Cold Burn by Kit Ehrman

Cold Burn by Kit Ehrman

Synopsis

Steve Cline has managed the hunter/jumper show barns at Foxdale Farm for the better part of three years. But he has a deal with himself: When he no longer feels challenged, when the routine becomes stagnant, he will look for another job...and he passed that point months ago. So when Corey Claremont, one of Foxdale's boarders, asks Steve for help because her brother has gone missing, Steve embraces the puzzle with enthusiasm.

Two weeks earlier, for no apparent reason, Bruce Claremont quit his job working the night shift on a thoroughbred breeding farm in Warrenton, Virginia, and vanished. To find out what happened, Steve slips unobtrusively into Bruce's world.

The more Steve learns, the more he suspects that Corey may never see her brother again. Secrets, jealousies, and obsessions are the norm in this pastoral setting, and the present seems to be repeating its fiery past.

⇒ Via: BN.com

Wanna be PI goes to work for a horse farm where his friend used to work to find out circumstances of his mysterious disappearance. Insipid, disjointed writing with the main character who stumbles through his investigation.

Strike Dog by Joseph Heywood

Strike Dog by Joseph Heywood

Synopsis

A serial killer is knocking off America’s best conservation officers—and Service learns he is next on the list. The FBI brings him on the case, but Service is also out for blood. The killer has murdered his girlfriend, Maridly Nantz, and his son, Walter. Service must navigate the terrain of his own grief as well as the killer’s twisted mind.

⇒ Via: BN.com

Grady Service gets involved in a case of serial killings of game wardens supposedly by the perfect murderer on a killing spree spanning decades.

A Visible Darkness by Jonathon King

A Visible Darkness by Jonathon King

Synopsis

Tormented by the demons of his past, ex-cop Max Freeman rarely ventures beyond his secluded shack deep in the Florida Everglades. But he can't ignore the recent string of suspicious deaths of elderly, poor women that the police have been unable, or unwilling, to investigate. When his best friend urges him to get involved and act like the cop he's trying to forget he was, Max must confront the dangers of the city streets-and the unexpected shadows of his own past.

⇒ Via: BN.com

Max Freeman investigates suspicious deaths of elderly women on request of his friend uncovering a diabolical plot to kill the women to get their insurance proceeds.

Acts of Nature by Jonathon King

Acts of Nature by Jonathon King

Synopsis

Max Freeman and Detective Sherry Richards retreat to Max's secluded shack in the Everglades. No television. No phones. And no help when a violent hurricane turns the getaway weekend into a desperate fight for survival. But on a perilous trek back to civilization they discover the greatest threat is no longer nature—but man. And whoever it is who's stalking them through the glades has good reason not to let them out alive.

⇒ Via: BN.com

Max Freeman and Sherry Richards survive hurricane and looters while camping out in everglades.

Chasing Darkness by Robert Crais

Chasing Darkness by Robert Crais

Synopsis

Elvis Cole is Back--In a Desperate Fight to Clear his Name...

It's fire season, and the hills of Los Angeles are burning. When police and fire department personnel rush door to door in a frenzied evacuation effort, they discover the week-old corpse of an apparent suicide. But the gunshot victim is less gruesome than what they find in his lap: a photo album of seven brutally murdered young women -- one per year, for seven years. And when the suicide victim is identified as a former suspect in one of the murders, the news turns Elvis Cole's world upside down.

Three years earlier Lionel Byrd was brought to trial for the murder of a female prostitute named Yvonne Bennett. A taped confession coerced by the police inspired a prominent defense attorney to take Byrd's case, and Elvis Cole was hired to investigate. It was Cole's eleventh-hour discovery of an exculpatory videotape that allowed Lionel Byrd to walk free. Elvis was hailed as a hero.

But the discovery of the death album in Byrd's lap now brands Elvis as an unwitting accomplice to murder. Captured in photographs that could only have been taken by the murderer, Yvonne Bennett was the fifth of the seven victims -- two more young women were murdered after Lionel Byrd walked free. So Elvis can't help but wonder -- did he, Elvis Cole, cost two more young women their lives?

Shut out of the investigation by a special LAPD task force determined to close the case, Elvis Cole and Joe Pike desperately fight to uncover the truth about Lionel Byrd and his nightmare album of death -- a truth hidden by lies, politics, and corruption in a world where nothing is what it seems to be.

⇒ Via: BN.com

Cole and his partner crack a case of serial killer when a burnt out body of a supposedly suicide victim turns up with evidence that he was the serial killer. The victim was previously investigated and cleared by Cole so he feels doubly responsible and dogs the case till the real killer is found.

The Accident Man by Tom Cain

The Accident Man by Tom Cain

Synopsis

If Princess Diana had been murdered, what sort of man would have killed her?

Breathlessly paced and featuring one of the most intriguing heroes in recent fiction, Tom Cain's The Accident Man surprises the reader at every turn. For a certain sum of money, Samuel Carver will arrange a death. A ruptured gas line, an automobile crash, a fall from a window; anything can look like an accident. But when Carver is to carry out a job in a tunnel in Paris, and when the job goes wrong for him, and when he is pursued by the very forces that hired him, Carver must execute his most daring feat yet. A thriller of the grandest and most exhilarating sort, The Accident Man races above and below the streets of Paris, across Europe, and through storms at sea. It is also a startling introduction to a hero engaged in acts of moral violence. With the dissolution of world powers, with everything and anything for sale, how does one justify death? Samuel Carver—a clouded man of determined action—will come to understand the prices to be paid. Fans of James Bond, the Jason Bourne films, and Lee Child will thrill at Samuel Carver's violent and uncertain world.

⇒ Via: BN.com

Professional hit man is on the run himself after his employers turn on him after an execution. Russian mafia and British monarchy and spooks come together in this thrilling adventure woven around a true event.

First Kill by Michael Kronenwetter

First Kill by Michael Kronenwetter

Synopsis

Hank Berlin and Jack Drucker had been friends since grade school---and both in love with Elizabeth Kermanski. Early on, however, Hank saw that he was out of the running, and made the best of it. They still remained friends. The friendship was only torn when Jack enlisted in the army to serve in Vietnam, and Hank, who was against the war, traveled to Canada to escape the draft. After that, the two men never spoke again, and Elizabeth followed her husband’s lead

When amnesty was granted to expatriates by President Carter, Hank returned to their small town and set up shop as a private investigator. Jack went to work on his father’s local newspaper, winning praise for his initiative to find good and surprising stories. Until someone shot him dead in his car, which was parked on a lonely street well after midnight.

Still somewhat under Elizabeth’s spell, Hank agrees to take her on as a client. Hank’s cases as a private detective have been somewhat limited; their town was not a place for spectacular crimes. But he begins looking for any possible lead, and is not surprised to find that many prominent people have secrets in their lives. Could star reporter Jack Drucker have been the target of someone’s need for silence?

⇒ Via: BN.com

Small town PI is approached to solve a murder of his one time best friend.

Mr. Paradise by Elmore Leonard

Mr. Paradise by Elmore Leonard

Synopsis

Roommates Kelly and Chlöe are enjoying their lives and their downtown Detroit loft just fine. Kelly is a Victoria's Secret catalog model. Chlöe is an escort, until she decides to ditch her varied clientele in favor of a steady gig as girlfriend to eighty-four-year-old retired lawyer Tony Paradiso, a.k.a. Mr. Paradise.

Evenings at Mr. Paradise's house, there's always an old Michigan football game on TV. And when Chlöe's around, there's a cheerleader, too, complete with pleated skirt and blue-and-gold pompoms. One night Chlöe convinces Kelly to join in the fun, along with Montez Taylor, Tony's smooth-talking right-hand man.

But things go awry and before the end of the evening there will be two corpses, two angry hit men, one switch of identity, a safe-deposit box full of loot up for grabs, and, fast on the scene, detective Frank Delsa, who now has another double homicide -- and this one with a beautiful, willful witness -- to add to his already heavy caseload.

With a cool cast, snappy dialogue, and all the twists and turns fans crave, Mr. Paradise is Elmore Leonard at home in Detroit and sharper than ever.

⇒ Via: BN.com

Insipid tale of a high roller and his young mistrees being murdered by his man friday who hires two hitmen to do the job for him. Very superficial story, feels like it was produced just to fulfill his obligation to publisher. Disappointing.

Ice Hunter by Joseph Heywood

Ice Hunter by Joseph Heywood

Synopsis

The first in the Woods Cop mystery series by the acclaimed author of The Snowfly.
Library Journal

Conservation officer Grady Service feels a special connection to the Mosquito Wilderness in Michigan's heavily forested Upper Peninsula, so when a serial arsonist shows up there, as well as the body of a man belonging to a notorious family of poachers and ex-cons, he takes the affronts personally. A second-generation officer of the Department of Natural Resources and a Vietnam veteran, Grady uses his tracking talents to corral the killer. Heywood, author of such thrillers as The Snowfly and The Berkut, builds his surrounds slowly, peopling them with memorably idiosyncratic characters and conveying an overall sense of reverence for nature. An engaging read and promising series debut. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

⇒ Via: BN.com

Conservation officer Grady Service foils a conspiracy to mine the Michigan wilderness for diamonds.

The Blue Edge of Midnight by Jonathon King

The Blue Edge of Midnight by Jonathon King

Synopsis

On a night that will haunt him forever, ex-cop Max Freeman killed a twelve-year-old child in self-defense in a Philadelphia shootout. Since then, he has lived on the edge of the Florida Everglades, where he answers to no one but the demons gnawing at his conscience. But when he finds a corpse of a child along a riverbank, he's pulled back into the twisted maze of law and order-as a murder suspect.

⇒ Via: BN.com

Max Freeman finds himself a prime suspect when he discovers body of a dead child. Finding himself on track of rogue Gladesman, he finds himself targetted by both police and the murderer.

Shadow Men by Jonathon King

Shadow Men by Jonathon King

Synopsis

It begins with an 80-year-old mystery. Three men - a father and his two sons - vanished while working as laborers on a dangerous project to build the first road through the Florida Everglades. Now, years later, a series of letters are unexpectedly discovered by a descendent of these men. Driven by the need to know what happened to these lost members of the family, he starts asking questions - and is quickly stonewalled. With nowhere else to turn, he enlists the help of former Philadelphia police officer Max Freeman.

Living in his isolated shack in the Glades, Max starts his longshot investigation into the fate of the men. A newly minted private investigator working with his friend and attorney, Billy Manchester, Max is surprised to meet resistance immediately at every turn. The search for the truth quickly turns violent - and Max finds he has more to worry about than just 80-year-old ghosts. For there are powerful interests that want to make sure that the shadows of the past remain undisturbed - including some who will kill to make sure they do.

⇒ Via: BN.com

Max Freeman solves a 80 year mystery of miising father and his two children who turn out to be murdered.

The Shadow Catchers by Thomas Lakeman

The Shadow Catchers by Thomas Lakeman

Synopsis

FBI Special Agent Mike Yeager is in trouble. His most recent child-kidnapping case ended tragically, and the FBI has suspended him. Worse, Mike can't seem to forgive himself. He's run away from Philadelphia to the mountains of Nevada in an attempt to forget. In the small town of San Cristobal, Mike hopes to start over—until he learns about one local child who was recently killed and another who has just gone missing.

Gun-shy after his last case, Mike doesn't want to get involved. But now that he's drawing the suspicion of local law enforcement, he has no choice but to get involved, if only to prove he's not the killer. Then he realizes he's in the perfect position to solve the case, a success that would redeem him in the eyes of the FBI, and save at least one more child…before time runs out.

⇒ Via: BN.com

FBI agent assists smalltown sheriff to solve a case involving skeletons from sheriffs past.

Grift Sense by James Swain

Grift Sense by James Swain

Synopsis

Amidst the neon and the big special ugly of Las Vegas, mild-mannered Frank Fontaine is beating the brains out of the Acropolis Casino. The house cops think the dealer, a blonde named Nola, is part of the con, but no one can prove a thing. For Tony Valentine, it's the first new scam he's seen in decades—and maybe the best.

⇒ Via: BN.com

Tony Valentines debut novel takes Tony on track of a hustler out to swindle a casino run by an eccentric millionaire with a penchant for many wives.