Bradley Hurstaff is a decent man from a quiet town with a call to duty. Following his departure from the Marine Corps, Bradley moves with his wife, Elizabeth, to Texas to sprout roots and transition to a new career as a police officer. Bradley soon finds out that wearing the badge comes with firsthand experience, grappling with the chaos and darkness of modern society. Is Bradley stumbling on everaEUR"thinning ice in a fight with personal demons, or is this the silent burden all police officers bear? Can his mind handle the strain of being immersed in the horrific acts human beings both suffer and inflict, or will the darkness claim another victim?
From the extraordinary Colombian French politician and activist Ingrid Betancourt, a stunning debut novel about freedom and fate Set against the backdrop of Argentina’s Dirty War and infused with magical realism, The Blue Line is a breathtaking story of love and betrayal by one of the world’s most renowned writers and activists. Ingrid Betancourt, author of the New York Times bestselling memoir Even Silence Has an End, draws on history and personal experience in this deeply felt portrait of a woman coming of age as her country falls deeper and deeper into chaos. Buenos Aires, the 1970s. Julia inherits from her grandmother a gift, precious and burdensome. Sometimes visions appear before her eyes, mysterious and terrible apparitions from the future, seen from the perspective of others. From the age of five, Julia must intervene to prevent horrific events. In fact, as her grandmother tells her, it is her duty to do so—otherwise she will lose her gift. At fifteen, Julia falls in love with Theo, a handsome revolutionary four years her senior. Their lives are turned upside down when Juan Perón, the former president and military dictator, returns to Argentina. Confronted by the realities of military dictatorship, Julia and Theo become Montoneros sympathizers and radical idealists, equally fascinated by Jesus Christ and Che Guevara. Captured by death squadrons, they somehow manage to escape. . . . In this remarkable novel, Betancourt, an activist who spent more than six years held hostage by the FARC in the depths of Colombian jungle, returns to many of the themes of Even Silence Has an End. The Blue Line is a story centered on the consequences of oppression, collective subservience, and individual courage, and, most of all, the notion that belief in the future of humanity is an act of faith most beautiful and deserving.
Deputy Sheriff Jim Finne and an FBI informant are gunned down. A sinister, interstate drug cartel that stretches from southeast Indiana to the eastern Kentucky hollers is paying off local cops. Ruthless dope dealers and crooked cops become reckless murderers. Cops can't trust cops. Criminals can't trust criminals. Bodies stack up like fat cattle in a slaughter house. Garfield County has become a haven for the lawless-where justice is doled out to the highest bidder. Enter rookie FBI Special Agent Charles Simmons, recent Yale law school graduate and hometown boy. In Garfield County, Indiana, Charles finds a town he'd never known-a good-for-nothing underclass, drug pushers and junkies, cops on-the-take, and a community mired in mediocrity. Still, Charles rekindles friendships and repairs family bonds. But, a little good fortune brings the revelation of a dark Simmons' family secret. And, in the middle is Caroline Mattell, the alluring young fianc'e of a deputy, who leads Charles to the threshold of death. The Crooked Blue Line is the story of a man-son, brother, friend, lover, federal agent-desperate to define himself in a world of unfulfilled romantic expectations and inconceivable harsh realties.
Holding the 10 cc vial marked "testosterona" carefully in my hand, I stuck my needle into the soft rubber stopper, flipped the vial upside-down, and drew out 2 cc of oil. I pulled the needle out and tapped the side of the syringe to bring most of the air bubbles to the top. I decided to stick it in my thigh. Off came my belt and down went my pants. This one hurt like a bitch on the way in. I slowly aspirated to see if I had landed the tip of the needle into a vein. No blood. Great. The plunger went in smoothly. I pulled the needle out, popped an alcohol swab on the site, and massaged the area. I pulled my pants up, picked up my gun belt, and hooked it back on. It seemed to not fit me as well as it did a few weeks ago. I guess that would make sense because according to the scale, I had already gained fourteen pounds. I left the house and got back in my patrol car. I picked up the radio and advised dispatch I was 10-8.
Detective Leo Junker thought he’d crossed his last line. But he’s never learned to say no. So when an escaped criminal he knows all too well hands him a photo of a murdered prostitute, he reopens the cold case as a favour. Everyone’s busy and everyone’s got better things to do, but is there a darker reason that Angelica Reyes’ death has languished unsolved for five years? As Leo’s investigation pushes further into the past — Sweden’s, Angelica’s, his own — he’ll come face to face with the corruption at the heart of things. Yet the reckoning may come too late — not only for Angelica Reyes, but for everyone.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Opposites do more than just attract in USA Today bestselling author Toni Aleo’s latest Nashville Assassins novel about a very bad boy and the good girl he can’t resist. The instant Piper Allen sees Erik Titov, she wants him—wants his rock-hard body, sure, but the strength and mystery that lie behind that superstar hockey jock demeanor, too. So when he sidles up to her at a bar and slinks his arm around her waist, she’s lost. What follows is the wildest night of her life . . . followed by inevitable heartbreak the next morning. And then, a few weeks later, a very big surprise: two blue lines on a pregnancy test. Only a check to the head could make Erik fall for a nice girl like Piper. But since their crazy-sexy night together, he’s been trying to forget about her alluring body by falling into bed with every woman in Nashville, and it’s not working. So when Piper shows up at his house with a baby-bomb to drop, it doesn’t take much for Erik to suggest the nuclear option: marriage. While it’s supposed to be all for show, the second they say “I do,” the ice between them starts to melt into sizzling steam. Praise for Toni Aleo’s Nashville Assassins romances “Aleo melts the ice and hits it into the net with her Assassins series.”—Award-winning author Jami Davenport “Taking Shots is really the whole package. You get romance, humor, steamy sex, drama, and then it all wraps up with a great conclusion. I am amazed that this is Toni’s first book. She has come out in a huge way. I can’t wait to read more from her. Don’t hesitate for a moment to grab this book.”—Guilty Pleasures Book Reviews “A little steamy, a little heartbreaking, and a whole lot of fanning yourself are in order this time around, readers. Are your cheeks feeling a little pink yet? Get used to the feeling.”—Dreaming in the Pages, on Trying to Score “Empty Net is an honest, heartwarming, endearing story. . . . Toni Aleo doesn’t just write a story. She gives you the ability to experience the journey of her characters right along with them. Her stories are enveloped with passion, emotion, humor, love; and let me tell you, that girl knows how to write a sex scene that just makes you sweat!”—Guilty Pleasures Book Review “Sexy and riveting . . . the perfect combination of love and lust.”—USA Today bestselling author Heidi McLaughlin, on Blue Lines “Funny, charming, sweet, sexy . . . [Falling for the Backup] has everything you want in a story.”—Blushing Reader
The Witch Boy meets The Legend of Korra in this breathtaking, epic graphic novel. After a terrible political coup usurps their noble house, Hawke and Grayson flee to stay alive and assume new identities, Hanna and Grayce. Desperation and chance lead them to the Communion of Blue, an order of magical women who spin the threads of reality to their will. As the twins learn more about the Communion, and themselves, they begin to hatch a plan to avenge their family and retake their royal home. While Hawke wants to return to his old life, Grayce struggles to keep the threads of her new life from unraveling, and realizes she wants to stay in the one place that will allow her to finally live as a girl. This title will be simultaneously available in paperback.
