Publisher: HarperCollins
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 05/07/2013
ISBN-13: 9780062194077
ISBN-10: 0062194070

Historical Thriller. In this 6th Ethan Gage adventure, the intrepid 19th-century American spy seeks revenge against his former employer, Napoleon Bonaparte, whom he believes nearly killed his wife. Various plot twists have him sneaking into France, narrowly escaping, and returning with the help of some Enlightenment-era scientists working to prevent Napoleon's invasion of England, before getting tangled up in the vividly recreated Battle of Trafalgar. Featuring an irrepressible antihero, riveting suspense, and rich historical details, this series will appeal to readers who like George MacDonald Fraser's roguish Harry Flashman (who also seems to find himself in the middle of all the action) or Steve Berry's Cotton Malone series. Newcomers can start with Napoleon's Pyramids.

Publisher: Forge
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 04/16/2013
ISBN-13: 9780765332899
ISBN-10: 0765332892

Thriller. The action starts when a plane is hijacked at Boston's Logan airport, and doesn't let up through the explosions, chases, and shootouts that follow. It's a "take-no-breath-or-prisoners narrative" (Kirkus Reviews) told in alternating chapters by two very different people -- political consultant Christina Marchetti and retired Special Ops colonel David Gibson -- who both have relatives on the plane and who have teamed up to save them. Their skills and connections come very much in handy, for it's soon not just the airport under attack... Readers should be aware that the authors of this action-packed novel approach their subject from a politically conservative point of view.

First Chapter  

Publisher: Little, Brown
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 04/30/2013
ISBN-13: 9780316133302
ISBN-10: 0316133302

Thriller. In this over-the-top concluding volume in the over-the-top Charlie Hardie trilogy, Charlie is imprisoned in a satellite 500 miles above the Earth and ordered to protect whatever is in the satellite or risk the lives of his wife and son. He's got plenty of food and water, but no ability to communicate, and things get interesting in a hurry when a familiar face arrives at the satellite. A friend? An enemy? It's hard to tell, because it appears to be Charlie himself. Point & Shoot is a wild ride that oozes action and attitude, but readers will be lost without having read the first two equally off-kilter volumes, Fun & Games and Hell & Gone.

Publisher: William Morrow/HarperCollins Publishers
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 04/16/2013
ISBN-13: 9780062216885
ISBN-10: 0062216880

Western Noir. After a decade of working as an enforcer for a local drug cartel, all Ray Lamar wants to do is stop. Stop all the violence and return to his 12-year-old son, who was maimed in the same incident (an act of revenge) that killed Ray's wife. Unfortunately, his last job goes terribly, disastrously wrong, which fans of noir fiction will have predicted. Though Ray's is a violent story, the novel is as much about dying Western towns and the lost hopes of those who live there as it is about his choices, and it makes for an excellent follow-up to the author's sparely written, morally complex debut, The Terror of Living.

Publisher: Harper
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 03/01/2006
ISBN-13: 9780061139222
ISBN-10: 006113922X

Thriller. Though the series now numbers 16 (The Rip Tide Ultra-Glide is the most recent), nutty killer Serge Storms and his partner Coleman first appeared in 1999's madcap Florida Roadkill, a darkly funny debut in which a whole convoy of homicidal wackos take in the last game of the 1997 World Series as they each try to track down a suitcase containing five million dollars. Justifying comparisons to novels by Carl Hiaasen and Elmore Leonard, Florida Roadkill features insurance scams, murder by Fix-a-Flat, voodoo, and tourist traps as the action moves through Tampa, Miami, the Keys, and other destinations, with Florida's eccentricities on full display.

First Chapter  

Publisher: HarperCollins
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 06/28/2011
ISBN-13: 9780062024480
ISBN-10: 0062024485

Legal Thriller. In the Jack Swyteck series opener, Jack is a Miami defense attorney committed to his clients, though a last-minute plea for a stay of execution for one of them is rejected by the governor, who just happens to be Jack's estranged father. The innocent man is executed, and not long after Jack is framed for murder -- and will face the death penalty if he's convicted. Will his father try to save him? Though the story takes a leisurely path to the boiling point, patient readers will be rewarded with fast-paced plot twists, increasing tension, and (at current count) nine more entries in the series.

Publisher: Norton
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 03/01/2001
ISBN-13: 9780393321258
ISBN-10: 0393321258

Suspense Fiction. Years after Thorn's parents are killed by a drunk driver who goes unpunished, he executes his own form of violent justice. Fifteen years after that, even those closest to him don't know the truth, or the darkness that haunts him. And it looks as if the cycle is starting again: a truly psychotic killer has slaughtered his foster mother, and as he seeks her killer, the rage he remembers all too well bubbles up again. A beach bum and fly-maker, Thorn's not your typical hero, but if you enjoy the loner type, the Florida Keys setting, and the stylish writing of poet James W. Hall, there are plenty of books in the series -- the 13th, Going Dark, is due out sometime this year.

Publisher: Ballantine Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 08/26/2008
ISBN-13: 9780345475473
ISBN-10: 034547547X

Suspense Fiction. Jack Carpenter was once a respected Florida cop, but his life is now in pieces -- after accusations that he used excessive force to take down the "Midnight Rambler" serial killer, he lost both his job and his wife. Now he lives over a bar and makes ends meet helping cops find missing children. But when forensic evidence appears to clear the man in prison for the Midnight Rambler killings, Jack's drawn back into the horrific case, in which several young women were tortured and killed. With well-defined characters and plenty of investigative details, Midnight Rambler was a strong series debut. It's followed by The Night Stalker and The Night Monster; Jack's also a bit player in the ebook-only The Program.

First Chapter  

Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 03/05/2013
ISBN-13: 9780399158124
ISBN-10: 039915812X

Suspense Fiction. In this latest of the popular and long-running Doc Ford series (it's the 20th; the 1st, Sanibel Flats, was published in 1990), the Florida-based marine biologist is on the hunt for five Navy bombers that disappeared 70 years ago. When the plane he's using is sabotaged, the number of people who have cause to wish him ill turns out to be quite large, starting with the married woman he's sleeping with (and her husband) and not quite ending with a drug lord. On the other hand, maybe the sabotage has nothing to do with him... There's a lot going on in this novel (including a possible romance with fishing guide Hannah Smith, last seen in her series debut, Gone), which might confuse newcomers but will entertain old hands.