From New York Times Bestselling Author Jessica Beck!When dying pickle-fortune heir Curtis Trane finally succumbs in the Charming Moose Diner, everyone believes that it’s just the end of the man’s long illness, but upon closer examination, it turns out that Curtis has been murdered! In a plea from beyond the grave, Curtis asks Moose and Victoria to solve his homicide, and the two must leave everything they know and venture out into the rich man’s rarefied world. Views: 19
Brooklyn bookstore owner Darla Pettistone and her oversized black cat, Hamlet, have solved a few complicated capers. But after a recent brush with danger, Darla needs to get Hamlet out of a feline funk… Lately, Hamlet hasn?™t been chasing customers or being his obnoxious self?"something Darla surprisingly misses. Concerned, she hires a cat whisperer to probe Hamlet?™s feline psyche and then decides to get out of her own funk by taking up karate to learn how to defend herself in case the need arises again. But when Darla finds her sensei dead at the dojo, it seems that even a master can be felled by foul play. Darla decides to investigate the matter herself, and the promise of a mystery snaps Hamlet out of his bad mood. After all, Darla may be the sleuth, but Hamlet?™s got a black belt in detection… Views: 19
With time running out to stop the nuclear destruction of Tel Aviv, Dewey Andreas must defeat his most fearsome opponent yet.Off a quiet street in Brooklyn, New York, Israeli Special Forces commander Kohl Meir is captured by operatives of the Iranian secret service, who smuggle Meir back to Iran, where he is imprisoned, tortured, and prepared for a show trial. What they don’t know is that Meir was in New York to recruit Dewey Andreas for a secret operation. Meir had been tipped off that Iran had finally succeeded in building their first nuclear weapon, one they were planning to use to attack Israel. His source was a high-level Iranian government official and his proof was a photo of the bomb itself. Dewey Andreas, a former Army Ranger and Delta, owes his life to Meir and his team of Israeli commandos. Now, to repay his debt, Dewey has to attempt the impossible ---to both rescue Meir from one of the world’s most secure prisons and to find and eliminate Iran’s nuclear bomb before it’s deployed---all without the help or sanction of Israel or America (at the near certain risk of detection by Iran). Unfortunately, Dewey’s first moves have caught the attention of Abu Paria, the brutal and brilliant head of VEVAK, the Iranian secret service. Now Dewey has to face off against, outwit, and outfight an opponent with equal cunning, skill, and determination, with the fate of millions hanging in the balance.About the AuthorBEN COES is the author of the critically acclaimed Power Down and Coup d’Etat. He is a former speechwriter for the George H .W. Bush White House, worked for Boone Pickens, was a fellow at the JFK School of Government at Harvard, a campaign manager for Mitt Romney’s run for governor in 2002, and is currently a partner in a private equity company out of Boston. He lives in Wellesley, Mass.Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.1ASPEN LODGECAMP DAVIDCATOCTIN MOUNTAIN PARKNEAR THURMONT, MARYLANDPresident Rob Allaire sat in a comfortable, red-and-white-upholstered club chair. His worn L.L.Bean boots were untied and propped up on a wood coffee table. Allaire wore jeans and a faded long-sleeve red Lacoste rugby shirt. His longish brown hair was slightly messed up, and there was stubble across his chin.To his right, Allaire’s yellow Lab, Ranger, lay sleeping. Another dog, an old English bulldog named Mabel, was napping by the fireplace, the sound of her snoring occasionally making Allaire look up.To most Americans, the sight of the slightly unkempt president of the United States might have been off-putting, perhaps even a little shocking. If Allaire looked as if he hadn’t taken a shower in two days and had worn the same pants an entire weekend, during which he chopped half a cord of wood, hiked ten miles, and shot skeet twice, it was because he had done just that. However, most Americans would have been pleased to see their president in his element, with his unadorned love of the outdoors, his simple joy in physical labor, his affection for his dogs. And now, at five fifteen in the afternoon on a windswept, rainy Saturday in April, his satisfaction at the sight of a bottle of beer, Budweiser to be exact, which one of Camp David’s servants brought him as he sat staring into the fireplace.“Thanks, Ricko,” said Allaire.“You’re welcome, Mr. President.”In President Allaire’s six years in office, he’d been to Camp David 122 times. Allaire would not, by his term’s end, set any records in terms of time spent at the presidential retreat; that record would still belong to Ronald Reagan, who visited Camp David 186 times during his two terms in office. Still, Allaire loved Camp David just as much as Reagan, both Bushes, and every other president since Franklin Roosevelt had the retreat built almost a century before. Allaire loved its rustic simplicity, the quiet solitude, and he loved most the fact that Camp David allowed him to escape the backbiting, lying, sycophancy, and subterfuge of Washington. If Allaire was compared to Reagan for his constant escaping to Camp David, and for his conservative politics, that was okay by him. Allaire believed it was important to have a set of beliefs and to stick by them, through hell or high water, no matter what the polls or the prevailing wisdom said. It’s why America loved Rob Allaire.Allaire sipped his beer as he stared down at the iPad, leaning closer to try and see, adjusting his glasses. He looked up. Seated on the far side of the room, reading a book, was John Schmidt, his communications director.“I can’t read this goddamn thing,” said Allaire.“You’re the one who said you wanted one,” said Schmidt. “Remember? ‘It’s the future’ and all that?”“Yeah, well, I changed my mind. I’m sick of pretending I like these fucking things.”Schmidt nodded.“We’ll go back to the daily notebook, sir.”“Good. In the meantime, have you read this editorial by our friends at The New York Times? How the hell is The New York Times editorial board aware of what’s happening in Geneva?”“It’s coming out of the Swiss Foreign Ministry,” said Schmidt. “They’re taking the credit, which is not necessarily a bad thing. To the extent it adds to the public pressure on Tehran, it’s helpful.”There was a knock on the door and in stepped two men: Hector Calibrisi, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, and Tim Lindsay, the U.S. secretary of state.Calibrisi and Lindsay, who had been out shooting at the camp’s private skeet range, were both dressed in shooting attire. Calibrisi was an expert shot. He came up through the ranks of the CIA paramilitary and was deft with most weapons known to man. Lindsay, a retired former admiral in the navy, and lifelong hunter, was even better.“Well, if it isn’t Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” said Allaire, a shit-eating grin on his face as he watched the two men stomp their boots on the welcome mat and remove their Filson coats. “Either of you manage to hit anything?”“No, Mr. President,” Calibrisi said politely. “We thought it would be impolite to hit more clays than you.”Allaire laughed.“Wise guy,” said Allaire as Ricko returned to the sitting area near the fireplace. “Do you two have time for a drink before you leave for D.C.?”“Sure,” said Calibrisi. “Same thing as the president, Ricko.”“Pappy Van Winkle,” said Lindsay, looking at Ricko, “if there’s any left. A couple rocks. Thanks, Ricko.”“Yes, sir,” said the bespectacled servant, who turned and left for the kitchen.“Seriously,” continued Allaire. “Who won?”“It’s not a contest,” said Calibrisi, his confident smile leaving little doubt as to who hit more clays that afternoon. He moved to one of the sofas and sat down.“I’m sixty-four years old, for chrissakes,” said Lindsay, sitting across from Calibrisi, next to Schmidt. “I’m surprised I hit anything.”“I’ve heard that one before,” said Allaire, taking a sip from his beer and shaking his head at Lindsay. “Right before you took twenty bucks off me.”“That was a lucky day, Mr. President,” said Lindsay as Ricko brought a tray with drinks on it.The four men sat talking about skeet shooting and hunting for a long time, the president regaling the others with a story about the time when, as governor of California, he’d gone dove hunting with then vice president Cheney just a few months after Cheney had strafed someone with an errant shot. The story, as with most of Allaire’s elaborate and expertly told stories, left the other three in laughter.Allaire stood and put more wood on the fire, played with the arrangement of the logs for a time, then returned to his chair.“Before we take off, Mr. President,” said Lindsay, “we need to discuss the proposal by the Swiss foreign minister.”“We’ve already discussed it,” said Allaire. “I gave you my answer two days ago, Tim. I refuse to sit down with the president of Iran. It’s that simple.”“Ambassador Veider believes that if we agree to a summit, with you and President Nava meeting one-on-one, that the Iranians will renounce their nuclear ambitions and might even agree to begin talks with the Israelis.”“I trust Iran about as far as I can throw them,” said Allaire. “They’re lying. I’ve seen this movie before, Tim. I don’t like the ending.”Lindsay nodded at the president.“We have to consider the larger objective,” said Lindsay. “The Iranian government is reaching out to us. This meeting would be the first step toward normalizing relations between our countries.”“They’re playing the Swiss and they’re attempting to play us,” said Allaire, nodding across the room at Ricko, indicating he wanted another beer. “President Nava has created a distraction which he’s using to get us to take our eye off the ball. So while he makes the world and The New York Times believe he’s had a change of heart, Iran continues to pour tens of millions of dollars into Hezbollah and Al-Qaeda. And they continue to build a nuclear weapon.”“We don’t have definitive proof the Iranians are constructing a nuclear bomb, sir,” said Lindsay.Allaire glanced at Calibrisi. “Here we go again,” said Allaire, shaking his head.“We know they are, Tim,” said Calibrisi. “They have enough highly enriched uranium to assemble at least half a dozen devices. They have the uranium deuteride triggers. We know that. These are facts. They’re getting close.”“Our objective, Mr. President, is to put Iran in a box,” said Lindsay. “We do that by allowing the Swiss to bring our countries together, and then holding our noses and sitting down with President Nava. He publicly commits, we get inspectors in there, and the box is complete.”Allaire nodded, but said nothing.“We have to be willing to be the adults here,” continued Lindsay. “The reward is worth whatever risk we take by virtue of standing on the same stage as Nava. This is a good deal. They’ve agreed to on-demand inspections, access to their scientists, and details on their centrifuge supply chain.”“Tim, there are certain things that, for whatever reason, you don’t seem to understand,” said Allaire, leaning back. “One of those things is Iran.”“I think I understand Iran, sir,” said Lindsay sharply.“You understand Iran from a policy perspective. You know the names of the cities, the history of the country. You’ve studied their leadership, their institutions, their culture. You’ve been there how many times? Five? Six? A dozen? I know all that. But I don’t think you understand that the Iranians are, quite simply, the most dishonest group of people on this planet.”“You can’t seriously mean that, Mr. President,” said Lindsay.“Yes, I can. And I do mean it. I don’t trust those fuckers one bit. The Supreme Leader, Suleiman, is insane. President Nava is a menace.”“You’re misunderstanding me, sir,” said Lindsay. “I don’t trust them either. But you’ll forgive me if I take a slightly more nuanced view of Iran. It’s a country ruled by a corrupt group of individuals, but a large majority of the country desires freed... Views: 19
"Tense, fast, and excellent—I loved this book." —Lee ChildFrom veteran police detective Bernard Schaffer comes a powerful new thriller that crackles with authenticity, page-turning suspense, and spellbinding glimpses into the criminal mind . . . "It was one thing to fantasize about evil, to reach into the darkness and play with it a little . . ." Rookie cop Carrie Santero has always been fascinated by serial killers. As a teenager, she wrote a letter to Charles Manson in prison—and received a chilling reply. Then she came face to face with a child murderer in her small Pennsylvania town, an encounter that haunts her to this day. Now, as a detective in training, she finally has her chance to make a difference; to hunt down a psychopathic sadist who embodies the very nature of evil itself. ". . . but it was something different when it knew your name." The... Views: 19
The Battle For Control Of Iran… Begins In Space "When a disgraced former Iranian military chief of staff engineers an insurgency that threatens to destroy the theocratic regime in Iran, a new era appears to be dawning in the Middle East. But one must be wary of old enemies…" On the run from the Pasdaran, the theocrat's terror army, and unable to count on support from his friends in the regular army, Iranian rebel leader General Hesarak al-Kan Buzhazi desperately turns to his old nemesis, U.S. Air Force Lieutenant-General Patrick McLanahan, for help. Unwilling to commit American forces in an Iranian civil war, and with time running out, the U.S. president authorizes McLanahan to utilize a new, top-secret fleet of globe-crossing spaceplanes, the XR-A9 Black Stallions, led by test pilot and astronaut Captain Hunter Noble. Within hours, McLanahan's Air Battle Force turns the tide, possibly changing the course of history in the Middle East for generations. The advent of almost instantaneous global reach, along with the reactivation of America's first military space station, Silver Tower, has rekindled fears of a space arms race, and the growing insurgency in Iran is threatening to erupt into a worldwide jihad. But McLanahan finds himself embroiled in even more bitter battles at the White House, between those who support his space-based military initiative and those who are working secretly to undermine it. When McLanahan is forced to concentrate on his political and personal battles back at home, it's left to Hunter Noble and his team of young American space engineers to keep the fires of freedom in the Middle East from exploding completely out of control. Filled with the latest cutting-edge weaponry, geopolitical intrigue, high-flying suspense, and a colorful cast of characters, "Strike Force" is "New York Times" bestselling master Dale Brown at his best. Views: 19
Deadly Holidays is a fast-paced, suspenseful novella that will touch your heart. It's part of The Deadly Trilogy and can be read as a stand-alone novella (97 pages). Note: Deadly Holidays is a short 32,973 word, 100 page romantic suspense novella with bonus material. It is not a full-length novel.OverviewIt is four days before Christmas and all is not quiet as the characters you grew to love in The Deadly Trilogy books fight their inner demons, deception, and pray for miracles in this action-packed novella.Shawn Isaac is a bright five-year-old who has experienced more than his share of domestic violence and abuse. His disappearance, the day he testifies against his father, terrifies a county who has already lost three young women to a vicious serial killer. What secret drives him into hiding as a deadly winter snowstorm bears down upon the area, putting those who love him most at risk?Anne Mason-Brandt escaped the wrath of a vicious serial killer five years before. But the fear she had then is nothing compared to the terror instilled by a life-threatening disease and a secret that could blow her and Michael's happy marriage apart. Is love enough?Nine months pregnant, Jennifer Brennan-Stone has a secret that will change Blake's and her life forever. She's already lost one baby and this pregnancy has her on bed-rest. Can they find a small boy who doesn't want to be found before it's too late? Frankie and Lane Hansen are having an up-close-and-personal impact to their finances thanks to a lousy economy. One of them has a secret that could make a bad situation even worse.Tim Brennan and his wife, Megan fell in love with their pink Victorian house the first year of their marriage more than thirty years before. As Megan plans to turn their lovely home into a bed and breakfast, Tim is unsure he can share his wife, home and memories with strangers.If you liked the books of The Deadly Trilogy: Deadly Offerings, Deadly Deception and Deadly Relations, you'll LOVE this nail-biting, holiday-themed novella Views: 19
Chevonne: Bride Of Oklahoma is 46th in the unprecedented 50-book American Mail-Order Brides Series. When Chevonne Flannery suddenly finds herself without any means of support, she does the only thing she can do ... answers and ad for a mail order bride. But the marriage is secondary to her mission of realizing her deceased grandmother's dream Chevonne sets off to Oklahoma intent on honoring her grandmother and heeding her advice to trust no one ... not even her handsome new husband. Trey Garner doesn't have time for a wife, so to stop his mother's harpings, he enters into a marriage of convenience with a mail order bride. He's not looking for a real marriage, he's got more important things to do ... like work on his secret project. A project he intends to keep secret from everyone, even his new bride. Will Chevonne and Trey's secrets keep them from realizing how perfect they are for each other? Views: 19
In Gone with the Win, another charming entry in Mary Daheim’s beloved Bed-and-Breakfast series, someone from Judith McMonigle Flynn’s past comes knocking, and the reluctant amateur sleuth finds herself working a case so cold it's practically frozen.Ruby Tooms drops her bags and a mystery on the lovely Persian carpet of Hillside Manor, Judith’s bed-and-breakfast in Seattle.Ruby’s mother was strangled years before, soon after her divorce from Ruby’s father—and the killer is still at large.Undaunted, Judith agrees to help Ruby. Cousin Renie grudgingly pitches in, and even Judith’s husband, Joe, gets involved.The game’s afoot and ahoof with Judith discovering that the hand she's been dealt includes not only a joker but that deadly card, the Ace of Spades. And, she’s off…in pursuit of a killer.From Publishers WeeklyEarly in Daheim's sprightly 28th cozy featuring Seattle B and B innkeeper Judith McMonigle Flynn (after 2012's The Wurst Is Yet to Come), an old friend of Judith's, Ruby Tooms, arrives at Hillside Manor. Ruby wants Judith's husband, retired cop Joe Flynn, to help find the person who murdered her mother, Opal, years earlier, before DNA testing. Judith, whose admirers created a Web site celebrating her detective adventures, has vowed to stay away from criminal investigations in order to concentrate on her family and her business, but she soon becomes involved in the search for Opal's killer. As usual, Judith's best friend, Renie Jones, lends a hand. Series fans will relish the author's trademark humor (e.g., I hate it when people get mixed up and think the acronym for Female Amateur Sleuth Tracking Offenders isn't FASTO, but FATSO ). Agent: Maureen Moran, Maureen Moran Agency. (July) From the Back CoverFrom USA Today bestselling authorMary Daheim comes her latestBed-and-Breakfast mystery featuringinnkeeper and reluctant sleuth Judith McMonigle Flynn, who is surprised when someone from her past comes knockingwith a case so cold it's practically frozen . . .Gone with the WinFlynn has vowed never ever to find a dead body again (at least not for a while). But despite warnings from Cousin Renie, she can't turn down a suspicious guest reservation from Mary Smith of New York City. There must be many real Mary Smiths, especially in a place as big as NYC. . . .Unfortunately, Judith already knows the woman who shows up at Hillside Manor. She's none other than Ruby Tooms, the world-weary barmaid the cousins met at Oktoberfest in Little Bavaria. Fearing that Judith wouldn't accept her reservation if she used her real name, Ruby arrives with some unexpected baggage—a cold case she dumps on Hillside Manor's Persian carpet. Ruby's mother was strangled after she divorced Jimmy Tooms, Ruby's father. Jimmy was in the clear, behind bars at the time for stealing Judith's wallet when Dan McMonigle's ill-fated Meat & Mingle Café went bust. Ruby wants to know if Judith can use her sleuthing skills to finger a murderer from fifteen years ago.Judith is about to say no when her husband, Joe Flynn, tells her that the homicide case was his former partner and old pal Woody Price's first murder investigation. Now the game is afoot, and for once Joe is more than willing to help his wife turn a cold case into a hot chase in pursuit of a long-ago killer. Views: 19
Life will never be the same for Meg Langslow after family secrets are revealed, introducing a whole new layer of intrigue in Donna Andrews's beloved series. Meg’s long-lost paternal grandfather, Dr. Blake, has hired Stanley Denton to find her grandmother Cordelia. Dr. Blake was reunited with his family when he saw Meg’s picture—she’s a dead ringer for Cordelia—and now Stanley has found a trail to his long-lost love in a small town less than an hour's drive away. He convinces Meg to come with him to meet her, but unfortunately, the woman they meet is Cordelia’s cousin—Cordelia died several years ago, and the cousin suspects she was murdered by her long-time neighbor.Stanley and Meg agree to help track down the killer and get justice for Cordelia. Grandfather even has perfect cover--he will come to stage a rescue of the feral emus and ostriches (escaped from an abandoned farm) that infest this town. He dashes off to organize the rescue—which will, of course, involve most of Meg's family and friends in Caerphilly. But then, the evil neighbor is murdered, and not only Cordelia’s cousin but also the entire contingent of emu-rescuers, who have had conflict with the neighbor, are suspects. Only Meg and the cousin—who seems to share a lot of telling traits with Meg—can find the real killer and clear the air in The Good, the Bad, and the Emus, the newest beverage-spittingly funny installment in this uproarious series from the one-and-only Donna Andrews. About the AuthorDONNA ANDREWS is a winner of the Agatha, Anthony, and Barry Awards, a Romantic Times Award for best first novel, and two Lefty and two Toby Bromberg awards for funniest mystery. She spends her free time gardening at her home in Reston, Virginia. Views: 19
