Martin J. Smith

Patrick J. Kiger

A Popular History of the Fads, Mavericks, Inventions, and Lore that Shaped Modern America

Poplorica

David Richards

How has the New Right, globalization and Europeanization changed the nature of the British state?

Governance and Public Policy in the United Kingdom

Pittsburgh, 1986: The city is gripped in a panic as a maniac slips poison onto pharmacy shelves. All of the evidence has pointed to Ron Corbett, but shoddy policework let Corbett off the hook, left the crime unsolved. Ten years later, it’s happening again. This time, for the most personal of reasons, Detective Downing has made it his mission to see Corbett behind bars. He enlists the help of Jim Christensen, a psychologist who specializes in memory, to interview Corbett’s son, now a young man with a painful past and problems of his own. Does the boy remember his father poisoning pill containers? Has he blocked memories of a horrific crime spree enacted in his own house? As Christensen explores the boy’s memory and Downing grows more obsessive investigating the case, both men fear that the killings now may not be as random as they once thought, and that unlocking memories may draw them too close to a vicious predator. “Time Release sizzles, cooks, and singes! It’s a whipcord thriller full of deftly drawn characters, intrigue, and taut action. This is a spellbindingly accomplished first novel” —James Ellroy, New York Times bestselling author of The Big Nowhere “Time Release is a fast, smart read and one fine thriller.” —Robert Ferrigno, New York Times bestselling author of Prayers for the Assassin “Unexpected plot twists and breathless tension combine for a suspenseful ride that doesn’t let up.” —The Kansas City Star

Time Release

Eight years after being convicted of a vicious attack that left a young policewoman near death, unable to remember her past, a psychopath known as the Scarecrow is freed on DNA evidence, and the victim, Teresa Harnett, begins to be harassed by threatening phone calls and turns to psychologist Jim Christensen to help her remember the truth. Original.

Straw Men

"A page-turner with a kicker at the end—you can’t ask for anything better. Intricately plotted and full of character, this one is a great ride that burns with the intensity of a California wildfire."—Michael Connelly, #1 New York Times bestseller The dry season has hit the Inland Empire of California, depleting the ponds and revealing the muddy grave of Paul Dwyer. From his mansion on the hill, Dwyer lorded over Los Colmas, a small town that he aspired to make big by building mansions for wealthy LA commuters. Some viewed him as a savior, providing construction jobs for locals. Others believed he was ruining their beautiful, close-knit town. But who was angry enough to murder him? Local cop Ron Starke is overwhelmed by the list of suspects and plagued by a difficult captain who is demanding results. Starke investigates Paul Dwyer's dirty money and handshake deals gone wrong, but the name at the top of the suspect list is the most intriguing, and chilling. The developer wasn't the only one with secrets; his widow Shelby has kept her own for decades, none more harrowing than the horrific abuse she and her daughter endured at the hands of Dwyer. And none more volatile than what she knows but must hide about Paul's murder. As the season’s wildfires intensify to historic levels and surge towards Los Colmas, Starke must discover who killed Dwyer before all the evidence burnsand the whole town is erased. "Combustion is exactly what I love in a mystery—fast as a bullet and bristling with suspense. Part Hitchcock, part 'Law and Order,' all terrific."—T. Jefferson Parker, New York Times bestselling author of The Room of White Fire

Combustion

Nothing stays buried forever, especially not the past. Two men stand out in a crowd overlooking the Ohio River. A plane is being taken from the water where it crashed decades before. Both men helped put it there. Jim Christensen’s daughter, Melissa, has been troubled of late. She has dreams that feel like memories, unsettling images percolate to the surface. She remembers a terrifying past, possibly her own, from a time before she was adopted by her father. Christensen’s work as an expert in memory makes him the ideal person to help unlock his daughter’s fragile grasp on her own history. But will he want to learn the truth of where Melissa came from? Who she was before? Who might still be looking for her? This dizzying novel of suspense takes the reader back into a dirty war and its human costs, into the fevered mind of one of its survivors, and through the crosshairs of a man desperate to keep his own history vanished.

Martin J. Smith

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