The Trap

Fiction by Catherine Ryan Howard

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

 Lucy's sister Nicki has been missing for a year, but Lucy is still searching for her. In fact, Lucy has virtually put her life on hold, all of her previous plans in a limbo state as she tries increasingly dangerous things to hunt for Nicki. Then there's an unexpected development in the case and a renewed hope that Nicki might indeed still be alive! Then comes a chance for Lucy to recapture public interest in her sister's disappearance, and Lucy plans to take it, no matter what the risk.

This was an exciting thriller with several surprises and a twist!

I also read by this author: Distress Signal

The Chain

 Fiction by Adrian McKinty

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

Thirteen-year-old Kylie is waiting for the school bus when she's abducted at gunpoint. Her mother Rachel receives a ransom call, but the kidnappers don't just want money for Kylie's return. They also want Rachel to join The Chain and kidnap another person's child...

This was a super exciting thriller with several surprises!

I also read by this author: The Island

Walter's Purple Heart

 Fiction by Catherine Ryan Hyde

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

Walter is a soldier killed on a Pacific island during World War Two; Michael is a pot farmer in the early 1980's. What could connect these two? It's definitely weird.

This was a strange story from an author I usually love. The characters were pretty good in this book, but it's not nearly as compelling as her other books.

I also read recently by this author: Pay It Forward

You Killed Me First

 Fiction by John Marrs

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This was an exciting thriller but it definitely stretched the limits of believability almost to breaking, and was populated with believable but unlikeable characters. 

It begins with a woman literally trapped under the village bonfire on Guy Fawkes Day with a voice in her ear saying, "You killed me first..."

I also read recently by this author: The Family Experiment

Distress Signal

 Fiction by Catherine Ryan Howard

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

Adam takes his girlfriend Sarah to the airport in Cork, Ireland, for a quick business trip to Barcelona. He is supposed to be working on his writing, so he isn't alarmed when he doesn't hear from her at first. But then her parents call him, worried that she isn't answering her phone Then Sarah doesn't come home as scheduled. 

Adam discovers that Sarah actually called in sick to work, and lied about the purpose of her trip. So why did she go to Barcelona? And where is she now? The police seem to think she left of her own accord, but Adam is determined to investigate. He may not survive finding the truth...

This was a great story with several surprises! I will look for more by this author.

The Interdependency Trilogy

The Collapsing Empire, The Consuming Fire, and The Last Emperox 
Audible Original Fiction by John Scalzi

https://www.audible.com https://www.audible.com https://www.audible.com

Thousands of years in the future, humans live all over space, not just on Earth. In the star system of this story, they live in The Interdependency and have completely lost touch with Earth altogether. The Interdependency is a network of planets and space stations joined by The Flow, which is the only method of connection between planets that are light-years apart. (Think wormholes in Star Trek. Like that.)

Okay, I understand that long sci-fi backstory is a lot, but just go with it. Because this is an amazingly good trilogy. I loved the characters so much! And the narration is also top-notch.

Definitely listen to these in order.

I also listened to recently from Audible Original Fiction: Constituent Service

I also read by this author: Starter Villain

The Reformatory

 Fiction by Tananarive Due

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

It's 1950 in Gracetown, Florida, and 12-year-old Robbie is living with his older sister Gloria in the old shack on their family's land. There had been a house there, but the Klan burned it down after their daddy, Robert Stevens Senior, was discovered trying to unionize the Negros at the mill. The audacity he showed really riled the white folks in town, and a bogus criminal charge was quickly found to issue a warrant for the arrest of Robert Stevens, causing him to flee the area and leave his children behind. 

Then Robbie kicks a white boy who tries to put an arm around Gloria, and all heck breaks loose. The local authorities see this incident as a perfect pretext to catch Robert Senior, arresting Robbie for assault and sentencing him to six months at the Boy's Reformatory outside of town, a true horror of a place. (The ghosts that haunt it are probably the most benign problem. It's BAD.) There the story really begins.

This was an amazing novel with great characters and an affecting storyline. Real and imagined events mix together to give the reader an exciting ride through the past, and also inspires a lot of thought for the present.

The Plea

 Fiction by Steve Cavanaugh

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This book is the sequel to The Defense, which I read recently. In this story, con artist turned defense attorney Eddie Flynn is approached by the FBI to help them uncover a money laundering scheme. All he has to do is convince a tech billionaire accused of murder to hire him (Eddie) for his (the billionaire guy's) defense.

The problem is that Billionaire Guy already HAS a lawyer, and it's a super-duper expensive fancy one. But the FBI says Eddie has to get hired, pronto.

Oh, and if he doesn't succeed they will arrest his (Eddie's) wife.

This was an exciting story with great characters and several surprises.

A Bigfoot Homecoming

 Fiction by Kim Orendor

https://www.amazon.com

In 1956, Zeke Renik was a poor kid in Missouri when he saw Bigfoot. Nearly seventy years later, he's an old man in a Florida nursing home when he hears about a new Bigfoot sighting back home, and he wants to investigate. So he and an orderly named Nate head off on a road trip.

This is a self-published book recommended to me by a friend. I wanted to love it, but didn't. It did have a good ending.

The Defense

 Fiction by Steve Cavanaugh

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

I read a novel by this author recently that I discovered was #3 in a series (see below), so I went and got this book-- it's #1.

In this story, Eddie Flynn is a New York City man who has been a con artist, an alcoholic, and a defense lawyer; however, he's not currently any of those things. Then he is contacted by the Russian mob with the news that they have kidnapped his daughter in order to force him back into defense law, and maybe into the con game as well...

This was an exciting story with lots of plot twists and several surprises.

I also read recently by this author: Thirteen