A Killing Night by Jonathon King

A Killing Night by Jonathon King

Synopsis

Max Freeman is at a crossroads. No longer content to live solely in his remote shack in the Everglades, he is looking to move beyond his self-imposed isolation. So when his onetime girlfriend, Detective Sherry Richards, asks for his help as a private investigator in nailing an ex-cop she suspects of killing several young women in South Florida, Max is ready to help her see justice done.

But there's a problem. Sherry's suspect is a former police officer from Philadelphia who served with Max - a brother-in-blue who once saved Max's life. Matters are made worse when Max's own aggressive investigation leads him to believe that Sherry's crusade to protect these women is about to roll over a possibly innocent man.

Caught between his loyalty to Sherry and his debt to his fellow ex-cop, Max's search for the truth will take him back to the streets of Philadelphia, where he will dig into his fellow officer's troubled past . . . only to come face-to-face with his own. And while Max continues his quest, a controlling, cunning killer inexorably closes in on what could be his next victim . . .

⇒ Via: BN.com

Retired policeman is asked by his friend to assist in an investigation of missing bartenders who are believed to be dead.

Eye of Vengeance by Jonathon King

Eye of Vengeance by Jonathon King

Synopsis

A veteran crime reporter, Nick Mullins was no stranger to scenes of violence and loss. He was well practiced at keeping tragedy at arm's length with a professional detachment - until he was forced to face his own tragedy when a drunk driver took the lives of Nick's wife and one of their two daughters, forever shattering his world. Now, with a nine-year-old to raise on his own, Nick struggles to balance single fatherhood with a career that daily puts him into the dark corners of death and justice. When a convicted murderer is dramatically and publicly gunned down with a single bullet to the head in front of a county jailhouse, Nick is immediately dispatched by his newspaper to cover the story, pressing his old police contacts with his usual mix of subtle charm and brazen questioning. But when he realizes that the victim was the subject of one of his old stories, Nick is drawn into the investigation himself. Before long he's one step ahead of the cops in the hunt for a cold-blooded killer . . . a sniper who has a talent for targeting criminals, and who makes it clear that he has his eye on Nick.

With his career, family, and life on the line, Nick plays a delicate and potentially deadly game of cat-and-mouse with the police, the Secret Service, and his editors - all of whom are watching Nick's every move as he fights to find the shooter before he strikes again. A stirring page-turner bristling with an intense, gritty realism and filled with vivid and unforgettable characters, Eye of Vengeance is Jonathon King at his very best.

⇒ Via: BN.com

Journalist on track of vigilante sniper finds out that the sniper is selecting his victims based on his write ups of the killers.

Silence by Thomas Perry

Silence by Thomas Perry

Synopsis

Six years ago, Jack Till helped Wendy Harper disappear. But now her ex-boyfriend and former business partner, Eric Fuller, is being framed for her presumed murder in an effort to smoke her out. Till must find her before tango-dancing assassins Paul and Sylvie Turner do

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Ex-cop PI tries to find a missing person whom he helped disappear six years ago

Killer Weekend by Ridley Pearson

Killer Weekend by Ridley Pearson

Synopsis

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER THAT'LL LEAVE READERS BREATHLESS.

Controversial New York State Attorney General Liz Shaler is announcing her candidacy for president at a high-profile convergence of media heavy-hitters. Also in attendance is an assassin with a brilliant and foolproof plan.

⇒ Via: BN.com

Presidential candidate is targeted for assassination. Run of the mill fare, does not hold your interest. Predictable plot and insipid characters. Skip this one.

Nothing to Lose (Jack Reacher Series #12) by Lee Child

Nothing to Lose by Lee Child

Synopsis

Two lonely towns in Colorado: Hope and Despair. Between them, twelve miles of empty road. Jack Reacher never turns back. It's not in his nature. All he wants is a cup of coffee. What he gets is big trouble. So in Lee Child’s electrifying new novel, Reacher—a man with no fear, no illusions, and nothing to lose—goes to war against a town that not only wants him gone, it wants him dead.

It wasn’t the welcome Reacher expected. He was just passing through, minding his own business. But within minutes of his arrival a deputy is in the hospital and Reacher is back in Hope, setting up a base of operations against Despair, where a huge, seething walled-off industrial site does something nobody is supposed to see . . . where a small plane takes off every night and returns seven hours later . . . where a garrison of well-trained and well-armed military cops—the kind of soldiers Reacher once commanded—waits and watches . . . where above all two young men have disappeared and two frightened young women wait and hope for their return.

Joining forces with a beautiful cop who runs Hope with a cool hand, Reacher goes up against Despair—against the deputies who try to break him and the rich man who tries to scare him—and starts to crack open the secrets, starts to expose the terrifying connection to a distant war that’s killing Americans by the thousand.

Now, between a town and the man who owns it, between Reacher and his conscience, something has to give. And Reacher never gives an inch.

⇒ Via: BN.com

Reacher goes on offensive when he is caught and thrown out of a remote town on vagrancy charges. Sketchy plot line fails to grab the reader. The novel feels more like a mass produced hack job rather than an inspired story. Not the author's best.

Tucker Peak by Archer Mayor

Tucker Peak by Archer Mayor

Synopsis

"To its visitors, the resort area Tucker Peak is Vermont personified: small, thinly populated, a fun place to ski all day and party all night. To its beleaguered owners, it is a resort on the ropes, undersized, underdeveloped, and hemorrhaging money. Their plan: expand and spend a fortune on the gamble. But two problems quickly arise when environmentalists rally to protest the development and the slope-side condo owners suffer a rash of seemingly unsolvable burglaries." "Enter Joe Gunther and the newly minted Vermont Bureau of Investigation. Summoned by the embattled local sheriff, Joe doesn't take long to find out that the most likely thief has mysteriously vanished - leaving behind his dead girlfriend - or to discover that some of the protesters may have more on their agendas than protecting the environment." Soon Joe finds himself undercover and buried up to his neck in an increasingly violent game. To survive he must sort through a multitude of players in a risky town where swindlers and saboteurs run amok, corruption and deceit lurk at every turn...and the truth is the most dangerous gamble of all.

⇒ Via: BN.com

Crappy yarn about whodunit at a Vermont ski resort. Bland, uninteresting and boring.

Bone Factory by Steven Sidor

Bone Factory by Steven Sidor

Synopsis

A collection of lonely souls look for one last shot at happiness. Instead they're trapped in the never-ending cycle of false hope and true despair—and deadly violence—that is Booth City.

Homicide cops Ike Horner and Eliza Ochoa are on the scene of a body dump in a riverfront park, crouching over the freezing corpse of yet another working girl—cut up in all the most delicate places. Soon Ike and Eliza find themselves on a fatal mission as they unravel a conspiracy that stretches from the darkest holes in Booth to the fringes of its most influential families. As the murder investigation hurtles toward its startling conclusion, Ike and Eliza uncover terrifying secrets that are buried too close to home. . .

⇒ Via: BN.com

TInsipid yarn about couple of homicide detectives on track of a killer who has left no trace.

Skin River by Steven Sidor

Skin River by Steven Sidor

Synopsis

Skin River is the story of Buddy Bayes, a man with a past trying desperately for a second chance at a peaceful life as a tavern owner in smalltown Gunnar, Wisconsin. His hopes for a new start are shattered, however, when he finds the severed hand of a missing young woman and falls headlong into a harrowing situation which has Buddy convinced that his past has come back to haunt him. Things aren't what they seem, though, and jumping to conclusions proves to be a disastrous mistake as the true nature of Buddy's situation slowly comes into focus. A tense, chilling novel that introduces Steven Sidor, a fine young writer with an exacting touch, a disciplined hand, and a remarkable talent for suspense.

⇒ Via: BN.com

Reclusive bartender finds himself dragged into murder investigation when he finds hand of a missing girl.

Whiskey Killing by H. R. Williams

Whiskey Killing by H. R. Williams

⇒ Via: BN.com

Medford CID Captain Billy Walker leads the murder investigation of liquor shop owner who is shot dead outside his home.

House of Corrections: A Jack Flippo Mystery by Doug J. Swanson

House of Corrections by Doug J. Swanson

Synopsis

When his former mentor calls him from an East Texas jail cell, Jack Flippo goes running-straight into a drug bust and a dirty past.

A new Jack Flippo Mystery-"Detective fiction at its finest. (Carl Hiaasen)For a Texan who isn't me, Doug Swanson can really write. (Kinky Friedman)

⇒ Via: BN.com

Seedy PI is called upon by ex-colleague to bail him out of trouble but finds himself betrayed.

Loaded Dice by James Swain

Loaded Dice by James Swain

Synopsis

For ex-cop Tony Valentine, life in balmy Florida provides little R&R. In fact, he’s in demand now more than ever. Armed with a special grift sense, Valentine can spot card cheats and even bigger game whose sole purpose on earth is to relieve a casino of its cash. But when his son, who was going to card-counting school, goes missing, Valentine jets to Las Vegas. Once in town, he is pressed into service—and lands inside a treacherous game with higher stakes than he has ever encountered before.

There’s a new casino in town, aptly named Sin, the largest on The Strip: three thousand guest rooms and a gambling floor as big as an airport terminal. The owners of Sin want Valentine to show them how the scams are done. But these powerful men harbor ulterior motives: They want to use their newfound skills to put a rival casino out of business.

Sin’s competition is the Acropolis, run by Valentine’s longtime pal. Nick taps Tony to figure out how an amateur won $50,000 at his blackjack tables. But the small job is full of landmines. For starters, the suspect bears a strong resemblance to his late wife. What’s more, Valentine’s son is still M.I.A. Upping the ante, a dead stripper is found with Valentine’s calling card—and her grief-stricken boyfriend is vowing revenge.

Yet in a city where barracudas wear pinstripes, time seems motionless even while it flies, and reality and illusion shift depending on the neon light, a greater threat maneuvers through the streets: an all-new breed of criminal with an agenda propelled by fury that will shake not just Valentine, but the city of Las Vegas.

⇒ Via: BN.com

Tuncovers an elaborate plot to run down a casino by rivals.