He’s the entertainment world’s Jack of all trades: writer, film director, producer, TV mogul and advertising consultant.

His novels have been translated into 12 languages, are widely read in at least 35 countries, and are bestsellers in hardcover, paperback, audio, and digital formats.

ellisHe’s Robert Ellis. And today his debut novel, Access to Power, is at the top of the Buffet. This intriguing tale of murderous mayhem and dirty politics is just as relevant today as when it hit the bestseller lists 12 years ago. Like the four blockbusters he’s produced since, Access to Power is typical Robert Ellis: a readable story with a solid plot and strong characters.

While growing up in Philadelphia, Robert played rhythm guitar in numerous garage bands. While still a youngster, he was shaken by the murder of a young woman near his home. His interest in crime fiction began to evolve with the films of Alfred Hitchcock and books by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, John Buchan, and especially Dashiell Hammett, the American dean of hard-boiled detective novels. Soon Robert gave up music to focus on writing and filmmaking. He began skipping school to attend murder trials, and those experiences fueled the short stories he wrote during his teens.

A few years later, Robert’s life was changed forever when he was asked to gather surveillance video of a mobster running for political office in New Jersey. While he hid on the third floor of a parking garage with a long-range camera, the subject emerged from a nearby building. The mobster looked directly up to Robert’s lens, and froze in wide-eyed terror.

“He thought the camera was a rifle,” Robert recalled in a 2009 interview on NPR. “For a split second, he thought he was dead. And in a single instant, I realized that the horrific world Dashiell Hammett described so perfectly was alive and well, and always would be.”

The next day, Robert began writing Access to Power.

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Access to Power

Mystery & Thrillers

Author: Robert Ellis

Access to Power

Three weeks before a crucial senatorial election, a man is gunned down execution-style in a D.C. office. Police are quick to call it a case of robbery gone bad, but Frank Miles suspects something far more sinister behind the murder of his business partner.

Washington’s most feared image maker, Frank’s ruthless media manipulation has earned him countless admirers…and just as many enemies. Now, for the first time in his life, Frank’s met his match in a shadowy schemer as clever as himself–but far more lethal.

As the body count rises, Frank becomes the U.S. Attorney’s chief suspect–and a cunning killer’s next target. From the underground tunnels networking Capitol Hill to the dome high above, his race for the truth–and his life–will bring him face-to-face with power at its deadliest extremes–where winning isn’t everything…it’s the only thing.

THE EDGE OF TRUST (TEAM EDGE)

Mystery & Thrillers

Author: KT BRYAN

THE EDGE OF TRUST (TEAM EDGE)

When EDGE operative Dillon Caldwell was given a mission to infiltrate the Sanchez Drug Cartel and bring down its head, Rafael Sanchez, Dillon figured it would be a long, grueling year that he might not survive. He had no idea it would be three horrific, gut-churning years, or that the price paid for his efforts would be a nightmare worse than abject failure.

Then, after his cover was blown, he watched in horror as his wife was slain in front of him. His parents were next. And his sister, who died, broken and burning, in his arms.

Dillon, wracked by loss and guilt, is nearly rabid in his hunt for Sanchez, intent on ending his reign of terror. What he finds along the way, though, will change everything Dillon thought he knew to be true.

This Time You Lose

Drama

Author: Chris Stralyn

This Time You Lose

Lisa Kaamp operates a small childcare business out of her home in Nogeksum, Michigan. Highly respected and known for going the extra mile for her daycare kids, she thinks she’s handled every daycare emergency possible. But nothing prepares her for the horror she now faces.

Lisa finds herself bound and gagged, four strange men in her home, and the daycare children held hostage in the next room. Terrorized by her captors as the authorities work to meet the ransom deadline, she tries negotiating with the men for the release of the children, but soon realizes they have no intention of letting anyone go.

With the deadline approaching, Lisa must do the unimaginable to protect the children and get everyone out alive.

Speak Swahili, Dammit!

Biographies & Memoirs

Author: James Penhaligon

Speak Swahili, Dammit!

An inspiring biographical account of a young boy’s chaotic life in a remote, wild, corner of East Africa.

Born in Africa, James’s childhood is spent on an isolated gold-mine near Lake Victoria, Tanganyika, with just his sister and mother; his father tragically dying through injuries sustained from World War II. His upbringing is mainly left to a tribal ayah called Amina and an elderly Swahili man, and he learns to speak Swahili before English.

He soon discovers some stark facts about life through tragedy and danger But it is the local watu, imbued with kindness and irrepressible humour, that save him from despair, and with whom he learns to fish with home-made lines, eat insects and famously abuse the European hierarchy in real Swahili!

Ishmael Toffee

Mystery & Thrillers

Author: Roger Smith

Ishmael Toffee

Ishmael Toffee’s knife put him behind bars and kept him there for twenty years as a prison gang assassin until he lost his taste for blood. Paroled, he finds himself with no money and no family. And no knife in his hand.

He gets a job as a gardener at the luxurious home of a prominent lawyer and makes an unexpected friend–Cindy, the lawyer’s six-year-old daughter. When Ishmael discovers that Cindy is being raped by her father he must choose: abandon the girl and walk away, or do what he does best . . .


Sing: A Novel of Colorado

Religious Fiction

Author: Lisa T. Bergren

Sing: A Novel of Colorado

Moira St. Clair has done exactly what her father forbade her to do: chased her dreams to sing on the stage. But even as her star rises, she becomes more vulnerable to those who wish to use her—or bring her down….

It is 1886, and the St. Clairs are living out their dreams in three very separate parts of the world—Paris, Brazil and Colorado. And while each has found a measure of success and joy, each is haunted by past sins and secrets.

Once home in Colorado, the St. Clairs struggle to learn what it means to sing praise to God—even in the face of tremendous loss—and trust Him in all things, even when forced to fight for their very lives.

A Moment In Time

Romance

Author: Deb Stover

A Moment In Time

Present-day hairdresser Jackie Clarke is either having a very bad hair day, or an erotic dream come true when she falls into the arms of a miner with a heart of gold in 1891 Colorado…

Kane (A Kane Novel)

Family Saga

Author: Steve Gannon

Kane (A Kane Novel)

Los Angeles is terrorized by a series of murders. One man can stop the killer: Detective Daniel Kane. But for Kane–devastated by personal tragedy and haunted by a secret that could destroy his family–to do so may cost him everything, even his life . . .

Eye of the Beholder, An Erotic Romance

Romance

Author: Emma Jay

Eye of the Beholder, An Erotic Romance

Grayson Adams is living a double life in Victorian England. By day, he paints erotic pictures, by evening he attends the balls where eager mamas throw their virginal daughters at him, though he is merely the youngest son of a baron. Lately, however, he’s lost his muse, and wonders what it would be like to paint one of those virginal society misses.

Sarah Dusenberry is enduring her fifth season, and is tired of her mother pushing her toward a husband, when it’s clear no man wants her. Why can’t she just travel with a companion, lead the life of a well-off spinster?

A Path Less Traveled (A Miller’s Creek Novel)

Religious Fiction

Author: Cathy Bryant

A Path Less Traveled (A Miller's Creek Novel)

Trish James is tired of being rescued. When a spooked horse claims her husband’s life, she’s determined to blaze a path for herself and her traumatized son without outside help. But will that mean leaving the place etched on her heart?

Andy Tyler has had to struggle for everything, and starting a new law practice in Miller’s Creek, Texas is no different. Though prepared for business challenges, he’s not prepared for falling in love–especially with yet another woman who will probably abandon him for her career.

Will Andy and Trish be able to see past their limited human understanding to take a path less traveled?

Doggitude: What Dogs REALLY Think–In 17 Sassy Syllables

Lifestyle & Home

Author: Carole Pivarnik

Doggitude: What Dogs REALLY Think--In 17 Sassy Syllables

Our dogs love, worship, and adore us (or so we hope) but what’s really going on in those canine minds when they’re giving us “the look” or staring off into the distance? Doggitude takes a light-hearted look at the irreverent inner dialogs of 36 endearing dogs, expressed in sassy haiku. Each dog is featured on a two-page spread which includes a beautiful full-page watercolor portrait and loving, often poignant anecdotes about the dog shared by the owner.

The Storm Killer

Action & Adventure

Author: Mike Jastrzebski

The Storm Killer

New York City, 1935. Crime beat reporter Jim Locke gets sucked into a quagmire of death, deceit, and danger when his actress sister is murdered – and he becomes the prime suspect. When he uncovers a pattern of similar murders, he is convinced that a serial killer is on the loose. But the police aren’t buying it, and it’s up to Jim to stop the madman.

The hunt takes him from the grimy streets and smoke-filled bars of Manhattan to deceptively laid-back Key West, just as a killer storm bears down on the island.

The Seasons Series Boxed Set

Historical Fiction

Author: Denise Domning

The Seasons Series; Five Books for the Price of Three

Denise Domning’s Medieval Series in a box set. Includes:

  • Winter’s Heat, winner of Romantic Time’s Best First Historical 1994
  • Summer’s Storm
  • Spring’s Fury
  • Autumn’s Flame
  • A Love for All Seasons

Shining in Crimson: Empire of Blood Book One (A Dystopian Vampire Novel)

Fantasy

Author: Robert S. Wilson

Shining in Crimson: Empire of Blood Book One (A Dystopian Vampire Novel)

Set in a dystopian, religiously-demented American Empire, the city of Las Vegas is no longer a city of sin. Now called Necropolis, it is a city that eats sin. The vampires of Necropolis wait patiently for the Empire’s weekly drop off of guilty Penitents; sinners and criminals full of fresh blood.

Hank Evans is one of those Penitents and he would gladly let the vampires take every drop of his blood if it weren’t for one detail: Toby. Toby is Hank’s only son. Now, Hank must do whatever it takes to escape the city of the dead and save his son from an Empire as bloodthirsty as the vampires it uses to keep its people in line.

Secrets In The Shadows

Romance

Author: T. L. Haddix

Secrets In The Shadows

After surviving a traumatic attack as a teenager, as well as a disastrous first marriage, Lauren Taylor Grant is content with her life. So what if she gets lonely from time to time? With a healthy, beautiful daughter, and a successful coffee shop-cafe, the divorced single mother convinces herself she doesn’t have time for love. When she gets her first glimpse at her parents’ handsome new neighbor, though, she starts reconsidering her stance. Once Charlie Clark begins breaking through her defensive walls, Lauren finds him hard to resist.

Just as Lauren is learning to let go of the past and embrace the future, her personal demons rear their ugly heads in the guise of a vandal hell-bent on destroying Lauren’s happiness.

A Touch of Magic

Fantasy

Author: Gregory Mahan

A Touch of Magic

At the age of fourteen, Randall Miller is surprised to learn that he has the talent–for magic. Tricked into apprenticeship by a powerful Mage, Randall is forced to leave everything he knows behind.

When his mentor is killed by Aiden, head of the secret police, he flees for his life, stumbling from one misadventure into another. Teaming up with a trio of greedy traders and a capricious imp along the way, Randall must learn to master his budding power, or die at the hands of the Rooks.

Real Estate: The Sustainable Investment

Business & Investing

Author: Glen Sweeney, John Gordon

Real Estate: The Sustainable Investment

Offers advice and stories to make the learning curve a bit less steep and measurably safer – with proven strategies for reaching long-term investment goals by including small income property in your asset allocation. Sustainable investing for sustainable living and a more secure financial future.

• What type of real estate investment is right for you?
• Making leverage actually work for you.
• How and why to get started now.
• What to look for in a partner before you say “I do.”
• An excellent overview of investment basics.
• Pro Forma Property Analysis Sheets inside and online.

Margaret’s Ark

Mystery & Thrillers

Author: Daniel G. Keohane

Margaret's Ark

On April ninth, thousands of people wake from the same dream, angels instructing them to build a biblical ark in their front yard, or the town square or little league field. Anywhere, to prepare for the worst natural disaster to strike the world since the days of Noah. A widowed California high school teacher risks everything to build a boat in the sixty days she is given. A homeless and self-proclaimed prophet of God preaches across Boston’s waterfront, unaware that he is not alone in his visions. A young priest is torn between the signs around him and the skepticism of his Church. A physician’s plans for advancement are threatened by her husband’s dreams of a coming flood.

In the end, only thirty people may board each boat.

The Brit

Literary Fiction

Author: Matt Cairone

The Brit

Ordinary men make bad decisions every day. The Brit is no exception. One extraordinary, desperate act at a Las Vegas casino turns the life of the Englishman on its head. He is in dire straits in a foreign country, with no money, no friends, and no idea how to manage the situation.

The Brit collides with the other characters like the cue ball hits the other balls at the break on the billiards table. One never knows where the balls will come to rest.

Coffin Girls (Elegantly Undead: Book 1 of the Coffin Girls Witch Vampire Series)

Fantasy

Author: Aneesa Price

Coffin Girls (Elegantly Undead: Book 1 of the Coffin Girls Witch Vampire Series)

A vampire descendent from the original Coffin Girls, Anais runs a successful event and wedding planning business from her majestic New Orleans plantation house. To the Vampire Council, she is seen as an exemplary hostess and household head of a misfit bunch of vampires.

When Yves, her maker and head of the Vampire Council requests her assistance in hosting the mysterious, yet dashing Prince of Witches, Conall, she has no option but to accept. But Anais is the keeper of secrets; secrets that can kill. Protective of her family’s undiscovered uniqueness, Anais is guarded, yet intrigued by the enigmatic witch prince.

The Ugly Stepsister Strikes Back

Romance

Author: Sariah Wilson

The Ugly Stepsister Strikes Back

Quirky, artistic and snarky Mattie Lowe does not lead a charmed life. Her mother is constantly belittling her on Skype. Mercedes, the school mean girl, has made it her personal mission to torment Mattie. But worst of all? Her stepsister Ella is the most beautiful, popular girl in school and is dating Mattie’s secret longtime crush, Jake Kingston.

Tired of being left out and done with waiting for her own stupid fairy godmother to show up, Mattie decides to change her life.

The Legend of Lady MacLaoch

Romance

Author: Becky Banks

The Legend of Lady MacLaoch

Centuries ago a vengeful curse buried itself deep into the history of the MacLaoch clan and become a legendary tale told by all those not cursed by its words.

In present-day Scotland, the laird and chieftain of the MacLaoch clan is an ex-Royal Air Force fighter pilot who has been past the gates of hell and returned a changed man. Rowan MacLaoch does battle with wartime memories and a family curse that threaten to consume him—unaware that his life and that of the history of the clan will be changed forever by the arrival of an American woman.

Saying Goodbye

Advice & How-to

Author: Ann Boutte, Dianna Calareso

Saying Goodbye

A collection of true stories about saying goodbye to the people, places, and things in our lives. The stories are universal. They are incredibly powerful and moving. And they are surprisingly uplifting and cathartic.

These stories show that there is sadness in goodbyes, but there is also irony and humor. We cry about the sad stories, we laugh at the funny ones, and along the way, we learn valuable lessons about how we say goodbye — sometimes under the most difficult of circumstances.

The Diva’s Guide To Drama Vol.1:Men

Advice & How-to

Author: Neisha Robertson

The Diva's Guide To Drama Vol.1:Men

Tired of the non-stop DRAMA associated with every man you meet? Haunted by Exes you can’t get rid of or a “Baby Daddy” who is driving you crazy? Has co-parenting become an absolute nightmare? Are you beginning to feel like maybe you don’t after you said ‘I do’? Or are you tourmented from the lonely nights while losing hope that Mr. Right will ever come your way?

Here is the only resource you will ever need for eliminating the drama associated with men. Includes:

  • How to find Mr. Non-Existent
  • Why Mr. Now is NOT Mr. Right
  • Who Mr. Right really is
  • What to do if you feel like “I don’t” after you said “I do”
  • Why Mr. Wrong feels so right!
  • How to conquer the battle of the EXes

Risking the World

Mystery & Thrillers

Author: Dorian Paul

Risking the World

Kidnapped in Morocco to help weaponize a killer TB, American scientist Claire Ashe says flat out ‘No,’ an answer that triggers a chain of shattering events. For starters it pits her against David Ruskin, an arms dealer, and Varat, the mastermind behind the plot. She doesn’t know David’s a British intelligence officer sent to unravel Varat’s plans or that he’s secretly intent on personal vengeance against Varat. When David’s forced to flee with Claire, his mission a failure on every count because he intervened in her near rape, things get more than a little complicated.

Dissolute Kinship: A 9/11 Road Trip

Politics & Current Events

Author: David Antrobus

Dissolute Kinship: A 9/11 Road Trip

A brief account of one man’s solo journey, including haunting first-hand observations of the monumental changes wrought by the terrorist attacks.

Excelsior

Children’s eBooks

Author: George Sirois

Excelsior

Matthew spent years creating the ultimate comic hero. He never dreamed the true hero would be within himself.

Recovery (Nicci Beauvoir Series)

Romance

Author: Alexandrea Weis

Recovery (Nicci Beauvoir Series)

Once a darling of New Orleans society, Nicci Beauvoir pens a novel about her departed love, the artist David Alexander. While promoting her book in the Big Apple, she’s approached by David’s former boss, Simon La Roy, who has a theory about David’s death that devastates Nicci. She learns David’s murder may be linked to someone from her past. Enter Dallas August, an elite member of Simon’s organization of corporate spies prized for his ruthless ability to get the job done.

Promise Me

Romance

Author: Dee Julian

Promise Me

After a hasty promise to her dying fiancé jeopardizes the future of his illegitimate child, Lady Leah Sheridan vows to make amends for the gentleman’s lack of honor by personally seeing to his son’s financial needs. When the boy’s heartless mother abandons him, Leah finds herself nearing a disastrous scandal. To make matters worse, her fiancé’s older brother returns to England demanding answers she swore never to divulge.

As soon as the Duke of Chase meets the woman his deceased brother had intended to wed, he is unexpectedly captivated by the lady’s beauty, but he quickly suspects she is hiding a secret, making him more determined than ever to discover the truth behind his brother’s fatal accident.

Raspberry Crush (Romance)

Romance

Author: Jill Winters

Raspberry Crush (Romance)

Just as artist Belinda “Billy” Cabot settles into her new job—decorating cakes at a charming Boston bakery—her ex-boyfriend, Seth Lannigan, walks through the door…and events conspire to turn her life upside down.

With her mother pestering her about her career, her divorced sister fuming about men, and her temperamental neighbor giving her the cold shoulder, Billy has enough drama. She doesn’t need to fall for Seth again.

… See the rest of today’s Editor’s Picks and the Kindle Daily Deal here on page 2