Reading Ahead: July 2015, part 2

Need a few more suspense or thriller novels to add to your list of summer reads? I've got you covered!

Code of Conduct, by Brad Thor. Hidden deep within one of the world’s most powerful organizations is a secret committee with a devastating agenda. Its members are afforded incredible protections—considered elites, untouchables. But when four seconds of video is captured halfway around the world and anonymously transmitted to D.C., covert wheels are set in motion, and counterterrorism operative Scot Harvath is tapped to undertake the deadliest assignment of his career. What begins as a favor will evolve into a globe-spanning drama of highly personal stakes played out against a backdrop of stunning international intrigue, duplicitous political gamesmanship, and the darkest, most clandestine fears of the espionage world.

The Bone Labyrinth, by James Rollins. A new Sigma Force novel (eleventh in the series--the series begins with 2004's Sandstorm) marks a new chapter for mankind, or will it be our destruction? A series of strange events throws the world into turmoil. As a manned Chinese rocket explodes upon launch, three American astronauts, each separated by thousands of miles, are murdered. Then an archaeologist in Croatia uncovers a new cavern system that reveals elaborate primitive paintings by a tribe of Neanderthals. The artwork, painted in blood, illustrates an immense battle between the Neanderthals-joined by Homo sapiens-and frightening shadowy figures.Who is the ancient enemy depicted and what does it mean? The search for answers will take Commander Gray Pierce of Sigma Force 50,000 years back in time.

Nemesis, by Catherine Coulter. This latest FBI thriller from Coulter to feature Dillon Savich and Lacey Sherlock (last seen in 2014's Power Play) finds Sherlock having shut down a terrorist attack at JFK. She thinks her job is done once the New York FBI agents take over, but a second plot unfolds almost simultaneously, this time a bomb at St. Patrick's Cathedral. The terrorist at JFK refuses to speak to anyone but Sherlock. She heads back with counterterrorist Special Agent Cal McLain to try to get him to talk. Meanwhile, Savich—with the help of Agent Griffin Hammersmith—has his hands full trying to track an elusive murderer who looks like a Hollywood Dracula. When Dracula’s attempts to kill Savich collide with Sherlock’s terrorist case, then things start to get very strange.

The Naked Eye, by Iris Johansen and Roy Johansen. Kendra Michaels was instrumental in bringing serial killer Eric Colby to justice. And yet, despite his apparent execution at San Quentin, Kendra is convinced that Colby is still alive. The problem is that she can't prove it. But then a reporter who very publicly humiliated Kendra is murdered. Visiting the crime scene in search of anything that might link the brutal homicide to Colby, Kendra instead finds evidence that points to her. Finally Colby's master plan becomes clear to her: he is framing Kendra for murder. Kendra is thrust into deadly pursuit to clear her name and catch the killer no one believes exists anymore.

Never Die Alone, by Lisa Jackson. It should be the best day of their lives. Too bad they never get to see it. On the cusp of their twenty-first birthday, he strikes. His victims are always twins, their ritualistic murders planned in exquisite detail, down to the moment when they breathe their last together… A killer has been apprehended, or so the police think. Detective Rick Bentz had doubts about the “21” conviction when he worked the case in L.A. Now the real murderer may be loose in Bentz’s backyard, as twin sisters from All Saints College have vanished on the eve of their twenty-first birthday.

Speaking in Bones, by Kathy Reichs. Professionally, Temperance Brennan knows exactly what to do—test, analyze, identify. Her personal life is another story. She’s at a loss, wondering how to answer police detective Andrew Ryan’s marriage proposal. But the matter of matrimony takes a backseat when murder rears its head. Hazel Strike, an amateur detective, mines the Internet for cold cases and now brings Brennan possible evidence that a woman who disappeared three years earlier may in fact be a set of unidentified remains in Brennan's lab. Brennan's reluctant investigation into the matter unearths an even bigger mystery.

Also, if you're looking for something light and fun to read this month, stop by the main library anytime during the month of June. We've got a display chock full of Beach Reads (even if the weather is cool and cloudy!) just across from the circulation desk, and we're keeping it stocked for you all month long!