Thrilling novels abound from reknown authors

Some of the world’s favorite crime and thriller authors have been busy – all types of “good guys” and “bad guys” (and girls) abound in these selected titles.

Grave Secret by Charlaine Harris ~ This is the latest in the series from the bestselling author of the “Sookie Stackhouse” novels.
Lightning-struck sleuth Harper Connelly and her stepbrother Tolliver take a break from looking for the dead to visit the two little girls they both think of as sisters. But, as always happens when they travel to Texas, memories of their horrible childhood resurface.
To make matters worse, Tolliver learns from his older brother that their father is out of jail and trying to reestablish contact with other family members.
Tolliver wants no part of the man- but he may not have a choice in the matter. Soon, family secrets ensnare them both, as Harper finally discovers what happened to her missing sister, Cameron, so many years before. And what she finds out will change her world forever.

Angel Time, by Anne Rice ~ a metaphysical thriller about angels and assassins, the novel opens in the present. At its center is Toby O'Dare, a contract killer of underground fame on assignment to kill once again. A soulless soul, a dead man walking, he lives under a series of aliases, currently “Lucky the Fox, “ and takes his orders from "The Right Man."
Stepping into O'Dare's nightmarish world of lone and lethal missions comes a mysterious stranger, a seraph, who offers him a chance to save rather than destroy lives. O'Dare, who long ago dreamt of being a priest, seizes his chance. Now he is carried back through the ages to thirteenth-century England, and in this primitive setting, he begins his perilous quest for salvation.
It will be a journey of danger and flight, loyalty and betrayal, selflessness and love.

The Murder of King Tut: the Plot to Kill the Child King, by James Patterson ~ is a Nonfiction thriller, a secret buried for centuries.
Thrust onto Egypt's most powerful throne at the age of nine, King Tut's reign was fiercely debated from the outset. Behind the palace's veil of prosperity, bitter rivalries and jealousy flourished among the “Boy King's” most trusted advisors, and after only nine years, King Tut suddenly perished, his name purged from Egyptian history.
To this day, his death remains shrouded in controversy.
Enchanted by the ruler's tragic story and hoping to unlock the answers to the 3,000 year-old mystery, Howard Carter made it his life's mission to uncover the pharaoh's hidden tomb. He began his search in 1907, but encountered countless setbacks and dead-ends before he finally, uncovered the long-lost crypt.
The clues he found pointed to murder. James Patterson and Martin Dugard dig through stacks of evidence including X-rays, Carter's files, forensic clues, and stories told through the ages, to arrive at their own account of King Tut's life and death. The result is an exhilarating true crime tale of intrigue, passion, and betrayal that casts fresh light on the oldest mystery of all.

True Blue, by David Baldacci ~ A mysterious high-profile homicide in the nation's capital collides with the dark side of national security in David Baldacci's new, thriller.
Mason "Mace" Perry was a firebrand cop on the D.C. police force until she was kidnapped and framed for a crime. She lost everything – her badge, her career, her freedom, and she spent two years in prison. Now she's back on the outside and focused on only one thing. Her only shot to be a true blue again is to solve a major case on her own, and prove she has the right to wear the uniform. But even with her police chief sister on her side, she has to work in the shadows because a vindictive U.S. attorney is looking for any reason to send Mace back behind bars.
Enter Roy Kingman. Roy is a young lawyer who aided the poor until he took a high-paying job at a law firm in Washington. Mace and Roy meet after he discovers the dead body of a female partner at the firm. As they investigate the death, they start uncovering surprising secrets from both the private and public world of the nation's capital. Soon, what began as a fairly routine homicide takes a terrifying and unexpected turn-into something complex, diabolical, and possibly lethal.

Scarpetta Factor, by Patricia Cornwell ~ It is the week before Christmas. A tanking economy has prompted Scarpetta to offer her services pro bono to New York City's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. In no time at all, her increased visibility seems to precipitate a string of unexpected and unsettling events. She is asked live on the air about the sensational case of Hannah Starr, who has vanished and is presumed dead. Moments later during the same telecast, she receives a startling call-in from a former psychiatric patient of Benton Wesley's. When she returns after the show to the apartment where she and Benton live, she finds an ominous package, possibly a bomb, waiting for her at the front desk. Soon the apparent threat on Scarpetta's life finds her embroiled in a surreal plot, and her CNN producer wants her to launch a TV show called "The Scarpetta Factor." Given the bizarre events already in play, she fears that her growing fame will generate the illusion she can solve all her cases.