other stories that, taken as a whole, describe a city, a culture, and an age. A dazzling tour de force, Bright Shiny Morning illuminates the joys, horrors, and unexpected fortunes of life and death in Los Angeles.
Carolina Carpenter Brides by Janet Benrey
Contemporary Romance: Taking a wallpapering class at a local Home & Hearth Superstore, Brianna Griffith encounters Zach Wilson, an old flame. Kaitlyn Ferrer, an investigative reporter, is doing undercover work on the dating scene at the store when she meets Chris Taylor. When Valerie Bradford asksa store employee named Austin Hodges for assistance, she gets more attention than she bargained for. Gary Andrews is working security at the superstore when Janice Jones becomes a suspect employee. He can have her arrested, or try to save her from a life of crime. Will this Carolina store have the tools for building lasting faith-based love?
Helpless by Daniel Palmer
Soon the FBI and police are investigating Tom for what appears to be a very disturbing and unprecedented series of crimes. Someone is out to frame Tom — someone capable of destroying everything he loves without laying a finger on him. As he races to prove his innocence, he must unravel a tangle of lies about his family, the friends and colleagues he thought he knew, and about his past. For deep amid the secrets he’s been keeping — from a troubled tour of duty to the reason for his ex-wife’s death — is the truth that someone will gladly kill to protect...
Killer Pancakes by Diane Mott Davidson (Goldy Bear Culinary Mystery Series # 5)
On the day of the banquet Goldy finds herself confronting an angry mob of demonstrators—"Spare the Hares"—who object to Mignon Cosmetics' animal-testing policies. As she struggles to carry forty pounds of lowfat fare from her van to the mall where the banquet is being held, she hears an ominous squeal of tires and a horrifying thump. Seconds later, a Mignon employee lies dead on the pavement. And soon the police discover that this hit-and-run was no accident.
Now Goldy is enmeshed up to her saute pans in a homicide investigation. Could the murder have had something to do with Spare the Hares—or with the exotic flower found near the dead body? Though busy serving up Hoisin Turkey and Grand Marnier Cranberry Muffins, Goldy decides to start digging at Mignon's million-dollar cosmetics counter. But when another murder takes place and Goldy herself is attacked, the caterer turned sleuth knows she must step up her search for a gruesome killer. For this time was only a warning. Next time she'll be dead—and it won't be pretty.
Live Wire by Harlan Coben (Myron Bolitar Series # 10)
When former tennis star Suzze T and her rock star husband, Lex, encounter an anonymous Facebook post questioning the paternity of their unborn child, Lex runs off, and Suzze - at eight months pregnant - asks Myron to save her marriage, and perhaps her husband's life. But when he finds Lex, he also finds someone he wasn't looking for: his sister-in-law, Kitty, who along with Myron's brother abandoned the Bolitar family long ago.
As Myron races to locate his missing brother while their father clings to life, he must face the lies that led to the estrangement - including the ones told by Myron himself. If we thought we knew Myron Bolitar, Coben now proves we didn't. An electric, stay-up-all night thriller that unfolds at a breakneck pace, Live Wire proves that Harlan Coben still has the ability to shock us anew.
Requiem for an Assassin by Barry Eisler (John Rain Series # 6)
When John Rain decides to get out of the business, his hand is forced by rogue CIA operative Jim Hilger. Hilger kidnaps Dox, Rain's trusted partner and closest friend, and offers Rain a choice: carry out a final assignment, or bear the responsibility for Dox's murder.
For a professional like John Rain, the choice ought to be easy: Do the job-a series of three hits-then walk away. But how does Rain know Jim Hilger won't kill Dox anyway, once the assignment is complete? How does he know that each of the hits isn't simultaneously a setup for Rain himself? And what will he do when he finds out that among the targets of this lethal game of extortion is someone else Rain cares about deeply?
The Saboteurs by W.E.B. Griffin (Men at War Series # 5)
The Battle of the Atlantic is at its peak. Packs of German U-boats are hunting down and sinking U.S. supply ships, and ships are being burned at their moorings in U.S. ports-is it accident or is it sabotage? Meanwhile, Allied forces are secretly preparing to invade first Sicily and then Italy. As the war heats up, Wild Bill Donovan's agents, answerable only to the president, find themselves battling on two fronts at once-and fate is just about to deal them a surprise.
Brimming with action, character, and the deep understanding of the military heart and mind that have made Griffin's books so outstanding, The Saboteurs is irresistible storytelling from a master of the craft.
The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister
Students include Claire, a young mother struggling with the demands of her family; Antonia, an Italian kitchen designer learning to adapt to life in America; and Tom, a widower mourning the loss of his wife to breast cancer. Chef Lillian, a woman whose connection with food is both soulful and exacting, helps them to create dishes whose flavor and techniques expand beyond the restaurant and into the secret corners of her students' lives. One by one the students are transformed by the aromas, flavors, and textures of Lillian's food, including a white-on-white cake that prompts wistful reflections on the sweet fragility of love and a peppery heirloom tomato sauce that seems to spark one romance but end another.
Brought together by the power of food and companionship, the lives of the characters mingle and intertwine, united by the revealing nature of what can be created in the kitchen.
Starlit by Lisa Rinna
Glamorous parties, flashing lights, red carpets—Tally Jones has worked hard to join Hollywood’s A-list since she moved to Los Angeles. She finally gets her break on the hit nighttime soap opera Dana Point, with a coveted role that allows the former small-town girl to trade her crisp waiter uniform for a breathtaking ball gown, a career as a glittering starlet, and a red-hot arm charm: chiseled hunk Gabriel McNamara, the king of prime-time medical drama.
Ratings have skyrocketed since Tally replaced veteran diva Susie Sheppard on the show, and her performance earned her an Emmy nomination. But celebrity has its dark side, too. Tally’s financial adviser makes off with her savings, and Gabriel’s kinky sexploits and paparazzi baiting have Tally wondering why there isn’t a better leading man in her life.
There is: the successful film producer Mac Carlton, who has been in love with her from the moment he set eyes on her. With Mac at her side, Tally is living the Hollywood dream—until Susie arranges for her character to make a comeback, then schemes to oust her popular costar from the limelight. Upon learning of Tally and Mac’s engagement, Susie sharpens her claws to snag Mac. She’s out to ruin Tally’s life completely. But Tally won’t go down without a fight. She’s determined to bring down her on- and off-screen nemesis and claim the sparkling happy ending she deserves.
