Thriller

Title: The Sobs of Autumn's Violins
Author: A. R. Homer
Genre: Fiction, Thriller
Reviewer: Bill McDonald

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 1595264825

A Secret So Colossal It Will Decide Who Wins the War...

May, 1944: The world holds its breath as the Allies prepare to launch their all-important invasion of Europe. The invasion plan is a secret that must be kept at all costs, but the secret is beset from all sides: a sleeper spy in England, a disaster during an invasion rehearsal, a double-dealing French Resistance leader, a ruthlessly-obsessed Gestapo head. And, for an American intelligence officer, it is a race against time to save both the secret and the woman he loves.

And now the secret's safety hangs upon two things: Operation First Violin, the brainchild of the chief English spymaster, and a French orphan girl seeking to find escape from a world that has dealt her terrible blows.

Played out in England and Normandy over two weeks that will decide the course of history, The Sobs of Autumn's Violins is a tale of suspense, courage, and love that builds to a stunning double climax.

Title: The Coil: A Novel
Author: Gayle Lynds
Genre: Fiction, Thriller
Reviewer: Bill McDonald

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): ISBN / EAN

A sequel to the New York Times bestselling novel, Masquerade, The Coil picks up several years later. Liz Sansborough, former CIA agent and now an academic, has managed to put the pieces of her life back together. But Sansborough has a dark secret - she is the daughter of the one of the most notorious Cold War Assassins, The Carnivore. When a series of prominent political figures are blackmailed into certain actions or die in suspicious ways, the CIA becomes convinced that someone has gotten hold of the Carnivore's files and is using that information to further some secret agenda. Sansborough herself - the closet living link to the Carnivore - is the target of a murder attempt, her offices are searched, her files stolen and her TV program on the secrets of the Cold War inexplicably shelved by the network. When she learns her cousin Sarah Walker - who bears a close resemblance to Sansborough - is kidnapped off the street with the ransom demand being the Carnivore's missing - possibly apocryphal - files, Liz is determined to save her cousin and uncover the swirling conspiracy, linked to a shadowy group known as The Coil, centered around the legacy of her father. But she's far from the only one going after the truth behind the legendary assassin.

Title: Paradigm
Author: Robert Taylor
Genre:
Reviewer: Bill McDonald

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 1932714162

What is tomorrow's Wall Street Journal worth to you today? Where is the line between reality and fiction? Are the financial markets really predictable? Does an ancient artifact hold the key to how some of the world's wealthiest families made their fortunes?

When a mysterious granite and cypress Egyptian box is found hidden away in a secret room in the palatial Biltmore Estate, twin scientists Alex and Nicholas Shepard work to unlock the secret of its intricate dials, gauges, crystals, and carvings. What they discover has the potential to make them rich beyond their wildest dreams. But it could also collapse financial markets, bankrupt corporations around the globe, and destroy many of the world's most powerful families. As the twins quickly find out, people will not only kill to make money, but will kill to keep it.

What begins as a simple scientific experiment in the stock market quickly descends into a nightmarish intrigue of murder, deception, and mystery. When one Shepard brother is killed, the surviving twin and his wife find themselves in a desperate gambit to learn the truth about the box's legacy. Using ancient documents found with the box, they unearth clues to trace its history through the ages, from the catacombs of Paris to the Knights of the Templar in Scotland. Their investigation takes them from London to Paris, Venice, and finally, to the Vatican itself, where they uncover the greatest deception ever perpetuated by man.

Robert D. Taylor's enthralling debut novel "Paradigm" is a unique and masterful blend of intelligent scientific suspense and bold historical mystery stretching from earliest antiquity to the present day-and beyond. His intriguing plot and cast of memorable characters makes for a suspenseful pager-turn that will keep readers guessing about where the lines of reality and fiction merge.

"Paradigm" demands we believe the unbelievable. The challenge of finding out just what is truly real and what is not is now up to you.

Title: The Last Spymaster
Author: Gayle Lynds
Genre: Fiction, Thriller
Reviewer: Bill McDonald

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 031298877X

As chief of the CIA's elite Clandestine Services, Jay Tice was a legend throughout the world of international intelligence. But secretly he was also a traitor, selling information that would compromise the security of the United States for decades to come. Since his treachery was exposed, Tice has been kept under strict surveillance in a maximum security prison. Then one morning, his cell is discovered empty. Tice has vanished--without tripping an alarm or leaving any trace of his passing.

Elaine Cunningham is a hunter, a CIA operative who specializes in finding people who don't want to be found. Young, gifted, and a maverick, she is assigned to track Tice--until she discovers there is far more at stake than an old spy's last run for freedom.

Lurking in the shadows are other hidden players with their own lethal agendas…and from Geneva to Washington, Berlin to New York City, a deadly conspiracy is coalescing. With only a few hours to go and the future of millions in the balance, Cunningham must uncover the truth behind the legend of
THE LAST SPYMASTER

Title: The Last Spymaster
Author: Gayle Lynds
Genre: Fiction, Thriller
Reviewer: Bill McDonald

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 031298877X

As chief of the CIA's elite Clandestine Services, Jay Tice was a legend throughout the world of international intelligence. But secretly he was also a traitor, selling information that would compromise the security of the United States for decades to come. Since his treachery was exposed, Tice has been kept under strict surveillance in a maximum security prison. Then one morning, his cell is discovered empty. Tice has vanished--without tripping an alarm or leaving any trace of his passing.

Elaine Cunningham is a hunter, a CIA operative who specializes in finding people who don't want to be found. Young, gifted, and a maverick, she is assigned to track Tice--until she discovers there is far more at stake than an old spy's last run for freedom.

Lurking in the shadows are other hidden players with their own lethal agendas…and from Geneva to Washington, Berlin to New York City, a deadly conspiracy is coalescing. With only a few hours to go and the future of millions in the balance, Cunningham must uncover the truth behind the legend of
THE LAST SPYMASTER