Psychological Thrillers

Her mother’s rules were simple, but Annie Meadows rarely followed them. The rules were required though if they didn’t want to get caught doing what Annie’s mother insisted was helping the children they kept in the basement. Sometimes Annie believed what she and her mother did was wrong—especially when she heard the children cry in their locked rooms, their muffled sobs suggesting they didn’t feel helped at all. But she was told repeatedly they were helping, that the children needed them, that what seemed like imprisonment was actually rescue. 🚪

As she got older, Annie reflected on what she had done during her childhood and vowed to never be like her mother, to never perpetuate the cycle of whatever twisted logic justified locking children in basement rooms. Then she met little Gracie Bradshaw, a child in her daycare classroom who is special in ways that remind Annie of herself at that age—vulnerable, in need of protection, exhibiting signs that Annie recognizes from her own traumatic childhood. Now Annie wants to help the little girl, but the only way she knows how is with her mother’s rules, the very rules she swore never to follow again. 😰

James Caine delivers psychological thriller examining how trauma perpetuates across generations, how people who vow to break cycles often find themselves repeating them when faced with triggering circumstances. Annie’s recognition of herself in Gracie creates urgency that overrides her better judgment, making her believe that the methods she once suffered under might actually be the help Gracie needs. This is disturbing territory where good intentions and unprocessed trauma combine into dangerous actions. 💔

What makes this essential: A psychological thriller where Annie Meadows vowed never to be like her mother who kept “helping” children locked in the basement, but meeting special daycare student Gracie Bradshaw—who reminds Annie of herself—makes her want to help using her mother’s simple rules, perpetuating trauma cycles she swore to break while believing she’s rescuing rather than harming.

Action & Adventure Romance

In a world where everything isn’t black and white, survival depends on trust. Lacey Stewart was a normal woman with a mundane job at a DC art gallery, living a quiet life that didn’t prepare her for violence or danger. But that was before a man was stabbed in front of her in broad daylight, before someone tried to kill her, before her normal life exploded into something she couldn’t understand or control. Now Lacey needs help desperately, and she just never expected that help to come from the only man she’s ever truly loved—the man she can’t have. 💔

Retired Marine Special Operator Deep Del Toro knew immediately that the men who had Lacey in their sights were professionals, not random street criminals. He also knew the cops and the FBI couldn’t keep her safe from this level of threat—they didn’t have the resources, the expertise, or the willingness to operate in the grey areas where Deep excelled. What he didn’t know was just how far he’d go to protect the woman he loved, though as it turned out, there wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do for her, no line he wouldn’t cross, no rule he wouldn’t break. 🎯

Before Lacey and Deep can claim their happily ever after, they’ll need to unravel an international web of interconnected crimes operating in a world where right and wrong so often overlap, where official channels are compromised, where doing the right thing means working outside the law. It won’t be easy navigating moral ambiguity while running for their lives, but they’re in far too deep to back out now. Fiona Quinn launches Strike Force: Iniquus with action romance examining what happens when love and survival collide in the grey areas of international crime. 🔥

What makes this essential: An action adventure romance launching Strike Force: Iniquus where mundane DC art gallery worker Lacey Stewart witnesses a stabbing and becomes a target, receiving desperate help from retired Marine Special Operator Deep Del Toro—the man she’s always loved—forcing them to unravel international crime webs in moral grey areas where they’re too deep to back out now.

Private Investigator Mysteries

After surviving two attempts on her life in previous cases, Nikki decides to do something normal for a change and attend her high school reunion, hoping for a weekend of nostalgia without danger. While there she becomes reacquainted with an old flame, Paul Marks, who is now an air traffic control supervisor living what appears to be a stable, successful life. Nikki agrees to have lunch with Paul the following day, and over lunch and a few beers she becomes convinced that something is terribly wrong beneath his calm professional exterior. 🍺

After a little persuading and another round, Paul confides that three controllers reporting to him have died in the last two months under suspicious circumstances that everyone else is treating as tragic coincidences. Nikki insists on looking into the deaths despite Paul’s reluctance to involve her, and with the help of her former mentor Sam Pettigrew, soon discovers that Paul himself is the target of a ruthless assassin who’s been systematically eliminating obstacles. So much for normal—Nikki’s reunion weekend has become a race to save her old flame from a killer who’s already proven deadly efficient. 💀

In an effort to save Paul, Nikki must once again put her own life on the line, proving that even when she tries to be normal, danger finds her. Nancy Skopin delivers private investigator mystery where Nikki’s attempt at ordinary life—a high school reunion, reconnecting with an old boyfriend—becomes another life-or-death investigation when she can’t ignore her instincts that something’s wrong. 🔍

What makes this essential: A private investigator mystery where Nikki Hunter attends her high school reunion seeking normalcy after surviving two murder attempts, but lunch with old flame Paul Marks—now an air traffic control supervisor—reveals three suspicious deaths among his controllers, forcing Nikki and mentor Sam Pettigrew to discover Paul’s the target of a ruthless assassin and put her life on the line again.