Monday, October 01, 2012

Review: The Hanging by Wendy Hornsby

Mysterious Reviews: Reviews of New Mysteries, Novels of Suspense, and Thrillers

A Mysterious Review of …

The Hanging by Wendy Hornsby. A Maggie MacGowen Mystery.

Review summary: This is a multi-layered mystery set at a small college, where politics play a significant role — and contribute a body of motives and suspects. But it is the relationships Maggie has with her friends, family, and most especially a student she considers a surrogate son, that make this credibly plotted novel a most enjoyable mystery. (Click here for text of full review.)

Our rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Hanging Wendy Hornsby

The Hanging
Wendy Hornsby
A Maggie MacGowen Mystery
Perseverance Press (September 2012)

Publisher synopsis: When her television series is abruptly canceled, investigative filmmaker Maggie MacGowen accepts a short-term contract to teach film production at a local community college — an interesting diversion, she thinks, until the next TV gig comes along. But if Maggie expects her sojourn in the ivory tower to be peaceful, she is dead wrong. Instead, she finds herself in the middle of an explosive power struggle.

In the current era of budget cuts and fee increases, community college president Park Holloway arouses faculty and student animosity with his expensive building program, especially an admin building derisively nicknamed the Taj Ma'Holloway. When Maggie finds the college president hanging in the building's stairwell, suspicion falls not on her, but on her young friend Sly Miller. A world-class artist, his sculpture was supposed to be hanging in place of the body.

That's only the beginning of a twisty plot dealing with the aesthetics and business of art, a billion-dollar art-for-arms deal; political corruption and cronyism; and issues of art forgery and journalistic ethics, all capped off by a stunning denouement.

Available from Amazon.com  Available from Kobo

Mark Harmon in John Sandford's Certain Prey, Now on DVD

Certain Prey (2011)

Mark Harmon received a star — the 2,482nd — on the Hollywood Walk of Fame today … and while everyone is talking about his long-running role as Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs in the CBS drama NCIS, we were reminded of his portrayal of Minneapolis Deputy Police Chief Lucas Davenport in last year's made-for-television adaptation of John Sandford's Certain Prey. (We missed announcing the movie on DVD, when it was released last month.)

Based on the tenth book in the series to feature the character, when a cop is shot after witnessing the murder of the wife of a local real estate lawyer, Davenport is called to the scene. The cops quickly zero in on the husband as the prime suspect until a team of FBI agents descends on Minneapolis with evidence linking the crime to elusive hit woman Clara Rinker (Tatiana Maslany). Taking charge of the investigation, Davenport suspects that Clara is not working alone and sets his sights on Carmel Loan (Lola Glaudini), a high-powered attorney with an intense obsession for the real estate lawyer. As Carmel and Clara try to cover up their crimes, the body count grows and Davenport does what he does best — breaking all the rules in order to nab this deadly duo.

We saw the movie when it aired on USA Network last October, and found Harmon to be an engaging Davenport, maybe not exactly how we had envisioned him from the books in the series, but quite acceptable in the role. We haven't heard anything about a sequel, but if/when we do we'll pass the information along.

Mystery and Suspense Films, New This Week on DVD (121002)

Mystery, Suspense, and Thriller Films on DVD, Blu-ray Disc, or Video on Demand

Checking through our list of films currently scheduled for release this week on DVD and/or Blu-ray disc, shown below are those that fall into the mystery, suspense, thriller and adventure categories.

See also a list of current mystery and suspense DVD, Blu-ray, or VOD deals on Amazon.com.

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Dark Shadows


Dark Shadows (2012)

Directed by Tim Burton from a screenplay by Seth Grahame-Smith, and based on the ABC television series Dark Shadows.

Film Synopsis (from the studio): In the year 1752, Joshua and Naomi Collins, with young son Barnabas, set sail from Liverpool, England to start a new life in America. But even an ocean was not enough to escape the mysterious curse that has plagued their family. Two decades pass and Barnabas (Johnny Depp) has the world at his feet-or at least the town of Collinsport, Maine. The master of Collinwood Manor, Barnabas is rich, powerful and an inveterate playboy … until he makes the grave mistake of breaking the heart of Angelique Bouchard (Eva Green). A witch, in every sense of the word, Angelique dooms him to a fate worse than death: turning him into a vampire, and then burying him alive.

Two centuries later, Barnabas is inadvertently freed from his tomb and emerges into the very changed world of 1972. He returns to Collinwood Manor to find that his once-grand estate has fallen into ruin. The dysfunctional remnants of the Collins family have fared little better …

Running time: 113 minutes. Rating: PG-13 for comic horror violence, sexual content, some drug use, language and smoking.

Purchase/Rental Options

Available on DVD  Available on Blu-ray Disc  Available on Amazon Instant Video  Available on iTunes  Available on Netflix

Watch a trailer for the film below

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Red Lights


Red Lights (2012)

Written and directed by Rodrigo Cortés.

Film Synopsis (from the studio): Veteran paranormal researchers Dr. Margaret Matheson (Sigourney Weaver) and Tom Buckley (Cillian Murphy) debunk fraudulent claims of ghost whispering, faith healing and other psychic phenomena by detecting what Matheson calls "red lights", the subtle tricks behind every staged supernatural occurrence. But when the legendary blind psychic Simon Silver (Robert De Niro) comes out of retirement after 30 years, his once-fearless adversary Matheson warns Buckley to back off, fearing reprisal from the powerful Silver.

Running time: 113 minutes. Rating: R for language and some violence.

Purchase/Rental Options

Available on DVD  Available on Blu-ray Disc  Available on Amazon Instant Video  Available on iTunes  Available on Netflix

Watch a trailer for the film below

Cybergeddon by Anthony E. Zuiker

Cybergeddon by Anthony E. Zuiker (2012)

Last Friday, Cybergeddon, a new crime thriller by Anthony E. Zuiker, premiered its final chapters on Yahoo! (See the poster, right; click for larger image. Tagline: "There is no ESC.")

The Cybergeddon Experience — which includes exclusive on-set photos, behind-the-scenes clips, interviews with the cast and crew, and a social game where fans can join the characters on a mission to fight cybercrime — follows the story of agent Chloe Jocelyn (played by Missy Peregrym) as she investigates a slew of seemingly unrelated cyberattacks with fellow agent Frank Parker (Manny Montana) and incarcerated master hacker Chase "Rabbit" Rosen (Kick Gurry). Chloe and her team must crack the worldwide cybercrime ring led by Gustov Dobreff (Olivier Martinez) before it is too late. In a world where everyone is connected, everyone is at risk.

The cyberthriller consists of nine video chapters of 10 minutes each. A free associated mobile game is available from Google Play for Android devices and from iTunes for iPhone/iPad.

Telemystery: CBS Developing Cop Drama, Murder Bitches

Telemystery Prime Time Crime: Mystery and Suspense on Television

CBS is developing a crime drama project centered on two female cops titled Murder Bitches. (An editorial aside: Hard to see that name surviving very long …)

According to Deadline, the two women are complete opposites, their relationship complicated by the fact that one, aged 27, suffered a stroke two years ago. Their co-workers admire their success on the job while also giving them the titular nickname.

Ashley Gable and Tom Szentgyorgyi will pen the script and co-executive produce with Bruno Heller (The Mentalist).

Female partners in crime (solving), who have little in common outside the job, have been successful in the past — Cagney & Lacey and Rizzoli & Isles come immediately to mind — so there's no reason to believe this concept won't work. A new title is in order, however.

Artwork for Skyfall Theme Song by Adele

Adele Skyfall 2012

The artwork for Adele's title theme song to the new James Bond film Skyfall was uploaded to the film's Facebook page a couple of hours ago (right).

Adele will premiere the song on Thursday, October 4th at 7:07 PM ET. (That will be 0:07 on October 5th in the UK.) The track — simply titled Skyfall — is available to pre-order today from iTunes.

"I was a little hesitant at first to be involved with the theme song for Skyfall," says Adele. "There's a lot of instant spotlight and pressure when it comes to a Bond song. But I fell in love with the script and [co-songwriter] Paul [Epworth] had some great ideas for the track and it ended up being a bit of a no-brainer to do it in the end. It was also a lot of fun writing to a brief, something I've never done which made it exciting. When we recorded the strings, it was one of the proudest moments of my life. I'll be back combing my hair when I'm 60 telling people I was a Bond girl back in the day, I'm sure!"

Books to Die For, an Anthology of Crime Fiction edited by John Connolly and Declan Burke

Books to Die For: The World's Greatest Mystery Writers on the World's Greatest Mystery Novels, edited by John Connolly and Declan Burke

Subtitled "The world's greatest mystery writers on the world's greatest mystery novels", Books to Die For, edited by John Connolly and Declan Burke, is published tomorrow, October 2nd, by Atria Books.

With so many crime, suspense and mystery novels to choose among, and so many new titles appearing each year, where should a reader start? What are the classics of the genre? Which are the hidden gems?

In the most ambitious anthology of its kind yet attempted, the world's leading mystery writers have come together to champion the greatest mystery novels ever written. In a series of personal essays that often reveal as much about the authors and their own work as they do about the books that they love, 119 authors from 20 countries have created a guide that will be indispensable for generations of readers and writers.

From the book's introduction: Why does the mystery novel enjoy such enduring appeal? There is no simple answer. It has a distinctive capacity for subtle social commentary, a concern with the disparity between law and justice, and a passion for order, however compromised. Even in the vision of the darkest of mystery writers, it provides us with a glimpse of the world as it might be, a world in which good men and women do not stand idly by and allow the worst aspects of human nature to triumph without opposition. It can touch upon all these facets while still entertaining the reader.

From Agatha Christie to Lee Child, from Edgar Allan Poe to P. D. James, from Sherlock Holmes to Hannibal Lecter and Philip Marlowe to Lord Peter Wimsey, Books to Die For brings together the cream of the mystery world for a feast of reading pleasure, a treasure trove for those new to the genre and for those who believe that there is nothing new left to discover. This is the one essential book for every reader who has ever finished a mystery novel and thought … I want more!

Books to Die For is available in hardcover (Amazon | B&N) and ebook (Kindle | iTunes) formats.

Preview The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Graphic Novel on EW.com

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Book 1 by Denise Mina

It's been quite a while since we last had an update on The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo graphic novel, but today Entertainment Weekly has an exclusive preview.

Written by crime novelist Denise Mina and illustrated by Leonardo Manco and Andrea Mutti, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Volume 1 is the first of six books planned, with each novel in the "Millennium Trilogy" by Stieg Larsson spanning two volumes.

In the opener, Harriet Vanger, a scion of one of Sweden's wealthiest families disappeared over forty years ago. All these years later, her aged uncle continues to seek the truth. He hires Mikael Blomkvist, a crusading journalist recently trapped by a libel conviction, to investigate. He is aided by the pierced and tattooed punk prodigy Lisbeth Salander. Together they tap into a vein of unfathomable iniquity and astonishing corruption.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo will be published by Vertigo on November 13th, 2012 in hardcover (Amazon | B&N) and ebook (Kindle — Fire and Android versions only) formats, and may be pre-ordered today.

Today's Bestselling Free Kindle MystereBooks (121001)

Top 100 Free Kindle Mysteries and Thrillers, updated hourly by Amazon.com

Here is today's list of the Bestselling Free Kindle Crime Fiction: the top nine mysteries, novels of suspense, and thrillers.

We're using a script to embed an RSS feed from Amazon.com, which is updated hourly, but if you cannot see the box below — or have scripts blocked — you can click on the image to the right or use this link to see the relevant page on Amazon.com.

100 Kindle Books for $3.99 or less; October 2012 Mystery and Suspense Selection

Amazon Kindle eBooks $3.99 or Less

Every month Amazon releases a new selection of Kindle books priced $3.99 or less.

We've looked through the October books and listed below those in the "mystery/suspense" category; we've added one written for young adults that we think may also be of interest to our readers.

Most of these titles are currently priced at either $1.99 or $2.99, though there are a few at $3.99. Prices are valid for the month of October 2012 only.

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Predator by Terri Blackstock

Predator by Terri Blackstock

Featured on the October 2012 list of
100 Kindle Books for $3.99 or less
.

The murder of Krista Carmichael's fourteen-year-old sister by an online predator has shaken her faith and made her question God's justice and protection. Desperate to find the killer, she creates an online persona to bait the predator. But when the stalker turns his sights on her, will Krista be able to control the outcome?

Ryan Adkins started the social network GrapeVyne in his college dorm and has grown it into a billion-dollar corporation. But he never expected it to become a stalking ground for online Predators. One of them lives in his town and has killed two girls and attacked a third. When Ryan meets Krista, the murders become more than a news story to him, and everything is on the line.

Joining forces, he and Krista set out to stop the killer. But when hunters pursue a hunter, the tables can easily turn. Only God can protect them now.

The Back Door Man by Dave Buschi

The Back Door Man by Dave Buschi

Featured on the October 2012 list of
100 Kindle Books for $3.99 or less
.

All credit cards have stopped working. Today. This morning.

What cash you have in your wallet is it. ATMs and bank systems are down. You can't get gas, groceries … Commerce has essentially come to a halt.

Our society is computercentric. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn. We're plugged in. Managing our finances online. Downloading apps for our iPhone. Reading the WSJ on our Kindle.

There are things out there on the cutting edge we don't even know we need to fear.

We see it through the eyes of James Kolinsky, a simple family man who works in information security. His day goes from bad to worse when he discovers that his greatest fear is his fault and what's happened to him has happened to millions of others.

He's been set up. His family — make that the world — has been taken hostage. The next twenty-four hours we find out what James Kolinsky is really made of.

Blue Eyes by Jerome Charyn

Blue Eyes by Jerome Charyn

Featured on the October 2012 list of
100 Kindle Books for $3.99 or less
.

Before Isaac Sidel adopts him, Manfred Coen is a mutt. A kid from the Bronx, he joins the police academy after his father's suicide leaves him directionless, and is trudging along like any other cadet when first deputy Sidel, the commissioner's right hand man, comes looking for a young cop with blue eyes to infiltrate a ring of Polish smugglers. He chooses Coen, and asks the cadet to join his department after he finishes the academy. Working under Sidel means fast promotions, plush assignments, and, when a corruption scandal topples his mentor, the resentment of every rank-and-file detective on the force.

Now just an ordinary cop, Coen hears word that his old mentor has a line on a human trafficking operation. When Sidel's attempt at infiltration fails, he sends in Coen. For Coen, it's a shot to prove himself and redeem his mentor, but it could cost the blue-eyed cop his life.

Dread Champion by Brandilyn Collins

Dread Champion by Brandilyn Collins
A Chelsea Adams Mystery (2nd in series)

Featured on the October 2012 list of
100 Kindle Books for $3.99 or less
.

Chelsea Adams has visions. But they have no place in a courtroom.

As a juror for a murder trial, Chelsea must rely only on the evidence. And this circumstantial evidence is strong — Darren Welk killed his wife. Or did he?

The trial is a nightmare for Chelsea. The other jurors belittle her Christian faith. As testimony unfolds, truth and secrets blur. Chelsea's visiting niece stumbles into peril surrounding the case, and Chelsea cannot protect her. God sends visions — frightening, vivid. But what do they mean? Even as Chelsea finds out, what can she do? She is helpless, and danger is closing in …

Last Breath by Brandilyn Collins and Amberly Collins

Last Breath by Brandilyn Collins and Amberly Collins
A Rayne Tour Mystery for Young Adults (2nd in series)

Featured on the October 2012 list of
100 Kindle Books for $3.99 or less
.

A dying man whispers four stunning words into Shaley O'Connor's ear. Should she believe him? After two murders on the Rayne concert tour, Shaley is reeling. But she has no time to rest. If the dying man's claim is right, the danger is far from over.

Shaley's quest for the truth leads to the mysterious and wrenching past of her mother and father. Could what happened to them so many years ago threaten Shaley's life now?

Who In Hell is Wanda Fuca? by G. M. Ford

Who In Hell is Wanda Fuca? by G. M. Ford
A Leo Waterman Mystery (1st in series)

Featured on the October 2012 list of
100 Kindle Books for $3.99 or less
.

When an old gangster friend of Leo's father makes a request he "can't refuse", Leo and his band of drunks, delve into the world of environmental politics in search of Caroline Nobel, a spoiled brat, without the sense God gave a gopher. With the help of "the Boys" — a group of aging winos who are his modern day "Baker Street Irregulars" — Leo fights Native American tribal politics, industrial pollution, and psychotic grannies to fulfill his obligation to a friend.

Before Her Eyes by Rebecca Forster

Before Her Eyes by Rebecca Forster

Featured on the October 2012 list of
100 Kindle Books for $3.99 or less
.

In a remote mountain community, the execution of a grocer and the abduction of a world-renowned model leave the local sheriff searching for a connection, two killers and a woman who is running for her life. In the next 48 hours, Sheriff Dove Connelly will peel back the layers of intrigue beneath the tranquil camaraderie of his mountain enclave and find that nothing is what it seems.

As Dove sets his investigation in motion, Tessa Bradley, a hard assed Texas gal, faces off with her abductors. Her rangy beauty doesn't mean a damn thing to the foreign men holding her at gunpoint. Just as one of them pulls the trigger, Tessa lashes out. Wounded but alive, she escapes her captors only to find greater peril lies ahead. As her life flashes before her eyes, Tessa struggles to stay alive, prays for rescue and fights for her soul's salvation.

77 Days in September by Ray Gorham

77 Days in September by Ray Gorham

Featured on the October 2012 list of
100 Kindle Books for $3.99 or less
.

On a Friday afternoon before Labor Day, Americans are getting ready for the holiday weekend, completely unaware of a long-planned terrorist plot about to be launched against the country. Kyle Tait is settling in for his flight home to Montana when a single nuclear bomb is detonated 300 miles above the heart of America. The blast, an Electro-Magnetic Pulse (EMP), destroys every electrical device in the country, and results in the crippling of the power grid, the shutting down of modern communications, and bringing to a halt most forms of transportation.

Kyle narrowly escapes when his airplane crashes on take-off, only to find himself stranded 2,000 miles from home in a country that has been forced, from a technological standpoint, back to the 19th Century. Confused, hurt, scared, and alone, Kyle must make his way across a hostile continent to a family he's not even sure has survived the effects of the attack. As Kyle forges his way home, his frightened family faces their own struggles for survival in a community trying to halt its slow spiral into chaos and anarchy.

Tears of the Jaguar by A. J. Hartley

Tears of the Jaguar by A. J. Hartley

Featured on the October 2012 list of
100 Kindle Books for $3.99 or less
.

Six months ago, museum curator Deborah Miller had never heard of Ek Balam, an obscure Mayan archaeological site known for its carved figures. Now here she is, having traded Atlanta's urban jungle for a remote village in Mexico's Yucatan, tasked with overseeing Ek Balam's excavation. But when a sudden rainstorm causes a partial collapse at the site, an unexpected treasure is unearthed: a collection of rough-cut rubies hidden from the world for hundreds of years — and very out-of-place in the Yucatan. It is a find of immeasurable value, one that Deborah vows to protect — and yet is powerless to prevent from being stolen soon after its discovery. Determined to retrieve the stones, she sets out to trace their complex history across four centuries and two continents, from Mexico to northern England where the jewels once played a harrowing role in the Lancashire witch trials of 1612. But Deborah is not the only one searching for the stones; close on her heels are archaeologists, occultists, and one very determined arms dealer, all of whom will stop at nothing, not even murder, to claim the prize for themselves.

Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill

Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill

Featured on the October 2012 list of
100 Kindle Books for $3.99 or less
.

Judas Coyne is a collector of the macabre: a cookbook for cannibals … a used hangman's noose … a snuff film. An aging death-metal rock god, his taste for the unnatural is as widely known to his legions of fans as the notorious excesses of his youth. But nothing he possesses is as unlikely or as dreadful as his latest discovery, an item for sale on the Internet, a thing so terribly strange, Jude can't help but reach for his wallet.

I will "sell" my stepfather's ghost to the highest bidder …

For a thousand dollars, Jude will become the proud owner of a dead man's suit, said to be haunted by a restless spirit. He isn't afraid. He has spent a lifetime coping with ghosts — of an abusive father, of the lovers he callously abandoned, of the bandmates he betrayed. What's one more?

But what UPS delivers to his door in a black heart-shaped box is no imaginary or metaphorical ghost, no benign conversation piece. It's the real thing.

And suddenly the suit's previous owner is everywhere: behind the bedroom door … seated in Jude's restored vintage Mustang … standing outside his window … staring out from his widescreen TV. Waiting — with a gleaming razor blade on a chain dangling from one bony hand …

The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum

The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum

Featured on the October 2012 list of
100 Kindle Books for $3.99 or less
.

Suburbia in the 1950′s. A nice quiet simpler time to grow up — unless you count the McCarthy trials and red-scares and the shadow of the Bomb and the Cold War, unless you could see the dark side emerging. And on a quiet tree-lined dead-end street, in the dark damp basement of the Chandler house, it's emerging big-time for teenage Meg and her crippled sister Susan — whose parents are dead now, who are left captive to the savage whims and rages of a distant Aunt who is rapidly descending into madness. It is a madness that infects all three of her sons — and finally an entire neighborhood. Only one troubled boy stands hesitantly between Meg and Susan and their cruel, torturous deaths. A boy with a very adult decision to make. Between love and compassion, and lust and evil.

The Gun Seller by Hugh Laurie

The Gun Seller by Hugh Laurie

Featured on the October 2012 list of
100 Kindle Books for $3.99 or less
.

When Thomas Lang, a hired gun with a soft heart, is contracted to assassinate an American industrialist, he opts instead to warn the intended victim — a good deed that doesn't go unpunished.

Within hours Land is butting heads with a Buddha statue, matching wits with evil billionaires, and putting his life (among other things) in the hands of a bevy of femmes fatales, whilst trying to save a beautiful lady … and prevent an international bloodbath to boot.

What the Dead Know by Laura Lippman

What the Dead Know by Laura Lippman

Featured on the October 2012 list of
100 Kindle Books for $3.99 or less
.

Thirty years ago two sisters disappeared from a shopping mall. Their bodies were never found and those familiar with the case have always been tortured by these questions: How do you kidnap two girls? Who — or what — could have lured the two sisters away from a busy mall on a Saturday afternoon without leaving behind a single clue or witness?

Now a clearly disoriented woman involved in a rush-hour hit-and-run claims to be the younger of the long-gone Bethany sisters. But her involuntary admission and subsequent attempt to stonewall investigators only deepens the mystery. Where has she been? Why has she waited so long to come forward? Could her abductor truly be a beloved Baltimore cop? There isn't a shred of evidence to support her story, and every lead she gives the police seems to be another dead end—a dying, incoherent man, a razed house, a missing grave, and a family that disintegrated long ago, torn apart not only by the crime but by the fissures the tragedy revealed in what appeared to be the perfect household.

In a story that moves back and forth across the decades, there is only one person who dares to be skeptical of a woman who wants to claim the identity of one Bethany sister without revealing the fate of the other. Will he be able to discover the truth?

Zombie by Joyce Carol Oates

Zombie by Joyce Carol Oates

Featured on the October 2012 list of
100 Kindle Books for $3.99 or less
.

Meet Quentin P.

He is a problem for his professor father and his loving mother, though of course they do not believe the charge (sexual molestation of a minor) that got him in that bit of trouble.

He is a challenge for his court-appointed psychiatrist, who nonetheless is encouraged by the increasingly affirmative quality of his dreams and his openness in discussing them.

He is a thoroughly sweet young man for his wealthy grandmother, who gives him more and more, and can deny him less and less.

He is the most believable and thoroughly terrifying sexual psychopath and killer ever to be brought to life in fiction …

First to Kill by Andrew Peterson

First to Kill by Andrew Peterson

Featured on the October 2012 list of
100 Kindle Books for $3.99 or less
.

Ten years ago, a botched mission in Nicaragua ended covert ops specialist Nathan McBride's CIA career. Now he utilizes his unique skill set in the private sector — until the night Frank Ortega, former director of the FBI, calls in a favor. A deep-cover federal agent has vanished, along with a ton of Semtex explosives, and Ortega needs them found — fast. Because for him, this mission is personal: the missing agent is his grandson. And Nathan McBride is the only man he trusts to save him.

But it quickly becomes clear that something bigger than even Ortega could have imagined is at stake. Within days of accepting the assignment, McBride finds himself trapped between a ruthless adversary hell-bent on revenge and a group of high-ranking federal officials who will stop at nothing to reap their own brand of justice. Here there are no rules, no protocol, no backup. Only McBride …

Abducted by T. R. Ragan

Abducted by T. R. Ragan
A Lizzy Gardner Mystery (1st in series)

Featured on the October 2012 list of
100 Kindle Books for $3.99 or less
.

When Lizzy Gardner was only seventeen, what should have been the perfect night became the perfect nightmare. Kidnapped just blocks from home after a romantic evening with her boyfriend, Jared, she woke up to find herself at the mercy of a depraved serial killer. Imprisoned and tormented for months by the maniac she came to know as Spiderman, Lizzy narrowly escaped, the only one of his victims to survive. But Spiderman escaped too, outwitting police and cursing Lizzy to spend her life looking over her shoulder …

Fourteen years later, Lizzy is a private investigator who teaches self-defense to teenage girls in her free time. She does what she can to help others protect themselves and to forget the horror of her ordeal, yet fears she will always be known as "the one who got away". Then she receives a phone call from Jared, now a special agent for the FBI, with grim news. The killer has resurfaced, this time with a very specific target — Lizzy. And he's made it clear that she will not escape him again. So begins a chilling game of cat-and-mouse, a terrifying, heart-pounding hunt that only one will survive.

PRIMAL Unleashed by Jack Silkstone

PRIMAL Unleashed by Jack Silkstone

Featured on the October 2012 list of
100 Kindle Books for $3.99 or less
.

PRIMAL is a team of elite operatives, hell bent on fighting for the downtrodden and oppressed. A renegade agency waging a secret war against the untouchables; powerful criminals, greed driven corporations, and twisted politicians. With cutting-edge technology and tactics they strike across the globe with impunity, stepping in where government agencies fail.

The Ambition by Lee Strobel

The Ambition by Lee Strobel

Featured on the October 2012 list of
100 Kindle Books for $3.99 or less
.

A corrupt judge in a mob murder case. A disillusioned pastor, hungry for power. A cynical reporter, sniffing for a scandal. A gambling addict whose secret tape threatens the lives of everyone who hears it.

This intricate thriller is set in a gleaming, suburban megachurch, a big-city newspaper struggling for survival, and the shadowy corridors of political intrigue. The unexpected climax is as gripping as the contract killing that punctuates the opening scene.

Season of the Witch by Arni Thorarinsson

Season of the Witch by Arni Thorarinsson

Featured on the October 2012 list of
100 Kindle Books for $3.99 or less
.

When the editors at Reykjavik-based The Afternoon News decide to expand the newspaper into northern Iceland — with their crime writer Einar as its sole reporter on location — the journalist feels as though he has stepped back in time. Compared to the hustle and bustle of the capital, where the nation's economic and social crises rear their heads on a daily basis, the small town of Akureyri feels slow, quiet, and terribly old-fashioned.

So it's only fitting that one of Einar's first assignments is to cover a college theater production of Loftur the Sorcerer, an Icelandic folktale of ambition and greed. But that supposedly ancient history becomes ominously relevant when a local woman dies after falling overboard during a corporate boating retreat. All evidence indicates an accident, but when the victim's mother cries foul play, kindhearted Einar agrees to investigate. Just days later, the lead actor in Loftur vanishes, leaving the locals reeling — and Einar unconvinced that a single village could be so accident prone. Keenly perceptive and hungry for the truth, Einar begins to chip away at the quaint small-town facade, uncovering a tangled web of power and greed that threatens to devour the historic community for good.

The Fall by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan

The Fall by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan
The Strain Trilogy (2nd in series)

Featured on the October 2012 list of
100 Kindle Books for $3.99 or less
.

The vampiric virus unleashed in The Strain has taken over New York City. It is spreading and soon will envelop the globe. Amid the chaos, Eph Goodweather—head of the Centers for Disease Control's team—leads a band out to stop these bloodthirsty monsters. But it may be too late.

Ignited by the Master's horrific plan, a war erupts between Old and New World vampires, each vying for control. At the center of the conflict lies a book, an ancient text that contains the vampires' entire history … and their darkest secrets. Whoever finds the book can control the outcome of the war and, ultimately, the fate of us all. And it is between these warring forces that humans — powerless and vulnerable — find themselves no longer the consumers but the consumed. Though Eph understands the vampiric plague better than anyone, even he cannot protect those he loves. His ex-wife, Kelly, has been transformed into a bloodcrazed creature of the night, and now she stalks the city looking for her chance to reclaim her Dear One: Zack, Eph's young son.

With the future of humankind in the balance, Eph and his team, guided by the brilliant former professor and Holocaust survivor Abraham Setrakian and exterminator Vasiliy Fet and joined by a crew of ragtag gangsters, must combat a terror whose ultimate plan is more terrible than anyone has imagined — a fate worse than annihilation.

The Wicked by Michael Wallace

The Wicked by Michael Wallace
The Righteous Thrillers (3rd in series)

Featured on the October 2012 list of
100 Kindle Books for $3.99 or less
.

Amazon Whispersync OfferSee also the special Whispersync
offer associated with this title.

Growing up in a conservative polygamous community, Eliza Christianson was a young woman of faith who could never quite wrap her mind around the fundamentalist aspects of her religion. Thanks to her older brother Jacob, she managed to survive adolescence unmarried, even enrolling in classes at the University of Utah. Eliza always suspected God had more in store for her than just to be some man's third or fourth wife; nonetheless, she is surprised when Allison Caliari seeks her out for help. Allison's daughter Madeline has been recruited by a doomsday cult led by a cruel man known only as the Disciple, and she wants Eliza's help to get the girl back. One of the few leads Allison can offer is a fateful one: Jacob and Eliza's brother David, a “lost boy” shunned by the church. Eliza sets out to convince David to help her infiltrate the cult, and she ventures to an abandoned dumping ground in the Las Vegas desert to rescue Madeline.

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This Week's New Mystery/Suspense Title from Carina Press

Carina Press

Carina Press is a digital-first imprint from Harlequin, publishing books in an interesting and diverse selection of genres including contemporary romance, steampunk, gay/lesbian fiction, science-fiction, fantasy, and — but of course — mystery and suspense.

Here is this week's new ebook (listed under Mystery) …

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Beaded to Death by Janis Patterson

Beaded to Death
Janis Patterson

You'd think the life of a bead artist would be fairly uneventful. But that's not the case for Lilias Ruiz. Especially when she returns from an art fair tour and is greeted by a dead body.

The police are convinced she's the killer and suddenly Lilias finds herself hanging on to a thread of innocence. But after her home is vandalized and her van broken into, Lilias begins to realize that she has something someone wants.

Determined to return to the craft circuit, Lilias is relieved to be accompanied by her 7'3" nephew who's on the run from an unwanted basketball scholarship. Along with the help of her colorful neighbor, Annie, a cutthroat attorney who means well and an overzealous FBI agent, they string together the clues and wonder if there really could be a gem in Lilias's collection of dusty old beads. Or is the killer after something more?

Beaded to Death by Janis Patterson, Amazon Kindle format  Beaded to Death by Janis Patterson, iTune iBook format  Beaded to Death by Janis Patterson, Kobo format

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