Roadwork by Stephen King
The novel starts with a “man on the street” interview in which Dawes, currently unknown, gives his acidic opinion of the extension to the highway. Seemingly unaware of his own actions, he then begins to procure means to defend himself, starting with a visit to a gun shop. As the book progresses, it is revealed that his son had succumbed to an inoperable brain tumor, and that Dawes is unable (or unwilling) to sever the emotional tie between the memory of his son and the house that he grew up in. His wife is aware of the order to demolish their house and cannot understand why he is unwilling to finalize the sale, and eventually leaves him. He quits his job after sabotaging the purchase of a new facility for the laundry business he works for, which will be displaced by the construction. He begins a working relationship with a used-car dealer who has ties to the Mob, and through him purchases explosives and the use of his services to sweep his house for listening devices. He even launches an attack on the construction equipment that will be used to raze his home and build the highway, using Molotov cocktails to burn the machines. Throughout the novel, he systematically severs all his connections to the community, until the last day runs out, and his house is scheduled for demolition.
When the police come to escort him from the house, he shoots at them with the weapons he ordered from the gun shop: a .44 Magnum revolver and a .460 Weatherby Magnum rifle. The resulting exchange of fire damages a police car and attracts the attention of the media. He agrees to leave the house after a reporter (the same one who interviewed him in the beginning, though neither recognizes the other) is allowed to enter and speak to him. Once the reporter has left, Barton tosses out his guns and sets off explosives he has bought, destroying the house with him inside it.
The epilogue describes the aftermath of the standoff. Secrets are revealed about the extension, the city’s attempt to try and cheat Dawes’ widow out of the money she got from the sale of the house, and the fact that there was no real reason for the extension. If the city had not spent the rest of its budget on this project, it would have had its allocation for future project reduced.
Maiden’s Grave by Jeffery Deaver
A school bus carrying eight deaf school-girls and their teachers brakes suddenly on a flat Kansas highway. They should never have stopped. Waiting for them are three heartless men just escaped from prison — each with nothing to lose. And now, with the girls as their hostages, they have everything to gain. They make their stand in an abandoned slaughterhouse, and it is there that Lou Handy, a murderer and the convicts’ ringleader, announces his terms: to kill one captive an hour unless his demands are met.
Deadly Legacy by Dee Stuart
Synopsis
Trouble begins for Barbara Benton, an American veterinarian visiting Hong Kong, with the seemingly random ransacking of an old friend’s apartment. Then Lily Lemaitre vanishes, and Barbara finds herself adrift in a shadowy city where everyone she meets is suspect, while her own inescapable past becomes the key to her friend’s disappearance–and her own future.
Hawk Moon by Ed Gorman
Harlot’s Moon by Ed Gorman
Interview with Ed Gorman
It is a cold, rainy morning and out of the blue, ex-detective Robert Payne receives a phone call from an old friend. Steve Gray and Robert Payne grew up together in the small town of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Now Steve is a Catholic priest, inviting Payne to the scene of a grisly [...]
24 HOURS BY MARGARET MAHY
Just home after graduating from prep school, 17-year-old Ellis meets up with old grade-school classmates, Jackie Cattle and Christo Kilmer. These two boys, along with three sisters, help to trigger the bizarre events of the next 24 hours.
Jackie persuades Ellis to drive him to a party at the Kilmers, where they meet two sisters, [...]
Unbreathed Memories: A Hannah Ives Mystery by Marcia Talley, Marcia Dutton Talley
Synopsis
Is the key to a therapist’s murder hidden away…in a patient’s mind?
Is a shrink’s death fall a Freudian slip?
Hannah Ives has every reason to mind her own business. Having survived a recent bout with breast cancer, she’s opting for reconstructive surgery and a fresh start. Her Annapolis home is decorated for better feng shui. Her [...]
Eerie Indiana by John Peel
Synopsis
The Bureau of Missing in Eerie, Indiana, is home to all the “missing” people who disappear under mysterious circumstances. Elvis is an escapee and roams the streets of Eerie. Now, five dangerous criminals are on the loose. Marshall and Simon must track down Butch Cassidy and other outlaws.
The Gathering by Isobelle Carmody
When 15-year-old Nathaniel and his mother move to Cheshunt, the boy immediately senses something wrong with the town. As he finds out more about the town’s dark past, Nathaniel knows he’s not imagining things. He soon finds himself involved with a small group of friends determined to defeat an age-old evil presence that has held [...]
A Desperate Call by Laura Coburn
Art Director: George Cornell
Synopsis
The last person to see eight-year-old Billy alive was Kate Harrod, a homicide detective and the mother of Billy’s best friend. When he turns up dead, she becomes obsessed with finding the killer–and winds up putting herself and her family in jeopardy