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By James Church. 2012
James Church's Inspector O novels have been hailed as "crackling good" (The Washington Post) and "tremendously clever" (Tampa Tribune), while…
Church himself has been embraced by critics as "the equal of le Carré" (Publishers Weekly, starred). Now Church—a former Western intelligence officer who pulls back the curtain on the hidden world of North Korea in a way that no one else can—comes roaring back with a new novel introducing Inspector O's nephew, Major Bing, the long-suffering chief of the Chinese Ministry of State Security operations on the border with North Korea. The last place Bing expected to find the stunningly beautiful Madame Fang—a woman Headquarters wants closely watched—was on his front doorstep. Then, as suddenly as she shows up, Madame Fang mysteriously disappears across the river into North Korea, leaving in her wake both consternation and a highly sensitive assignment for Bing to bring back from the North a long missing Chinese security official. Concerned for his nephew's safety, O reluctantly helps him navigate an increasingly complex and deadly maze, one that leads down the twisted byways of O's homeland. In the tradition of Philip Kerr's Berlin Noir trilogy, and the Inspector Arkady Renko novels, A Drop of Chinese Blood presents an unfamiliar world, a perplexing universe where the rules are an enigma to the reader and even, sometimes, to Inspector O. Once again, James Church has crafted a story with beautifully spare prose and layered descriptions of a country and a people he knows by heart.By Stefanie Pintoff. 2010
Following on the heels of Stefanie Pintoff's acclaimed and award-winning debut, A Curtain Falls is a moody and evocative tale…
that follows Ziele and his partners as they scour the dark streets of early-twentieth-century New York in search of a true fiend.The careers of New York City detective Simon Ziele and his former partner Captain Declan Mulvaney went in remarkably different directions after the tragic death of Ziele's fiancée in the 1904 General Slocum ferry disaster. Although both men were earmarked for much bigger things, Ziele moved to Dobson, a small town north of the city, to escape the violence, and Mulvaney buried himself even deeper, agreeing to head up the precinct in the most crime-ridden area in the city.Yet with all of the detectives and resources at Mulvaney's disposal, a particularly puzzling crime compels him to look for someone he can trust absolutely. When a chorus girl is found dead on a Broadway stage dressed in the leading lady's costume, there are no signs of violence, no cuts, no bruises—no marks at all. If pressed, the coroner would call it a suicide, but then that would make her the second girl to turn up dead in such a manner in the last few weeks. And the news of a possible serial killer would be potentially disastrous to the burgeoning theater world, not to mention the citizens of New York.By David L. Golemon. 2008
Reminiscent of the works of James Rollins and Matthew Reilly comes the latest in an action-packed series about the nation's…
most secret agency---the Event GroupTen thousand years before the Roman Empire marched great legions across the known world, there was a civilization dedicated to the sciences of earth, sea, and sky. In the City of Light lived people who made dark plans to lay waste to their uncivilized neighbors using the very power of the planet itself. As the great science of their time was brought to bear on the invading hordes, hell was set loose on Earth. And the civilization of Atlantis disappeared in a suicidal storm of fire and water.Now history threatens to repeat itself. The great weapon of the Ancients has been uncovered in the South Pacific, and it is being deciphered by men of hatred---by an evil once thought banished from history. Again, the black swastika of hate is rising. Their plan is to attempt to control and direct the most destructive force this world has yet to see, a weapon that would make nuclear arms pale in comparison. The world starts to tremble under the power of the ancient science. The seas rise, the earth cracks, and entire cities crumble to dust as the evil plan mapped out thousands of years before takes shape.The Event Group, the most secret department of the United States government, staffed by the most brilliant men and women of science, philosophy, and the military, must take the lead and try to stop the power of the Ancients. With a presidential mandate to discover the truth behind the myths and legends of history, the Event Group fights to ensure that mistakes from the past are never repeated. Headed by Colonel Jack Collins, the Group must face its most dangerous assignment ever: to find the lost trail of the Ancients and unearth the missing key before the new Reich. Can the most secret federal service of the United States track down the lost trail that will lead them to the lair of this secret power? Or will the world explode in a chain reaction that began more than eleven thousand years ago? The Event Group is the world's only hope as they search and battle for the lost power of the Ancients.Heart-pounding action combines with historical adventure as the Event Group discovers that some myths never die. . . .By Homer Hickam. 2010
"A fascinating thriller, well crafted and relentless ... A cross between Tony Hillerman and Larry McMurtry, this is one hell…
of a good read."--Douglas Preston, author of Tyrannosaur Canyon and BlasphemyThe cowboys who work on the ranchlands of Montana expect more than their fair share of trouble. One of them is Mike Wire, a former homicide detective. Mike is about to learn murder and mayhem can happen under Motnana's big skies, too. Beneath the earth lie enough dinosaur fossils to fill several museum collections---and make a fortune for whoever claims them first. Soon he will have to combine everything he learned as a cop with everything he knows as a cowboy to protect the people and the land he could never live without.By Homer Hickam. 2007
The year is 1943 and World War II in the Pacific rages on, with Americans engaged in desperate battles against…
a cunning enemy. Coast Guard Captain Josh Thurlow is on hand at the invasion of Tarawa, as the U.S. Navy begins the grand strategy of throwing her marines at island after bloody island across the Pacific. But nothing goes as planned as young Americans go up against fanatical defenders, who revel in snipers, big guns, and human wave attacks from which there is no escape save death. As blood colors the waters around Tarawa, Josh flounders ashore through a floating graveyard of dead men and joins the survivors, determined to somehow wrest victory from disaster. Critically wounded, ,Josh expects to die. Instead, he is spun off on one of his greatest adventures when Sister Mary Kathleen, a young Irish nun, nurses him back to health, then shanghais Josh, sidekick Bosun Ready O'Neal, and three American marines to a group of beautiful tropical islands invaded by a brutal Japanese warlord. Josh and his little band must decide whether to help the Sister fight the battle she demands, return to Tarawa and the "real" war, or settle down in the romantic splendor of the South Seas. Hickam expertly weaves the adventures of these hot-blooded characters tighter and tighter until the Sister's secrets and sins are finally revealed during a horrific battle in the lair of the warlord. With an incredible eye for historical detail and the talent of a master storyteller, Homer Hickam delivers another tour de force.By James Church. 2017
James Church, a former Western intelligence officer, returns to the secret world of North Korean intelligence with another “crackling good”…
(The Washington Post) story in his critically acclaimed Inspector O series.Under the guise of machinery for making dumplings, a Spanish factory near Barcelona is secretly producing a key component in the production of nuclear weapons. When information finds its way to the inboxes of Western intelligence agencies that this “dumpling maker” is meant for North Korea, orders go out that the shipment must be stopped. Either the machine must be disabled while still in the factory, or the transportation route must be discovered so the equipment can be intercepted before it reaches its destination. An old friend recruits Inspector O to assist in the complex operation designed to disrupt the plans for shipping the machine.Carefully planted bits of information and bizarre events have led both the Spanish factory and those trying to intercept the machine to conclude that Japanese criminal organizations are involved in buying and transporting the “dumpling” machine in order to hide the involvement of North Korea. A flurry of murders puts the focus on the northeast Chinese city of Yanji, near the border with North Korea, where O’s nephew Major Bing is the Chief of State Security. Bing has his own problems dealing with a corrupt local mayor who is out for his head, coping with a new deputy who cannot be trusted, and figuring out why a Chinese gangster he’s worked for years to chase away has suddenly returned.Church— hailed as “the equal of le Carré” by Publishers Weekly — takes O deep into a maze of cracked mirrors that hide the exits from an elaborate, deadly double blind in his most elaborate mystery yet, The Gentleman from Japan.By David L. Golemon. 2015
In 1863 a meeting takes place between legendary war leaders--a secret alliance that will never show up in any American…
history books. A clandestine arrangement has been struck for a single chance to heal a war-torn nation. The mission is to bring the greatest prize in the world back to American soil-remnants of pre-history's greatest ship and most startling mystery. The prize may lie on a mountain top inside the fierce Ottoman Empire, yet the men who seek it are only days away from trying to kill one another. In 2007, America's darkest agency known to only a privileged few as the Event Group, has been tasked by the President to bring home a famous former astronaut who was on a mission to bring back the greatest biblical artifact-Noah's Ark. It will be up to the newly-installed Director of Security at Department 5656, Major Jack Collins and his team of brilliant men and women, to rescue the archeological expedition from forces that will kill to keep the mysterious artifacts inside the territorial borders of Turkey.THE MOUNTAIN is the latest entry in a series that ratchets up the suspense with each new installment. Combining the action of James Rollins and Matthew Reilly, David L. Golemon sets the bar even higher with his New York Times bestselling series.By Solomon Jones. 2006
Karima "Cream" Thomas is an ex-convict from an upper-crust family whose only crime was falling for a drug dealer and…
refusing to testify against him. Sexy, intelligent, street-smart, and determined to change after serving time in the municipal prison system, Karima returns to find that her ex, Duane Faison, wants her back. And for one passion-filled night, she considers it. But with dawn comes common sense and the realization that she must make a clean break from her past. To do that, she'll need something she's never had to ask for—help. And she knows only one person with the power to give it. Marilyn Johnson has fought to make it in the rough-and-tumble world of Philadelphia politics. After ten years on the City Council, she's finally made it to the president's seat, but she's had to forge some questionable alliances to make it there, including her long-running affair with the married mayor. When Karima asks for help in finding a job, Marilyn is caught off guard. Her niece's criminal record is one of the many secrets she has hidden from the public, but seeing an opportunity, crafty Marilyn hatches a plan to get rid of Karima once and for all. The mayor is murdered in cold blood and Marilyn is sworn into office, bringing Karima's criminal past to light. She is quickly the prime suspect in the murder investigation, and in order to save her own name and get to the bottom of the story, Karima must return to the streets.By David Daniel. 1995
Amiable, wisecracking Alex Rasmussen was first introduced--to great acclaim--in The Heaven Stone, which won the PWA/St. Martin's Best First Private…
Eye Novel Contest, and was also named one of the best mysteries of the year by the Providence Journal-Bulletin. Now ghosts from the past and a murderous Halloween haunt his second case. A former cop gone private, Rasmussen makes a living in the decaying New England mill town of Lowell, Massachusetts. Lowell is also the hometown of Good Night Show host Jerry Corbin, whose career has started to slump in recent years. Corbin and his entourage have come to town to film the pilot episode for a new series designed to boost his sagging star quotient and rescue his ratings. Unfortunately, someone's been sending Corbin hate mail, and an off-the-record investigation is in order. Enter Rasmussen, whose familiarity with TV consists of whatever's on the set in his local bar between sporting events. He's game for the job, though, and soon finds himself one of the insiders in Corbin's camp. Digging into Corbin's life to find out who wants to destroy him, Rasmussen learns that there are old secrets someone wants kept and old grudges someone wants satisfied. Corbin may have been on the fringes of these events, but now he has become the prime target.By Nicolás Obregón. 2018
"A dark, brutal ride through the underbelly of LA." —Anthony Horowitz, author of Magpie MurdersIn this follow-up to Nicolás Obregon’s…
critically acclaimed Blue Light Yokohama, Inspector Iwata returns—in a murder case in his new home of Los Angeles.After a brutal investigation ripped apart his life, Kosuke Iwata quit both his job as a detective with the Tokyo Police Department and his country, leaving Japan for the sunnier shores of Los Angeles, California. But, although he’s determined to leave his past behind, murder still follows him. Having set up shop as a private investigator, Iwata is approached by someone from his old life. Her daughter has been killed and the case has gone cold. Out of loyalty, Iwata agrees to take on the case and reinvestigate the homicide. However, what seems initially like a cold-blooded but simple murder takes a complex turn when a witness, a vagrant, recalls the killer's parting words: “I’m sorry.” From the depths of Skid Row to the fatal expanse of the Sonoran Desert, Iwata tracks the disparate pieces of a mysterious and heartbreaking puzzle. But the more he unearths, the more complex this simple act of murder becomes. Lives untangle, fates converge, and blood is spilled as Inspector Iwata returns.By Rick Gavin. 2013
The nastiest meth lord in three states is out for revenge on Southern repo-man Nick Reid in the next riotously…
funny Delta noir novel from Rick GavinThe last time Nick Reid and his pal Desmond tangled with that crazy meth-dealer Boudrot, Boudrot landed in jail and Nick and Desmond helped themselves to the several hundred grand in cash hidden in his trailer. Now Boudrot's made a jailbreak and escaped into the bayou. In pure spiteful nastiness, Boudrot is three cuts above your regular dime-a-dozen lowlife, and it's a sure bet he's out for revenge on everyone involved in last year's incident. Nick and Desmond immediately set out to warn the innocent—relatively speaking, anyway—of trouble to come, and proceed to round up the troops for a showdown. But that Boudrot is even meaner and crazier than they've bargained for, and Nick and Desmond will be lucky to make it through alive on this wild, wacky chase through the Mississippi Delta.With Nowhere Nice, Rick Gavin has done it again—readers will laugh aloud and feel like they've been to Mississippi themselves as they cheer right alongside Nick and Desmond on their latest raucous adventure in the South.By Angus Donald. 2012
"A rip-roaring tale . . . full of twists and turns...A fast-moving, thoroughly enjoyable yarn." —Kirkus Reviews on King's ManRobert,…
Earl of Locksley, returns in Warlord, the latest in Angus Donald's compelling historical novels, reimagining one of the most indelible figures in folklore—Robin Hood. King Richard I, the Lionheart, is engaged in a bloody war to drive the French out of Normandy. Using the brutal tactics of medieval warfare—siege, savagery and scorched earth—the Lionheart gradually pushes back the forces of King Philip of France. By his side in this epic struggle are the erstwhile outlaw Robin Hood, and Sir Alan Dale, his loyal friend. But while the battles rage, Alan is preoccupied with discovering the identity the man who ordered his father's death ten years earlier—a mystery that leads him towards to Paris, deep into the heart of the enemy's territory.By Laura Kay. 2021
'The Split has everything I love in a novel. It's hilariously funny, it's so uplifting, and its characters are irresistibly…
loveable' - BETH O'LEARY'Full of humour, kindness, cake and a cat, this is the novel to turn to in difficult times' - KATIE FFORDE Following a brutal break up, Ally flees to her dad's house in Sheffield with her ex's cat (who always preferred her anyway). When she realises Emily isn't coming to win back either her or the cat, Ally takes to the sofa to mourn the future she'd planned.After a few days' grace, her dad calls in reinforcements - Ally's old friend and first beard, Jeremy. Reunited, the two find solace in each other's heartbreak and an endless supply of baked goods. But jacked up on sugar and mutual delusion, they concoct a plan to run the half marathon and win back their exes...This seems like the perfect example of their ability to commit and better themselves. But will their exes be waiting at the finish line, or is there a whole new future on the horizon?A brilliant, heart-warming and intensely funny story of love, heartache, friendship and family. Perfect for fans of Marian Keyes and Beth O'Leary.~*~ PRAISE FOR THE SPLIT ~*~'A warm, funny, comforting read with such loveable characters!' - RUTH JONES'Uplifting, warm and heartfelt, with a cast of engaging characters who quickly became my friends. A feel-good depiction of love, friendship and family, which is very funny, but with moments of true poignancy too. An absolute must-read' - HOLLY MILLER'It's like meeting Marian Keyes and Dawn O'Porter in a cosy gay pub in Sheffield!' MATT CAIN'Wise, wonderful and so much fun. I loved it!' - HEIDI SWAIN 'It was pure fun. Heart-warming and adorable' - JULIE COHEN'It's rare that a book so important to the literary canon is, at the same time, entertaining, heart-warming, and funny' - ANSTEY HARRIS 'I adored The Split - a hilarious but oh-so-relatable tale of how not to handle a break-up. It made me laugh and sigh and head out for a run' - HOLLY HEPBURN'An absolute JOY from start to finish. If you're after a smart, funny romcom with characters to root for, this is one for you' - RICHARD ROPER'Fun, sassy and a joy to read. I loved it!' - EMMA COOPER'Such a lovely and heart-warming book. And it's hilarious! ... You'd be hard pushed to find a better group of characters to spend time with' - SUZANNE EWARTLove The Split? Then read Laura Kay's new heartwarming romcom, Making It, available to pre-order now!By Sophie Gonzales. 2021
A bisexual girl who gives anonymous love advice to her school friends is hired by the hot new kid to…
help him get his ex back. Leah on the Offbeat meets To All the Boys I've Loved Before - the new queer YA rom-com from Sophie Gonzales.'Perfectly wonderful' - Becky Albertalli, New York Times bestselling author of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda Her advice, spot on. Her love life, way off. Darcy Phillips: Can give you the solution to any of your relationship woes - for a fee. Uses her power for good. Most of the time. Really cannot stand the new Australian jock at school, Alexander Brougham. Has maybe not the best judgement when it comes to her best friend, Brooke...who is in love with someone else. Does not appreciate being blackmailed. But when Brougham catches Darcy in the act of collecting letters from locker 89 - out of which she's been running her questionably legal, anonymous relationship advice service - that's exactly what happens. In exchange for keeping her secret, Darcy begrudgingly agrees to become his personal dating coach. The goal? To help him win his ex-girlfriend back. Darcy has good reason to keep her identity secret. If word gets out that she's behind the locker, some things she's not proud of will come to light, and there's a good chance Brooke will never speak to her again. Okay, so all she has to do is help an entitled, bratty, (annoyingly hot) guy win over a girl who's already fallen for him once? What could possibly go wrong?By Aleesah Darlison. 2024
Get ready for a feathered adventure with Romeo Fortez … the cutest sloth EVER … and the world&’s most daring…
superhero!Romeo&’s nemesis, the unhinged Professor Ian Weird-Warp, is at it again. Bent on revenge, he concocts a quirky catastrophe. Mixing chicken and goat genes, he spawns a gang of eccentric chick-oats and they&’re on the loose in the Big Apple, destroying everything in their path all the while chanting, &‘Berk-berk-baa!&’ As the team faces off against Professor Weird-Warp&’s sinister demands for Romeo&’s surrender, they must hatch a brilliant plan to thwart the mad professor&’s wicked schemes once and for all. Can this unlikely crew save the city from the clutches of the chick-oats?ABOUT THE SERIESMeet Romeo Fortez, a tiny sloth with incredible superhero abilities. At his extraordinary naming ceremony, a once-in-a-millennium event grants him incredible powers of speed, intelligence, and irresistibly hypnotic good looks Moving to New York City, he finds new friends and a formidable nemesis, Professor Ian Weird-Warp, who crafts mutant animals … and pandemonium. Joined by his pals, they unite to foil Weird-Warp's sinister creations. Romeo may be a tiny sloth, but he is one incredible superhero. Super Sloth is loaded with thrilling plots, death-defying antics, lovable heroes, heartwarming moments, loads of humour – and a few dastardly bad guys – all of which young readers will adore!Praise for the Series&‘This is a new action-packed series for newly independent readers which combines the author's love of sloths and superheroes with fast-paced adventures and humour underpinned by friendship and teamwork and the opportunity to learn a little more about one of the planet's more curious species... Darlison says, "My goal was to craft an engaging read that allows kids to escape from reality and enter an exciting and intriguing world where animals and humans can accomplish amazing things together,&” and she has done this well.&’ Barbara Braxton &‘Read this with My Miss 8 and she adored Romeo the Super Sloth there were plenty of laugh out loud moments! Highly recommend for kids that love animals, comedy and action-packed storytelling.&’ Sarah Tegerdine A rollicking, fast paced adventure story filled with incredible inventions, dangerous decisions, brave friends, superheroes, and very evil villains!By Eric Schnall. 2024
Winner of the Barbara DiBernard Prize in Fiction It&’s the new millennium and the anxiety of midlife is creeping up…
on Sam Singer, a thirty-seven-year-old art advisor. Fed up with his partner and his life in New York, Sam flies to Berlin to attend a gallery opening. There he finds a once-divided city facing an identity crisis of its own. In Berlin the past is everywhere: the graffiti-stained streets, the candlelit cafés and techno clubs, the astonishing mash-up of architecture, monuments, and memorials. A trip that begins in isolation evolves into one of deep connection and possibility. In an intensely concentrated series of days, Sam finds himself awash in the city, stretched in limbo between his own past and future—in nightclubs with Jeremy, a lonely wannabe DJ; navigating a flirtation with Kaspar, an East Berlin artist he meets at a café; and engaged in a budding relationship with Magda, the enigmatic and icy manager of Sam&’s hotel, whom Sam finds himself drawn to and determined to thaw. I Make Envy on Your Disco is at once a tribute to Berlin, a novel of longing and connection, and a coming-of-middle-age story about confronting the person you were and becoming the person you want to be.By Heather Gale. 2019
An empowering celebration of identity, acceptance and Hawaiian culture based on the true story of a young girl in Hawaiʻi…
who dreams of leading the boys-only hula troupe at her school.Ho'onani feels in-between. She doesn't see herself as wahine (girl) OR kane (boy). She's happy to be in the middle. But not everyone sees it that way.When Ho'onani finds out that there will be a school performance of a traditional kane hula chant, she wants to be part of it. But can a girl really lead the all-male troupe? Ho'onani has to try . . .Based on a true story, Ho'onani: Hula Warrior is a celebration of Hawaiian culture and an empowering story of a girl who learns to lead and learns to accept who she really is--and in doing so, gains the respect of all those around her. Ho'onani's story first appeared in the documentary A Place in the Middle by filmmakers Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson.By Ellen Raskin. 1978
A Newbery Medal WinnerFor over thirty-five years, Ellen Raskin's Newbery Medal-winning The Westing Game has been an enduring favorite. This…
highly inventive mystery involves sixteen people who are invited to the reading of Samuel W. Westing's will. They could become millionaires-it all depends on how they play the tricky and dangerous Westing game, a game involving blizzards, burglaries, and bombings! Ellen Raskin has created a remarkable cast of characters in a puzzle-knotted, word-twisting plot filled with humor, intrigue, and suspense. Winner of the Newbery Medal Winner of the Boston Globe/Horn Book Award An ALA Notable Book A School Library Journal One Hundred Books That Shaped the Century"A supersharp mystery...confoundingly clever, and very funny." —Booklist, starred review "Great fun for those who enjoy illusion, word play, or sleight of hand." —The New York Times Book Review"A fascinating medley of word games, disguises, multiple aliases, and subterfuges—a demanding but rewarding book." —The Horn BookBy Tristan Bancks. 2015
Ben has always wanted to be a cop, so he's intrigued when police officers show up at the door, asking…
for his parents. Then his parents arrive after the police leave and rush him and his sister into the car, insisting they are going on a vacation. Ben's a little skeptical—his family doesn't go on vacations. After they lose the police in a high-speed car chase and end up in a remote cabin deep in the woods, Ben discovers his parents' secret: millions of dollars were deposited into their bank account by accident, and they took the money and ran off. Ben isn't sure what to think. Are his parents criminals? And because he ran off with them, is he a criminal, too?By Charlie Donlea. 2017
The bestselling author of Twenty Years Later delivers a chilling thriller where nothing is at it seems and each reveal…
is more shocking than the last…right up to the jaw-dropping final twist.&“A gripping thriller that will blow readers away." –Mary Kubica, New York Times bestselling author on Don&’t Believe It&“A superb storyteller.&” —Robert Dugoni, New York Times bestselling authorTwo abducted girls—one who returns, one who doesn&’t. The night they go missing, high school seniors Nicole Cutty and Megan McDonald are at a beach party in their small town of Emerson Bay, North Carolina. Police launch a massive search, but hope is almost lost—until Megan escapes from a bunker deep in the woods. . . . A year later, the bestselling account of her ordeal has made Megan a celebrity. It&’s a triumphant story, except for one inconvenient detail: Nicole is still missing. Nicole&’s older sister, Livia, a fellow in forensic pathology, expects that one day soon Nicole&’s body will be found and her sister&’s fate determined. Instead, the first clue comes from another body—that of a young man connected to Nicole&’s past. Livia reaches out to Megan to learn more about that fateful night. Other girls have disappeared, and she&’s increasingly sure the cases are connected. Megan knows more than she revealed in her book. Flashes of memory are pointing to something more monstrous than she described. And the deeper she and Livia dig, the more they realize that sometimes true terror lies in finding exactly what you&’ve been looking for . . . &“A fast-moving page-turner. . . . Donlea skillfully maximizes suspense by juggling narrators and time all the way to the shocking final twists.&”—Publishers Weekly &“Well worth the read.&”—Booklist &“Donlea&’s sophomore effort is solid. He keeps the reader guessing and second-guessing until the end, thanks to an expertly crafted abundance of potential suspects.&”—Library Journal