Recommendations based on "The Ink Black Heart (Strike 6)"

Set in a chillingly realistic far-future world, and featuring a gritty antihero even more frightening than the evil empire he serves as soldier and assassin, Death’s Head is sure to be one of the most talked-about novels of the year. David Gunn is loaded–and he shoots to kill.At the top of the galactic pecking order is the United Free, a civilization of awe-inspiring technological prowess so far in advance of other space-faring powers as to seem untouchable gods. Most of the known universe has fallen under their inscrutable sway. The rest is squabbled over by two empires: one ruled with an iron fist by OctoV, a tyrant who appears to his followers as a teenage boy but is in reality something very different, the other administered by the Uplifted, bizarre machinelike intelligences, and their no-longer-quite-human servants, cyborgs known as the Enlightened.Sven Tveskoeg, an ex-sergeant demoted for insubordination and sentenced to death, is a vicious killer with a stubborn streak of loyalty. Sven possesses a fierce if untutored intelligence and a genetic makeup that is 98.2 percent human and 1.8 percent . . . something else. Perhaps that “something else” explains how quickly he heals from even the worst injuries or how he can communicate telepathically with the ferox, fearsome alien savages whose natural fighting abilities regularly outperform the advanced technology of their human enemies. Perhaps it is these unique abilities that bring Sven to the attention of OctoV.Drafted into the Death’s Head, the elite enforcers of OctoV’s imperial will, Sven is given a new lease on life. Armed with a SIG diabolo–an intelligent gun–and an illegal symbiont called a kyp, Sven is sent to a faraway planet, the latest battleground between the Uplifted and OctoV. There he finds himself in the midst of a military disaster, one that will take all his courage–and all his firepower–to survive.But an even deadlier struggle is taking place, a struggle that will draw the attention of the United Free. Sven knows he is a pawn, and pawns have a bad habit of being sacrificed.But Sven is nobody’s sacrifice. And even a pawn can checkmate a king.

"Lynn gripped the sides of the armchair, trying to put aside her own inner terror. 'I can't believe I'm thinking this, Ross. I'm not a violent person, even before Caitlin's influence, I never even liked killing flies in my kitchen. Now I'm sitting here actually willing some stranger to die'. The body of a teenager dredged from the seabed off the coast of Sussex is found to be missing its vital organs. Soon two more young bodies are found. Caitlin Beckett, a fifteen-year-old in Brighton, will die if she does not receive an urgent liver transplant. When the health system threatens to let her down, Lynn, her mother, turns in panic to the internet and discovers a broker who can provide her with a black-market organ - but at a price. As Superintendent Roy Grace investigates the recovered bodies, he unearths the trail of a gang of child traffickers operating from Eastern Europe. Soon Grace and his team will find themselves in a race against time to save the life of a young street kid, while a desperate mother will stop at nothing to save her daughter's life." --Book Jacket.

“No one working in the crime genre is better.”—Baltimore Sun L.A.P.D. Homicide Detective Peter Decker and his wife Rina Lazarus are back on a case in Hangman—an electrifying new novel of suspense from Faye Kellerman, New York Times bestselling author of Blindman’s Bluff, The Mercedes Coffin, The Burnt House, and many other masterful thrillers. A stunning tale of crime and detection featuring the brutal death of a “party girl” health care worker, a mysterious disappearance, and the chilling return of an all-too-familiar sociopath, Hangman is Kellerman’s 21st bestseller to feature Decker and Lazarus, “Hands down, the most refreshing mystery couple around.” (People) 

Fans of David Baldacci, Stuart MacBride and Peter James will love this high-octane and utterly compelling thriller from Sunday Times bestselling author Simon Kernick, the UK's answer to Harlan Coben. 'As ever, Kernick's research is impeccable. The plotting is brilliant and makes for a tense, action-packed read' -- Sunday Mirror'Kernick delivers his book like a runaway locomotive without brakes. This is another cracking read from a great author.' -- www.crimesquad.com'Pace, pace, pace is what Simon Kernick does best.' -- Daily Mirror'Simon Kernick has to be, in my mind, the best crime writer ever' -- ***** Reader review'Excellent read. Action from the start right to the finish' -- ***** Reader review'Takes you on a thriller of a ride from beginning to end' -- ***** Reader review'I couldn't put it down!' -- ***** Reader review***********************************************************************************NO TIME TO LOSE. NO TIME TO FAIL.THE THREAT: 8am: an explosion blasts through a cafe in Central London. THE ULTIMATUM: Minutes later, a call from an unknown terror group warns that a far greater attack will be launched in 12 hours' time. THE PRISONER: William Garrett, AKA Fox, is awaiting trial for mass murder. He claims he can name the bombers. But only at a price. THE CLOCK IS TICKING: It's a terrifying race against time for DI Mike Bolt and DC Tina Boyd as they chase their targets across the city in a desperate bid to stop a major atrocity - before it's too late ...

THE INSPIRATION FOR THE UPCOMING CBS ORIGINAL SERIES TRACKER “The master of ticking-bomb suspense” (People) returns with a devilishly good thriller, and reward seeker Colter Shaw's most personal case to date. Just hours after the harrowing events of The Never Game and The Goodbye Man, Colter Shaw finds himself in San Francisco, where he has taken on the mission his father began years ago: finding a missing courier bag containing evidence that will bring down a corporate espionage firm responsible for hundreds, perhaps thousands, of deaths. Following the enigmatic clues his father left behind, Shaw plays cat and mouse with the company's sadistic enforcers, as he speeds from one gritty neighborhood in the City by the Bay to another. Suddenly, the job takes on a frightening urgency: Only by finding the courier bag can he expose the company and stop the murder of an entire family—slated to die in forty-eight hours. With the help of an unexpected figure from his past, and with the enforcers closing the net, Shaw narrows in on the truth—and learns that the courier bag contains something unexpected: a secret that could only be described as catastrophic. Filled with dozens of twists and reversals, The Final Twist is a nonstop race against time to save the family...and to keep the devastating secret Shaw has uncovered from falling into the wrong hands.  CBS, CBS Eye Design, and related logos are trademarks of CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. TRACKER is a trademark of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. Used under license.

The "master of ticking-bomb suspense" (People) Jeffery Deaver delivers the latest thriller featuring his beloved protagonists Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs as they search for a criminal whose fascination with breaking locks terrorizes New York City.A woman awakes in the morning to find that someone has picked her apartment’s supposedly impregnable door lock and rearranged personal items, even sitting beside her while she slept. The intrusion, the police learn, is a message to the entire city of carnage to come. Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs are brought in to investigate and soon learn that the sociopathic intruder, who calls himself "the Locksmith,” can break through any lock or security system ever devised. With more victims on the horizon, Rhyme, Sachs and their stable of associates must follow the evidence to the man’s lair… and discover his true mission. Their hunt is interrupted when an internal investigation in the police force uncovers what seems to be a crucial mistake in one of Rhyme's previous cases. He’s fired as a consultant for the NYPD and must risk jail if he investigates the Locksmith case in secret. The Midnight Lock is a roller-coaster read that takes place over just a few days’ time, features surprise after surprise and offers a fascinating look at the esoteric world of lockpicking.

Your life is in his hands. In the gripping new serial killer thriller from Michael Wood, Matilda Darke faces a vicious killer pursuing his own brand of lethal justice. Perfect for fans of Angela Marsons and Helen Fields. There’s a killer in your house.The Hangman waits in the darkness. He knows your darkest secrets.He’ll make you pay for all the crimes you have tried desperately to forget. And he is closer than you think.DCI Matilda Darke is running out of time. Fear is spreading throughout the city. As the body count rises, Matilda is targeted and her most trusted colleagues fall under suspicion. But can she keep those closest to her from harm? Or is it already too late?

She had the files. She had a plan. Now she's dead-and everyone's lying about why. Cricket Dawes had proof-names, dates, dossiers-pointing to something rotten inside a billion-dollar energy operation. The night she planned to go public, she turned up dead in a parking lot. The cops say it was a mugging. The press lost interest fast. Jim Winchester, the fast-talking head of a local activist group, thinks otherwise. He hires Rafferty to find out what really happened to Cricket-and, more importantly, to find the files she stole. But Rafferty doesn't like Winchester, doesn't trust his story-and the deeper he digs, the worse it smells. From dirty money to missing evidence, from shady suits to street-level threats, Rafferty's chasing a killer who's buried their tracks beneath layers of lies. But Cricket deserves justice. And Rafferty? He's not the kind of guy who lets a murder slide. Hardboiled, fast-paced, and packed with sharp dialogue, Poor Dead Cricket is the third novel in the Shamus Award-winning Rafferty P.I. series. Fans of Spenser, Reacher, and Elvis Cole-step into Rafferty's world today.

One killer with everything to lose. One man with nothing to fear. The 6th historical thriller featuring Matthew Hawkwood, Bow Street Runner and Spy, now hunting a killer on the loose in Regency London. London, 1813: Bow Street Runner Matthew Hawkwood is summoned to a burial ground and finds the corpse of a young woman, murdered and cast into an open grave. At first the death is deemed to be of little consequence. But when Chief Magistrate James Read receives a direct order from the Home Office to abandon the case, Hawkwood's interest is piqued. His hunt for the killer will lead him from London's backstreets into the heart of a government determined to protect its secrets at all costs. Only Hawkwood's contacts within the criminal underworld can now help. As the truth behind the girl's murder emerges, setting in motion a deadly chain of events, Hawkwood learns the true meaning of loyalty - and that the enemy is much closer to home than he ever imagined...

Bernhardt sticks to his tried-and-true formula in his 13th novel to feature Tulsa defense attorney Ben Kincaid. An odious criminal defendant is foisted on Kincaid's practice: Johnny Christensen, a hate-filled frat boy accused of beating a gay man to death outside a singles bar in a Chicago suburb. Despite Kincaid's reluctance to take the case (at first, he flat-out refuses, for reasons he keeps hidden), he and partner Christina McCall put up the best criminal defense they can, allowing Bernhardt to explore issues of justice and contemporary mores while keeping the tension high. The well-paced plot weaves the hate crime of the title together with an Oklahoma kidnapping, Kincaid's romantic past, another grisly unsolved murder and a detective gone bad. In between, Bernhardt introduces readers to a straight male prostitute named Charlie the Chicken, a poetry-reciting homicide cop, a Christian social organization that opposes homosexuality above all else and a gay activist group that dabbles in courtroom executions and terrorism. Bernhardt places a premium on the plot twists, and his characters sometimes act in unlikely ways in service to the surprise. It should also be noted that the primary villain proves as eager to provide exposition of the scheme once nabbed as the typical Scooby Doo bad guy. That said, Bernhardt offers another good read, full of courtroom fireworks, double-crosses and even a bit of romance.