Suspense
Berlin Walls, by Bill Rapp
Berlin Walls, by Bill Rapp It is August 1961, and CIA officer Karl Baier finds himself back in Berlin working with his old KGB nemesis and sometimes source, Sergei Chernov, who wants to defect. This time, though, Baier must find a way to get not only Chernov, but also his wife’s parents through the new…
Read MoreRecusal, by Donald Catalano
Recusal, by Donald Catalano Recusal is a suspense novel that delves into the world of high-stakes politics played out at the preeminent level of the United States government. President Andrew Cochran and Chief of Staff Nathan Whitaker hasten to fill a newly open seat on the Supreme Court to gain political advantage for the nascent…
Read MoreSkeleton Key, by Reed Bunzel
Skeleton Key, by Reed Bunzel One year after his world is devastated in Hurricane Blues, Jack Connor is stitching his life back together one thread at a time. He now manages an open-air drinking establishment named The Sandbar across the road from the sand in Folly Beach, a shabby-chic tourist town half an hour from…
Read MoreShould Grace Fail, by Priscilla Paton
Should Grace Fail, by Priscella Paton On a June morning, Detective Erik Jansson finds the body of a former policeman in a St. Paul dumpster. The victim, Dan, a recovered alcoholic, had been rescuing an addicted teen, Luna, from sex trafficking. With the backdrop of the opioid crisis, the detectives pursue suspects—missing Luna, who has…
Read MoreJimmy and Fay, by Michael Mayo
Jimmy and Fay, by Michael Mayo It’s March 2, 1933. King Kong is premiering at Radio City Music Hall, and Fay Wray is about to become the most famous actress on earth. So what’s she doing hanging around a rundown Manhattan speakeasy? This Hollywood scream queen has come to see Jimmy Quinn, a limping tough guy who…
Read MoreEveryone Goes to Jimmy’s, by Michael Mayo
Everyone Goes to Jimmy’s, by Michael Mayo Young Jimmy Quinn is delivering a bribe for the infamous racketeer Arnold Rothstein when a bomb goes off on Wall Street, killing thirty people and scaring every banker in the city right down to his spats. Twelve years later, Rothstein is dead, and Jimmy is doing his best…
Read MoreJimmy the Stick, by Michael Mayo
Jimmy the Stick, by Michael Mayo Jimmy Quinn was a gunman, bootlegger, and bagman, running with mobsters the likes of Lucky Luciano, Meyer Lansky, and Vincent “Mad Dog” Coll, until a bullet in the leg and the murder of Arnold Rothstein ended his career. Quinn bought a speakeasy in downtown Manhattan and settled into a…
Read MoreMiracles, by John A. Vanek
Miracles (270 pages) is the second novel in John Vanek’s Father Jake Austin Mystery series. Father Jake Austin assumes multiple, often seemingly incompatible roles of physician, priest, healer and detective, and with each case, he hopes for miracles. “Vanek brings G.K. Chesterton’s Father Brown into the twenty-first century and sprinkles in hints of PBS’s Grantchester. You…
Read MoreIllegal Holdings, by Michael Niemann
Illegal Holdings (240 pages) is the third book in a series featuring United Nations fraud investigator Valentin Vermeulen. After a $5 million transfer in UN funds goes missing in Mozambique, Vermeulen discovers a deep vein of corruption involving land deals. “Up against a wall of deceitfulness and threats from hired assassins, a veteran investigator follows the…
Read MoreDEROS, by John A. Vanek
DEROS (304 pages) is the first book in a mystery/suspense series by John A. Vanek set in Oberlin, Ohio, and featuring amateur detective Father Jake Austin. A series of murders force Father Jake Austin to confront his own violent past, regrets over lost love, and his doubts about the priesthood. “This intense debut introduces a…
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