Think of a Number

      John Verdon
     Think of a Number

An extraordinary fiction debut, Think of a Number is an exquisitely plotted novel of suspense that grows relentlessly darker and more frightening as its pace accelerates, forcing its deeply troubled characters to moments of startling self-revelation. Arriving in the mail over a period of weeks are taunting letters that end with a simple declaration, “Think of any number…picture it…now see how well I know your secrets.”  Amazingly, those who comply find that the letter writer has predicted their random choice exactly.  For Dave Gurney, just retired as the NYPD’s top homicide investigator and forging a new life with his wife, Madeleine, in upstate New York, the letters are oddities that begin as a diverting puzzle but quickly ignite a massive serial murder investigation. What police are confronted with is a completely baffling killer, one who is fond of rhymes filled with threats and warnings, whose attention to detail is unprecedented, and who has an uncanny knack for disappearing into thin air.  Even more disturbing, the scale of his ambition seems to widen as events unfold. Brought in as an investigative consultant, Dave Gurney soon accomplishes deductive breakthroughs that leave local police in awe.  Yet, even as he matches wits with his seemingly clairvoyant opponent, Gurney’s tragedy-marred past rises up to haunt him, his marriage approaches a dangerous precipice, and finally, a dark, cold fear builds that he’s met an adversary who can’t be stopped. In the end, fighting to keep his bearings amid a whirlwind of menace and destruction, Gurney sees the truth of what he’s become – what we all become when guilty memories fester – and how his wife Madeleine’s clear-eyed advice may be the only answer that makes sense. A work that defies easy labels -- at once a propulsive masterpiece of suspense and an absorbing immersion in the lives of characters so real we seem to hear their heartbeats – Think of a Number is a novel you’ll not soon forget. From the Hardcover edition.

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    Sweet Damage

      Rebecca James
     Sweet Damage

*'I still dream about Anna London's house. In my dreams it's as if the house itself has sinister intentions. But in real life it wasn't the house that was responsible for what happened. It was the people who did the damage ...' * When Tim Ellison finds a cheap room to rent in the perfect location in Sydney it looks like a huge stroke of luck. In fact the room comes with a condition, and the owner of the house, the mysterious Anna London, is unfriendly and withdrawn. When strange and terrifying things start happening in the house at night, Tim wonders if taking the room is a mistake. But then his feelings for Anna start to change, and when her past comes back with a vengeance, Tim is caught right in the middle of it. A thrilling rollercoaster of a story - read it with the lights on!

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    The Boardwalk Mystery

      Gertrude Chandler Warner
     The Boardwalk Mystery

The Aldens are visiting the New Jersey shore and enjoying the beach and the boardwalk attractions. A family friend has just bought an amusement pier, and the children are excited to help out. But there are rumors that the rides aren’t safe, and someone has stolen a zombie from the haunted house! Can the Boxcar Children find out what’s behind all the trouble? 

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    Full Scoop

      Janet Evanovich
     Full Scoop

Dear Reader: Mercury's in retrograde, and folks in Beaumont, South Carolina, are dealing with gossip, scandal, misunderstandings, and more secrets than ever. Local pediatrician Maggie Farnsworth has even bigger worries. Her wild-girl past has caught up with her in the form of her ex-boyfriend, a jailbird who just flew the coop --- and is bent on tracking down Maggie and her daughter. Fortunately, FBI agent Zack Madden is on hand for protection. Unfortunately, his presence is turning up the heat on an attraction Maggie simply has no time for ... or does she? But Maggie and Zack aren't the only ones getting busy: Fleas, the hound dog, is up to his old tricks --- this time with Butterbean, a very alluring ... goat? Jamie Swift and millionaire Max Holt have babies on the brain. And resident psychic-slash-astrologer Destiny is fighting a crush of her own. Since the town's ice cream parlor is a magnet for gossip, no one can keep a secret and the sticky situations are getting even stickier ... It's the wildest time yet in the town we love to write about, with the characters we can't get enough of. So sit back, relax, and enjoy a FULL SCOOP of fun, adventure, and romance. Janet and Charlotte (THE AUTHORS)

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    A Dangerous Game

      Heather Graham
     A Dangerous Game

The third novel in the New York Confidential series by long-established NYT bestselling romantic suspense author Heather Graham. This is the author's romantic-suspense stream, in addition to her successful ongoing mass market paperback paranormal romantic suspense series. Psychologist Kieran Finnegan is thrust into the middle of an investigation into human trafficking when a desperate woman shoves an infant into her arms and then flees...only to be murdered minutes later on a busy Manhattan street. Despite the fact that it isn't an FBI case, Special Agent Craig Frasier starts poking around, because Kieran can't stop thinking about the child and the victim. Their one lead comes through the pub, Finnegan's on Broadway. One of the waitresses also volunteers at a church outreach center, and had been in contact with a distraught young pregnant woman, whom she recommended Kieran to as someone who might be able to help her. When Kieran goes to the outreach center to do some off-the-books investigating of her own, she is approached by two women who are worried for their missing friend, and who reveal that they were part of a human trafficking ring that did business in babies. As Craig and Kieran delve deeper into the underbelly of NYC trying to find out more, the dangerous elements of the ring come to the surface, hoping to silence Kieran before she exposes them.

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    The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict

      Trenton Lee Stewart
     The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict

*Before there was a Mysterious Benedict Society, there was simply a boy named Nicholas Benedict. Meet the boy who started it all.... *Nine-year-old Nicholas Benedict has more problems than most children his age. Not only is he an orphan with an unfortunate nose, but also he has narcolepsy, a condition that gives him terrible nightmares and makes him fall asleep at the worst possible moments. Now he's sent to a new orphanage, where he encounters vicious bullies, selfish adults, strange circumstances -- and a mystery that could change his life forever. Luckily, he has one important thing in his favor: He's a genius. On his quest to solve the mystery, Nicholas finds enemies around every corner, but also friends in unexpected places -- and discovers along the way that the greatest puzzle of all is himself.

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    Blood Genesis

      Tessa Dawn
     Blood Genesis

Before there was a modern-day town called Dark Moon Vale, there was an ancient kingdom nestled in the Transylvanian Alps. Before there was a primordial species called the Vampyr, there was a celestial race begotten of gods and men. Before light battled shadow, the sacrifice became mandatory, or the first Blood Moon adorned the celestial sky... There was the Curse. A punishment. An abomination. The ultimate act of vengeance. And it was placed upon a people so corrupted by their thirst for blood and dominion that they awakened the souls of the slain ~ and became the souls of the damned. Before the Blood Curse Series, there was a beginning. BLOOD GENESIS (A short-story prequel to the Blood Curse Series)

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    The Night My Sister Went Missing

      Carol Plum-Ucci
     The Night My Sister Went Missing

A tiny pistol, passed from friend to friend at a party on an abandoned pier, suddenly fires, and Casey Carmody falls into the water below. Kurt, Casey's older brother, endures a seemingly endless night at the police station while the coast guard searches for his sister and his friends are questioned, one by one.    Who was foolish enough to pull the trigger? Was the gunfire accidental or deliberate? Or was the whole drama one of Casey's practical jokes? And where is Casey--or her body--now?    Dark secrets are revealed and petty jealousies rear their ugly heads as each eyewitness comes to the questioning room with his or her own version of "the truth."

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    A Maiden's Grave

      Jeffery Deaver
     A Maiden's Grave

Eight vulnerable girls and their helpless teachers are forced off a school bus and held hostage. The madman who has them at gunpoint has a simple plan: one hostage an hour will die unless the demands are met. Called to the scene is Arthur Potter, the FBI's best hostage negotiator. He has a plan. But so does one of the hostages-a beautiful teacher who's willing to do anything to save the lives of her students. Now, the clock is ticking as a chilling game of cat and mouse begins.

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    Anathema

      K. A. Tucker
     Anathema

Evangeline has spent her teenage years in obscurity. Her foster parents have the emotional aptitude of robots and her classmates barely acknowledge her existence. About to turn eighteen and feeling like a social pariah, she is desperate to connect with someone. Anyone. When Evangeline meets Sofie after literally stumbling upon her café, she believes she’s found that connection. Willing to do anything to keep it, she accepts a job as Sofie’s assistant and drops everything to fly to Manhattan, where she is thrust into a luxurious world of Prada, diamonds, and limitless cash. With such generosity and kindness, it’s easy for Evangeline to dismiss certain oddities... like Sofie’s erratic and sometimes violent behavior, and the monstrous guard dogs. She’s even willing to dismiss her vivid dreams of mob-style murders, beautiful homeless people living in caves, and white-eyed demons that haunt her each night as figments of her imagination—especially when one of those figments is the gorgeous Caden. When she wakes up with bite marks on her neck, the fairy tale quickly turns into a nightmare. She slowly unravels the mystery surrounding Sofie and friends, and the reality of the bites and the “dreams.” What she discovers is far more mysterious and terrible than anything she could have imagined. In a world where everyone has motive to lie for personal gain, Evangeline must decide which deception is least likely to get her killed.

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    Blood Forever

      Mari Mancusi
     Blood Forever

Sunny and Rayne McDonald have had their lives turned upside down thanks to the Blood Coven. But when the past itself is changed, the sisters will do anything to get back what they've lost... After making a deal with the devil, Rayne and her twin sister, Sunny, have been given the chance to go back in time--to prevent that fateful night when Sunny was bitten by Magnus from ever happening. But while Sunny has been offered a vampire-free existence, she finds she doesn't want to live without Magnus by her side. And although Rayne puts up a stoic front, she secretly wishes that the vampire Jareth was back in her arms. To reclaim their lives, Sunny and Rayne team up to figure out a way to change history for the better. Problem is, Jareth and Magnus aren't all that eager to help two unfamiliar girls who somehow know everything about their vampiric organization. Now, if the twins can't get the boys on their side, history may spiral out of control--destroying not only the Blood Coven, but quite possibly the entire human race...

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    Stranger With My Face

      Lois Duncan
     Stranger With My Face

Laurie Stratton finally has everything a sixteen-year-old could ever want. But just as her perfect summer comes to a close, things start to unravel when her boyfriend insists he saw her out with another guy-when Laurie was really home sick! More mysterious sightings convince Laurie someone very real is out there, watching her. . . . The truth reveals a long-lost sister who has spent the years growing bitter and dangerous. She has learned how to haunt Laurie, but the visits soon become perilous. She wants something from Laurie-her life!

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    Shades of Gray

      Amanda Ashley
     Shades of Gray

Bound by chains, the vampire had slept for 100 years, locked in pain and hunger, until the scent of one woman's blood recalled him to life. Lost in darkness, Grigori finds new sustenance in the light of Marisa's love, and new purpose in his life. Only he can protect her from the evil that stalks the night. Grigori vows to show Marisa that not all the undead are monsters, and that somewhere between the black and white of damnation and desire lay infinite shades of gray.

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