Critical Mass

Critical Mass

Whitley Strieber

Science Fiction & Fantasy / Horror / Nonfiction

From Publishers WeeklyIn this overheated thriller about nuclear terrorism from bestseller Strieber (_2012: The War for Souls_), Jim Deutsch, a CIA contract employee whose expertise is counterproliferation, has the world's fate in his hands as he races to foil the Islamic master-terrorist known as the Madhi. When Deutsch learns that some plutonium has been smuggled over the U.S. border from Mexico, he begins to suspect that America's elaborate homeland security apparatus has been compromised. His valiant efforts, alas, aren't enough to prevent the destruction of Las Vegas. As U.S. president William Fitzgerald ponders whether to launch devastating counterattacks aimed at much of the Muslim world, the tension rises, but the impact is undercut by some uneven prose (She looked back at him as if from another dimension, her gaze resplendent with the unquenchable hope of youth, her mother's proud lips, determined, supremely confident that her dad was the great man she believed him to be). (Feb.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. FromStrieber, known for his science fiction and nonfiction speculation about extraterrestrials, tackles the war on terror in a page-turning thriller. James Deutsch, a government agent and expert on nuclear weapons, fears that a terrorist organization has brought a bomb across the Mexican border. While investigating, he finds himself facing roadblocks at every turn, forcing him not to trust anyone. Does someone in the government have inside knowledge? Then the unthinkable happens, and it appears to be only a matter of time before the U.S. collapses. Strieber knows how to create suspense, and he provides a too-realistic-for-comfort scenario that should land him on the talk-show circuit declaiming on terrorism. For thriller readers, though, the important thing to remember is that this novel is less a Vince Flynn–type action romp than it is a rant about the bureaucratic bunglings of government agencies amid the chaos of a terrorist threat, so steer readers accordingly. --Jeff Ayers
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Synchronicity Trilogy Omnibus

Synchronicity Trilogy Omnibus

Michael McCloskey

Science Fiction & Fantasy

The same story told three times from three radically different points of view: characters in the Western world, the Chinese bloc... and the mysterious Spinners. The tale doesn't read the same each time, and there's plenty of new discoveries along the way to keep it interesting for the second and third points of view.The setting: circa 2077, several giant corporations have moved into space to avoid oppressive governments owned by the competition. The Western world is in loose alliance, led by the United States, Brazil, and the European Union. Opposing them for world domination is the Chinese bloc, with a sphere of influence that spans the Eastern world, including what was once Japan. If you don't work for a big company or government, then you're one of billions living at subsistence level with little hope for a better future. But the resources to support an aging Earth will come from the rest of the solar system, where governments and companies are reaching out to seize the new...
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Midnight at Marble Arch

Midnight at Marble Arch

Anne Perry

Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Science Fiction & Fantasy

In this superbly accomplished new Charlotte and Thomas Pitt adventure, Anne Perry takes us beneath the glittering surface of wealthy Victorian society into a nightmare world of fear and intimidation, where women are too often blamed for the violent attacks against them, and powerful men take what they want, leaving others to pay the price. The horrifying rape and apparent suicide of Catherine Quixwood, wife of a wealthy merchant banker, falls outside the new jurisdiction of Special Branch head Thomas Pitt, but so pervasively offensive are the rumors about the victim that Pitt quietly takes a hand in the investigation. Yet even with the help of his ingenious wife, Charlotte, and his former superior, Victor Narraway, Pitt is stumped. Why did high-minded, cultured Catherine choose not to accompany her husband to a grand party on the night of her demise? Why did she dismiss all her servants for the evening and leave the front door unlocked? What had been her...
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Fair Game aao-3

Fair Game aao-3

Patricia Briggs

Science Fiction & Fantasy / Paranormal

Patricia Briggs, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Mercy Thompson novels, "always enchants her readers." (Lynn Viehl, New York Times bestselling author) Now her Alpha and Omega series—set in a world of shifting shapes, loyalty, and passion—brings werewolves out of the darkness and into a society where fear and prejudice could make the hunters prey... They say opposites attract. And in the case of werewolves Anna Latham and Charles Cornick, they mate. The son—and enforcer—of the leader of the North American werewolves, Charles is a dominant alpha. While Anna, an omega, has the rare ability to calm others of her kind. Now that the werewolves have revealed themselves to humans, they can't afford any bad publicity. Infractions that could have been overlooked in the past must now be punished, and the strain of doing his father's dirty work is taking a toll on Charles. Nevertheless, Charles and Anna are sent to Boston, when the FBI requests the pack's help on a local serial killer case. They quickly realize that not only the last two victims were werewolves—all of them were. Someone is targeting their kind. And now Anna and Charles have put themselves right in the killer's sights...
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An Irish Country Welcome

An Irish Country Welcome

Patrick Taylor

Science Fiction & Fantasy / Young Adult

An Irish Country Welcome is a charming entry in Patrick Taylor's internationally bestselling Irish Country series.In the close-knit Northern Irish village of Ballybucklebo, it's said that a new baby brings its own welcome. Young doctor Barry Laverty and his wife Sue are anxiously awaiting their first child, but as the community itself prepares to welcome a new decade, the closing months of 1969 bring more than a televised moon landing to Barry, his friends, his neighbors, and his patients, including a number of sticky questions.A fledgling doctor joins the practice as a trainee, but will the very upper-class Sebastian Carson be a good fit for the rough and tumble of Irish country life? And as sectarian tensions rise elsewhere in Ulster, can a Protestant man marry the Catholic woman he dearly loves, despite his father's opposition? And who exactly is going to win the award for the best dandelion wine at this year's Harvest...
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Hunters

Hunters

Whitley Strieber

Science Fiction & Fantasy / Horror / Nonfiction

Whitley's Strieber's breathtaking thriller is coming to TV: Hunters—an original Syfy series—is executive produced by Gale Anne Hurd (The Walking Dead) and Natalie Chaidez (12 Monkeys) and premieres in April 2016.When police investigator Flynn Carroll's wife disappears, he discovers that someone is abducting people and then framing the abductees as runaways. While Flynn's case files grow, Special Agent Diana Glass, a member of the most secret police unit on the planet, surreptitiously watches him work. Her agents are investigating the same enigmatic abductions and she wants Flynn on her team. Will Flynn's desperate search for his wife come up empty? Or will it expose a conspiracy that reveals the most dangerous terrorists of all may not even be of this world?
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Malicious intent

Malicious intent

Michael A. Stackpole

Science Fiction & Fantasy

SUMMARY: Following a devastating civil war that obliterated the Wolf Clan, Vlad of the Wards vows revenge and plots to resurrect the Wolves. Allying himself with Katrina Steine's Lyran Alliance may just give him the means to annihilate the Jade Falcons and rule the Inner Sphere once and for all!
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