As a newly minted private investigator, Nicole Graves expects to take on legal cases for corporate clients. But when her client’s son, Brad Rexton, is killed trying to protect his wife, Ashley, from a home invasion-turned-kidnapping, the firm is hired to investigate. Nicole soon discovers that Ashley is not the person she claims to be, but her real identity remains a mystery.

Meanwhile, a long-delayed and undesired inheritance is finally deposited into Nicole’s bank account. Within a few days, someone dear to Nicole is kidnapped in the same manner as Ashley. The perpetrators demand Nicole’s full inheritance as ransom. She’s willing to hand the money over but finds it’s not so easy. The kidnappers have an uncanny ability to track her every move, and they suspect a trap. When their most terrifying threat is delivered to her door, Nicole is faced with a terrible choice: Should she count on the police or risk going it alone? Each Nicole Graves books can be read in the series or as a stand-alone novel.

One child could change the future of humanity.

Eleven years after a virus swept through the world, small, spread-out gangs are all that's left of humanity. Veena Osborne and her mentor, Abraham Jones, lead the Tierrans through the daily trials of surviving in post-apocalyptic San Diego. Together, they cling to the daily disciplines of faith and life that keep them safe and alive.

When Nate Sinclair stumbles out of a NASA-sponsored suspended animation experiment and into a world changed by catastrophic fires and pandemics, he finds his way to the Tierrans, and to Veena. The miraculous preservation of Nate through all the trials of the world might be enough to keep a sterile humanity alive, but the spreading knowledge of his immunity threatens to push the surviving humans into all-out war.

This apocalyptic novel is sure to entice fans of P.D. James (The Children of Men), Lauren James (The Quiet at the End of the World), and Clare Morrall (When the Floods Came) with its vibrant characters and intense storylines.

Paul Dodge is ready to return to his normal job as a Parole Agent in Virginia after a much-needed—and not very restful—personal hiatus. When a local street woman is found dead, he's assigned to work the case despite his personal objections.

Now working a case outside of his normal expertise with a new team and a boss he isn't sure he can trust, Dodge tries to make the best of the bad situation. The sooner the case is closed the sooner he can get back to his parole work rather than poking his nose into the life of a serial killer.

With the killer growing in confidence and an old flame back in town, Dodge's personal and professional lives get tested and tangled. When accusations fly and tensions rise, time is running out for Dodge to find justice for the victims and stop a psychopath before the body count rises again.

Don't Miss the other books in the Paul Dodge series:

Trust Misplaced

Last Rays of Daylight

While they are a series, the Paul Dodge novels can be read and enjoyed in any order.

It’s February 1942. War grips the world. Asian hate runs rampant, and New Orleans is a dangerous place for Chinese-English scientist Thomas Ling as he collides with self-proclaimed psychic Beatrix Patterson. She's a good liar with an excellent memory, which in truth is her only gift—well, that and conning the well-heeled out of their money and secrets.

Hired by the US Army to use her connections to expose Nazi saboteurs and sympathizers, Beatrix recruits the reluctant Thomas. Together, they pit their skills against a government conspiracy, terrorist cells, kidnappings, and murderous plots. As Beatrix grapples with the truth of her own past, she must come to terms with her ruse. Exposing the Nazi war machine about to invade the country could cost Beatrix everything she's worked so hard to build. But the information she and Thomas uncover could change the outcome of the war.

The question remains: will anyone believe a liar and a suspected traitor?

Does it really matter where you come from?

In 1953, a war widow’s difficult mother dies before revealing the identity of her daughter’s father and his cultural heritage. As Dee sorts through what little her mother left, she unearths puzzling clues that raise more questions: Why did Leora send money every month to the Basque Relief Agency? Why is her own daughter so secretive about her soon-to-be-published book? And what does an Anglican priest know that he isn’t telling?

All of this head-spinning mystery breaks a long, dry period in Dee’s life and leads her to embark on an odyssey. She might just as well lose her job and see where the counsel of her new spiritual advisor and the attentions of an enigmatic ex-coworker lead her.

The Sheep Walker’s Daughter pairs a colorful Basque immigrant history of loss, survival, and tough choices with one woman’s search for identity and fulfillment. Dee’s journey will take her through the Northern and Central California valleys of the 1950s and reach across the world to the Basque Country.

Can Nellie rescue her broken-hearted daughter, and give badly needed direction to her headstrong granddaughter who is on a path to disaster?

Rachel, a middle-aged novelist and university professor in North Carolina, finds herself in a downward spiral when she learns that her brother Dennis, from whom she’s been estranged for decades, is dying. The news brings back memories she has long repressed.

As she reflects on how early trauma changed the trajectory of her life, Rachel remembers her youth and begins to rethink her role as a woman, a daughter, a wife, and a mother, reexamining the life she’s found herself living.

At times, Rachel's attempts to mine her own complicated past and to weave her memories into the fabric of her professional and creative work are laugh-out-loud funny; at other times, they're painful, though always off-beat and deeply intimate.

A depressed eighteen-year-old

An old couple with a terrible secret

A new exploration on an ancient mountain

In the bowels of the mountain, two boulders leaned against a wall in a small chamber. Everything was as it had been for years upon years. No sounds from the explorers working on the surface above penetrated to the chamber. It was the deepest of the deep places. Then the air changed. The change was barely discernible, but it was there.

One of the boulders moved. Slowly, impossibly, it stood upright. A grating sound came from it, and the other boulder slowly moved upward. For a long time, the boulders stood next to each other, motionless. Finally, as if hearing a cue only they could hear, they moved forward out of the small chamber.

"Full of page-by-page surprises" – Kirkus Reviews

When Nicole Graves arranges a summer-long swap of her Los Angeles condo for a London couple’s house, she thinks it’s the perfect arrangement. She’s always dreamed of seeing the real London; she’s also hopeful the time away with her husband Brad will be good for their troubled marriage. But things don’t turn out the way Nicole expects: The Londoners fail to arrive in L.A. and appear to be missing. Then people begin following Nicole and making threats, demanding information she doesn’t have. Soon, Nicole realizes she’s in serious trouble––but she can’t get Brad or the police to believe her. When the confrontations turn deadly, Nicole must either solve the case or become the next victim.

The Brueggen Stones: When two brueggen stones are dropped. Over Shagger’s dreary rock. Gefcla’s evil will be stopped.

Lynn’s life isn’t interesting, until she falls on a Chicago sidewalk and sees yellow, orange, and green lights flitting past. The next time she opens her eyes, she’s in a forest that has huge roots coming out of the ground. A man with tennis ball-sized eyes howls at her—and that’s just the beginning.<br><br>Chell and the other Stalli warriors are on a hopeless series of raids against a ruthless enemy who outnumbers them. Keshua has given them a foretelling rhyme, but they have no idea how to fulfill it, they feel deathly ill anywhere near a brueggen stone.

Is Lynn the answer to saving them? And will she realize it in time to help?

Under the Golden Mists: “Help me!” the girl’s voice sobs. It’s only a dream, Lacht tells herself. But what if it isn't?

Under Wasso Lake live the Wassandra. The underwater people have abnormally long arms and fingers and aren’t to be trusted—at least that’s what Stalli guide, Crispin, tells Lacht and her family as he takes them to a village on the shores of the lake.

Lacht is intrigued; especially when she hears the Wassandra want help to find a missing child. Then dreams of the frightened girl begin troubling her.

When they arrive at the golden lake, Lacht thinks it’s the most beautiful place she’s ever seen—until a bizarre discovery terrifies her.

“Help me!” cries the Wassandra girl in one last dream, but can Lacht find the courage to face the horrifying creature she sees in that dream?

The Opal Cavern: Curl says she’d rather die than spend the rest of her life trapped under Wasso Lake. What if her wish is coming true?

Nineteen-years-old and still longing to see new things, Curl plans an exploration trip with Lynn’s sons, Mindik and Chera. Their goal is to find Tarth’s legendary Opal Cavern.

Lacht has recurrent, heavy feelings that her Wassandra friend shouldn’t go, but nobody listens and the team leaves.

Then Wave learns something from an old Wassandra diary that can mean life or death for Curl. A rescue team rushes off but they don’t know how long it will take to find her.

They do know that if they don’t find her soon, time will run out before they can get her back.

The Stone Walkers: A depressed eighteen-year-old. An old couple with a terrible secret. A new exploration on an ancient mountain

In the bowels of the mountain, two boulders leaned against a wall in a small chamber. Everything was as it had been for years upon years. No sounds from the explorers working on the surface above penetrated to the chamber. It was the deepest of the deep places. Then the air changed. The change was barely discernible, but it was there.

One of the boulders moved. Slowly, impossibly, it stood upright. A grating sound came from it, and the other boulder slowly moved upward. For a long time, the boulders stood next to each other, motionless. Finally, as if hearing a cue only they could hear, they moved forward out of the small chamber. The Stone Walkers were walking again.

We labor in the dark, not knowing how close we come to tapping gold or triggering disaster. Only God knows.

When her parents marry off Kansas-born Nellie Belle to the ranch foreman, she never questions that motherhood will follow. But at the dawn of the progressive era, dissatisfied Nellie seizes an opportunity to move west and start a new life. Desperate to find a sense of self-worth, Nellie leaves behind her husband and son and takes her two daughters to the Northwest. She charges forward to become the first woman court reporter to travel the circuit in the region. But in the process she loses her daughters, one to death, and one to vaudeville.

In small-town makeshift courtrooms and growing cities boasting new halls of justice, Nellie touches many lives, independent-minded lawmen, enterprising women, hard-working immigrants, a senator, a number of cads, and a cross-dresser. She earns the respect of a tight legal community with their own ideas of early twentieth-century justice. But when her prodigal youngest returns home with a babe in arms, she must do what she can to pull together the remains of her scattered family.

Can Nellie rescue her broken-hearted daughter, and give badly needed direction to her headstrong granddaughter who is on a path to disaster?

From multi-award-wining author Deborah Hining come two novels about The Women of Jacob's mountain who have a strength and sense of adventure unknown even to themselves.

Two book boxed set of the award winning titles A Sinner in Paradise and A Saint in Graceland

Trouble has a way of finding Blanche Murninghan...

When Blanche “Bang” Murninghan visits an exhibit of ancient Mayan ruins in Mexico City, she sees that all is not ancient. One of the mummies has a pink hair clip embedded in its hay-like do, and the texture of the skin is not quite right.

Blanche, a part-time journalist, starts to dig for answers and gets tangled in the mystery of the mummy at the Palacio Nacional.

Her cousin and traveling companion, Haasi Hakla, aids and abets—and puts the reins on Blanche. All the while, the two eat and drink their way across the city, following one hunch after another with a cast of colorful characters that include a prescient elderly chilanga, an amiable overworked detective, and a stunning doctor of shady deeds.

The cousins are willing to risk kidnapping and attempted murder to get at the truth—but first, Blanche stops for another excellent beer and Haasi delights in one more taco al pastor.

Trouble Down Mexico Way is the second book in the Blanche Murninghan cozy mystery series. Each of the books can be read as a stand-alone. Foreword Reviews is in love with the "spunky heroine" and Kirkus Reviews says, "There’s a reason Blanche Murninghan’s cousin Jack calls her 'Bang.' When she gets mad, it’s an event to rival a Santa Maria Island sunset—and it happens about as often."

Fans of Jana Deleon's Miss Fortune Mystery series and Tonya Kappes A Camper and Criminals Cozy series will fall hard for the colorful characters and exciting misadventures in the Blanche Murningnan Mysteries.

Paul Dodge is no stranger to the dark side of crime. As a parole agent and a member of the local Sex Crimes Task Force, he knows what depravity lies in the shadows. But when an investigation into a local sexual predator leads him to a photo of a judge’s daughter and another young girl ends up dead, Dodge quickly realizes he doesn’t know who to trust.

In the most dangerous case of his career, Dodge races to detangle a growing web of lies and corruption. His life and career are both on the line in this high-stakes case, and a single misstep could end them both.

“Help me!” the girl’s voice sobs.

It’s only a dream, Lacht tells herself.

But what if it isn't?

Under Wasso Lake live the Wassandra. The underwater people have abnormally long arms and fingers and aren’t to be trusted—at least that’s what Stalli guide, Crispin, tells Lacht and her family as he takes them to a village on the shores of the lake.

Lacht is intrigued; especially when she hears the Wassandra want help to find a missing child. Then dreams of the frightened girl begin troubling her.

When they arrive at the golden lake, Lacht thinks it’s the most beautiful place she’s ever seen—until a bizarre discovery terrifies her.

“Help me!” cries the Wassandra girl in one last dream, but can Lacht find the courage to face the horrifying creature she sees in that dream?

Peter wants nothing more than to settle into a normal life with his fiancée, Kate Simpson. But the Fates seems to have other plans as he finds himself in a deadly confrontation with North Korean agents intent on stealing his latest invention; a pulsed energy weapon that promises to revolutionize small arms technology and upend the international balance of power.

After suffering a heartbreaking loss at the hands of the North Koreans, Peter is devastated. Vowing retribution, he has only one option. With his faithful companion Diesel by his side, Peter must retreat to a remote section of Idaho wilderness known as the Zone of Death—a large, uninhabited tract of Federal land where one can literally get away with murder.

Somehow, he must entice the North Korean assassins to follow him. There Peter will need all his skills as a hunter to kill… or be killed.

"Valiant Savage is a pulse-pounding action thriller that’s anchored by its charming everyman hero and a fascinating historical mystery."
– Foreword Reviews

The Cascadia Independence Movement, a radical political group, aspires to succeed where others have failed and split off the Pacific Northwest as an independent nation. With a sympathetic politician occupying the seat of president pro tempore of the Senate, CIM hatches a daring plan.

Eliminating the President, Vice President, and Speaker of the House in a coordinated attack would be difficult enough, but to do so and get away with the crimes would border on the impossible. They plot to frame the commander of The Strategic Global Intervention Team, James Nicolaou, for the murders and steal a revolutionary weapon under development by Peter Savage, which will assure success.

With Commander Nicolaou missing and the subject of a nationwide dragnet with orders to shoot to kill. With his faithful canine companion, Peter crisscrosses the northwest in a race against time to save his friend and avert a political coup the likes of which haven’t been witnessed since the Lincoln assassination plot.

Four kingdoms are locked in a horrible war—a war that, if lost, will surrender innocent lives to the power and control of King Kayne, the barbaric and bloodthirsty king of the South. The kings and queen of the North, East, and West have no choice but to join forces against the South if they’re going to hold onto everything they hold dear.

But the northern Queen’s brother has a different ambition in mind, and sees the South as a route to power. While Kayne spends his time traveling across the Great Sea, seeking out herbs and potions to enhance his abilities, Kristofer rises amongst the ranks to become his right hand and leads the people in the king’s absence.

Bewildered and devastated by Kristofer’s betrayal, Queen Elora of the North and lifelong ally King Rian of the West join their armies to fight against him. As they seek to save their kingdoms, Elora and Rian face an excruciating struggle between the love they once had for Kristofer and their duty to deal the fatal blow.

Fans of Christopher Paolini, Laura Sebastian, and Chloe Gong are sure to devour this action-packed debut from D.S. Churchill.

Jacob Hart has always been convinced there is an answer to any problem. That belief propelled him to a successful engineering career at corporate giant, GoldOrb Diversified. But following an abrupt retirement and his wife's untimely death, Jacob suffers an existential crisis. The man who once believed that anything could be solved becomes all consumed with uncovering the role of a higher power in his seemingly crumbling world. Plagued with prophetic visions, he travels to Lake Paradise in pursuit of his coveted answer to life's mysteries.

Joined in his quest by a kind Rabbi who has lost his faith, an unruly Ivy League professor, and the powerful CEO of GoldOrb, Jacob enters into a philosophical pursuit for the ages. But the troubles of the real world follow the friends to paradise, and soon they are ensnared in a high stakes political scandal that threatens to destroy everything.

The Overexamined Life of Jacob Hart tests the bonds of friendship, family, and country and infuses existential questions from time immemorial with modernity, intrigue, and sheer excitement.

"Music is life. Music is a reflection of who we are as humans. Music tells us things that words can’t, it ignites feelings in us that we didn’t know we had, and it can reach a depth that nothing else can.” —Susan Graham, renowned American mezzo-soprano

Music has existed as long as there have been people to listen. It takes on many forms and is many things, providing entertainment, emotion, storytelling, and most of all, magic for all who hear.

In revealing and genuine interviews, Larry Ruttman converses with world-renowned musicians of the 21st century and engages them in an approachable manner. Dive into the recesses of their minds to discover the influences and inspiration behind classical music and other popular genres such as pop, jazz, folk, Americana, and many other genres impacting today’s musical culture.

Perfect for dedicated fans, determined students, and the casually interested listener to music of all genres, Intimate Conversations: Face to Face with Matchless Musicians is sure to inspire, fascinate, and entertain.

In a kill or be killed world, The Reaper does whatever it takes to survive.

Following the murder of his half-brother, legendary Army Ranger Luke Foster returns to the United States from fighting terrorists. His brother’s history with a prominent New York Mafia family was no secret, so it’s no surprise his life was cut short. But the Mafia enforcers don’t know about Foster, his reputation as The Reaper, or that he’s coming for them.

FBI Special Agent Calico Hayes is determined to stop Luke Foster from leaving a trail of bodies across the U.S. in his unsanctioned quest for vengeance. But stopping Foster’s revenge proves more difficult than she expected, and sparks fly in more ways than one when the two cross paths.

While investigating his brother’s murder, they uncover a sinister plan to assassinate a populous Presidential Candidate. Hayes and Foster must put purpose before passion in order to stop the diabolical plot that could trigger a World War.

When Medusa and Tiresias rise from the Underworld as twenty-first-century teens and meet through Persephone and Hades' new dating app, it seems like a second chance. Dating is hard when you turn everyone to stone, but dating a blind prophet may be a loophole … even if he does occasionally spout dire prophecies.

But not everyone is pleased with an app designed to kindle romance between mortal enemies. As distrust grows between the heroes, monsters, and gods making up the app's user base, it’s easier to fall into old habits than fall in love. With pressure building on both sides, Medusa and Tiresias accept their task: kill their date, no matter how much they bond over their love of dogs or the way the gods have wronged them in the past.

Caught amongst meddling gods, murderous heroes, and a classic Greek bet, Medusa and Tiresias may have signed up for more than a dating profile. With war brewing at the hands of the gods, working together may be the only way to save mortals and monsters alike.

Told entirely through instant messages and transcripts, this is one mythically funny romantic comedy you don’t want to miss.

Celine Arceneau was admitted to the hospital for food poisoning and declared medically stable before her physician, Ellen Smythe, left for the evening. When she died the next morning from an unknown cause, Chief Detective Stefan Jablonsky suspects foul play and eyes Dr. Smythe, Dr. Kate Chambers’ friend and mentor, as his prime suspect. Pittsburgh’s amateur sleuth quickly joins the fight to prove her friend’s innocence.

Chief Detective Jablonsky and Kate Chambers have worked together in the past; he finds her and her university friends to be elitist and annoying, but grudgingly effective, and she finds him to be a stodgy, old-school detective, but one who always gets the killer. Jablonsky and Kate must put aside their differences to catch the culprit before the body count rises.

This psychological mystery will hold you captive until the very end. Locked Box is the third book in the Pittsburgh Murder Mystery series: however, each book can be read as a stand-alone or in order of publication.

Recent college graduate Joel Howard, former bench warmer for his small town college team, is optimistic about his future with his out-of-his-league girlfriend and a job prospect with a local insurance agency. But things don't work out the way he plans when his girlfriend dumps him and he remains stuck at his unfulfilling position at the local shoe store in the mall.

Joel has always been lucky in the past, and despite the current string of bad luck he sees an opportunity at his job at the mall—because the mall has a bank.

Desperately seeking a change of pace from his father's unrelenting nagging, Joel hatches a plan to rob the mall's bank on the night of Black Friday, 1987. He must depend on his lucky streak to get him out of trouble time and again, or face the life-altering consequences of his actions.

Lucky Duck is a comedic crime novel perfect if you’re looking for something with the flavor of a John Hughes film from those 80s and 90s tomes like Risky Business or Breakfast Club.

Four kingdoms are locked in a horrible war—a war that, if lost, will surrender innocent lives to the power and control of King Kayne, the barbaric and bloodthirsty king of the South. The kings and queen of the North, East, and West have no choice but to join forces against the South if they’re going to hold onto everything they hold dear.

But the northern Queen’s brother has a different ambition in mind, and sees the South as a route to power. While Kayne spends his time traveling across the Great Sea, seeking out herbs and potions to enhance his abilities, Kristofer rises amongst the ranks to become his right hand and leads the people in the king’s absence.

Bewildered and devastated by Kristofer’s betrayal, Queen Elora of the North and lifelong ally King Rian of the West join their armies to fight against him. As they seek to save their kingdoms, Elora and Rian face an excruciating struggle between the love they once had for Kristofer and their duty to deal the fatal blow.

Excerpt from When Kingdom Comes:

Elora stood frozen, staring at her brother. It was Rian’s voice beside her that brought her back. “Call off your men, Kristofer. This is a slaughter.” His voice was low, angry, and filled with hatred.

Kristofer’s deep laugh surrounded them. “This is war. Slaughter is inevitable.”

Fans of Christopher Paolini, Laura Sebastian, and Chloe Gong are sure to devour this action-packed debut from DS Churchill.

There’s an app for everything, even meeting a new nemesis.

Up-and-coming teen superhero Cortex is on top of the world—at least, until his villain dumps him. If he’s going to save his reputation, he needs a new villain to fight, and fast. Meanwhile, the villainous Vortex has once again gotten a little overeager and taken out a hero prematurely. Will any young hero be able to keep up with her? Maybe she should work on finding a steady relationship with an enemy she won’t kill in the first round.

Enter Meta-Match, a nemesis pairing site for heroes and villains. The two match right away, and after throwing punches at each other behind coffee shops, practicing their fight choreography, and hiring henchmen to do their bidding (mostly just getting them coffee), they realize they have a lot more in common than names that annoyingly rhyme. After all, they're still rising through the ranks in their respective circles, and their reputations need good press.

But not everything in the superhero world is as it seems. Can a hero really trust a villain to do the right thing? And can a villain trust a hero not to screw them over? As darkness from the past threatens them both, they may need each other for the fight to come—one with much higher stakes than their choreographed meet-ups on weekends.

Told entirely through texts, transcriptions, and direct messages, this darkly humorous chat fiction rom-com goes behind the scenes of the superworld.