At The Gate by Trey Stone

Joseph can't live with knowing that he's responsible for his daughter's death. He checks into The Gate, indenting it to be his final destination, but after a guest disappears, everything unravels. Days go missing, people act stranger by the moment, and nothing is what it should be. Worst of all, he's reminded of this most painful mistake at every turn. Joseph disappears down a rabbit hole of mysterious events all while battling his own inner demons. Now he's trapped inside a haunted hotel attempting to find a guest that may not even exist.

The Smallest War by Mark Sheehan

“Shit, General,” Hank said, leaning forward. “US Armorers could put a gun in the hand of Jesus. Small War ain’t going to happen.” Small War is the United Nations’ best kept secret: the end of conventional warfare. Acting in self-interest, the United States’ military buries it. Oil—enough to build a superpower—is discovered by the United States, only for Russia to lay claim. The United States threatens war, but a resurgent Russia ruthlessly executes a play years in the making. Dominos fall: a fire the size of England, a bloody naval skirmish, breath-taking political manipulation. Small War will decide who exploits the oil. Unprepared, the United States exhumes its Small War capability and staggers into a contest of hunter and prey: five relentless rounds of pursuit by any means necessary, winner takes all. Press-ganged into the fray, Danny “The Beef” Wellington joins his two teammates, Kimimela Thunderhawk and Matt Balthazar, planning to do just enough to stay alive, but there’s a hitch. A traitor lurks, and only Danny can tip the balance to give the United States a fighting chance. Full of unrelenting cat-and-mouse, rapid-fire action and characters pushed to their limits, this book is perfect for fans of I am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes, Ice Station by Matthew Reilly and Inferno by Dan Brown. If you can catch a breath, you’re not reading The Smallest War. Get it now!

Memory Hole by Douglas Jern

The worst day of Laura Greenwood's life began when she learned that her brother had been arrested on suspicion of murder. It only went downhill from there. Within hours, Laura finds herself swept up in a bloody vendetta, framed for a crime she didn't commit, with no way of proving her innocence. Enlisting the help of homicide detective Zachary Zimmerman, Laura sets out to track down the real culprit, following the only lead she has: rumors of an enigmatic assassin who wields a power that defies logic and reason. A man of legendary status in the criminal underworld. And now he is after Laura. It's kill or be killed, and Laura is in no mood for mercy. Laura's quest for retribution takes her to far darker places than she could ever have imagined. But sometimes, the deepest darkness is that which we create ourselves. Deep within her heart, beneath the rage and lust for revenge, something more sinister is starting to grow...

Abalone by J.G. MacLeod

Indie Recs Indie

J.G. MacLeod’s provocative first novel explores the topic of relationship violence with honesty and grit. Controversial and insightful, Ms. MacLeod delves into the complexity of abuse and describes its impact on the characters in her story. Eighteen-year-old Liz is in her final year of high school when she meets James Macewan, an older student who is struggling academically and wrestling with his own demons. What begins as a simple tutoring assignment soon grows into her first dating relationship. Liz initially enjoys the excitement of being with James, but it does not take long before she cannot recognize who she is as an individual anymore. As James's own life begins to unravel, he compensates by attempting to control every aspect of Liz's existence. The situation eventually dissolves into a tale of violence and dehumanization that affects the characters' lives forever. J.G. MacLeod describes the fear and uncertainty that often come with the cycle of violence and allows readers to journey alongside Liz as she attempts to confront her abuser and heal from trauma. The author understands that the description of abuse can be triggering for some people, so she wishes to inform potential readers that the content in Abalone can be graphic at times. Please be aware of this before ordering your copy.

Bury The Lead by Cassondra Windwalker

Weekly newspaper editor Jeff Paine's mind is filled with the detritus of newspaper clippings, presidential tweets, crossword puzzles, and horoscopes. When his artist girlfriend Ada Grigori announces her intention to leave him, he becomes obsessed with finding—or manufacturing—connections between otherwise unrelated events. Driven by professional curiosity and unrelenting cynicism, Paine uses his newspaper to manipulate the people of his hometown of Brisby, Colorado into revealing the ugliness lurking beneath their placid exteriors. A series of gruesome dog mutilations already have the town on edge when Paine’s carefully worded and technically factual stories stir up vigilante justice against a harmless old homeless man. Spurred on by the unexpected ease of his success, Paine sets his sights on exploiting the town’s hidden prejudices for financial gain and his own amusement. Meanwhile, no-one but Paine notices that a young transient man has gone missing. Exasperated with the plasticity of public sentiment and consumed by his own search for truth, Paine creates a trail of evidence that will ultimately both convict him of murder and set him free on appeal. The public will never know the truth of what became of Ada or of the young transient Brett, but the reader will have all the answers…if she can decipher them. Bury The Lead draws readers into the mind of a brilliant but highly unreliable narrator, forcing them to question their own perceptions of objective truth and the existence of a free press in a world where an unsubstantiated tweet can carry more power than an investigative report.

Entanglement: A Dystopian Sci-Fi Thriller by Alina Leonova

Cay thinks he may be going insane. His partner isn’t herself. He can only surmise that she’s been replaced, which is impossible. And yet… In a desperate attempt to discover the truth, Cay gives up his identity and flees home. Cutting out the implant that connects him to society is an unforgivable crime, but it may be the only way to find the people who can help him. His path leads him to the underworld where he meets Vietra. She wants to run from her past but can’t leave it behind. Together, they get a chance to discover why the world has set out to destroy them. Will the answers they find save them, or bring their downfall? Readers call Entanglement mind-bending, exciting, and unpredictable. This cyber-punk thriller will keep you on the edge of your seat until the final page.

Life Long by Ronald L. Ruiz

NAMED TO KIRKUS REVIEWS’ BEST BOOKS OF 2017 Ray Lopez is on the run with a duffel bag full of cash. Both drug dealers and the police are after him. But Ray is not a criminal. His last brush with the law was over traffic tickets. Recently released from the hospital with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, he is haunted by voices, auditory hallucinations, that frighten him and cause him to question his every move. Ray’s journey from California to Laredo is perilous. Like so many Americans before him, he travels through unfamiliar territory with no clear way of knowing who will help and who will harm him. And he may well find himself on the wrong side of the border with a mind that has no borders.

Sticks by Pippa Greene

Damnable, broom-handle-sized sticks keep tumbling out of Nowhere and materializing into wretched Barbara's, Spartan apartment. But why? Before the appearance of the sticks, Barbara, was already far too anxious. Now she is losing sleep and, as a consequence, has grown decidedly snappish at work. Barbara's boss directs her to the "company" psychiatrist, a charming man, who, quite predictably, prescribes talk therapy and a dose of anti-depressants. Nevertheless, other pestering apparitions begin to present themselves--even in spite of Barbara's determination to live a quiet, utterly predictable, and rigidly unvaried life. Ultimately, the ghost of Barbara's father appears, rapping on the walls of Barbara's apartment, issuing orders via the "Ouija Board," and worse, using Barbara as a means of satisfying its own carnal appetites. Then one night unexpectedly, Father declares that he had never ever engineered his own presumptive suicide. Now had he? Father demands, therefore, that Barbara uncover his murderer. As Barbara begins to unmask the past, Barbara is faced with disturbing realities. In fact, one of these, in human form, is plotting to bludgeon Barbara to death...