Speak at Night book recommendations

Truth or Bare - Richard Cahill - Speak at Night 'Buy Today!' recommendation

2011-11-29T16:47:00.001-08:00

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Pimps, peep-show operators, drug dealers and back-room dancers are bread-and-butter business for Ted "Speed" McKeon, the vice-law lawyer who insists that it's his clients who are sleazy, not him. McKeon moves with the ease of a shark through the dingy bars and fantasy parlors where his clients do their dance of survival on society's underbelly.

When he gets stuck with the case of freelance party girl who's already admitted to killing her lesbian partner, Speed discovers that sleaze is where you find it, from the slippery floors of downtown strip shows to the penthouse offices of the rich and unscrupulous.

Enter a world where the law has little to do with justice, and even less with truth, and the heart of murder never stops beating.

The Goose That Laid The Golden Egg- Doug Bremner - Speak at Night 'Buy Today!' recommendation

2011-11-28T10:54:00.001-08:00

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In 2001 Hoffman-La Roche's drug Accutane was selling in its billions worldwide as a treatment for acne. For those who suffered from extreme scarring acne, it was something of a miraculous treatment, however evidence started to mount that for others it was a death sentence. Over the next few years it was estimated that between 300 and 3,000 young people being prescribed Accutane since its launch had committed suicide or killed others.

In 2001 the father of young man in Ireland who had committed suicide approached Dr. Doug Bremner as Professor of Psychiatry & Radiology at Emory University to see if he could find a causal link between the drug and depression. His findings were that the drug did have an effect on the brain likely to cause acute depression in some patients, which was not surprising as it is a molecular cousin of Vitamin A which is known to cause depression in excessive quantities.

One might think that Hoffman-La Roche would have welcomed these findings. After all, no-one was doubting that Accutane was an extremely effective remedy in many cases, it was just that it appeared to have lethal side-effects in others.

You might like to think again on that one.

'The Goose That Laid The Golden Egg' is the account of what Hoffman-La Roche did next, which was to prosecute a determined, energetic and vindictive campaign against Dr. Bremner designed to suppress his findings and destroy his career and livelihood.

Nonetheless, Dr. Bremner persisted and Hoffman La-Roche have since withdrawn Accutane from the US market, not only for its potentially depressive effects, but also for the likelihood of its causing birth defects and stunting growth.

Knowing that the life of a whistleblower is rarely a happy one, why did Dr. Bremner decide to take anything that Hoffman-La Roche could throw at him rather than back down?

There may be some rational reasons for this such as he had a strong belief that the public should be well informed about the side-effects of drugs in order to be able to make an objective decision, but maybe the real reason was more an emotional one stretching back to an equally determined, energetic and vindictive web of secrecy based on a pivotal and traumatic event in his childhood which he was also determined to get to the bottom of.

From the pen of the author of 'Before You Take That Pill: Why the Drug Industry May Be Bad for Your Health: Risks and Side Effects You Won't Find on the Label of Commonly Prescribed Drugs, Vitamins, and Supplements', this is a truly riveting and emotional read detailing just what it costs to take on the full might of one of the largest corporations in the world when you have never claimed to be a saint and have no desire to become a martyr.

Catherine's Ring - Elena Dorothy Bowman - Speak at Night 'Buy Today!' recommendation

2011-11-23T16:43:00.001-08:00

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In a small fictional town in the northeast corner of Massachusetts a mysterious package from out of the past had the residents buzzing.

The original recipient had long since passed, and the sender of the package had died at sea in a tragedy that stunned the world.

Where had this package been all these years, and why, even if it was postmarked the year it was sent, was it never delivered?

When the present day recipient received the mysterious package, he wondered if he opened it, would he be opening a Pandora's Box. But, neither he nor his wife were aware that his thoughts would ring true, and the strange events and entities that would envelop his family, and the family of the descendants of the original sender.

Impeding Justice - Mel Comley - Speak at Night 'Buy Today' recommendation

2011-11-22T01:26:00.001-08:00

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He's a remorseless killer...

DI Lorne Simpkins has him in her sights

She's been on his tail for eight long years, but the ruthless criminal known as 'The Unicorn' has always been one step ahead.

Now, after he lures Detective Inspector Lorne Simpkins into a trap in which her partner is killed, she's more determined than ever to hunt him down.

And when her nemesis kidnaps her teenage daughter, Lorne vows not to rest until she brings him to justice.

New Beginnings - Johanna Nield - Speak at Night 'Buy Today!' recommendation

2011-11-12T14:55:00.001-08:00

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Tasha loves Jamie. Jamie loves Helen, his wife.

In fact he absolutely adores her. He loves his daughter, Beth, too.

Well, a girl can look, can't she?

When Helen dies in a car crash, the question arises again: can she look now?

Jamie is consumed by grief. This is a delicate situation. Jamie is in torment. If Helen was a saint in Jamie's eyes before, she is so much more now.

Maybe Tasha should go for Darren instead.

Buenos Aires: a train ride across the rainbow - Paul Perry - Speak at Night 'Buy Today! recommendation

2011-11-11T03:30:00.001-08:00

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Paul Perry is a writer, actor, painter and translator who left Philadelphia, USA, to live in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in search of the Land of Oz.

This is a collection of his poems from his experiences in Buenos Aires. Most are in English, a few are in Spanish, and there is a short story too (in English).

Paul's writing comes out like poetic journalism, recording the struggles and triumphs of an exile who is not quite sure where the next meal, drink or romance will come from, except that they will almost certainly involve a train, bus or subway ride.

Travels through love and time - Christine Hall Volkoff - Speak at Night 'Buy Now!' recommendation

2011-11-07T12:28:00.000-08:00

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From the rocky coves of the small island of Porquerolles in her teenage years, the glamour of the Cannes Film Festival in the 60's to a café in Paris in the 80's as a middle aged woman, Christine doesn't really know if she is looking for love, or if love is looking for her.

At the terrace of a small outdoor café, she discusses Marguerite Duras with an unknown woman, and enters into a whirlwind of anxiety and desire only mitigated by good food and the magic of the city. Has Christine learned anything about love in her travels?

In Venice Beach, California, now mature, she becomes smitten with a woman 30 years her junior. As she tries to give Bethany some comfort, she will let herself descend once again into the mysteries of infatuation. Will she be able to follow the advice of her teenage years, finally be able to enjoy the good life, and recover her peace of mind?

Get ready to travel through love, space and time ....

Three stories, three aspects of love and a world of emotions make 'Travels Through Love And Time' a moving and gripping sequence of novellas that will make your spirit soar.

The Cruiserweight - L. Anne Carrington - Speak at Night 'Buy Now!' recommendation

2011-11-05T06:23:00.000-07:00

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In this punchy, romantic take on the wrestling world where only some of the physical contact takes place in the ring, sports journalist Karen Montgomery has been following for years the career of Brett Kerrigan, one of the smallest cruiserweight wrestlers in the business, and can recall in detail every bout he has ever fought, recognising his outstanding skills as a wrestler and his intuitive flair for entertaining the crowd.

She has even written an award-winning article about him. Now she desperately wants to meet him.

One night, after many failed attempts to reach him, she looks up to find him standing right there in front of her. They get talking and they immediately hit it off.

However, as they become involved and grow ever-closer, Brett loses his contract and must strike out on his own. Will their relationship survive the pressures on both of them, their differences in ages, and the other women in Brett's life?

Or will one of them decide they are not the ideal tag-team after all?

Trompe L'Oeil - Russell Bittner - Speak at Night 'Buy Today!' recommendation

2011-10-26T04:28:00.000-07:00

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Trompe-l'oeil literallymeans 'deceiving the eye'.

Adoptive New Yorker,Daneka Sorensen, appears to be the woman every man would wish for -attractive, imaginative, charming, wealthy and successful in almostevery aspect of her life.

No wonder fashionphotographer Kit Addison falls madly in love with her.

After their thirdchance meeting, they hesitantly find each other, then impulsively runoff together to tour the most romantic parts of Europe and of eachother.

And, to their mutualdelight, everything about each other is absolutely wonderful -everything except one thing.

But that one thing isone hell of a kicker.

'Trompe-l'Oeil' hasbeen described as the roller coaster of a lifetime. It is.

How Can You Mend This Broken Heart? - Terry L. Gould - Speak at Night 'Buy Today!' recommendation-

2011-10-19T01:05:00.000-07:00

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'HowCan You Mend This Purple Heart?' is a blistering fiction built aroundthe 15 painful months author Terry Gould spent in a Vietnam Veterans'recovery ward during 1968/9.

This is why his accountnot only rings faultlessly true, but also burns and bleeds thesuffering of America's best who had typically been blown apart by aland mine, losing multiple limbs as they strained to save their mindsand recover their sense of hope.

'How Can You Mend ThisPurple Heart?' is about those who always suffer the rough end ofhistory, who used to beg on their stumps selling matches afterprevious wars where they were still regarded as heroes.

Who returned fromVietnam a hero, and what happened to those who returned home in manypieces?

'Purple Heart' is aboutas powerful as it gets - the ultimate humane tribute to truewarriors, to the indomitable nature of mankind.

Little Guide to Unhip - K.J. Rigby - Speak at Night 'Buy Today!' recommendation

2011-10-15T00:45:00.000-07:00

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ASIN: B003RCJWOW

When we are young, weall hope that even if we are not totally hip, we are not completelyunhip.

With age, we begin torealise that we have had more than a few embarrassing moments andtastes and, maybe more to our surprise, we don't really care.

There are days when weare unhip and proud of it.

Part social commentary,part autobiography, here are some of KJ Rigby's confessions of someof her less hip moments.

And what about you?

Pinpoint - Sheila Mary Taylor - Speak at Now 'Buy Today!' recommendation

2011-10-10T11:14:00.000-07:00

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ASIN: B004UST5Q8

A lawyer, a murdererand a policeman – caught in a tangled web of love, loss, terror andintrigue

When criminal lawyerJulia Grant interviews Sam Smith who has been charged with a viciousmurder, she feels a strange connection to him.

Has she met him before?Does he hold a key to her lost childhood memories?

He feels a connectiontoo. “Julia, you are the only one who can help me,” he pleads.

Is it the sameconnection? Does he know something she cannot recall?

When he is dulyconvicted despite her best efforts, he suddenly turns on her in thecourtroom and threatens that one day he will make sure to wreak hisrevenge on her.

But why?

What has she ever doneto him?

American Girl - Violet Jones - Speak at Night 'Buy Today!' recommendation

2011-10-07T11:30:00.000-07:00

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ASIN: B005F69ONS

Anerotic journey of self discovery, falling in love
and theconsequences of misguided trust.

Justinehas always thought something was missing in her life, never feelinglike she fits in.

Whenshe joins an online music community, she meets an American Girl whomay finally be able to fill the void.

Theirmutual interests and undeniable attraction compels Justine to leaveher home in Australia and visit New York. As Justine and Molly's lovegrows so does Justine's confidence in her music.

Aftershe secures a job in a popular club, Justine decides to stay in NewYork indefinitely.

WhenTessa, another fellow online music friend, comes into their lives,she questions Molly's devotion to Justine.

WillTessa cause a rift between Justine and Molly or has Justine placedher trust in the wrong girl?

Unfamiliar Country - T.S. Sharp - Speak at Night 'Buy Today!' book recommendation

2011-10-03T02:38:00.000-07:00

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A short story about thegrisly work of a hired killer whose work finally catches up with him.

A contract killer'swork is complicated by an unwelcome visitation from his most recentjob. Boyd's task was simple. Kill the man and bury the body. That wasthe easy part. Now Boyd has to grapple with his conscience, drivinghim to extreme measures deep in the Welsh countryside.

~~~~

Praise for UnfamiliarCountry

"Crisp writing andreal insight into characterisation, it's all here. The author is anovelist in waiting, that wait will be well worth it." JakeBarton, bestselling author of Burn, Baby, Burn and Blood.

"If this is ataste of the author's style, then I will look out for any future workhe produces. " Declan Conner, author of Survival Instinct (Thedark side of dating).

"Concise andatmospheric - a real sense of stomach-churning unease..." (BooksMonthly)

Austin Nights - Herocious - Speak at Night 'Buy Today!' recommendation

2011-09-30T08:52:00.001-07:00

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KEEP AUSTIN WEIRD

When the allure of graduate school tempts Bridget and Michael to leave their home in Miami Beach and move to the University of Texas, the wide-eyed transplants find themselves alone in a city that boasts of its weirdness.

Unable to unpack in their tiny sublet, the couple leaves their meager belongings boxed up and sets out to explore their new home.

Before long, they discover that the city more than lives up to its reputation: crazed library patrons, injured vagabonds, and mentally unstable neighbors abound. But that's not all. Bridget's beauty proves to be a high commodity for this cast of dubious Austinites.

Concerned about losing her, Michael hatches a plan that takes them to an antiquarian bookstore far away from imminent danger. There he expects to ask a famous Texas author to help him make his dream life with Bridget come true.

What Michael doesn't anticipate, and can't possibly, is a life or death event that tests the resiliency of the young couple's love.

Raven + December Moon - Suzy Turner - Speak at Night 'Buy Today!' recommendation

2011-09-27T12:55:00.000-07:00

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After the inexplicable disappearance of Lilly Taylor's parents, she has no choice but to move to Canada where she unravels some frightening yet intriguing family secrets...

Her whole life had been based on a lie. Lilly had grown up in a loveless home with a father who she had barely ever seen and a mother who was... well, not very motherly.

After they mysteriously disappear without a trace, Lilly is sent to Canada where she finds a whole new way of life. A life filled with love and people who care for her. But that's not all she discovers, Lilly also finds out that she isn't who, or what, she thinks she is.

Lilly has a very special ability and it's just a matter of time before her true self starts to shine. And when it does, her life will never be the same again.

Raven is a fantasy novel for children and young adults set in the beautiful province of British Columbia.

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On her 15th birthday, December Moon discovers she is the descendant of a family of witches, kept in the dark her entire life in an effort to protect her.

But when Lilly, her best friend, finds herself in danger from one of the world's most evil vampires, December will do everything in her power to stop him.

December Moon is a fantasy novel for children and young adults set in BC, Canada.

The Storm Within - Jessica L. Degarmo - Speak at Night 'Buy Today!' recommendation

2011-09-23T04:24:00.000-07:00

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A Johns Creek Second Chances Novel

Johns Creek, New York, deep winter, and Amanda Pickett is all alone in her remote house when a violent storm erupts, devastating the neighborhood, and bringing a tree crashing down against her back door, leaving her in the freezing cold and complete darkness when the power supply is cut.

As she becomes ever more frightened and isolated by her predicament, there is a knock at the door. Amanda screams, but the visitor turns out to be Raif Weston, a very handsome off-duty fireman come to rescue her and the other residents of Johns Creek.

They attempt to get to the shelter where the residents are being evacuated, but the storm is so fierce that they only get a short way down the road before they hit a tree and are forced to turn back, and so they both end up trapped in Amanda's house.

"So, now that you have me here, what are you going to do with me?" Raif asks.

…. and the storm begins for real.

The Old Man & The Monkey - George Polley - Speak at Night 'Buy Today!' recommendation

2011-09-21T09:58:00.000-07:00

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'The Old Man & The Monkey' is a stunningly beautiful story of a relationship which develops between an old man and a creature which is regarded as a dangerous pest in Japan, a snow monkey, in George Polley's moving allegory of dignity in the face of racism.

Have A Nice Weekend - Ian Ellis - Speak at Night 'Buy Today!' recommendation

2011-09-18T06:27:00.000-07:00

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'Have A Nice Weekend' is less the story of two hearts breaking as of time running out ….

It is the sound of marital negotiations breaking down.

Women will read this book and think, “Exactly! I only want to be noticed, to be loved, to be considered …. It doesn't take much …..”

Men will read this and go, “God, I've done that! How many times has she done that to me? By what right …..?”

Whatever the requests Will agreed to comply with and then didn't, he is miserable now.

Abi was his first girlfriend. When she said she loved him, he was taken by surprise but kind of agreed. They got married, but she made all the arrangements for the wedding.

When she became pregnant, it was because she decided it was time and stopped taking precautions, but Will thought Sophie was the most beautiful baby in the world when she was born.

However time, stress and misunderstandings took their toll, and now they live apart.

Now for the big questions - what have they learned? Does Will care enough to try to put things right, and does Abi care enough to let him?

Shakespeare's Cuthbert - Patrick Barrett - Speak at Night 'Buy Today!' recommendation

2011-09-15T03:40:00.000-07:00

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At the heart of this riotous laugh-a-paragraph farce that will delight members of amateur dramatic societies everywhere, lies a forgotten village in a remote valley where the 'real valley folk' live, including Cuthbert, the village undertaker, impressario of the shambolic annual theatre production, and holy fool; Margery, the local beauty and mother of the Mafia twins whose constant creative disruption provides a reliable source of hazard and misadventure; the anonymous milkman whose flashing teeth can fell a woman at fifty paces; Percy the gardener whose still waters run curiously if not necessarily deep; and the regulars at the Mandrake Arms who drink to remember, drink to forget as plots and plans flourish in their midst.

Suddenly into this by-water of rural oblivion bursts a band of newcomers who have taken up residence of the seigneurial Mandrake Hall – Henry, a prominent media reporter and his daughter who is more horse than her horse; Henry's brother, Ronald, an adventurer, a mercenary and a sometime crook; and the unreconstituted Captain and his much put-upon wife Elspeth.

What are these rank and unlikely outsiders doing in these obscure parts and what are they looking for as they vigorously comb the village and the extensive network of tunnels built beneath it?

One clue is the persistent legend that the Bard himself, William Shakespeare, was once employed as a tutor up at the Hall (thus the annual village play) and that there might still be fragments of his early work – a fumbling politically-incorrect piece – waiting to be discovered.

Fame and fortune may follow, but corpses will be dug up first.

Shasta Summer - Teresa Geering - Speak at Night 'Buy Today' recommendation

2011-09-12T09:01:00.000-07:00

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'Shasta Summer' is an entrancing addition to Teresa Geering's romance / fantasy series 'Erasmus, Shasta & Merlin' in which the cunning and resourceful Erasmus continues his devilish attempts to secure the beautiful and enchanting Shasta as his own, while she and Merlin renew their enduring love for each other, impeded by the unfortunate fact that a spell from a previous century has transformed Merlin into a cat.

Written in seductive and mesmerising prose which gives it the feel of an authentic time-honoured fable, 'Shasta Summer' continues the tradition of the much-acclaimed 'The Eye of Erasmus' which records another such attempt by Erasmus when he espies Shasta across the centuries in a vision.

The books in the series can be read and enjoyed in any order and by readers of any age from six to ninety-six.

Becoming Johnny Nova - David Kupisiewicz - Speak at Night 'Buy Today!' recommendation

2011-09-10T06:56:00.000-07:00

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'Becoming Johnny Nova' is author David Kupisiewicz's only slightly heated up account of his late adolescent years on the outskirts of L.A., navigating his taste for danger around beer, bikes, songs-and-bongs and attempted dating, with the encouragement of his mostly reprobate friends, and in the face of the stoic resistance of his archetypically disapproving parents.

What lifts this book way above being merely a series of insidiously suspenseful tales of teenage rebellion told by a naturally gripping story-teller are the scrupulously recalled living portraits of those he interacted with, from Disappearing John to Reappearing Tony, from full-of-shit Frank to female-buddy Dianne, from rock 'n' roll perk Sweet Ass and Treacherous Sister to Drummer Andy, Arnie, Rocky and Jeff.

If you can put this book down, you have never used a Frisbee as a pinch tray, never street-raced a Kawasaki 750, never sung in a rock 'n' roll band, never dived off a neck-breaking cliff just for the rush, and never fought for good against evil in the Battle of Chantry Flats with baseball bats and tire irons.

Pa Weathery's Chickens - Paul Morris - Speak at Night 'Buy Today!' recommendation

2011-09-07T08:41:00.000-07:00

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“You can sleep in the barn but if you so much as
lay a finger on my daughter or my chickens, it’s your neck I’ll wring.”

Pa Weathery

When an extraterrestrial Traveler arrives on the border of Texas, USA, in November 1963, you can bet that he is on a mission to do a lot more than just to lay his hands on Pa Weatherly's daughter and his chickens, although they'll do nicely too.

Crossing lawless lands where colored men are beaten to a pulp to add spice to another otherwise pointless night out, and where the white cops stand by applying arbitrary injustice, the Traveler is headed inexorably for Dallas, Texas, November 22 12:30 p.m., where he has been tasked with an act that will change the world forever.

….. and even he doesn't know why.

Survival Instinct - Declan Conner - Speak at Night 'Buy Today!' recommendation

2011-09-03T13:03:00.000-07:00

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A serial killer is on the loose ....

Survival Instinct takes a scary look inside the mind of a serial killer where fantasy and reality become blurred.

Dare to walk on the dark side of dating. For some, carrying baggage on the singles' scene, there is a fine line between love, hate and ... retribution.

When Jamie's wife walks out, he needs to close a curtain on his past if he is to find love again. The Crossword killer has a different fate in mind for Jamie ... let the games begin.

Those close to Jamie are placed under a sentence of death, but with Jamie as the main suspect, it is going to take all his powers of Survival Instinct for them all to live.

From the corners of a wounded mind - Theodore Knell - Speak at Night 'Buy Today!' recommendation

2011-08-31T03:23:00.000-07:00

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This collection of stories in prose and verse is written by a former Special Forces soldier, and is designed to provide a brief insight into the life and mind of a professional soldier – what makes us the way we are, what drives us on when lesser men would fold, what binds us together like no other brotherhood on earth, what makes us laugh and what scares us shitless.

The author says, “I have tried to share my experiences honestly, some so dark and painful that I often questioned whether I wanted to remain part of this thing they call the human race. During my time I have served with, and met, people from all walks of life - from world leaders to subsistence farmers. Some I wouldn't have followed in a bus queue or left in charge of an empty pram, but there have been others I would willingly have died for, and nearly did on more than one occasion.”

No Death By Unknown Hands - Minnette Coleman - Speak at Night 'Buy Today!' recommendation

2011-08-28T10:59:00.000-07:00

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‘Death by Unknown Hands’ is how a US coroner would officially record a death by lynch mob.

The 1950s was a watershed period for such atrocities in the Deep South. It was still entirely possible for a colored person to be lynched, for colored houses to be burned down, and for colored workers to lose their jobs, but these were no longer automatic responses to an event which outraged the white community – they were certainly possible, there were even quite probable, but they were no longer guaranteed.

It was therefore a time when the colored community held its breath to see if the justice system could impose itself on the anarchy of the lynch mob.

‘No Death By Unknown Hands’ is the simple story, told in all the complexity that is its due and based on true events, of how a brave, gentle, concerned and God-fearing man who ministered to the colored community of Atlanta in the 1950s was accused of the rape of a white woman that never actually took place, was tried for his ‘crime’ and was executed.

And it is the story of a young girl growing up watching in great confusion the way the elders in her community wrestled with the political issues of truth and justice, those elders including her honorable and concerned journalist father and her strong, beautiful and loving mother.

The Bookie's Runner - Brendan Gisby - Speak at Night's 'Buy Today!' recommendation

2011-08-23T04:13:00.000-07:00

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'The Bookie's Runner' is the gorgeously, hypnotically told tale of Brendan Gisby's father, Derry, and his dream of the big win on the horses, the one that would relieve his adored family of poverty and redeem him in the eyes of his angry and disappointed wife.

For decades he worked on his system. It had to be foolproof. He could only afford to run it once. He meticulously studied the form for every race ever recorded – the horses, their characteristics, their lineage, their combinations, the race track, the conditions, the outcome – and made his predictions for the next race.

Then, just as he entered hospital for what would prove to be his final illness, he was ready. His system worked; it really couldn't fail, he was sure of that. His family would be set up for life, he would be a hero, he would fulfil the dreams of every one of his betting friends - to beat the bookies once and for all at their own game, again and again.

From his hospital bed he carefully placed his bets …..

If you only read one more book in your life, bet on this one. It is every bit a winner as Derry McKay was, even if everybody thought he was a certain loser until that moment …..

Beyond Nostalgia - Tom Winton - Speak at Night 'Buy Today!' recommendation

2011-08-19T15:55:00.000-07:00

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Born with blue in his collar, not in his veins, Dean Cassidy chronicles his soul-scarring rise from New York's darkest alleys to a place somewhere nearer the top of his world. A human accomplishment as difficult as it is unlikely, his struggle is intensified by haunting memories of Theresa Wayman, his long-estranged teenage soul-mate.

Theresa!Theresa!Theresa! She just won't go away.

For five years after losing contact with her, Dean anesthetizes his pain with the same things that caused it - boozy nights and faceless women. Then he gets lucky again. He meets, and soon marries, Maddy Frances Ronan, a woman so giving (and forgiving) she deserves to be canonized.

Despite Dean’s many hang-ups and blunders, Maddy’s love for him never wavers. For two decades she endures all the jumped jobs, the time he goes postal, his frequent depressions and his ongoing anguish over the hostile corporate takeover of his and other American families. Even after she finds Dean unconscious, clutching a faded photograph of Theresa Wayman, she sticks by him.

But their problems don’t end there. There’s a green cloud, known as money, that forever casts shadows on their happiness. Even when Maddy and Dean’s two boys enter school and she takes on a job, there’s never enough. That is until the eleventh hour when things are looking their bleakest …......

Pooh Bridge - Nigel Lampard - Speak at Night 'Buy Today!' recommendation

2011-08-16T02:32:00.000-07:00

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A murder mystery

When Richard Blythe's wife, Rachel, dies from cancer after a protracted illness, he is determined to get away from it all amid the wilds of the countryside, abandoning his young twins, his job, his friends and all known responsibilities for a few precious weeks of recuperation.

However, within days, the world has caught up with him, confronting him with a vulnerable girl whom he finds unconscious and who clearly has more of a story to tell than she is divulging.

This unfortunate meeting kicks off a series of events that unsettle Richard's life to the point where he can no longer anticipate what will happen next or gauge who is on what side, until he meets the seductive Sophie who has all the appearances of liking him but seems to be working to another agenda Richard can only guess at.

'Pooh Bridge' is a mesmerising murder mystery, seeped in grief, which continuously offers the promise of the beguiling snake that is coiling and coiling in readiness to strike you.

Belfast Girls - Gerry McCullough - Speak at Night 'Buy Today!' recommendation

2011-08-13T07:45:00.000-07:00

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Ulster Tatler Book of the Month, March 2011

'Belfast Girls' is the story of three girls - Sheila, Phil and Mary - growing up into the new emerging post-conflict Belfast of money, drugs, high fashion and crime; and of their lives and loves.

Sheila, a supermodel, is kidnapped. Phil is sent to prison. Mary, surviving a drug overdose, has a spiritual awakening.

It is also the story of the men who matter to them -

John Branagh, former candidate for the priesthood, a modern Darcy, someone to love or hate. Will he and Sheila ever get together? Davy Hagan, drug dealer, 'mad, bad and dangerous to know'. Is Phil also mad to have anything to do with him?

Although from different religious backgrounds, starting off as childhood friends, the girls manage to hold onto that friendship in spite of everything.

A book about contemporary Ireland and modern life. A book which both men and women can enjoy - thriller, romance, comedy, drama - and much more ....

Buying Time - Janice Donnelly - Speak at Night 'Buy Today!' recommendation

2011-08-10T09:10:00.000-07:00

US Kindle - here

UK Kindle - here

Centred around the arrival in Belfast in 1968 of Benny Brannigan, fresh up from the provinces, 'Buying Time' is the insidiously evocative account of the loves and lives of a group of people whose fates are closely intertwined with his, from Benny's own relationship with the love of his life, Deirdre, to the tragedy which awaits the golden couple Carol and Charlie, to the bitter-sweet story of the big-hearted Sammy and his devotion to the married Liz whom he met while out dancing one night and could never forget.

Among a pack of sympathetic and intriguing characters, the streets of Belfast play the greatest role of all as the sometimes joyous, sometimes teeming, sometimes troubled backdrop to the dreams and heartbreaks of ordinary, yet often quietly heroic, lives.

'Buying Time' has a rhythm, a wisdom and a telling accuracy which will haunt you for weeks, and maybe for years, to come.

The Bringer - Samantha Towle - Speak at Night 'Buy Today!' recommendation

2011-08-10T09:05:00.000-07:00

US Kindle - here

UK Kindle - here

Death is sad, love is agony

Max was her next job. She got his name just before he died and it was for her to lead his soul to heaven. She was a Bringer.

Then Max started pleading (as they often do), but not for himself, for his son, James.

Would she look after him, would she comfort him as he grieved for the loss of his father? James was a sensitive young man. He would take his father's death very hard.

Well, Bringers don't do that sort of thing; their exclusive role is to usher souls to heaven. They are not allowed to get involved in earthly affairs.

However, when she saw James, she felt something she had never felt before – an emotion, a shock.

She was a Bringer. Bringers do not have emotions.

Yet she couldn't help herself. She found herself being drawn inexorably towards James and his life, against every instinct she had ever had, against every law of the universe.

And she fell in love.

For a Bringer, that is a terrifying fall.

Toonopolis: Gemini - Jeremy Rodden - Speak at Night 'Buy Today!' recommendation

2011-08-10T08:56:00.000-07:00

US Kindle - here

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Special Agent Mimic had a long and glorious track record with the Agency. When he returned from a failed mission in a coma, the men in charge feared that they would have to replace one of their top agents. Instead, Mimic awoke and told stories of visiting an unbelievable cartoon city called Toonopolis.

Mimic spoke with such conviction that he was able to convince his superiors that he wasn't just a rambling madman and the data he gathered inside the Tooniverse was something that could be used by the Agency. Mimic discovered that Toonopolis was actually a catch-all for all thoughts and ideas of sentient beings.

More importantly, he discovered there was a tenuous link from each thought to its creator that could be severed, incapacitating the creator. He began Project Gemini as a covert assassination program. Little did he realize that he would be setting in motion a series of events that would jeopardize the stability of the Tooniverse and the minds of all sentient beings in the universe.

BiteMarks - Drew Cross - Speak at Night's 'Buy Today!' recommendation

2011-08-10T08:51:00.000-07:00

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A spate of vicious attacks on working girls - A crazed monster who rips his victims’ flesh - A cop with dark secrets for whom blood is more than in his veins.

Young cop Shane Marks is good at his job. He is also a damaged human being.

When a series of attacks of escalating violence start up right on his doorstep and the investigative spotlight threatens to shine into the murky corners of his world, he is faced with a choice – stop this man by any means necessary, or let his carefully constructed façade unravel and see the ghosts of his dark past dragged out for all to see.

But Shane is a dangerous man himself, with a greater understanding of the nature of the one that they all seek, and no intention of seeing his personal demons exposed.

Blood, lust and bloodlust collide as he desperately tries to stay one step ahead of his colleagues and get one step closer to his quarry, right up until the shocking finale ...

Ragnar the Murderer - Lily Byrne - Speak at Night 'Buy Today!' recommendation

2011-08-10T08:43:00.000-07:00

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A tale of love and treachery.

It is a time of uneasy truce, of two races living side-by-side, inter-marrying even, but forever on the look out for treachery among their neighbors.

They meet, they bathe together and they consort. Life is short, fun is likely to be brief, and opportunity has to be seized wherever it can be found without unleashing long-held rivalries and carnage.

Then the youthful Dane, Ragnar, falls in love with Aelfwyn the Angle who is already promised by duty to one of her own village.

Ragnar and Aelfwyn's passionate love affair is a secret which will never be hidden for long, but theirs is not the only secret around.

When Ragnar finds himself charged with murder, he and Aelfwyn are forcibly parted. But is Ragnar really a cold-blooded, cynical killer or is there a more sinister plot being played out?

Black Shadows - Simon Swift - Speak at Night 'Buy Today!' recommendation

2011-08-10T08:31:00.000-07:00

US Kindle - here

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"Black Shadows is a tightly written piece of noir fiction, inviting obvious comparisons to Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett." ~ HarperCollins

When rookie private detective, Errol Black, gets mixed up in the killing of gangster Dutch Schultz, he vows to clean up his act. But when former partner Dyke Spanner is shot to death, Black is drawn into a violent and bloody quest for a mythical, priceless diamond.

New Jersey 1935: When private detective, Errol Black and his fellow agents, are protecting an Irish mobster they become embroiled in the killing of Dutch Schultz. A gunfight leaves bloody chaos.

Ten years later, Black’s past is about to catch up with him. A young woman hires Black for a seemingly routine surveillance job, former partner Dyke Spanner is shot dead and Black is drawn deeper into a violent and bloody quest.

The search for the priceless blue Tavernier Diamond throws Black into the line of fire of New York’s ruthless Tongs. To even hope to solve the mystery, Black must journey into his past where both the secret to Dyke’s murder and the clues to the hidden diamond lay.

Black Shadows is a crime thriller blending fact and fiction. In the finest hardboiled tradition, it is filled with gangsters, beautiful dames, colourful villains and red herrings.