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Reviews

Reviews

by Julian Barnes - Fiction, Historical Fiction

In 1936, Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich fears for his livelihood and his life. Joseph Stalin has taken a sudden interest in his work and denounced his latest opera. Now, certain he will be exiled to Siberia (or, more likely, executed on the spot), Shostakovich reflects on his predicament. Though a stroke of luck prevents him from becoming yet another casualty of the Great Terror, for decades to come he will be held fast under the thumb of despotism: made to represent Soviet values at a cultural conference in New York City, forced into joining the Party, and compelled to weigh appeasing those in power against the integrity of his music.

by James Rollins and Grant Blackwood - Adventure, Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Tucker Wayne’s past and his present collide when a former army colleague comes to him for help. She’s on the run from brutal assassins hunting her and her son. To keep them safe, Tucker must discover who killed a brilliant young idealist --- a crime that leads back to the most powerful figures in the U.S. government. From the haunted ruins of a plantation in the deep South to the beachheads of a savage civil war in Trinidad, Tucker and Kane must discover the truth behind a mystery that leads back to World War II, to a true event that is even now changing the world…and will redefine what it means to be human.

by David Baldacci - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Convicted murderer Melvin Mars is counting down the last hours before his execution --- for the violent killing of his parents 20 years earlier --- when he's granted an unexpected reprieve. Another man has confessed to the crime. Amos Decker, newly hired on an FBI special task force, takes an interest in Mars' case after discovering the striking similarities to his own life. Who wants Mars out of prison? And why now? But when a member of Decker's team disappears, it becomes clear that something much larger --- and more sinister --- than just one convicted criminal's life hangs in the balance.

by Mark Alpert - Fiction, Science Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Scientists thought that Earth was safe from invasion. But now an alien species --- from a planet hundreds of light-years from Earth --- is proving them wrong. A small spherical probe lands in an empty corner of New York City. It soon drills into the ground underneath, drawing electricity from the power lines to jump-start its automated expansion and prepare for alien colonization. When the government proves slow to react, NASA scientist Dr. Sarah Pooley realizes she must lead the effort to stop the probe before it becomes too powerful. Meanwhile, the first people who encounter the alien device are discovering just how insidious this interstellar intruder can be.

by Steve Berry - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Ex-Justice Department agent Cotton Malone is forced into a fight for survival against Aleksandr Zorin, a man whose loyalty to the former Soviet Union has festered for decades into an intense hatred of the United States. Armed with a weapon left over from the Cold War, Zorin plans to attack. He’s aided by a shocking secret hidden in America’s oldest fraternal organization --- the Society of Cincinnati --- a group that once lent out its military savvy to presidents, including helping to formulate three invasion plans of what was intended to be America’s 14th colony: Canada. In a race against the clock, Malone must not only battle Zorin, he must also confront a crippling fear that he’s long denied, but that now jeopardizes everything.

by Kate Mosse - Fiction, Historical Fiction, Historical Thriller, Supernatural Thriller, Suspense, Thriller

Twenty-two and unmarried, Constantia Gifford lives with her father on the fringes of town, in a decaying mansion cluttered with the remains of his once world-famous museum of taxidermy. When a woman is found dead, snippets of long-lost memories begin to tease through Connie’s mind. The answers are tied to a dark secret that lies at the heart of Blackthorn House, hidden among the bell jars of her father’s workshop --- a mystery that draws Connie closer to danger.

by Anne Perry - Fiction, Historical Fiction, Historical Mystery, Mystery

When an explosion in London kills two policemen and seriously injures three more, many believe that anarchists are the culprits. But Thomas Pitt knows the city’s radical groups well enough to suspect that someone with decidedly more personal motives lit the deadly fuse. As he investigates the source of the fatal blast, Pitt is stunned to discover that the bombing was a calculated strike against the ranks of law enforcement. But still more shocking revelations await. As he pursues each increasingly threatening lead, Pitt finds himself impeded at every turn by the barriers put in place to protect the rich and powerful.

by Raymond Khoury - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

In THE END GAME, which is being published exclusively as a Kindle eBook, New York Times bestselling author Raymond Khoury brings back FBI Special Agent Sean Reilly and archaeologist/novelist Tess Chaykin for another blistering thriller in their series. This time out, the man known simply as Reed Corrigan is pursuing a brutal end game that could cost Reilly and those he loves most their lives.

by James Grippando - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Jack Swyteck is called to action when teenager Sashi Burgette vanishes on her way to school. The night after Sashi’s disappearance, ex-con Dylan Kyle was stopped for drunk driving and a piece of her clothing was found in his truck. A police videotape of his drunken explanation under interrogation sealed his fate at trial. Now, just days from Kyle’s execution, Sashi’s mother visits Jack and delivers shocking news: “Sashi called me.” Unconvinced that the case is closed, Jack jumps into the investigation. But the deeper he digs, the more he discovers that nothing is what it appears to be.

by David Wellington - Adventure, Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Jim Chapel, the one-armed Special Forces soldier turned spy, is on the wrong side of the law. The person he trusts most in the world, the brilliant hacker known only as Angel, is suspected of terrorism. When his boss calls for Angel’s arrest, Chapel --- certain it’s a frame job --- has only one option: to go rogue. With the aid of old friends and his ex-lover, the search to find who framed Angel leads Chapel to a conspiracy with deep roots that shocks even this hardened veteran --- and a plan that will destroy the United States as we know it if it succeeds.