Forced To Kill by Andrew Peterson

Fun and intricate ride. Deals with torture but the author avoided the predictable plot lines most would have succumbed to. I would read Peterson again.

PW: Nathan McBride is never backed away from danger, and he's not about to start now, even if it means confronting the cold-blooded interrogator who tortured him to the brink of death more than a decade ago. When a mutilated body is discovered in a remote Utah lake, it ignites a chain of events that forces Nathan to face a dark chapter from a past he's worked hard to forget. Could his Nicaraguan enemy be active again? On American soil? The evidence is clear, but the stakes are higher than Nathan can know. In a showdown that will test Nathan's understanding of justice and mercy, he'll have to make a life or death decision that has the potential to expose and destroy people at the highest levels of government.

The Alexandria Link by Steve Berry

Long and detailed but a wild ride and enjoyable. Would read the author again but might consider an abridged edition. PW: At the start of bestseller Berry's second thriller to feature Cotton Malone (after The Templar Legacy), Malone, a former employee of the covert branch of the U.S. Justice Department, is trying to lead a secluded life as a bookseller in Copenhagen. Unsurprisingly, that hope is short-lived when his son is kidnapped and his ex-wife, Pam, asks for his help in rescuing the boy. The abductors intend to force Malone to reveal what he knows about the survival of the legendary lost library of Alexandria, which may hold ancient texts that could undermine Israel's claim to biblical legitimacy. Malone and his allies get mixed up in Washington intrigue and double-dealing as they try to identify the high-level traitor seeking to use the secret sources to change the dynamics of the Middle East. Characters implausibly leave enemies unsecured, placing themselves in unnecessary jeopardy, while the notion that the texts could have the desired effect may strike some readers as too far-fetched. Predictable plots twists (like the growing rapprochement between Malone and Pam) and superficial treatment of the issues between the Israelis and the Palestinians are further minuses.

Hit And Run by Lawrence Block

Block creates very interesting characters but Hit And Run had a mediocre plot. Nevertheless it was enjoyable and I would read more of his works. The first book in this series, Hit Man, was a compilation of short stories and it moved quicker and was more interesting.

Just one more job—paid in advance—and he's going to retire. Waiting in Des Moines for the client's go-ahead, Keller's picking out stamps for his collection at a shop in Urbandale when somebody guns down the charismatic governor of Ohio. Back at his motel, Keller sees the killer's face broadcast on TV. A face he's seen quite often. Every morning. In the mirror.

Buried Prey by John Sandford

Nothing special but consistently enjoyable like the rest of the (21 book) series. Gives a peek into the beginning of Lucas Davenport's career.  In 1985, Davenport was a young cop with a reputation for recklessness, and the girls' disappearance was a big deal. His bosses ultimately declared the case closed, but he never agreed with that. Now that he has a chance to investigate it all over again, one thing is becoming increasingly clear: It wasn't just the bodies that were buried. It was the truth.

No Time Left by David Baldacci

Short story. Not very good.

Sweepers by P. T. Deutermann

Pretty good, author has a lot of potential but many things were unbelievable. It begins with a routine police investigation. A beautiful woman is dead. A detective needs answers. And a newly appointed Pentagon admiral is scrambling for his career and for his life. Suddenly, the inner ring of the Pentagon is being rocked by a living nightmare: a Sweeper-a trained covert assassin, an ex-SEAL scarred by one horrific episode in Vietnam-has gone rogue. And his killing has just begun...

With a searing insider's view of Pentagon politics, retired Navy captain P.T. Deutermann writes military suspense worthy of Tom Clancy and Nelson DeMile. Now, in his electrifying new novel, a powerful ex-Marine and a courageous woman face a kill zone: of deception, ambition, and sweeping revenge...

The Informant by Thomas Perry

Great, I loved it, didn't want it to end. The third in Perry's The Butcher's Boy series (The Butcher's Boy, Sleeping Dogs and The Informant). The only thing I don't like about this series is that the book timeline matches the release timeline of about once every 10 years. Publishers Weekly: ...pits the Butcher's Boy (aka Michael Schaeffer), an impeccably effective hit man, against his old nemesis, Elizabeth Waring, an impeccably honest Justice Department official. Though Waring's boss, arrogant political appointee Dale Hunsecker, tries to hamstring her, Waring wants to bolster her 20-year pursuit of Mafia bosses by turning the Butcher's Boy into America's most important informant. Waring soon enters into an intricate pas de deux with a man who considers death a buy-sell commodity. Meanwhile, this icy yet strangely appealing killer, who reads Waring as well as she reads him, methodically murders capo after capo and their "made men" across the country, the only way he can safely return to his quiet retirement in England with his beloved wife, Meg. Perry offers a compelling, rapid-fire plot, credible Mafia and FBI secondary characters, an indictment of self-serving officialdom, and the old soul-shattering moral dilemma: what is truth?

The Charm School by Nelson DeMille

Painfully slow and long but a very interesting story. It was hard to get through the first half of the book and hard to put it down the last half. The author obviously knows the subject matter. On the road from Smolensk to Moscow, an American tourist, Gregory Fisher, is confronted by a man on the run: an Air Force major who was shot down over appears from his hotel and soon turns up dead, the victim of a suspicious car crash. Intelligence officer Sam Hollis, press attache Lisa Rhodes and CIA bureau chief Seth Alevy must discover for themselves what is going on at the Charm School. They must also decide whether public revelation of a horrifying KGB operation during the new era of glasnost might not damage American/Soviet relations.

A Morbid Taste For Bones by Ellis Peters

Wonderful to listen to Patrick Tull again! May have found a new author/series to follow. Slow flow with interesting characters. Will read another in this series. Thus begins the first of what would ultimately come to be twenty Chronicles of Brother Cadfael, former crusader turned herbalist monk living in the 12th century world of Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. Predictably, the monks are anything but welcome in Wales - not only are they emissaries from an English abbey, which in itself would be bad enough already; they also seek to take what village folk consider their greatest treasure and, more importantly, the village's holy protectress. When wealthy squire Lord Rhysart, who has led the village in opposing the monks' mission, is found murdered, the monks quickly find themselves implicated. Cadfael, of Welsh descendance himself but now part of a mission from an English abbey, finds himself between all lines of allegiance in trying to find Rhysart's murderer; but find the murderer he must, to ensure the success of his brothers' mission and their safe return home. And it will take all his world-wisdom and all his understanding of the divine to unravel the mystery.

The Sixth Man by David Baldacci

Enjoyed this book, the Camel Club friends would have been a nice addition. Edgar Roy-an alleged serial killer held in a secure, fortress-like Federal Supermax facility-is awaiting trial. He faces almost certain conviction. Sean King and Michelle Maxwell are called in by Roy's attorney, Sean's old friend and mentor Ted Bergin, to help work the case. But their investigation is derailed before it begins-en route to their first meeting with Bergin, Sean and Michelle find him murdered.