Prince of Fire by Daniel Silva

Enjoyable but the weakest book in the series. The author spends a lot of time giving history lessons rather than focusing on plot. PW Now Allon is back in Venice, when a terrible explosion in Rome leads to a disturbing personal revelation: the existence of a dossier in terrorist hands that strips away his secrets, lays bare his history. Hastily recalled home to Israel, drawn once more into the heart of a service he had once forsaken, Allon finds himself stalking an elusive master terrorist across a landscape drenched with generations of blood, the trail turning on itself until, finally, he can no longer be certain who is stalking whom.

The Gods of Guilt by Michael Connelly

Excellent. PW Mickey Haller gets the text, "Call me ASAP - 187," and the California penal code for murder immediately gets his attention. Murder cases have the highest stakes and the biggest paydays, and they always mean Haller has to be at the top of his game. When Mickey learns that the victim was his own former client, a prostitute he thought he had rescued and put on the straight and narrow path, he knows he is on the hook for this one. He soon finds out that she was back in LA and back in the life. Far from saving her, Mickey may have been the one who put her in danger.

King and Maxwell by David Baldacci

Very enjoyable. Book 6. PW It seems at first like a simple, tragic story. Tyler Wingo, a teenage boy, learns the awful news that his father, a soldier, was killed in action in Afghanistan. Then the extraordinary happens: Tyler receives a communication from his father...after his supposed death. Tyler hires Sean and Michelle to solve the mystery surrounding his father. But their investigation quickly leads to deeper, more troubling questions. Could Tyler's father really still be alive? What was his true mission? Could Tyler be the next target? Sean and Michelle soon realize that they've stumbled on to something bigger and more treacherous than anyone could have imagined. And as their hunt for the truth leads them relentlessly to the highest levels of power and to uncovering the most clandestine of secrets, Sean and Michelle are determined to help and protect Tyler - though they may pay for it with their lives.

Red Sparrow by Jason Matthews

Enjoyable. PW In today's Russia, dominated by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, state intelligence officer Dominika Egorova struggles to survive in the cast-iron bureaucracy of post-Soviet intelligence. Drafted against her will to become a "Sparrow" - a trained seductress in the service, Dominika is assigned to operate against Nathaniel Nash, a first-tour CIA officer who handles the CIA's most sensitive penetration of Russian intelligence. The two young intelligence officers, trained in their respective spy schools, collide in a charged atmosphere of tradecraft, deception, and inevitably, a forbidden spiral of carnal attraction that threatens their careers and the security of America's valuable mole in Moscow. Seeking revenge against her soulless masters, Dominika begins a fatal double life, recruited by the CIA to ferret out a high-level traitor in Washington - hunt down a Russian illegal buried deep in the U.S. military and, against all odds, to return to Moscow as the new-generation penetration of Putin's intelligence service. Dominika and Nathaniel's impossible love affair and twisted spy game come to a deadly conclusion in the shocking climax of this electrifying, up-to-the minute spy thriller.

Sherlock Holmes and the King's Evil by Donald Thomas

Enjoyable short stories featuring Watson and Holmes.

Dead Run by P. J. Tracy

Drags and unrealistic but the characters are quite likable. This the third book in this series is the weakest. PW Monkeewrench founders Grace McBride and Annie Belinsky, along with Deputy Sharon Mueller, are driving from Minneapolis to Green Bay, where they believe a new serial killer is just warming up. Unfortunately, their car breaks down deep in the northern woods, far away from civilization and cell towers. A walk through the forest leads them to the crossroads town of Four Corners, where they had hoped to find a landline and a mechanic, but instead find...absolutely nothing.

McNally's Luck by Lawrence Sanders

Light and silly and I look forward to book 3 in the series.

McNally's Secret by Lawrence Sanders

Much lighter than Sander's series about NY cops, but with charm and fun. I'd read the next in the series. PW: Archy McNally, a freewheeling playboy who specializes is "discreet inquires" for the rich and not-so-discreet. Beneath the glaring sun of Palm Beach - and behind the lowest crimes of high society - McNally is paid to keep family skeletons in the closet. But when it comes to sex and scandal, McNally has a few secrets of his own....

The Devil Went Down to Austin by Rick Riordan

A slightly less entertaining Tres Navarre Mystery (Book 4) but still enjoyable. PW: Tres has taken a short term teaching job at the University of Texas at Austin. He is living with his brother Garrett, a computer wizard, and enjoying this easy assignment. But when Garrett’s business partner is murdered, Tres must switch from professor to detective. As Tres delves into Garrett's bizarre world to find the truth behind the murder, he comes face-to-face with the damaged relationships, violent lives, and billion-dollar schemes of a brave new high-tech world. Among the players: a corporate takeover artist with a trail of broken enemies in his wake and an overzealous desire to make Garrett's company his own; the victim's wife, a hard-edged beauty haunted by three generations of family failure; and the head of an oil-rich clan with more power than morals and enough skeletons in the closet to man a ghost ship. Connecting them all - the beautiful waters of Lake Travis and an unspeakable evil that lies within its depths.

Storm Front by John Sandford

Another fun Virgil Flowers episode. PW: In Israel, a man clutching a backpack searches desperately for a boat. In Minnesota, Virgil Flowers gets a message from Lucas Davenport: You're about to get a visitor. It's an Israeli cop, and she's tailing a man who's smuggled out an extraordinary relic - a copper scroll revealing startling details about the man known as King Solomon. Wait a minute, laughs Virgil. Is this one of those Da Vinci Code deals? The secret scroll, the blockbuster revelation, the teams of murderous bad guys? Should I be boning up on my Bible verses? He looks at the cop. She's not laughing. As it turns out, there are very bad men chasing the relic, and they don't care who's in the way or what they have to do to get it.

Sycamore Row by John Grisham

Just OK. PW Seth Hubbard is a wealthy man dying of lung cancer. He trusts no one. Before he hangs himself from a sycamore tree, Hubbard leaves a new, handwritten, will. It is an act that drags his adult children, his black maid, and Jake into a conflict as riveting and dramatic as the murder trial that made Brigance one of Ford County's most notorious citizens, just three years earlier.

The Fourth Deadly Sin by Lawrence Sanders

Excellent read, sadly the fifth and last book in the series. PW: Here is the gripping story of a brutally-murdered New York psychiatrist; ex-cop Edward X. Delaney, who must crack the high-profile case; and the only six suspects: the doctor's own patients. It's a blockbuster with twists and turns that will keep you up nights and suspense that "never lags" (The Washington Post). And it is a crowning achievement - by the man who wears the crown as king of the thriller.

Notches by Series Peter Bowen

Re-listened 2/17 Excellent. Wish this series would never end. PW The gruesome corpse of a young woman is found beside a long Montana highway called the Hi-Line. Her jaw and teeth are missing, and she is impossible to identify. Full of anger and without a clue, Du Pre begins to hunt the countryside for her murderer. As more dismembered corpses - all young women - are discovered, the small ranching community goes into shock. Madelaine, Du Pre's fierce and wise lover, makes him swear that he will do justice for the victims, whatever it takes. When Madelaine's own daughter goes missing, Du Pre becomes desperate for a clue. He cannot decipher the mysterious messages the Hi-Line Killer places in his murder scenes. Thinking like a hunter, Du Pre must imagine how a serial killer's mind works - and explore the troubling evidence that there might be two of them.

The Picture of Dorian by Oscar Wilde

Beautifully written and witty but the story despite this didn't grab me. PW: Oscar Wilde brings his enormous gifts for astute social observation and sparkling prose to The Picture of Dorian Gray, the dreamlike story of a young man who sells his soul for eternal youth and beauty. This dandy, who remains forever unchanged---petulant, hedonistic, vain, and amoral---while a painting of him ages and grows increasingly hideous with the years, has been horrifying and enchanting readers for more than 100 years. Taking the reader in and out of London drawing rooms, to the heights of aestheticism, and to the depths of decadence, The Picture of Dorian Gray is not simply a melodrama about moral corruption. Laced with bon mots and vivid depictions of upper-class refinement, it is also a fascinating look at the milieu of Wilde's fin-de-siècle world and a manifesto of the creed "Art for Art's Sake."The ever-quotable Wilde, who once delighted London with his scintillating plays, scandalized readers with this, his only novel. Upon publication, Dorian was condemned as dangerous, poisonous, stupid, vulgar, and immoral, and Wilde as a "driveling pedant." The novel, in fact, was used against Wilde at his much-publicized trials for "gross indecency," which led to his imprisonment and exile on the European continent. Even so, The Picture of Dorian Gray firmly established Wilde as one of the great voices of the Aesthetic movement and endures as a classic that is as timeless as its hero.

Live Bait by P. J. Tracy

Pretty good, the characters are so likable I rated the book more on them than so-so the plot. PW Minneapolis detectives Leo Magozzi and Gino Rolseth are bored - ever since they solved the Monkeewrench case, the Twin Cities have been in a murder-free dry spell, as people no longer seem interested in killing one another. But when elderly Morey Gilbert is found dead in the plant nursery he runs with his wife, Lily, the crime drought ends - not with a trickle, but with a torrent. Who would kill Morey, a man without an enemy, a man who might as well have been a saint? His tiny, cranky little wife is no help, and may even be a suspect; his estranged son, Jack, an infamous ambulance-chasing lawyer, has his own enemies; and his son-in-law, former cop Marty Pullman, is so depressed over his wife's death a year earlier he's ready to kill himself, but not Morey. The number of victims - all elderly - grows, and the city is fearful once again. Can Grace McBride's cold case-solving software program somehow find the missing link?

The Third Deadly Sin by Lawrence Sanders

4th in the series of 5 - wish there were more because the Delaney series is excellent. PW A "Hotel Ripper" stalking New York's nightside with a Swiss Army knife and the retired cop named Edward X. Delaney determined to catch him. Or the killer.

Never Go Back by Lee Child

This book is painfully slow. There's very little plot, mostly just characters reflecting on something around them in a way that attempts to be witty or knowledgable. Reacher is a clever guy but some care should be given to making the plot so too. As usual Dick Hill brings the story to life with his narration. This isn't the worst book in the series but it's down in the bottom 5 - if you're new to the Reacher series, choose one of the earlier books. Child makes interesting characters for his good guys but his bad guys are one dimensional. Even so, Reacher's character is what will bring me back to the next in the series.

The Assassin: Badge of Honor by W. E. B. Griffin

Book 5 is an enjoyable continuance of this character drama about cops.

The Witness: Badge of Honor by W. E. B. Griffin

Book 4 continues where 3 left off and lead right into 5.

The Victim by W. E. B. Griffin

Badge of Honor, Book 3 continues the fun macho cop soap opera...

Damn Few: Making the Modern SEAL Warrior by Rorke Denver

Interesting story about becoming a Navy Seal.

Special Operations by W. E. B. Griffin

Book 2 in the Badge of Honor series was enjoyable, and I look forward to the next. PW: Facing a desperate public, a hostile press, and reluctant witnesses, the Philadelphia Police Department must try and stop a new reign of violence - a terrifying spree of kidnapping and assault that has plunged the city into fear.

House Odds by Mike Lawson

Book 8 in the Joe DeMarco series is consistent with it's predecessors, fun light entertainment. PW: Washington fixer Joe DeMarco has been asked to handle a lot of difficult situations over the years for his boss, Congressman John Mahoney. But nothing has ever been quite so politically sensitive, or has hit so close to home, as the task Mahoney hands DeMarco in House Odds, the latest novel from critically acclaimed thriller writer Mike Lawson. Mahoney’s daughter, Molly, has been arrested and charged with insider trading. An engineer with a high-flying technology firm, she allegedly placed a half-million-dollar bet on one of the firm’s clients. DeMarco’s job is to clear Molly’s name and keep his boss clean. But how did Molly get her hands on so much money to invest in the first place? Before long, DeMarco discovers that there’s far more to Molly’s case than meets the eye, and the risk to Mahoney is more than just a little political embarrassment.

Night Prey by John Sandford

Richard Ferrone narrates the 6th book in the Lucas Davenport series brilliantly. Story is fun. PW A series of deaths leads to the possibility of a brutal serial killer of unusual skill and savagery. And if Lucas is right, the killer is just getting warmed up....

Unleashed by David Rosenfelt

Andy Carpenter, Book 11 is as good as the first 10 in the series. PW Andy Carpenter's accountant, Sam Willis, receives a surprise call from Barry Price, a friend he hasn't spoken to in years. Barry needs Sam's financial acumen and Andy's legal expertise. But when Sam almost runs over an injured dog on the way to Barry's house, he can't drive off without waiting for help. By then, Barry's taken off on a private airplane headed to who-knows-where. Soon after they learn that Barry's plane has crashed, and they come to the terrifying realization that Sam was also supposed to have been killed on that plane. Barry was in far more serious trouble than either of them knew, and for Sam and Andy, the trouble is only beginning.

One Fearful Yellow Eye by John D. MacDonald

MacDonald is an odd writer that so far is worth the read. PW How to you extort $600,000 from a dying man? Someone had done it very quietly and skilfully to the husband of Travis McGee's ex-girlfriend. McGee flies to Chicago to help untangle the mess and discovers that, although Dr. Fortner Geis had led an exemplary life, there were those who'd take advantage of one "indiscretion" and bring down the whole family. McGee also discovers he likes a few members of the family far too much to let that happen....

Men in Blue by W. E. B. Griffin

The first book in the Badge of Honor series was pretty good. Created in 1988 this book talks about the life of cops. I'll try another in this series. PW A cop has been shot - cold-bloodedly gunned down while trying to prevent a holdup. Regulations say the investigation is to be handled like any other homicide. But when a cop is killed in the line of duty, it is different. And the brotherhood in blue will stop at nothing to bring the killer to justice.

The Last King of Texas by Rick Riordan

Tres Navarre mystery number 3 and my third read in this series was as fun as the first two. Looking forward to reading the rest of the series. PW When two English professors are killed in quick succession at the University of Texas at San Antonio, Tres is asked to finish teaching the semester’s literature classes. All he has to do is keep his investigation of the murders quiet and stay alive long enough to grade the final essays.

The Spymasters: A Men at War Novel by W.E.B. Griffin, William E. Butterworth IV

Book 7 in the "Men at War" series is excellently narrated By Christopher Lane and is enjoyable from start to finish. PW It is summer 1943. Two of the Allies’ most important plans are at grave risk: Operation Overlord’s invasion of France and the Manhattan Project’s race to build the atomic bomb. A furious President Roosevelt turns to OSS spy chief Wild Bill Donovan — and Donovan turns to Dick Canidy and his teams behind enemy lines. They’ve certainly got their work cut out for them. In the weeks to come, they must fight the Axis in many ways, to try to find and sabotage Germany’s new “aerial torpedo” rockets, some of which are rumored to be fitted out with deadly nerve gas and aimed at London; to rescue a missing covert OSS team bearing vital secrets; and to exploit German intelligence agents and generals disgruntled enough with Hitler to maybe try to topple him.

The English Girl: Gabriel Allon by Daniel Silva

Book 13. Really enjoy this series and enjoyed this book. PW When a beautiful young British woman vanishes on the island of Corsica, a prime minister’s career is threatened with destruction. Allon, the wayward son of Israeli intelligence, is thrust into a game of shadows where nothing is what it seems...and where the only thing more dangerous than his enemies might be the truth.…

Eye for an Eye by Ben Coes

A Dewey Andreas Novel, Book 4. Excellent narration by Peter Hermann and a good thriller. The dumb politicians are all Dems and the smart ones are Reps but for the most part this books moves along fast and keeps interest. PW: When Dewey uncovers the identity of a mole embedded at a high level in Israel’s Mossad, it triggers a larger, more dangerous plot. The mole was the most important asset of Chinese Intelligence, and Fao Bhang, head of China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS), responds to the discovery and brutal elimination of the mole, by immediately placing a kill order on the man responsible - Dewey Andreas. Once he learns who is probably behind the attack - and why they are after him - Dewey goes rogue, using all of his assets and skills to launch a counterattack. Andreas must now face the full weight and might of the MSS, Chinese Intelligence, and the formidable Fao Bhang, if he’s to achieve his one last goal: revenge on a biblical scale, no matter the odds or the armies that he will have to fight his way through.

The Widower’s Two-Step by Rick Riordan

A Tres Navarre Mystery, Book 2. Enjoyable, definitely want to continue on with the series. PW Instead of accepting a teaching position at the university, Tres is finishing up his apprenticeship for a private investigator’s license. He’s doing a poor job of surveillance on the fiddle player in a promising honkytonk band: she is shot in broad daylight while he watches. Shaken, Tres begins an investigation on his own. It’s not long before he discovers that some people will do anything to capture a lucrative recording contract.

Spycatcher by Matthew Dunn

A little silly but a fun thriller. The author doesn't waste time going into too much detail about subject matter or developing back stories of unimportant characters. Dunn focus on the plot and keeps it moving. Sometimes that plot is cliche and unbelievable but the pace is good. PW: Will Cochrane, the CIA’s and MI6’s most prized asset and deadliest weapon, has known little outside this world since childhood. And he’s never been outplayed. So far.... Will’s controllers task him with finding and neutralizing one of today’s most wanted terrorist masterminds, a man believed to be an Iranian Revolutionary Guard general. Intending to use someone from the man’s past to flush him out of the shadows, Will believes he has the perfect plan, but he soon discovers, in a frantic chase from the capitals of Europe to New York City, that his adversary has more surprises in store and is much more treacherous than anyone he has ever faced - and survived - up to now.

Edge of Apocalypse by Tim LaHaye, Craig Parshall

Avoid these authors, as one reviewer described the book as 'religious propaganda'.

Sick Puppy by Carl Hiaasen

Great to re-read this book. Hiaasen characters are as good as it gets and funny. PW: When Palmer Stoat notices the black pickup truck following him on the highway, he fears his precious Range Rover is about to be carjacked. But Twilly Spree, the man tailing Stoat, has vengeance, not sport-utility vehicles, on his mind. Idealistic, independently wealthy, and pathologically short-tempered, Twilly has dedicated himself to saving Florida's wilderness from runaway destruction. He favors unambiguous political statements - such as torching Jet-Skis or blowing up banks - that leave his human targets shaken but re-educated. After watching Stoat blithely dump a trail of fast-food litter out the window, Twilly decides to teach him a lesson. Thus, Stoat's prized Range Rover becomes home to a horde of hungry dung beetles. Which could have been the end to it had Twilly not discovered that Stoat is one of Florida's cockiest and most powerful political fixers, whose latest project is the "malling" of a pristine Gulf Coast island. Now the real Hiaasen-variety fun begins.... Dognapping eco-terrorists, bogus big-time hunters, a Republicans-only hooker, an infamous ex-governor who's gone back to nature, thousands of singing toads and a Labrador retriever greater than the sum of his Labrador parts - these are only some of the denizens of Carl Hiaasen's outrageously funny new novel.

Damascus Countdown by Joel C. Rosenberg

Rosenberg puts together another page turner but intertwined in the espionage, bombs and intrigue are too many personal stories of characters finding Jesus. I don't know if he's trying to broaden his appeal or just doesn't realize how these ill fitting, forced and interruptive these subplots are to the story. PW: The Twelfth Imam Series, Book 3. Israel successfully launches a first strike on Iran, taking out all of their nuclear sites and six of their nuclear warheads. American president William Jackson threatens to support a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning the Jewish State for unprovoked and unwarranted acts of aggression. And the Twelfth Imam prepares to order a genocidal retaliation. Meanwhile, CIA operative David Shirazi has infiltrated the Iranian regime and intercepted top secret intelligence indicating that two Iranian nuclear warheads survived the attack and have been moved to a secure and undisclosed location. In danger not only from the ongoing war between Israel and Iran but also from the increasingly hostile governments in multiple countries, Shirazi and his team are in a race against time to find the remaining nuclear warheads before the most cataclysmic event in the history of the Middle East comes to pass.

A Serpent's Tooth: A Walt Longmire Mystery by Craig Johnson

Book 9 of this series is, like the rest of the series, very enjoyable. PW: In this ninth installment in the award-winning and New York Times best-selling Walt Longmire mystery series, the Wyoming sheriff follows his cowboy code of ethics in a religious range war that strikes a little too close to home.

When the Game Was Ours by Larry Bird, Earvin "Magic" Johnson, and Jackie MacMullan

PW: From the moment these two players took the court on opposing sides, they engaged in a fierce physical and psychological battle. Their uncommonly competitive relationship came to symbolize the most compelling rivalry in the NBA. These were the basketball epics of the 1980s - Celtics vs Lakers, East vs West, physical vs finesse, Old School vs Showtime, even white vs black. Each pushed the other to greatness - together Bird and Johnson collected eight NBA Championships, and six MVP awards and helped save the floundering NBA at its most critical time. When it started they were bitter rivals, but along the way they became lifelong friends.

Pines by Blake Crouch

A story where the main character has amnesia and painfully slowly and uneventfully figures out the trouble he's in. The author writes well but I was too bored to finish. PW: Wayward Pines, Idaho, is quintessential small-town America — or so it seems. Secret Service agent Ethan Burke arrives in search of two missing federal agents, yet soon is facing much more than he bargained for. After a violent accident lands him in the hospital, Ethan comes to with no ID and no cell phone. The medical staff seems friendly enough, but something feels…off. As the days pass, Ethan’s investigation into his colleagues’ disappearance turns up more questions than answers. Why can’t he make contact with his family in the outside world? Why doesn’t anyone believe he is who he says he is? And what’s the purpose of the electrified fences encircling the town? Are they keeping the residents in? Or something else out? Each step toward the truth takes Ethan further from the world he knows, until he must face the horrifying possibility that he may never leave Wayward Pines alive…

The Survivor by Gregg Hurwitz

Do not listen to Hurwitz again, he spends too much time with silly and frustratingly obvious obstacles that add nothing to the plot. Instead of using plot to build tension, he uses these tiresome gimmicks. On top of that he's very graphic and depressing. PW Nate Overbay, a former soldier suffering from PTSD and ALS, goes to an 11th-floor bank and climbs out the bathroom window onto the ledge, ready to end it all. But as he’s steeling himself to jump, a crew of gunmen bursts into the bank and begins viciously shooting employees and customers. With nothing to lose, Nate climbs back inside, confronts the robbers, and with his military training, starts taking them out, one by one. The last man standing leaves Nate with a cryptic warning: “He will make you pay in ways you can’t imagine.” Soon enough, Nate learns what this means. He is kidnapped by Pavlo, a savage Ukrainian mobster and mastermind of the failed heist. Now blocked from getting into the bank vault to retrieve the critical item inside, Pavlo gives Nate a horrifying ultimatum: Either break in and acquire the item or watch Pavlo slowly kill the people Nate loves most - his estranged wife, Janie, and his teenaged daughter, Cielle. Nate lost them both when he came back from Iraq broken and confused. Now he’s got one chance to protect the people he loves, even if it’s the last thing he is able to do.

Inferno by Dan Brown

Mediocre, read the others in the series before this. PW: In the heart of Italy, Harvard professor of symbology, Robert Langdon, is drawn into a harrowing world centered on one of history’s most enduring and mysterious literary masterpieces: Dante’s Inferno. Against this backdrop, Langdon battles a chilling adversary and grapples with an ingenious riddle that pulls him into a landscape of classic art, secret passageways, and futuristic science. Drawing from Dante’s dark epic poem, Langdon races to find answers and decide whom to trust...before the world is irrevocably altered.

The Second Deadly Sin by Lawrence Sanders

Very good. PW Lawrence Sanders's masterpiece, The First Deadly Sin, set a standard for today's novels of psychological suspense. Now, retired Captain Ed Delaney returns to a distinctly urban milieu of paranoia and impulsive violence to solve a brutal murder that shocks New York's unshockable art world. The victim is Victor Maitland. Long-considered one of the world's greatest artists, he excelled in capturing the beauty of life on canvas. In private, he destroyed whomever he pleased: his wife, his son, his mistress, his dearest friends and family. Fittingly, Maitland has paid for his sins. But in a world where self-delusion is rewarded, where greed triumphs, and where murder is just another art, who else will pay the price?

Soft Target by Stephen Hunter

The first in the Ray Cruz series is just fair. They mention his father, Bob Swagger, but he doesn't play a role. PW: Recently retired marine sergeant Ray Kruz has been talked into a mall trip by his fiancé, the beautiful Molly Chan. For Ray, Molly represents a way to reconnect with normal life, something his 20 years in the service and five tours in two combat zones have prevented. But now he finds himself in the middle of the softest target of all, a huge consumer mall where a self-styled “Mumbai Brigade” has come to bring massive death to the heartland.

Dead or Alive by Tom Clancy, Grant Blackwood

Enjoyable. PW: Jack Ryan, the former president of the United States, is out of office, but not out of the loop about his brainchild, the "Campus" - a highly effective, counter-terrorism organization that operates outside the Washington hierarchy. But what Ryan doesn't know is that his son, Jack Ryan, Jr., has joined his cousins, Brian and Dominic Caruso, at the shadowy Campus. While a highly effective analyst, young Ryan hungers for the action of a field agent. The Campus has now turned their sights on the Emir, the number-one terrorist threat to Western civilization. A reclusive figure and mastermind of vicious terrorist acts, the Emir has eluded capture by the world's law-enforcement agencies. But now - with the help of ex-CIA agent John Clark and protégé Marine Colonel Ding Chavez - the Campus is in on the hunt.

Big Red Tequila by Rick Riordan

The first Tres Navarre mystery, and my first too. I really enjoyed the story all of the way through, and am glad there are 7 books in this series. PW: It’s been a decade since his father was murdered and Tres left town. But he’s got an itch that can only be scratched by looking for answers. Returning to San Antonio with his enchilada-eating cat, he uncovers a conspiracy involving the Mafia and dirty politicians. It isn’t long before Tres stirs up more trouble than he can handle and finds himself the target of ill-willed bullets.

The First Deadly Sin by Lawrence Sanders

Wow this book is really interesting (1973). The author plays with philosophical issues in a very interesting way, combining them with intriguing characters. PW: A well-dressed man stalks the high-class neighborhoods of New York City. He is armed with an ice axe. His victims are strangers. And one cop, Captain Ed Delaney must solve a series of bizarre, gruesome murders that defy logic or method.

Option to Kill by Andrew Peterson

Fun thriller that I don't remember except that the whiney portrayal of the young girl still grates my nerves. PW: When Nathan McBride receives a text message from someone who claims she’s been kidnapped, it triggers a deadly chain of events that has the potential to haunt him for the rest of his life. Nathan will soon learn that nothing from his past could ever prepare him for the crisis he’ll soon be facing. The girl’s name is Lauren and she’s just twelve years old. With virtually no experience with children, Nathan’s patience and compassion are about to be tested to their limits. In a violent confrontation, Nathan rescues Lauren from her kidnapper, but as he unravels Lauren's story, he realizes his troubles are only beginning. She says she's in the Witness Security Program, and doesn't trust the US Marshals because she thinks they're complicit in her abduction. Not only that, her stepdad was murdered last night.

Daring Greatly by Brené Brown

I don't read many self help books, but I suspect a lot of them are like this one - a good idea that was hard pressed to fill a book. Insightful and educational. PW: Every day we experience the uncertainty, risks, and emotional exposure that define what it means to be vulnerable, or to dare greatly. Whether the arena is a new relationship, an important meeting, our creative process, or a difficult family conversation, we must find the courage to walk into vulnerability and engage with our whole hearts.

Silken Prey by John Sandford

23rd book in the series and I don't think there's been a bad apple in the bunch. PW: Davenport is investigating another case when the trail leads to the man’s disappearance, then - very troublingly - to the Minneapolis police department, then - most troublingly of all - to a woman who could give Machiavelli lessons. She has very definite ideas about the way the world should work, and the money, ruthlessness, and sheer will to make it happen.

Locked On by Tom Clancy, Mark Greaney

Enjoyable. PW Although his father had been reluctant to become a field operative, Jack Ryan Jr. wants nothing more. Privately training with a seasoned Special Forces drill instructor, he's honing his skills to transition his work within The Campus from intelligence analysis to hunting down and eliminating terrorists wherever he can—even as Jack Ryan Sr. campaigns for re-election as President of the United States. But what neither father nor son knows is that the political and the personal have just become equally dangerous. A devout enemy of Jack Sr. launches a privately funded vendetta to discredit him by connecting the presidential candidate to a mysterious killing in the past by John Clark, his longtime ally. A shadowy mercenary team is dispatched to capture the former Navy SEAL. With Clark on the run, it’s up to Jack Ryan Jr., along with Ding Chavez, Dominic Caruso, and the rest of the Campus team, to stop a threat emerging in the Middle East: A corrupt Pakistani general has entered into a deadly pact with a fanatical terrorist to procure nuclear warheads, which can be used to blackmail any world power into submission.

The Hit by David Baldacci

Good but not great Baldacci, but sure kept my interest. PW Will Robie is a master of killing. A highly skilled assassin, Robie is the man the U.S. government calls on to eliminate the worst of the worst - enemies of the state, monsters committed to harming untold numbers of innocent victims. No one else can match Robie's talents as a hitman...no one, except Jessica Reel. A fellow assassin, equally professional and dangerous, Reel is every bit as lethal as Robie. And now, she's gone rogue, turning her gun sights on other members of their agency. To stop one of their own, the government looks again to Will Robie. His mission: bring in Reel, dead or alive. Only a killer can catch another killer, they tell him. But as Robie pursues Reel, he quickly finds that there is more to her betrayal than meets the eye. Her attacks on the agency conceal a larger threat, a threat that could send shockwaves through the U.S. government and around the world.

The Burglar in the Library by Lawrence Block

Book 8 in the Bernie Rhodenbarr series and I look forward to reading them all. This book comes close to being too cute but Block is just too cool. PW: Bernie's sweetheart has dumped him. But although his heart is broken, he hasn't lost his love for fine books - or for an occasional discrete burglary. So Bernie takes off for a snowy winter weekend at a country inn that just happens to have a rare, signed first edition of The Big Sleep in its library. It's not long, however, before Bernie's ex-girlfriend arrives with her new husband, a body is found in the library, and the book disappears. Bernie must sort out a tricky tangle of clues if he has any hope of nabbing the priceless edition for himself. Narrator Richard Ferrone captures Bernie's cool demeanor and his flair for perfect timing.

Thunder Horse by Peter Bowen

Re-read 3/17 most excellent. A real fun series nicely narrated by Christopher Lane.

Hard Stop by Chris Knopf

A good follow up from the third in the series, I look forward to reading the next - or even the first two.

The Tehran Initiative by Joel C. Rosenberg

Rosenberg writes a very good plot but he needs an editor to remove his character backgrounds. You get the impression some of the descriptions about the people were separate exercises to develop a character. PW: The world is on the brink of disaster. Iran has just conducted its first atomic weapons test. Millions of Muslims around the world are convinced their messiah — known as the Twelfth Imam — has arrived on earth. Israeli leaders fear Tehran, under the Twelfth Imam’s spell, will soon launch a nuclear attack that could bring about a second Holocaust and the annihilation of Israel. The White House fears Jerusalem will strike first, launching a massive preemptive attack against Iran’s nuclear facilities that could cause the entire Middle East to go up in flames, oil prices to skyrocket, and the global economy to collapse. With the stakes high and few viable options left, the president of the United States orders CIA operative David Shirazi and his team to track down and sabotage Iran’s nuclear warheads before Iran or Israel can launch a devastating first strike. But will they be too late?

Monkeewrench by P. J. Tracy

Was dubious and it took a while to enjoy but the characters were likable and I found myself wanting to hear more. Buck Schirner is as good as narrators get and that brought home an enjoyable experience. I look forward to listening to another. PW: Haunted by a series of horrifying and violent episodes in their past, Grace McBride and the oddball crew of her software company, Monkeewrench, create a computer game where the killer is always caught, where the good guys always win. But their game becomes a nightmare when someone starts duplicating the fictional murders in real life, down to the last detail. By the time the police realize what's happening, three people are dead, and with 17 more murder scenarios available online, there are 17 more potential victims. While the authorities scramble to find the killer in a city paralyzed by fear, the Monkeewrench staff are playing their own game, analyzing victim profiles in a frantic attempt to discover the murderer's next target. In a thriller populated by characters both hilarious and heartbreaking, a rural Wisconsin sheriff, two Minneapolis police detectives, and Grace's gang are all caught in a web of decades-old secrets that could get them all killed.

Night of Thunder by Stephen Hunter

Another enjoyable saga in the Swagger series. PW: Stephen Hunter returns with his most riveting Bob Lee Swagger volume to date. The stakes are high - and personal - because this time, Swagger's daughter's life is at stake. Forced off the road and into a crash that leaves her clinging to life in a coma, Nikki Swagger had begun to peel back the onion of a Southern Fried scandal.

Wolf, No Wolf by Peter Bowen

Re-read 2/17 Excellent. Another very strong Montana mystery featuring Gabriel Du Pré.

The Burglar in the Rye by Lawrence Block

Very good and funny, want to read another in the Bernie Rhodenbarr series. PW: In this diverting caper, full-time bookstore owner and part-time burglar Bernie tries to do the right thing for a new friend, only to find himself accused of some terrible wrongs. All Bernie plans to do is steal some letters. A New York City literary agent is auctioning off her personal correspondence with enigmatic writer Gully Fairborn. Gully's attractive ex-girlfriend has asked Bernie to swipe the letters so she can return them to her old heartthrob. But when Bernie breaks in, the letters are missing, and the literary agent is in bed with no hope of waking up. With the police watching him very closely, Bernie relies on jiggers of rye and Caroline, his lesbian best friend, to sharpen his deductive skills and find the killer. Narrator Richard Ferrone expertly guides you on a laugh-filled journey through the twists and turns of the clever plot.

Total Control by David Baldacci

OK. 1995. Not one of Baldacci's best efforts. PW: Jason Archer is a rising young executive at Triton Global, the world's leading technology conglomerate. Determined to give his family the best of everything, Archer has secretly entered into a deadly game. He is about to disappear - leaving behind a wife who must sort out his lies from his truths, an accident team that wants to know why the plane he was ticketed on crashed, and a veteran FBI agent who wants to know it all....

Specimen Song by Peter Bowen

My second, and the second, book in the Du Pré series. I thinking I'm going to like this series. PW: A lost and frightened horse plods down the National Mall, startling the crowd. When Gabriel Du Pré spots the confused animal, the connection is immediate, for neither of these creatures belongs in the sweltering heat of a DC summer. Du Pré, a Métis Indian from the wilds of Montana, calms the horse and leads it to the nearest policeman. Du Pré is in Washington to play his people’s music for a Smithsonian festival, but after leading the horse to safety, he encounters a murder instead. The dead woman is Cree Indian, come down from Canada to sing in the festival. Du Pré tries to put her death out of his mind and returns to Montana, but more killings follow: each time with a primitive weapon, each time foretold by a local shaman. As the body count rises and the killer closes on Du Pré, the lawman vows to never again make the mistake of leaving Montana.

Coyote Wind by Peter Bowen

Unusual and disjointed in interesting ways, will try another in this series. PW: Montana, "the last best place" of the disappearing American West, is the setting of Peter Bowen's splendid first mystery novel in a series to feature Gabriel Du Pre. A cattle-brand inspector and occasional sheriff's deputy, Du Pre moves easily among the ranchers, cowboys, Native Americans, barflies, dreamers, and Eastern dudes who populate what's left of the frontier. In the desolate hills of the Fascelli family ranch, a skeleton has been discovered. The sheriff needs Du Pre's long experience in Montana to identify the bones. What Du Pre finds leads him on a search through the history of a troubled family, a search that brings him closer to a secret from his own past. Along the way, Du Pre meets a range of interesting folk, some to his liking, some decidedly not.

Garment of Shadows by Laurie R. King

King is always a meandering, but this was too slow and afar from the plot. PW: In a strange room in Morocco, Mary Russell is trying to solve a pressing mystery: Who am I? She has awakened with shadows in her mind, blood on her hands, and soldiers pounding on the door. Out in the hivelike streets, she discovers herself strangely adept in the skills of the underworld, escaping through alleys and rooftops, picking pockets and locks. She is clothed like a man, and armed only with her wits and a scrap of paper containing a mysterious Arabic phrase. Overhead, warplanes pass ominously north. Meanwhile, Holmes is pulled by two old friends and a distant relation into the growing war between France, Spain, and the Rif Revolt led by Emir Abd el-Krim—who may be a Robin Hood or a power mad tribesman. The shadows of war are drawing over the ancient city of Fez, and Holmes badly wants the wisdom and courage of his wife, whom he’s learned, to his horror, has gone missing. As Holmes searches for her, and Russell searches for herself, each tries to crack deadly parallel puzzles before it’s too late for them, for Africa, and for the peace of Europe.

Head Wounds by Chris Knopf

I enjoyed this, I'll try another in the series. PW: Part-time carpenter, full-time drinker and co-conspirator with an existential mutt named Eddie Van Halen, Sam tries to lead the simple life. But as always, fate intervenes, this time in the form of Robbie Milhouser, a local builder and blundering bully who shares with Sam an irresistible attraction to the beautiful Amanda. When Robbie is murdered, Sam finds himself in the crosshairs of a very determined chief of police.

A Stab in the Dark by Lawrence Block

Read again 2018. Very enjoyable, would like to read more in the Scudder series. 1981. PW: Nine long years have passed since the killer last struck - nine years since eight helpless young women were brutally slaughtered by an icepick-wielding maniac. The trail grew cold and the book was unofficially closed on a serial killer who stopped killing. But now "The Icepick Prowler" has confessed - but only to seven of the killings. Not only does he deny the eighth, he has an airtight alibi. Barbara Ettinger's family had almost come to accept that the young woman was the victim of a random killing. Now they must grapple with the shocking revelation that not only was her death disguised to look like the serial killer's work, but her murderer may have been someone she knew and trusted. Matthew Scudder has been hired to finally bring her slayer to justice, setting the relentless detective on the trail of a death almost a decade old, searching for a vicious murderer who's either long gone, long dead... or patiently waiting to kill again.

Cat Chaser by Elmore Leonard

Not the best Leonard but very enjoyable. 1982. PW: The hero of Cat Chaser, George Moran, isn't looking for trouble but finds it anyway when he winds up in bed with the wife of a drug-dealing mob-connected Dominican cop - vicious, macho and ready to follow George to the ends of the earth, which in this case means Miami.

Silent Prey by John Sandford

Another enjoyable Lucas Davenport saga. PW: In Eyes of Prey, Bekker, an insane pathologist who experiments with his patients’ pain thresholds, is finally brought down by an unrelenting Lucas Davenport, who brutally maims the doctor’s beautiful face but leaves him alive. “You should have killed me,” were Bekker’s parting and prophetic words. In this sequel to Eyes of Prey, Bekker endures the indignities and horrors of imprisonment, taking comfort in the fact that it is only a matter of time before he will make Lucas Davenport pay.

The Last Refuge by Ben Coes

Coes can write an excellent story but his characters are silly. PW: Off a quiet street in Brooklyn, New York, Israeli Special Forces commander Kohl Meir is captured by operatives of the Iranian secret service, who smuggle Meir back to Iran, where he is imprisoned, tortured, and prepared for a show trial. What they don’t know is that Meir was in New York to recruit Dewey Andreas for a secret operation.

The Boyfriend by Thomas Perry

Not great Perry but still very enjoyable. Excellent narration by Robertson Dean. PW: Jack Till, who has retired from the LAPD after a respected career as a homicide detective, now works as a private investigator, comfortable chasing down routine cases while visiting his 24-year-old daughter, Holly, who has Down Syndrome. But when the parents of a recently murdered young girl, about Holly's age, ask for his help when the police come up empty, Till reluctantly takes the case.

Lions of Kandahar by Major Rusty Bradley, Kevin Maurer

Enjoyable macho special forces stuff. PW: One of the most critical battles of the Afghan War is now revealed as never before. Lions of Kandahar is an inside account from the unique perspective of an active-duty U.S. Army Special Forces commander, an unparalled warrior with multiple deployments to the theater who has only recently returned from combat.

In the Frame by Dick Francis

Re-read 9/27/16 and enjoyed it a lot. Reading a Dick Francis book is like being with an old friend. His characters are so likable as to draw you in.  The book was released in 1976 and captures a naiveté of the time. The narrator Ralph Cosham was excellent. PW: Charles Todd is an English artist who is well known and respected for his renderings of sleek and athletic horses. What he now faces at his cousin Donald's house is also art - the art of a perfectly brutal murderer. Donald's home has been burglarized and his wife, Regina, is lying on her back dead, her face the color of cream. Donald is shattered, shocked, and a prime suspect. And Todd suddenly finds himself involved in a dangerous man-hunt as he searches, against all odds, for an elusive killer and some murderous answers.

Hard Target by Howard Gordon

Didn't like it, stopped reading early on.

Inside Delta Force by Eric Haney

Very enjoyable telling of the creation of Delta Force by someone who took part in it.

Falcon Seven by James Huston

What an usual scenario. Huston writes an intriguing thriller despite an unlikeable hero. The story really has to be good to continue on with this hero, I'm glad I resisted early temptations to put it down. PW: Jack Caskey, a Washington, D.C., criminal defense attorney and former navy SEAL, tries to prevent the judicial railroading of two U.S. Navy aviators by the International Criminal Court in this timely and provocative thriller from bestseller Huston (Marine One). When navy officers Doug Raw Rawlings and Bill Dunk Duncan bomb an approved target in Pakistan, they hit not a meeting between Taliban and al-Qaeda leaders, as expected, but European aid workers and their patients. After their F-18 Hornet is shot down during the mission, the captured pilots wind up in The Hague, where they're charged with war crimes. Jack, who leads a hastily assembled team to defend Raw and Dunk, travels to Pakistan in a dangerous effort to find witnesses. Meanwhile, the U.S. government maneuvers to avoid the trial. Huston provides an intriguing look at international law, current American policies, and modern war.

Tourist Season by Carl Hiaasen

Fun. PW: Tourist season is swinging into high gear in Miami. So are the activities of a bizarre terrorist group determined to keep the hapless "snowbirds" away. Armed with bombs, weed, and jumbled credos, they move toward their grand target, the Orange Bowl Parade, with plans to bring Miami and its tourist trade to a halt.

Threat Vector by Tom Clancy, Mark Greaney

This was good and could have been excellent if it wasn't so long. The embellishments about daily life and family history for non impactful characters distracted from an exciting plot. PW: Jack Ryan has only just moved back into the Oval Office when he is faced with a new international threat. An aborted coup in the People's Republic of China has left President Wei Zhen Lin with no choice but to agree with the expansionist policies of General Su Ke Quiang. They have declared the South China Sea a protectorate and are planning an invasion of Taiwan. The Ryan administration is determined to thwart China’s ambitions, but the stakes are dangerously high as a new breed of powerful Chinese anti-ship missiles endanger the US Navy's plans to protect the island.

Sharpe's Trafalgar by Bernard Cornwell

This is the best I've encountered in the Sharpe's series - very enjoyable. PW A guttersnipe who has risen through the ranks of the British army, Ensign Sharpe is sailing home to England from his latest campaign against Napoleon. Anticipating an uneventful voyage, the dashing young maverick discovers the intriguing and very married Lady Grace Hale on board the Calliope. But just as he wins his way into her heart, the ship is fired upon and, suddenly, he finds himself in the thick of one of history's most spectacular incidents: the Battle of Trafalgar.

Echo Burning by Lee Child

Entertaining. PW: Reacher is hitching through the heat of West Texas and getting desperate for a ride. The last thing he's worried about is exactly who picks him up. She's called Carmen. She's a good-looking young woman, she has a beautiful little girl...and she has married into the wrong family.

The Last Jihad by Joel C. Rosenberg

Think I'd try this author one more time. PW Jon Bennett is a top Wall Street strategist turned senior White House advisor. But nothing has prepared him for the terror that he will face. Saddam Hussein dispatches his top hit men to assassinate the President of the United States. Iraqi terrorists spread carnage throughout London, Paris, and Riyadh...and the Butcher of Baghdad has a nuclear ace in his hand that he has not yet played. Only a solid Arab-Israeli coalition against Iraq can keep the U.S. and other Western nations from certain devastation. And only Bennett and his beautiful partner, Erin McCoy, can make that happen. Their secret project - a billion dollar oil deal off the coast of Gaza - could be the basis for an historic peace treaty and enormous wealth for every Israeli and Palestinian. But just before the treaty can be signed, Israeli commandos foil an Iraqi scud missile launch, recovering a nuclear warhead and evidence that the next attack will level Washington, New York, and Tel Aviv.
Now, the Israeli prime minister gives the American President an ultimatum: melt down Baghdad within one hour...or Israel will do it herself.

Eyes of Prey by John Sandford

Very enjoyable. You get the sense that Stanford is developing his craft before you, trying new things sometimes awkwardly but usually deftly. PW: The death of the doctor's wife horrifies the Twin Cities, especially what the killer did to her eyes. A report comes in of a troll-like man near the murder scene, his face a patchwork of scars, but that bizarre clue is all Lieutenant Lucas Davenport has to go on as he attempts to sort out the murder. Still trying to recover from a pair of particularly brutal cases, bone-weary, his nerves fraying, Davenport isn't sure he's up to it — until it happens again, the same savagery, the same mutilation of the eyes, and he realizes he has no choice. Little by little, Davenport is drawn into the web of a man of extraordinary intelligence and evil, a master manipulator fascinated with all aspects of death: the dark mirror of Davenport's own soul. As the hunt winds through darker and ever more frightening events, Davenport knows there is no turning back. This is the case that will lift him back to life — or push him irrevocably over the edge.

And One Last Thing... by Molly Harper

It wasn't terrible and it was funny but boy is this a 'chick' book. No more. PW: Lacey Terwilliger's shock and humiliation over her husband's philandering prompt her to add some bonus material to Mike's company newsletter: stunning Technicolor descriptions of the special brand of "administrative support" his receptionist gives him. The detailed mass e-mail to Mike's family, friends, and clients blows up in her face, and before one can say "instant urban legend", Lacey has become the pariah of her small Kentucky town, a media punch line, and the defendant in Mike's defamation lawsuit.

Shadow Prey by John Sandford

Book 2 in this fabulous series. PW: In Shadow Prey, the crackling sequel to Rules of Prey, Twin Cities Sleuth Lucas Davenport teams up with NYPD Lieutenant Lily Rothenberg to track down an elusive killer, known only as Shadow Love. Among the victims are a Minneapolis slumlord, a judge from Oklahoma City, and a Manhattan politician. The murder weapon is a Native American ceremonial knife.

The 47th Samurai by Stephen Hunter

I really enjoy this series and the narrator is excellent. Wacky premiss but somehow this was really entertaining. PW Bob Lee Swagger and Philip Yano are bound together by a single moment at Iwo Jima, 1945, when their fathers, two brave fighters on opposite sides, met in the bloody and chaotic battle for the island. Only Earl Swagger survived. More than 60 years later, Yano comes to America to honor the legacy of his heroic father by recovering the sword he used in the battle. His search has led him to Crazy Horse, Idaho, where Bob Lee, ex-marine and Vietnam veteran, has settled into a restless retirement and immediately pledges himself to Yano's quest.

Suspect by Robert Crais

Audible gave the first two chapters away for free. Not bad, but I don't think this author is for me.

Stick by Elmore Leonard

Excellent. Leonard is the Shakespeare of dialog. After serving time for armed robbery, Ernest "Stick" Stickley is back on the outside and trying to stay legit. But it's tough staying straight in a crooked town - and Miami is a pirate's paradise, where investment fat cats and lowlife drug dealers hold hands and dance. And when a crazed player chooses Stick at random to die for another man's sins, the struggling ex-con is left with no choice but to dive right back into the game. Besides, Stick knows a good thing when he sees it - and a golden opportunity to run a very profitable sweet revenge scam seems much too tasty to pass up.

The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett

OK, but I was disappointed. One of the few times the movie is better than the book.

Bloodmoney by David Ignatius

Too much back story. To many details about non relevant parts of the story. It's like he writes an hour a day and includes all of the details that came out of that day's writings. Too bad, because Ignatius is a good writer.

The Kill Artist by Daniel Silva

Very entertaining.

Mind Prey by John Sandford

More great entertainment with Lucas et al.

Certain Prey by John Sandford

Man this guy just keeps putting out winners. Another entertaining Lucas Davenport thriller with the excellent narration of Richard Feronne.

Black Site by Dalton Fury

Sniper with most kills autobiography. Lots of interesting insights, but you don't end up caring much about the main character.

The Inside Ring by Michael Lawson

First in the series is a solid enjoyable read.

American Sniper by Chris Kyle , Scott McEwan

Fascinating subject matter, un-engaging author. The author comes across as smart and brave but narrow minded, angry and not likable. PW: From 1999 to 2009, U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle recorded the most career sniper kills in United States military history. The Pentagon has officially confirmed more than 150 of Kyles kills (the previous American record was 109), but it has declined to verify the astonishing total number for this book. Iraqi insurgents feared Kyle so much they named him al-Shaitan (“the devil”) and placed a bounty on his head. Kyle earned legendary status among his fellow SEALs, Marines, and U.S. Army soldiers, whom he protected with deadly accuracy from rooftops and stealth positions. Gripping and unforgettable, Kyle’s masterful account of his extraordinary battlefield experiences ranks as one of the great war memoirs of all time.

House Blood by Mike Lawson

The 7th Joe DeMarco thriller is at least as good as it's predecessors. Looking forward to the next one. Joe Barrett is a great narrator. PW: n House Blood, Lawson introduces us to Orson Mulray, CEO of Mulray Pharma, a cold and calculating man obsessed with profit and prestige. Mulray believes he has discovered a drug that could prevent a previously incurable disease. It could be the salvation of millions of people and earn him billions of dollars. But the drug needs to be tested on human subjects, and Mulray needs more than blood samples - he needs autopsy results. When DeMarco is asked to look into the murder conviction of a lobbyist, he has other worries on his mind: His boss is no longer Speaker, his girlfriend has left him, and his friend Emma may be dying. DeMarco doesn’t expect to free the lobbyist - much less become the target of two of the most callous killers he and Emma have ever encountered.

Vigilante by Stephen J. Cannell

Abridged audio. A fun and light entry into the Shane Scully series. PW: Lita Mendez was a thorn in the LAPD's side. An aggressive police critic and gang activist, she’d filed countless complaints against the department. So when she's found dead in her home, Detective Scully and his partner Hitchens fear the worst: that there's a killer in their ranks. Outside the crime scene, Nixon Nash and his television crew have set up shop. Nash is the charismatic host of a hit reality show called "Vigilante TV," dedicated to beating the cops at their own game: solving murders before they can. Now he has the murder of Lita Mendez in his sights. He presents the detectives with a choice: either join his team, or prepare for a public takedown.

Dream Team by Jack McCallum

Interesting insights into the Dream Team.