Every Man a King: A King Oliver Novel by Walter Mosley
In this highly anticipated sequel to the Edgar award winner Down the River Unto the Sea, Joe King Oliver is entangled in a dangerous case when he’s asked to investigate whether a white nationalist is being unjustly set up.
When friend of the family and multi-billionaire Roger Ferris comes to Joe with an assignment, he’s got no choice but to accept, even if the case is a tough one to stomach. White nationalist Alfred Xavier Quiller has been accused of murder and the sale of sensitive information to the Russians. Ferris has reason to believe Quiller’s been set up and he needs King to see if the charges hold.
This linear assignment becomes a winding quest to uncover the extent of Quiller’s dealings, to understand Ferris’ skin in the game, and to get to the bottom of who is working for whom. Even with the help of bodyguard and mercenary Oliya Ruez—no regular girl Friday—the machine King’s up against proves relentless and unsparing. As King gets closer to exposing the truth, he and his loved ones barrel towards grave danger.
Mosley once again proves himself a “master of craft and narrative” (National Book Foundation) in this carefully plotted mystery that is at once a classic caper, a family saga and an examination of fealty, pride and how deep debt can go.
Her Last Breath by Dan Padavona
Her Last Breath (Wolf Lake Thriller Book 1 of 10 in Series) by Dan Padavona
He’s hunting a psychopath. And now the killer wants him dead.
After he’s shot in the line of duty, Detective Thomas Shepherd returns to Wolf Lake to pick up the pieces of his shattered life. Living beside the water, he finds peace…until the body of a missing woman washes up on his shore and the town blames a teenage boy with a history of violence.
Is a killer stalking the sleepy resort village?
Thomas isn’t convinced the teenager committed murder. Challenging a village that wants justice at any cost, he pursues the real killer as evidence mounts against the teenager. If he fails, an innocent boy will go to prison.
Can Thomas clear the boy’s name before he becomes the killer’s next victim?
Lawful Deception (Vernetta Henderson Series Book 5) by Pamela Samuels Young
Lawful Deception (Vernetta Henderson Series Book 5) by Pamela Samuels Young
Read more: https://a.co/d/5ChcltE
“Pamela Samuels Young has crafted a page-turner that will keep you engrossed until the very last page. If you’re a fan of smart legal thrillers with brisk pacing, crackling dialogue and edgy, intriguing characters, Lawful Deception is for you.”
–Dwayne Alexander Smith, Award-winning Author of Forty Acres.
Once again, award-winning author Pamela Samuels Young delivers another captivating legal thriller full of unexpected twists and jaw-dropping moments you never see coming. The beautiful Bliss Fenton won’t be winning any awards for Mother of the Year. Truth is, motherhood isn’t nearly as important to Bliss as the cottage industry she’s created: extorting wealthy men for the hefty child support she can collect.
But Bliss’ greed goes too far when she takes on Fletcher McClain. The handsome music industry mogul refuses to accept her conniving conduct lying down. He retains high-profile attorney Vernetta Henderson to sue Bliss for fraud.
Enter Bliss’ unscrupulous attorney, Girlie Cortez, who has a personal score to settle with Vernetta. As the two lawyers once again go head-to-head, their legal battle quickly escalates from merely contentious to downright deadly.
Murder: Secrets Among Colleagues by Dr. Shauntey James
Murder: Secrets Among Colleagues by Dr. Shauntey James
Prestigious faculty members at Mill Run University vie for a position to work on a national grant that will make a difference in all their careers. Secrets, lies, and cutthroat resentment stemming from graduate school dominate tenuous relationships between faculty, administration, and students, especially as tensions rise with an impending sexual misconduct hearing.
What length will a faculty member go to gain membership on the research team, earn tenure, achieve higher status, or even cover up a secret?
Is murder the only viable option?
Who can be trusted? Who is telling the truth? And how does one’s past impact future goals? See if you can figure out who has the motive to kill.
About Dr. Shauntey James
Dr. Shauntey James received her Ph.D. from Western Michigan University in 2000 in sociology with an emphasis in criminology, criminal justice, and feminist theory. Dr. James received her J.D. in 2014 from Thomas Cooley Law School. In law school, Dr. James was on the National Mock Trial Team, became certified in mediation, and worked in the Ingham County Probate Court and Estate Planning Clinic. Her teaching experience has enabled her to present on the local, state, and national level. Her most distinguished honor was being an Oxford Round Table Delegate. Presently, her research focuses on women, gender identification, and sexual assault.
National Security by Matt Sloane
National Security (Vince Carver Spy Thriller Book 1) by Matt Sloane
Vince Carver left the CIA with a dead friend and a close call.
So much for so-called intelligence work. No longer knowing what he was fighting for, Carver switched to the private sector and swore he’d never go back. Armed with the elite skills of a special operator, he now leads a team of security specialists far from the battlefield.
Everything changes when his convoy is ambushed on American soil.
The three-letter agencies all want a piece of him, and the CIA is front and center. His client, a semiconductor billionaire, may be selling secrets to the Chinese. As his bodyguard, Carver is the asset best placed to uncover the plot, and he begrudgingly commutes to Taipei for one last mission.
Soon he’s embedded in a world of slick intrigue and fast lies.
Carver is pitted against a resident security team led by a beautiful and enigmatic woman, but she’s far from the only one keeping secrets. When foreign agents gun for him, old doubts resurface, and not even the CIA is above suspicion.
Carver rediscovers his drive to fight.
He may be guarding secrets vital to US national security, but he’s a private contractor to the bone. This is Carver’s show, and he knows the key to a timeless truth. When best-laid plans fall by the wayside, nothing can replace the indifferent precision of a man with a gun.
National Security by Matt Sloane is stunningly real. A debut espionage thriller packed with intrigue, spycraft, and blistering action. From high-stakes business deals in Taipei to a strategic installation nestled in America’s Appalachians, this instant classic doesn’t stop to breathe until the last page.
Recommended for fans of Lee Child’s Jack Reacher, Vince Flynn’s Mitch Rapp, Robert Ludlum’s Jason Bourne, Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, and Brad Thor’s Scot Harvath.
Razorblade Tears: A Novel by S. A. Cosby
A Black father. A white father. Two murdered sons. A quest for vengeance.
Ike Randolph has been out of jail for fifteen years, with not so much as a speeding ticket in all that time. But a Black man with cops at the door knows to be afraid.
The last thing he expects to hear is that his son Isiah has been murdered, along with Isiah’s white husband, Derek. Ike had never fully accepted his son but is devastated by his loss.
Derek’s father Buddy Lee was almost as ashamed of Derek for being gay as Derek was ashamed of his father’s criminal record. Buddy Lee still has contacts in the underworld, though, and he wants to know who killed his boy.
Ike and Buddy Lee, two ex-cons with little else in common other than a criminal past and a love for their dead sons, band together in their desperate desire for revenge. In their quest to do better for their sons in death than they did in life, hardened men Ike and Buddy Lee will confront their own prejudices about their sons and each other, as they rain down vengeance upon those who hurt their boys.
Provocative and fast-paced, S. A. Cosby’s Razorblade Tears is a story of bloody retribution, heartfelt change – and maybe even redemption.
One of Barack Obama’s Recommended Reads for Summer • New York Times Notable Book • NPR’s Best Books • Washington Post’s Best Thriller and Mystery Books of the Year • TIME Magazine’s 100 Must-Read Books
Sounds Like a Plan: A Novel by Pamela Samuels Young and Dwayne Alexander Smith
Sounds Like a Plan: A Novel by Pamela Samuels Young and Dwayne Alexander Smith
Pub Day July 9, 2024. Purchase here: https://a.co/d/d4iOU9G
Reluctantly joining forces after discovering they’ve both been hired on the same missing person case, two rival Black private investigators find their mutual dislike evolves into an undeniable attraction in this rollicking, romantic thrill ride told in alternate perspectives from award-winning authors Dwayne Alexander Smith and Pamela Samuels Young.
Jackson Jones and Mackenzie Cunningham have a lot in common. They are both hard-working private investigators with their own firms in Los Angeles. They are both Black, happily single, and very good at their jobs. But when they’re together, they are like oil and water.
When they find themselves working the same missing persons case, the idea of collaborating seems about as likely as a blizzard in Beverly Hills. But once it’s clear that they have been set up to take the fall for a murder, they have no choice but to work together.
Bickering their way from Century City to Malibu and beyond, it becomes increasingly hard for them to deny the sparks flying between them. But with a small army of killers in hot pursuit, there’s no time to sort through their complicated feelings in this witty, fast-paced, and swoon-worthy mystery.
Stella Knox FBI Mystery Series by Mary Stone
Killer Smile (Stella Knox FBI Mystery Series Book 1) by Mary Stone
If looks can kill, a smile can be deadly.
Special Agent Stella Knox became an FBI agent to find the dirty cops responsible for her father’s murder and make them pay. But fresh out of Quantico, her first case has her seeking justice for a different victim—three of them, in fact.
The bodies of three teenage boys have turned up in a sleepy town outside of Nashville, TN. There’re no fingerprints, no DNA, and very little to connect the murders, except for a smiley face drawn in blood near two of the bodies. But why only two? The case makes zero sense, and the questions outnumber the answers.
Are the crimes related? Could it be the work of one calculating serial killer, or are they looking for three separate assailants?
One thing Stella knows for sure: someone is threatening the teenagers of small-town Cherry Farms, and they aren’t finished. As she and the team race against the clock to stop the nightmare that has descended upon this rural community, Stella has one more question…who will be next?
Enigmatic and gripping, Killer Smile is the first book in the new Stella Knox Series by bestselling author Mary Stone and Stacy O’Hare—a nail-biter that will make you wonder just how safe small towns really are.
Sweet Baby Mine by Maria Daversa
“My whole life I’ve wanted someone to believe in me, to believe I was worthy of love. I never thought that someone would be me.”
~Quote from Sweet Baby Mine
“Why is it all the bad things we’ve done in the past never stay in the past?”
Ana will do anything to hold on to Tony. He’s the love of her life–the Heathcliff to her Catherine, the Rivera to her Kahlo, the Sid to her Nancy. Without him, she’s nothing.
But Ana also has a secret–a youthful indiscretion that shouldn’t have happened. So, when her estranged daughter, Chloe, calls in the middle of the night to say she wants to come home, Ana finds herself caught in a web of deceit as mother and daughter share a secret so troubling it could destroy her marriage.
Set in the 20th arrondissement of Paris, Sweet Baby Mine is an adult coming of age tale about the collateral damage left behind when a marriage fails spectacularly. Told in real time and from the perspectives of the two main characters: Ana and Tony, the story documents the toll secrets, lies, betrayals, and mental illness can have on a couple who once believed they’d found in each other true love.
The tale is brutal, oftentimes heartbreaking, but always hopeful as it never deviates from its message. On the road to self-discovery, you will eventually learn that no matter what anyone says—no matter what flawed message you believed about yourself growing up, you are a good person and deserving of love.
A dark psychological drama, Sweet Baby Mine is unputdownable.
The Housemaid: Psychological Thriller by Freida McFadden
“Welcome to the family,” Nina Winchester says as I shake her elegant, manicured hand. I smile politely, gazing around the marble hallway. Working here is my last chance to start fresh. I can pretend to be whoever I like. But I’ll soon learn that the Winchesters’ secrets are far more dangerous than my own…
Every day I clean the Winchesters’ beautiful house top to bottom. I collect their daughter from school. And I cook a delicious meal for the whole family before heading up to eat alone in my tiny room on the top floor.
I try to ignore how Nina makes a mess just to watch me clean it up. How she tells strange lies about her own daughter. And how her husband Andrew seems more broken every day. But as I look into Andrew’s handsome brown eyes, so full of pain, it’s hard not to imagine what it would be like to live Nina’s life. The walk-in closet, the fancy car, the perfect husband.
I only try on one of Nina’s pristine white dresses once. Just to see what it’s like. But she soon finds out… and by the time I realize my attic bedroom door only locks from the outside, it’s far too late.
But I reassure myself: the Winchesters don’t know who I really am.
They don’t know what I’m capable of…
An unbelievably twisty read that will have you glued to the pages late into the night. Anyone who loves The Woman in the Window, The Wife Between Us and The Girl on the Train won’t be able to put this down!
The Law of Karma by Pamela Samuels Young
WE ALL HAVE SECRETS. BUT SOMETIMES SECRETS HAVE US.
The award-winning author of Anybody’s Daughter is back with a gripping tale of passion, deceit, and murder.
Miles Slade looks every bit the successful lawyer, but his swanky office and designer suits hide some desperate truths. A flailing law practice. Massive debt. A dying sister in need of expensive care. Miles is willing to do just about anything—to cross any line—to raise the cash he urgently needs.
Then he meets Nicole Paxton. Beautiful, sophisticated, and unlike any woman he’s ever known. Like Miles, Nicole has her own secrets. She ignites a passion in Miles so intense, he’s ready to give up his secret life. But before he’s able to do so, both he and Nicole become entangled in a new web of deception—one that involves murder.
Amid the suspicions, lies, and overpowering desires, is there still a chance that love can conquer all?
They Can’t Take Your Name: A Novel by Robert Justice
Laced with atmospheric poetry and literature and set in the heart of Denver’s black community, this gripping crime novel pits three characters in a race against time to thwart a gross miscarriage of justice—and a crooked detective who wreaks havoc…with deadly consequences.
What happens to a deferred dream—especially when an innocent man’s life hangs in the balance? Langston Brown is running out of time and options for clearing his name and escaping death row.
Wrongfully convicted of the gruesome Mother’s Day Massacre, he prepares to face his death. His final hope for salvation lies with his daughter, Liza, an artist who dreamed of a life of music and song but left the prestigious Juilliard School to pursue a law degree with the intention of clearing her father’s name. Just as she nears success, it’s announced that Langston will be put to death in thirty days.
In a desperate bid to find freedom for her father, Liza enlists the help of Eli Stone, a jazz club owner she met at the classic Five Points venue, The Roz. Devastated by the tragic loss of his wife, Eli is trying to find solace by reviving the club…while also wrestling with the longing to join her in death.
Everyone has a dream that might come true—but as the dark shadows of the past converge, could Langston, Eli, and Liza be facing a danger that could shatter those dreams forever?
We Lie Here: A Thriller by Rachel Howzell Hall
A woman’s trip home reveals frightening truths in a twisty novel of murder and family secrets by the New York Times bestselling author of And Now She’s Gone and These Toxic Things.
TV writer Yara Gibson’s hometown of Palmdale, California, isn’t her first choice for a vacation. But she’s back to host her parents’ twentieth-anniversary party and find the perfect family mementos for the celebration. Everything is going to plan until Yara receives a disturbing text: I have information that will change your life.
The message is from Felicia Campbell, who claims to be a childhood friend of Yara’s mother. But they’ve been estranged for years—drama best ignored and forgotten. But Yara can’t forget Felicia, who keeps texting, insisting that Yara talk to her “before it’s too late.”
But the next day is already too late for Felicia, whose body is found floating in Lake Palmdale. Before she died, Felicia left Yara a key to a remote lakeside cabin. In the basement are files related to a mysterious tragedy, unsolved since 1998. What secrets was Felicia hiding? How much of what Yara knows about her family has been true?
The deeper Yara digs for answers, the more she fears that Felicia was right. Uncovering the truth about what happened at the cabin all those years ago will change Yara’s life—or end it.
“In We Lie Here, Rachel Howzell Hall gives us a tight, lean, eye-level look at the Gibson family—flawed, normal, abnormal, and each affected by a deadly secret left buried for years—while weaving a page-turning tapestry of dread, cold-blooded murder, and nail-biting tension. What a ride. What a wonderful writer. More, please.” —Tracy Clark, author of the Chicago Mystery series
“Rachel Howzell Hall continues to shatter the boundaries of crime fiction through the sheer force of her indomitable talent.” —S. A. Cosby, author of Blacktop Wasteland
Where There Was Fire by John Manuel Arias
A lush and lyrical debut novel about a Costa Rican family wrestling with a deadly secret, from rising literary star John Manuel Arias.
Costa Rica, 1968. When a lethal fire erupts at the American Fruit Company’s most lucrative banana plantation burning all evidence of a massive cover-up, the future of Teresa Cepeda Valverde’s family is changed forever.
Now, twenty-seven years later, Teresa and her daughter Lyra are still picking up the pieces. Lyra wants nothing to do with Teresa, but is desperate to find out what happened to her family that fateful night. Teresa, haunted by a missing husband and the bitter ghost of her mother, Amarga, is unable to reconcile the past.
What unfolds is a story of a mother and daughter trying to forgive what they do not yet understand, and the mystery at the heart of one family’s rupture, steeped in machismo, jealousy, labor uprisings, and the havoc wreaked by banana plantations in Central America.
Brimming with ancestral spirits, omens, and the anthropomorphic forces of nature, John Manuel Arias weaves a brilliant tapestry of love, loss, secrets, and redemption.
John Manuel Arias is a queer, Costa Rican-American poet and writer. He is a Canto Mundo fellow & alumnus of the Tin House Summer Writers Workshop. His prose and poetry have been published in PANK, The Rumpus, F(r)iction, Joyland Magazine, and Akashic Books. He has lived in Washington D.C., Brooklyn New York, and in San José, Costa Rica with his grandmother and four ghosts. Where There Was Fire is his debut novel.