What they're going to do, I never would have believed it… These were among the final words spoken by Yuri Danko, an officer in the medical division of Russia’s security service, before his body was ripped apart by a spray of assassins’ bullets. Danko’s confidential appointment in Venice with Covert-One operative Jon Smith might have ended in death — but his secret didn’t die with him… Now, in possession of Danko’s classified papers, Smith and CIA undercover agent Randi Russell have unearthed a terrifying global conspiracy. A Serb terrorist, backed by Russians, is on a mission to spirit hazardous vials of deadly bacteria to a U.S. government agent — a shadowy figure whose motives for acquiring the bioweapon are made all the more unfathomable when both men are found murdered — and the strain is stolen. Time is running out for Smith and Russell to track it down, find the madman who possesses it, and stop him before he holds a defenseless world hostage with the power to render the human race extinct.

On the dark waterside docks of Shanghai, a photographer is recording cargo being secretly loaded when he’s brutally killed and his camera destroyed. Two weeks later, on the dangerous high seas, the U.S. Navy covertly tracks a Chinese cargo ship rumored to carry tons of chemicals for Saddam Hussein to create new biological weapons. The president cannot let the ship reach Iraq. At the same time, he doesn’t want the navy to attack and board it either, because decades of negotiations with China have at long last yielded a landmark human rights agreement that China is willing to sign. Fighting to keep the agreement on track, the president orders the head of Covert-One to find proof of what the Chinese ship is ferrying. Under cover of a medical conference, operative Col. Jon Smith is sent to Taiwan to rendezvous with another agent who has acquired the ship’s true manifest. But the second agent is murdered, the proof is destroyed, and Smith is left only with a verbal message-the president’s biological father is still alive, held prisoner by the Chinese for fifty years. Racing against the clock, Smith uncovers the truth about the ship, a truth that probes the deepest secrets of the Chinese ruling party and reveals a terrifying cabal whose diabolical plan thrusts the world to the very brink of war.

An unknown doomsday virus quickly claims the lives of four people across the country- including Dr. Sophia Russell, a researcher leading the team trying to crack the disease. Devastated and enraged, her fiance, Lt. Colonel Jonathan Smith, uncovers evidence that his lover's death was no accident- that someone out there has the virus, and the pandemic that threatens countless millions of lives was planned. Not knowing where to turn or whom to trust, Smith assembles a private team to aid his fight against the deadly virus. While the death toll mounts rapidly, their quest leads them to the highest levels of power and the darkest corners of the earth, as Smith and his team match wits with a determined genius out to destroy them, with the fate of the world in the balance…

Chrissie sets out canvassing for the 2017 General Election thinking only of drinks in the pub afterwards. But that's before she canvasses at a remote farmhouse where seemingly anything can happen.

SUGARPLUMS AND SCANDAL brings together the best of romance and mystery in one delightful collection of Christmas tales. In the expert hands of six of Avon's best storytellers, the holiday season takes on an air of love and scandalous surprises! Filled with Christmas miracles, romance, and suspense, this will make the perfect gift for both romance and mystery fans. Each author brings their own unique voice and characters to the collection, as well as their fan followings. All I Want For Christmas is My Two Front Teeth – Lori Avocato The Lords of Misrule – Dana Cameron The Ghost of Christmas Passed – Mary Daheim Partners in Crime – Cait London Holly Go Lightly – Suzanne Macpherson A Very Vampy Christmas – Kerrelyn Sparks

Rage Ryders are back for Tic and Kori’s story. Their story started years ago, and they’re finally getting their reunion.Sadis’(Tic)’ and Kori fell in love only to have it ripped apart by her father and his evil plans for his daughter. She’s always known her father is evil, but when he makes plans to hurt Tic and his brothers she makes a decision which will impact all of their lives. So Kori does what she feels is best -- she runs. Tic knew the day was coming when Kori was leaving, they had it planned, but when she left before schedule, he had known her father was involved. Vowing to make her father pay, he started his plans immediately for when she returned.When they finally reunite it isn’t what he had planned, he fights for what’s his, and Kori gives into her heart’s desires. The Rage Ryders have another battle on their hands as they take on Kori’s father and his band of evil drug dealings. More secrets emerge. Can Kori and Tic come out stronger and still keep their relationship intact, or was it doomed from the beginning? This is the third installment of the Rage Ryders Saga. This book concludes Tic and Kori's story and leaves openings for other couples to come. There is no cliffhanger. This book is not suitable for those under the age of 18. Does touch the subject of emotional and physical abuse. Please do not purchase this book if these topics are hard for you to read about or could cause you a trigger. There is sexual content. **

*WARNING....This book contains scenes which are inappropriate for anyone under the age of 18+ and has scenes with emotional, verbal and physical abuse, if this is a trigger for you please do not purchase, this book also includes a cliffhanger which will be picked up in book 2* Rylie has felt unwanted and unloved her entire life. Her step-dad has a control on her life to the point of dooming her friendships and relationships if he pleases. She met her Best-friend Skylar through her sister Sadie. The three of them are inseparable. The friendship leads Riley into a crush on Skylar's brother Kid. He's a male whore and loves to clown around. He has the tendency to make her tongue tied when he's around. She knows it will never go beyond her crush, Kid is pursued and wanted by every woman who meets him. She will have to live with this crush. Kid has noticed Riley, but doesn't want a woman of his own. He leaves her alone knowing she is a relationship type woman. He will be her friend and try not to let her down. He is protective of his family and his club. The Rage Ryderz MC has been in his blood since birth. His father is one of the founders along with his best friend Ryder's dad. He would lay his life down for any of them. This story isn't a perfect love story. It is about the journey of three MC members and the journey they are forced to travel while keeping their women alive and safe. Rylie and Sadie's life turns everyone's world upside down when secrets are revealed. Right when you think a Happily ever after is on it's way, there is always someone there to throw more hidden secrets in your path. Can the Rage Ryderz keep their women safe or will their enemies succeed in the end. This will be part of a series, the secrets never die just because the book ends. This book will carry into book two where more answers are revealed and the Rage Ryderz learn what war really means.**

When two souls are meant to find each other it doesn’t mean it’s an easy road to get there. When Travler and Kaci met, it wasn’t love at first sight it was a kinetic force too strong for either to resist. But resist is exactly what they did for years. Travler’s childhood isn’t filled with fond memories of loving parents and running wild and free. It was learning to deal with addicted parents and fear of the unknown. The only person in his life he ever loved and didn’t fear was his twin Tumbler. Trust isn’t something known, love is foreign. Until her, until Kaci. Kaci and her twin Kassi were thrown into boarding school by her father who wanted her outside of his MC life. Trying to protect his daughters did nothing but push them away from him. Kaci learned to love men in the wrong way. She trusts too easily until he hurts her one too many times. Then she decides to live wild and free with no emotions and definitely not love....

Maggie Gardiner, forensics expert for the Cleveland police department, and Jack Renner, a homicide detective with a killer secret, return in bestselling author Lisa Black's new thriller as they confront the darkest threat yet to their careers—and their lives. The body of fifteen-year-old Rachael Donahue—abandoned by society, raised in foster homes, and violently unapproachable—has been discovered at the bottom of a stairwell at Firebird, the secure facility for juvenile offenders in Cleveland. For Maggie and Jack, Rachael's death comes with a disturbing twist—the girl may have been involved with a much older man. But Rachael's not the only resident at the center to come to a dead end. Firebird's ten-year-old "wild child" has overdosed in the infirmary—back-to-back tragedies that appear to be terrible accidents. As a forensic investigator, Maggie knows appearances can be deceiving. And Jack knows all about deceit....

In this tour de force of psychological suspense, bestselling author Lisa Black draws from her experience as a forensic investigator to create two of the most fascinating characters in crime fiction: a killer with a unique sense of justice and a woman in a lifelong relationship with death...That DarknessAs a forensic investigator for the Cleveland Police Department, Maggie Gardiner has seen her share of Jane Does. The latest is an unidentified female in her early teens, discovered in a local cemetery. More shocking than the girl's injuries—for Maggie at least—is the fact that no one has reported her missing. She and the detectives assigned to the case (including her cop ex-husband) are determined to follow every lead, run down every scrap of evidence. But the monster they seek is watching every move, closer to them than they could possibly imagine. Jack Renner is a killer. He doesn't murder because he enjoys it, or because he believes himself...

In the tradition of Kathy Reichs and Jeffery Deaver, a talented novelist introduces a gutsy forensic investigator caught in the middle of an explosive crisis Early one Thursday morning, forensic scientist Theresa MacLean is called to the scene of a gruesome murder. The body of a man has been found on the front lawn of a house in suburban Cleveland, the back of his head bashed in. Although it's not the best start to her day, Theresa has been through worse. What unfolds during the next eight hours, though, is nothing she could ever have imagined. Downtown at the Federal Reserve Bank, her police detective fiancé is taken hostage with six others in a robbery masterminded by two clever criminals. When she arrives at the scene, Theresa discovers that the police have brought in the city's best hostage negotiator: handsome, high-profile Chris Cavanaugh. He hasn't lost a victim yet, but Theresa wonders if he might be too arrogant to save the day this time around. When her fiancé is...

With U.S. intelligence agencies wracked by internal power struggles and paralyzed by bureaucracy, the President was forced to establish his own clandestine group-Covert-One-only activated as a last resort, when the threat is on a global scale and time is running out. In northern Uganda, an American special forces team is decimated by a group of normally peaceful farmers. Video of the attack shows even women and children possessing almost supernatural speed and strength, consumed with a rage that makes them immune to pain, fear, and all but the most devastating injuries. Covert-One's top operative, army microbiologist Colonel Jon Smith, is sent to investigate the attack and finds evidence of a parasitic infection that for centuries has been causing violent insanity and then going dormant. This time, though, it's different. The parasite had been purposely kept alive and crudely transmitted in acts of terrorism. Now the director of Iranian Intelligence is in Uganda trying to obtain this biological weapon to unleash it on the West. Smith and his team are ambushed and cut off from all outside support just as they begin to suspect that forces much more powerful than the Iranians are in play-forces that can be traced to Washington itself.

ClareeWhen I came to live with Chief and Trinity as a teenager, I met Talon. He understood what I was feeling and going through and we became best friends. Our friendship grew and despite everyone's best efforts, we found times to slip away and be together. All was going well until we became a teenage statistic. Now, years later, we're still together, but his involvement with the club as a newly patched member means we've grown apart.I still love him with everything I have in me, but something's got to give. I can't talk about it with my mom because she doesn't understand, and I'd feel disloyal talking to his mom about him.TalonThe first time I saw Claree, I was hooked. And even though we both knew it was wrong to sneak around, we let our hormones be our guide and well, we got caught. I've been prospecting for the Rebel Guardians since I was eighteen and finally earned my patch a few years ago. Life should be...

The world's two deadliest spies in the ultimate showdown. At a small-town carnival two men, each mysteriously summoned by telegram, witness a bizarre killing. The telegrams are signed Jason Bourne. Only they know Bourne's true identity and understand the telegram is really a message from Bourne's mortal enemy, Carlos, known also as the Jackal, the world's deadliest and most elusive terrorist. And furthermore, they know that the Jackal wants: a final confrontation with Bourne. Now David Webb, professor of Oriental studies, husband, and father, must do what he hoped he would never have to do again – assume the terrible identity of Jason Bourne. His plan is simple: to infiltrate the politically and economically Medusan group and use himself as bait to lure the cunning Jackal into a deadly trap – a trap from which only one of them will escape.

Jason Bourne. He has no past. And he may have no future. His memory is blank. He only knows that he was flushed out of the Mediterranean Sea, his body riddled with bullets. There are a few clues. A frame of microfilm surgically implanted beneath the flesh of his hip. Evidence that plastic surgery has altered his face. Strange things that he says in his delirium—maybe code words. Initial: "J.B." And a number on the film negative that leads to a Swiss bank account, a fortune of four million…

In this sequel to The Bourne Identity , David Webb, still suffering flashbacks to his Jason Bourne persona, is forced to undertake a final, possibly fatal mission after his wife is kidnapped. He must find and capture an assassin who is posing as Bourne in Hong Kong. By so doing he'll foil a plot that could plunge the Far East and then the world into war. Ludlum's latest has a best seller quality that many imitate but few master. You can quibble about this being too long, too talky, too preposterously implausible, but you can't quit reading. As often happens with sequels, this is not quite up to the standards of the original, but legions of Ludlum fans will send it soaring up the best seller list. BOMC main selection. Charles Michaud, Turner Free Lib., Randolph, Mass.

Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine returns with issue #16, presenting the best in modern and classic mystery fiction! Included this time are the usual column by Dr John H. Watson, plus the following works:The Ironic Story of The Stevenson-Doyle Letters by Gary LovisiThe Contributions of William S. Baring-Gould, by Daniel DiQuinzioA Medieval Mystery, by Peter James QuirkHappy Birthday, Birthday Girl! by Richard A. LupoffHangin' with Iron Mike, by Stan TrybulskiInspector Romford's Greatest Cases by John GrantThe Last Song, by Dianne Neral EllSanta and The Shortstop, by Steve LiskowThe Case of the Addinton Tragedy, by Jack GrochotGold-Digger, by Laird LongThe Yellow Face, by Sir Arthur Conan DoyleSherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine is produced under license from Conan Doyle Estate Ltd.

"Lisbeth Salander is one of the most original characters in a thriller to come along in a while." --The New York Times Stieg Larsson's trilogy that began with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo has become this generation's international bestselling phenomenon. Disgraced crusading journalist Mikael Blomkvist has no idea of the levels of conspiracy he will uncover when is enlisted to investigate the unsolved disappearance nearly forty years ago of a Swedish industrialist's niece. And when the pierced and tattooed computer savant Lisbeth Salander joins him, together they unearth layers and layers of secrets and scandals that permeate the highest levels of society, from politics to finance to the legal system itself--at the bottom of which lies unimaginable cruelty perpetrated on the weak. In the course of these three shocking, unputdownable thrillers, we encounter one of the most heroic of survivors, as she battles some of the most heartless villains...

Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine returns with issue #15, presenting the best in modern and classic mystery fiction! Included this time are the usual column by Dr John H. Watson, plus the following works:Tuning in Sherlock, by John LongenbaughDr. Watson: Action Hero? by Leigh PerryA Study in Consistency, by Dan AndriaccoSherlock Holmes and the Autumn of Terror, by J.G. GrimmerThe Adventure of the Old Russian Woman, by Jack GrochotJuggling With Sherlock's Friend, by Mark Levy, BSIThe Adventure of the White Python, by Adam McFarlaneHappy Birthday, Mr Holmes! by Gary LovisiThe Adventure of the Eccentric Inventor, by Eugene D. GoodwinThe Revenge of the Fenian Brotherhood, by Carole BuggéThe Third Sequence, by Sherlock HolmesHow Watson Learned the Trick, by John H. Watson, MD...

In this thrilling novel by Lorenzo Carcaterra—the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Sleepers, Gangster, and Midnight Angels—organized crime goes to war with international terrorism in the name of one man’s quest for revenge. My name is Vincent Marelli, though most people call me The Wolf. You’ve never met me, and if you’re lucky you never will. But in more ways than you could think of, I own you.I run the biggest criminal operation in the world. We’re invisible but we’re everywhere. Wherever you go, whatever you do, however it is you spend your money, a piece of it lands in our pockets.You would think that with that kind of power I would be invincible. You would be wrong. I made a mistake, one that a guy like me can never afford to make. I let my guard down. And because I did, my wife and daughters are gone. Murdered by terrorists with a lethal ax to grind.That was my mistake.But it was also theirs.I wasn’t looking for a war with them. No one in my group was. But they’ve left me with nothing but a desire for revenge—so a war is what they’ll get. The full strength of international organized crime against every known terrorist group working today. Crime versus chaos.We will protect our interests, and I will protect my son. We won’t get them all, but I will get my revenge, or I will die trying.They will know my name.They will feel my wrath.They will fear The Wolf.Praise for Lorenzo Carcaterra “Crackles with action . . . a riveting and ingenious read that will keep you turning the pages.”—Douglas Preston, on Midnight Angels“A powerful read . . . with plenty of action and dialogue as authentic as the streets of New York.”—St. Petersburg Times, on Paradise City “Terrifying and heartbreaking . . . a brilliant, troubling, important book.”—Jonathan Kellerman, on Sleepers“A brilliant, multilayered novel that breathes and bleeds on every page. This book transcends the genre of crime fiction. It is a full-blooded novel and an epic read.”—Robert Crais, on Gangster**

The #1 bestselling master of suspense and international intrigue continues to set the standard against which all other thrillers are measured with his expertly plotted, pulse-pounding Covert-One series. The Lazarus Movement, the dominant force in the eco-conscious, “anti-technology” protest movement, has sent rumblings down the halls of the world's intelligence agencies. Led by a mysterious, never-seen figure known only as Lazarus, this increasingly prominent group is believed by some to be preparing a bold strike. When an attack on a nano-technology research facility leaves thousands dead — protestors and scientists alike — from what appears to be a cloud of inadvertently released but gruesomely deadly nanobots, pandemonium reigns. Lt. Col. Jon Smith is activated by Covert-One to find the truth about Lazarus where all others have failed. As Smith slowly uncovers the deadly underpinnings of the group, he soon learns that the Lazarus Movement is only the very tip of the iceberg in a deadly scheme that threatens billions of lives and will forever change the nature of the world itself.

At an international conference in Prague, Lt. Col. Jon Smith, an Army research doctor specializing in infectious diseases and secretly an agent attached to Covert-One, is contacted by a Russian colleague, Dr. Valentine Petrenko. Petrenko is concerned about a small cluster of mysterious deaths in Moscow and about the Russian government’s refusal to release publicly any information or data on the outbreak. When the two meet, they are attacked by a group of mysterious men and Petrenko is killed. His notes and medical samples are lost, and Smith barely escapes with his life. At the same time, a series of government officials around the world are coming down with a mysterious, fast-acting virus with a 100 % fatality rate. These deaths are somehow related to the increasing militarism from the new Russian government, headed by the autocratic and ambitious President Victor Dudarev. With few clues and precious little time, Smith and Covert-One must unravel this mysterious plot and find the mysterious figure who stands at the center of it all.

Maggie Gardiner, a forensic expert who studies the dead, and Jack Renner, a homicide cop who stalks the living, form an uneasy partnership to solve a series of murders in this powerful new thriller by the bestselling author of That Darkness. It begins with the kind of bizarre death that makes headlines—literally. A copy editor at the Cleveland Herald is found hanging above the grinding wheels of the newspaper assembly line, a wide strap wrapped around his throat. Forensic investigator Maggie Gardiner has her suspicions about this apparent suicide inside the tsunami of tensions that is the news industry today—and when the evidence suggests murder, Maggie has no choice but to place her trust in the one person she doesn't trust at all . . .Jack Renner is a killer with a conscience, a vigilante with his own code of honor. In the past, Jack has used his skills and connections as a homicide detective to take the law into his own hands, all in the...

In Panama City, Florida, in the 1940s, one-armed and gut-shot, PI Jimmy Riley is on the trail of Flaxon De Grasse, a sadistic serial sex killer, who has abducted his girlfriend, Lauren Lewis.Riley will hit every juke joint and brave every roadside stop by the cops to track them down. Stalwart, and given to occasional quick speeches on the meaning of life, Riley has backup in the form of his one-eyed black pal, Clip. Asked why he lost the peeper, he quips: "I training to be a private eye like him. Nobody tol' me you can have two."

From BooklistFlorida may no longer be the crime-fiction hot spot it was in the wake of Miami Vice (and the cocaine cowboys of South Beach), but perhaps the union’s most distinctive, diverse, and perverse state still boasts an impressive list of crime writers. This anthology brings together many of those writers to celebrate not only the state’s richness as a setting but also the special power of the short story. Included are James W. Hall, Tom Corcoran, Carolina Garcia-Aguilera, James. O. Born, John Dufresne, and Jonathan King—names just about every fan will recognize and writers whose use of the Florida landscape is at the heart of their work. Also included are well-known writers, such as John Lutz, whose work is set in a variety of locations not limited to Florida. The quality of the stories is high across the board, making this collection of definite interest both to followers of Florida crime fiction specifically and to anyone who enjoys the hard-boiled and noir styles. --Steve Glassman About the AuthorMichael Lister is a novelist, essayist, screenwriter, and playwright who lives in northwest Florida. A former prison chaplain, Michael is the author of the Blood series featuring prison chaplain/detective John Jordan. His second series features Jimmy "Soldier" Riley, a PI in Panama City during World War II (www.FloridaNoir.com). Michael also teaches college, operates a charity and community theater. www.MichaelLister.com

### Product Description It’s known as the Protective Management Unit. It’s a closed society within a closed society, housing Florida state inmates who wouldn’t survive in open population at Potter Correctional Institution. In it, John Jordan witnesses the most baffling crime of his career—a seemingly impossible murder he would swear could not have happened had he not seen it with his own eyes. John has come to the PM unit because of a note he received announcing a murder would take place during the Catholic Mass. As he observes the priest offering up the body and the blood, an inmate enters the unit, walks over to his cell, and is locked inside alone. A little while later, John notices a pool of blood spreading out from beneath the cell door. The inmate is dead, his body and his blood separated from one another. The inmate, a talented artist and quite possibly an innocent man, was sensitive and kind, just a few short days from parole. Who would want to kill him and why? Before John can answer these questions, he’s got to figure out how he was killed. Suspects abound, including the Catholic Priest conducting the mass, the two PM officers, the victim’s sister, who visited him just prior to his death—something she hadn’t done in four years—and a handful of inmates, one of whom was the victim’s lover. As the investigation proceeds, John uncovers crime after crime, and an openly racists family with plenty they aren’t open about. After taking a closer look at them, John’s best friend, Merrill Monroe, disappears. Attempting to balance his fragile reconciliation with his ex-wife and the high-stakes investigation, John is soon overwhelmed and wonders if the life he’s hoped for is even possible. Just when he think’s he can’t take anymore, a second disappearance brings with it the demand for a dangerous prison break and a daring exchange. When John finally figures out how the crime was committed and who’s behind it, an exciting climax follows that reveals the shocking solution, sees someone close to John shot, and carries for John the ultimate personal price—one he’s not sure he can pay.

From New York Times Bestselling author Michael ListerJohn Jordan is once again carrying a gun and a badge—and he’s going to need them. Balancing family life with being a cop and a prison chaplain takes grit and grace—and John has plenty of both.BLOOD OATH -- the 11th crime novel in the popular, award-winning, and critically-acclaimed John Jordan mystery series.“Michael Lister is a giant talent with a unique vision. His landmark John Jordan Mystery series is a treasure of contemporary literature.” Florida WeeklyPublisher's Weekly Starred Review: "Lister gives fair clues for the surprise solution, thus combining a compelling account of his hero’s spiritual struggle with a top-notch whodunit.""Another great ride with a very assured driver behind the wheel." Michael Connelly