Private World

P.I. Bill Smith is sent on a high-stakes chase when an electronically modified voice on his cell phone informs him that Lydia Chin, his occasional partner, has been kidnapped. Now, if Bill wants to keep Lydia alive, he'll have to play an elaborate game of the kidnapper's devising. The first move sends him to an abandoned building, where Bill finds the corpse of a small Chinese woman dressed like Lydia and the building being rapidly surrounded by police. Now he's on the run....

Lily Wong - a Chinese-Norwegian modern-day ninja - has more trouble than she was bargaining for when controlling grandparents arrive in Los Angeles from Hong Kong at the same time she goes undercover in the dangerous world of sex trafficking. As she hunts for a missing high school girl, a kidnapped prostitute, and a sociopathic pimp, the surviving members of a murderous street gang hunt for her. Life would be easier if Lily knew who to trust. But when victims are villains, villains are victims, and even family is plotting against her, easy is not an option.

A missing girl. A shell-shocked soldier. A wife stepping out on her husband. Two women beaten to death. A sinister sabotage plot. A wounded, relentless private eye who will stop at nothing to protect those he loves. Picking up right at the thrilling conclusion of "The Big Bout," "The Big Blast" finds Soldier working three new complex cases and taking care of his friends in wartime Panama City. History. Mystery. Romance. Action. Thrills. Suspense. Noir. “Michael Lister writes some of the best hard-boiled prose going. Nothing short of amazing!” Booklist Starred Review. “Lister’s hard-...

Samantha Moon is back in a brand-new short story! A murdered wife. A desperate husband seeking revenge. And one vampire detective asked to help lay an ingenious trap. Perhaps too ingenious. As the wicked plan begins to unfurl, Sam begins to wonder...who's trapping whom? Click BUY NOW or READ FOR FREE to start reading today!

Interrogating the many attendees of the deadly party, Poe struggles to untangle a web of complex motives. With the victim’s adult children and young bride at the top of the suspect list, the family man follows a sweltering trail of clues as he races to prevent another merciless homicide.

For 10 years, something has gnawed at Isaiah Quintabe's gut and kept him up nights, boiling with anger and thoughts of revenge. Ten years ago, when Isaiah was just a boy, his brother was killed by an unknown assailant. The search for the killer sent Isaiah plunging into despair and nearly destroyed his life. Even with a flourishing career, a new dog, and near-iconic status as a PI in his hometown, East Long Beach, he has to begin the hunt again - or lose his mind.

When Father Bredder gets involved with murder—Heaven only knows what will happen next... When a baseball player is shot in the middle of a big game, Father Bredder is hired by the team to solve the case. Before he is done, he has to clear the name of a murdered priest accused of dealing drugs and save the soul of a young girl—all before the opening pitch of the World Series. “You can get hooked on God,” Father Bredder says, “like you can on heroin. You can’t get away from Him.” Named “A Red Badge Novel of Suspense” alongside Agatha Christie, Michael Innes, and Hugh ...

London, April 1882. When cool-headed Phyllida visits the World's End Investigation Bureau to offer a curious case concerning her fiancé, proprietor Lily Raynor is intrigued - and privately excited. Phyllida's fiancé, Wilberforce, is currently in an asylum in Brittany, after a tragic incident which resulted in the death of his father. Did he kill him on purpose - or was it an accident? Wilberforce's innocence looks increasingly in doubt when another murder happens at the asylum - and the evidence points to Wilberforce being the culprit.

Los Angeles, 1986. A group of right-wing Christians has put an initiative on the November ballot to allow health officials to force people with HIV into quarantine camps - and it looks like it’s going to pass. Rios, now living in LA, agrees to be counsel for a group of young activists who call themselves QUEER. QUEER claims to be committed to peaceful civil disobedience. But when one of its members is implicated in the bombing of an evangelical church that kills its pastor, Rios finds himself with a client suddenly facing the death penalty.

Filipino-American bounty hunter Domingo has made a career of catching criminal undocumented immigrants. He’s the best in the business—and it isn’t lost on him that he’s so good because of his similarities to his targets. Despite Domingo’s claims that he is unsympathetic to their plight, yet spends his spare moments on stakeouts and in between jobs writing a book of advice for aspiring immigrants. Brash, funny, and candid, he compiles the names of all the people he’s apprehended, documenting the hazards of his profession, and imparting advice to foreigners who dare to dream of life in America.

Discover the fascinating and ever-evolving world of metropolitan areas with "The Evolution of Metropolitan Areas" eBook. This comprehensive guide explores the intricacies of urban and regional economics, providing readers with an in-depth look at the impact of global influences, business trends, transportation, education, immigration, innovation districts, environmental sustainability, income inequality, technology, real estate development, smart city development, public-private partnerships, and more on metropolitan areas. Featuring a captivating case study of the economic and social ...

A teenage Diego Maradona shortly after Mundial 78, claimed: ‘‘The ball is always clean.’’ Diego was always a dreamer, such an opinion has to be applauded even if sadly looking back now nothing more than a young boy’s naive comment. From the dawn of the game being born there has always been far too much blood on the ball. Football stolen and used as blunt tool, a weapon to control and influence the masses. In 1982, as the Falkland/Malvinas conflict raged, Maradona flopped in his first World Cup, Espana 82. He was targeted by giants and ultimately self-exploded and got sent off. ...

Everyone in Denmark knew that Yousef Ahmed, a refugee from Iraq, brutally murdered the right-wing politician Sanne Melgaard. So, when part-time blues musician, frustrated home renovator, and full-time private detective Gabriel Præst agrees to investigate the matter because his ex—the one who got away—asked him to, he knew it was a no-win case. But as Gabriel starts to ask questions, his face meets with the fists of Russian gangsters; the Danish prime minister asks him for a favor; and he starts to realize that something may be rotten in the state of Denmark.

George Washington: general, statesman...businessman? Most people don't know that Washington was the country's first true entrepreneur, responsible for innovations in several industries. In George Washington, Entrepreneur, John Berlau presents a fresh, surprising take on our forefather's business pursuits. History has depicted Washington as a gifted general and political pragmatist, not an intellectual heavyweight. But he was a serious inventor and inveterate tinkerer and just as intelligent as Jefferson or Franklin.

If you're trying to learn Spanish, the hardest thing is making the leap from the textbook to the real world. But in the age of the smartphone, there's a brand new challenge - online Spanish! Social media has a language all of its own – OMG! #mindblown – and Spanish is no different!

Collected here are intersecting tales not just about Rimes but about friends, antagonists, and passersby who move through his world. Included are his first case as a PI, two pieces written by Bobby Chance, the backstory of a trial that shaped a friendship, the whereabouts of the Spider after his departure from Buffalo, and a novelette (inspired by two historic murder cases) that puts Rimes in the presence of someone truly demonic.

London, 1881. Lily Raynor, owner of the World's End Investigation Bureau, is growing increasingly worried. Work is drying up, finances are tight and she cannot find enough for her sole employee, Felix Wilbraham, to do. So when schoolteacher Georgiana Long arrives, with a worrying tale of runaway pupils, it seems like the answer to her prayers. Disguised as the new Assistant Matron, Lily joins the Shardlowes School staff. But there are undercurrents at Shardlowes, and the shadowy, powerful men who fund the school's less fortunate pupils loom larger as Felix's own investigations unfold.

When Father Bredder gets involved with murder—Heaven only knows what will happen next… When Father Bredder was persuaded to attend a concert by a string quartet, he expected an evening without much excitement. But when the first violinist dies of an apparent heart attack, Father Bredder can’t help but take note. As he conducts his investigation, he uncovers a history of murder and revenge dating back to World War II, all intermeshed with the story of an old and valuable violin. Named “A Red Badge Novel of Suspense” alongside Agatha Christie, Michael Innes, and Hugh Pentecost, The ...

People spend a large part of their waking hours trying to change, wanting to get better. Whether it's weight loss or spending habits or overall fitness, everyone would like to change some aspect of themself. New Year's Eve resolutions are, generally, forgotten by February. Failing to change comes from two misunderstandings. Personal change is incremental. We get better with small steps, not giant leaps.

Chief Justice Carver has outgrown those wild days of his youth by over thirty years. Yes, his eyes were on the highest position in the land and he did not dare to allow any of that stuff to come to haunt him. Law clerks have a motto: Nothing is secret. Nothing is sacred. And so, Carver's skeleton began to rattle and no matter his over the top ploys to control it or kill it he is losing. He hates losing... Enjoy! #TheStoryteller