FEBRUARY 2018 - ADDITIONS TO THE LIBRARY - 6 OF THE BEST!

A few more into the collection last month......

Steph Post - Walk in the Fire (2018) - purchased

I have her earlier two novels, might as well go for the hat-trick!

"Steph Post is a great new discovery. Her stories carry a dark pulse that keeps the perfect beat in a world where people put everything they've got on the line. Walk In The Fire is going to put Steph Post on the map."
- Michael Connelly

Life hasn't gotten any easier for Judah Cannon. He may have survived the fiery showdown between his father, the tyrannical Pentecostal preacher Sister Tulah, and the Scorpions outlaw motorcycle club, but now Judah and Ramey, the love of his life turned partner in crime, are facing new and more dangerous adversaries. It will take all of their cunning and courage, their faith in one another and some unexpected help to give them even a shot of making it out alive.

In attempting to extricate the Cannon family from the crime ring they are known and feared for, Judah finds himself in the sights of Everett Weaver, a cold blooded killer and drug runner in Daytona Beach who shouldn't be underestimated and doesn't take no for an answer. Threatened by Weaver, saddled with guilt from his recovering, but now pill-popping, younger brother Benji and pressured to use his head and do the right thing by Ramey, Judah quickly arrives at a breaking point and things soon begin to go south.

Meanwhile, Special Agent Clive Grant, who has been unwillingly sent down from ATF headquarters in Atlanta, arrives in town to investigate the fire at Sister Tulah's church. Clive, looking to prove himself, becomes obsessed with Tulah and her iron grip on Bradford County and is determined to take her down. His search leads him to Judah's door and soon the Cannons are caught up in an increasingly tangled web of violence, lies and retribution spanning both sides of the law. Backed into a corner, but desperate to protect his family, Judah finds himself walking a dangerous path that might cost him everything or might win him it all, if only he can walk through the fire and come out on the other side.

Eric Beetner (ed.) - Unloaded - copy via Net Galley

I do like short story anthologies and I like Beetner's work and I have plenty of the contributors' books on the shelves.

Nominated for the 2017 Anthony Award for Best Anthology/Collection

***Proceeds from the sales of Unloaded will benefit the nonprofit States United To Prevent Gun Violence (ceasefireusa.org)***

For the first time, more than two dozen crime and mystery authors have joined together to use the strongest weapon at their disposal — words — in a call for reasonable gun control in the U.S.A. In this collection you get all the thrills and excitement you come to expect from a great crime story, but without any guns.

From best sellers and writing legends to the brightest stars of the next generation of crime writers, the twenty-five authors here have taken pen in hand to say enough is enough. Gun violence has got to stop and this is our way of speaking out — by showing that gun violence can be removed from the narrative, and maybe from our lives.

It's not anti-gun, it's pro-sanity. And above anything else, these are thrilling crime stories that will surprise and shock, thrill and chill — all without a gun in sight.

The writers are from both sides of the political aisle and many of the authors are gun owners themselves. But everyone felt it was time to speak out. Featuring the talents of J.L. Abramo , Patricia Abbott, Trey R. Barker, Eric Beetner, Alec Cizak, Joe Clifford, Reed Farrel Coleman, Angel Luis Colón, Hilary Davidson, Paul J. Garth, Alison Gaylin, Kent Gowran, Rob Hart, Jeffery Hess, Grant Jerkins, Joe R. Lansdale, S.W. Lauden, Tim O’Mara, Joyce Carol Oates, Tom Pitts, Thomas Pluck, Keith Rawson, Kelli Stanley, Ryan Sayles, and Holly West.

Nanci Rathbun - Cash Kills - review copy from author

I'm always bemoaning the fact I don't read enough female authors - I ought to put my money where my mouth is. Maybe April, possibly May for an all-female reading month. 

“The last female P.I. who drew me in like this was Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone.” – bestselling author Sandra Balzo

“Cash Kills is a first-rate mystery that combines police procedural with private detection and it features a compelling lead character and a marvelous cast.” – Readers’ Favorite

Would you pass on an inheritance worth millions?

PI Angelina Bonaparte's new client grew up as a child of Bosnian War refugees who lived like the working poor. She’s shocked to discover they left an inheritance of millions and hires Angie to uncover the sources of the money.

When the family attorney goes missing and his secretary is killed, Angie embarks on a wild investigation that draws in a Mafia lawyer, some Special Ops guys and a Sarajevo survivor, along with her homicide detective lover, Ted Wukowski.

Can Angie find the perpetrators before they get to her client? Because they want the money, and they're not going to wait for the young woman to claim the inheritance.

“To find justice in the midst of lies and cover-ups, Angie must face her own fear of trusting another. Readers will relate to her humor, vulnerability and dedication to the truth.” - 2014 IBPA Benjamin Franklin Silver Honoree for digital ebook excellence

Adam Sternbergh - The Blinds (2017) - purchased copy

Purchased when browsing on a day out in London with my wife - sucked in by a gorgeous cover and an intriguing premise. I've read an earlier book from this guy - Shovel Ready.

For fans of Cormac McCarthy, Jim Thompson, the Coen Brothers, and Lost

Imagine a place populated by criminals - people plucked from their lives, with their memories altered, who've been granted new identities and a second chance. Welcome to The Blinds, a dusty town in rural Texas populated by misfits who don't know if they've perpetrated a crime or just witnessed one. What's clear to them is that if they leave, they will end up dead.

For eight years Sheriff Calvin Cooper has kept an uneasy peace - but after a suicide and a murder in quick succession, the town's residents revolt. Cooper has his own secrets to protect, so when his new deputy starts digging, he needs to keep one step ahead of her - and the mysterious outsiders who threaten to tear the whole place down. The more he learns, the more the hard truth is revealed: The Blinds is no sleepy hideaway. It's simmering with violence and deception, aching heartbreak, and dark betrayals.

Tony R. Cox - A Fatal Drug (2016) - purchased copy

Seems like my kind of book, purchased when offer at the publisher's website - Fahrenheit Press!

England. 1971.

Reporter Simon Jardine is on the hunt for the story that will kick start his career and when a tortured, mutilated body turns up on his patch he can’t help thinking his luck is finally in.

At first glance the provincial town of Derby is about as far away from the sex, drugs and rock-n-roll of London and California as it’s possible to imagine but as Jardine begins to scratch below the surface he finds that all is not well in England’s green and pleasant land.

Along with fellow reporter Dave Green and local DJ Tom Freeman, Jardine is soon drawn into a spiral of gangland drug dealing and violence that stretches from the north of England to the south of Spain.

Minette Walters - The Cellar (2015) - charity shop purchase

Not an author I've previously read though one I have had her in mind on and off  for a while - bargain purchase from a charity shop. 

Muna's fortunes changed for the better on the day that Mr. and Mrs. Songoli's younger son failed to come home from school. Before then her bedroom was a dark windowless cellar, her activities confined to cooking and cleaning. She'd grown used to being maltreated by the Songoli family; to being a slave. She's never been outside, doesn't know how to read or write, and cannot speak English. At least that's what the Songoli's believe. But Muna is far more clever - and her plans more terrifying - than the Songolis, or anyone else, can ever imagine...