A Gambling Man

A Gambling Man
Author: David Baldacci
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Total Pages: 352
Release: 2021-04-20
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1538719665

Aloysius Archer, the straight-talking World War II veteran fresh out of prison, returns in this riveting #1 New York Times bestselling thriller from David Baldacci. The 1950s are on the horizon, and Archer is in dire need of a fresh start after a nearly fatal detour in Poca City. So Archer hops on a bus and begins the long journey out west to California, where rumor has it there is money to be made if you’re hard-working, lucky, criminal—or all three. Along the way, Archer stops in Reno, where a stroke of fortune delivers him a wad of cash and an eye-popping blood-red 1939 Delahaye convertible—plus a companion for the final leg of the journey, an aspiring actress named Liberty Callahan who is planning to try her luck in Hollywood. But when the two arrive in Bay Town, California, Archer quickly discovers that the hordes of people who flocked there seeking fame and fortune landed in a false paradise that instead caters to their worst addictions and fears. Archer’s first stop is a P.I. office where he is hoping to apprentice with a legendary private eye and former FBI agent named Willie Dash. He lands the job, and immediately finds himself in the thick of a potential scandal: a blackmail case involving a wealthy well-connected politician running for mayor that soon spins into something even more sinister. As bodies begin falling, Archer and Dash must infiltrate the world of brothels, gambling dens, drug operations, and long-hidden secrets, descending into the rotten bones of a corrupt town that is selling itself as the promised land—but might actually be the road to perdition, and Archer’s final resting place.

A Gambling Man: Aloysius Archer Book 2

A Gambling Man: Aloysius Archer Book 2
Author: David Baldacci
Publisher: Macmillan
Total Pages: 448
Release: 2021-03-30
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1760985325

Evoking the golden age of crime and for fans of Raymond Chandler and Agatha Christie, comes A Gambling Man from one of the world's bestselling thriller writers, David Baldacci. A lucky roll of the dice It is nearly 1950 and Aloysius Archer is on his way to Bay Town, California to take up a post with renowned gumshoe, Willie Dash. Making an overnight stop in Reno he gets lucky at the casino, meets a talented actor named Liberty Callahan with her sights set on Hollywood, and helps out a man threatened by mobsters for a bad debt. With a magnificent Delahaye motor as his repayment, Archer goes west with Liberty to seek work, fame and fortune. The journey is dangerous and full of surprises as Liberty shows her steel and reveals she has a past as dark as Archer’s. A risk worth taking In Bay Town, Willie Dash is tasked with finding out who is doing everything in their power to prevent his client, politician Douglas Kemper, from being mayor. As Archer and Dash dig deeper, they discover a town full of secrets and strange events. When two seemingly unrelated murders occur at Midnight Moods, a local burlesque club owned by local scion, Sawyer Armstrong, Archer and Dash must dig deep to find a connection between the killings. All bets are off To prove himself in his first case as a PI, Archer will need all of his skills to decipher the truth from the lies, the good from the evil and the relevance of the mysterious happenings offshore he saw during a late night boat ride in the Pacific. While Liberty, in a final perilous showdown, shows that she’s a true star in the making.

One Good Deed

One Good Deed
Author: David Baldacci
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Total Pages: 400
Release: 2019-07-23
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1538750554

In this fast-paced historical thriller, the #1 New York Times bestselling author introduces Archer, a WWII veteran forced to investigate a small-town murder -- or risk returning to prison. It's 1949. When war veteran Aloysius Archer is released from Carderock Prison, he is sent to Poca City on parole with a short list of do's and a much longer list of don'ts: do report regularly to his parole officer, don't go to bars, certainly don't drink alcohol, do get a job -- and don't ever associate with loose women. The small town quickly proves more complicated and dangerous than Archer's years serving in the war or his time in jail. Within a single night, his search for gainful employment -- and a stiff drink -- leads him to a local bar, where he is hired for what seems like a simple job: to collect a debt owed to a powerful local businessman, Hank Pittleman. Soon Archer discovers that recovering the debt won't be so easy. The indebted man has a furious grudge against Hank and refuses to pay; Hank's clever mistress has her own designs on Archer; and both Hank and Archer's stern parole officer, Miss Crabtree, are keeping a sharp eye on him. When a murder takes place right under Archer's nose, police suspicions rise against the ex-convict, and Archer realizes that the crime could send him right back to prison . . . if he doesn't use every skill in his arsenal to track down the real killer.

Dream Town

Dream Town
Author: David Baldacci
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Total Pages: 488
Release: 2022-04-19
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1538719789

Private investigator and World War II veteran Aloysius Archer heads to Los Angeles, the city where dreams are made and shattered, and is ensnared in a lethal case in this latest thriller in #1 New York Times bestselling author David Baldacci’s Nero Award-winning series. It’s the eve of 1953, and Aloysius Archer is in Los Angeles to ring in the New Year with an old friend, aspiring actress Liberty Callahan, when their evening is interrupted by an acquaintance of Callahan’s: Eleanor Lamb, a screenwriter in dire straits. After a series of increasingly chilling events—mysterious phone calls, the same blue car loitering outside her house, and a bloody knife left in her sink—Eleanor fears that her life is in danger, and she wants to hire Archer to look into the matter. Archer suspects that Eleanor knows more than she’s saying, but before he can officially take on her case, a dead body turns up inside of Eleanor’s home . . . and Eleanor herself disappears. Missing client or not, Archer is dead set on finding both the murderer and Eleanor. With the help of Callahan and his partner Willie Dash, he launches an investigation that will take him from mob-ridden Las Vegas to the glamorous world of Hollywood to the darkest corners of Los Angeles—a city in which beautiful faces are attached to cutthroat schemers, where the cops can be more corrupt than the criminals . . . and where the powerful people responsible for his client’s disappearance will kill without a moment’s hesitation if they catch Archer on their trail.

The Whole Truth

The Whole Truth
Author: David Baldacci
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Total Pages: 699
Release: 2008-04-22
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0446536148

A powerful defense contractor, a reluctant intelligence agent, and an ambitious journalist race to contain and control an international crisis that could destroy the world in this #1 New York Times bestselling thriller. "Dick, I need a war." Nicolas Creel is a man on a mission. He heads up the world's largest defense contractor, The Ares Corporation. Dick Pender is the man Creel retains to "perception manage" his company to even more riches by manipulating international conflicts. But Creel may have an even grander plan in mind. Shaw, a man with no first name and a truly unique past, has a different agenda. Reluctantly doing the bidding of a secret multi-national intelligence agency, he travels the globe to keep it safe and at peace. Desperate to get back to the top of her profession, Katie James gets the break of a lifetime: the chance to interview the sole survivor of a massacre that has left every nation stunned. In David Baldacci's first international thriller, these characters face a catastrophic threat that could change the world as we know it.

Ballistic

Ballistic
Author: Mark Greaney
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 498
Release: 2011-10-04
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1101544929

#1 New York Times bestselling author Mark Greaney presents the third Gray Man novel, featuring the ex-CIA assassin being hailed as “Bourne for the new millennium” (James Rollins). After Court Gentry was betrayed by his compatriots and forced to take on a near-suicidal covert mission by the CIA, he thought he could find refuge living in the Amazon rain forest. But his bloody past finds him when a vengeful Russian crime lord forces him to go on the run once again. Court makes his way to one of the only men in the world he can trust—and arrives too late. His friend is dead and buried. Years before, Eddie Gamboa had saved Court's life. Now, Eddie has been murdered by the notorious Mexican drug cartel he fought to take down. And Court soon finds himself drawn into a war he never wanted. But in this war, there are no sides—only survivors...

Bougainville before the conflict

Bougainville before the conflict
Author: Anthony J Regan
Publisher: ANU Press
Total Pages: 607
Release: 2015-08-03
Genre: History
ISBN: 1921934247

One of the most beautiful island groups of the Pacific, Bougainville has a remarkable history. Tragically, it is as the site of devastating civil conflict that Bougainville is perhaps best known. In exploring the rich environmental, cultural and social heritage of Bougainville before the conflict, this collection provides an insight into the long-term causes of the crisis. In doing so, it surveys such topics as Bougainville’s prehistory and traditional cultures, the impact of German and Australian colonialism, the attempts by disparate local cultures to find a common identity, the assertion of political autonomy in the face of coercion to integrate with Papua New Guinea, and contemporary efforts to resolve conflict and plan a viable future. A landmark collaboration between expert commentators on Bougainville and Bougainvilleans themselves, this volume provides a comprehensive picture for those seeking to understand Bougainville’s history and future directions. Bougainville before the conflict was published in association with the State, Society and Governance in Melanesia Project, which is supported by The Australian National University and the Commonwealth of Australia.

Shadow Storm

Shadow Storm
Author: Christine Feehan
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 433
Release: 2021-05-25
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0593333136

A long-simmering feud between two families comes to a head in this gripping novel in Christine Feehan's New York Times bestselling Shadow Riders series. As the youngest member of the Ferraro family, Emmanuelle has watched each of her brothers find happiness in love while her own heart was shattered by a lover’s betrayal. For two years she’s stayed as far away from Valentino Saldi as possible—until she learns that he’s been shot during a hostile takeover of his family’s territory. Emme’s first instinct is to call her brother Stefano for help, and soon the entire Ferraro clan arrives to bring Val back from the brink of death and protect the Saldis from further attack. With one choice Emme has re-exposed herself to Val’s intoxicating pull and dragged her family into the Saldis’ private war. A deadly storm is brewing, and only time will tell who survives…

Daylight

Daylight
Author: David Baldacci
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Total Pages: 464
Release: 2020-11-12
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1509874615

Daylight is the gripping follow up to Long Road to Mercy and A Minute to Midnight featuring Special Agent Atlee Pine, from one of the world’s most favourite thriller writers, David Baldacci. The hunt Ever since Mercy was abducted aged six, Atlee has been relentless in her search for her. Finally, she gets her most promising breakthrough yet – the identity of her sister’s kidnapper. The capture As Atlee and her assistant, Carol Blum, race to track down the suspect, they run into Pine’s old friend and fellow agent, John Puller, who is investigating the suspect’s family for another crime. The kill Working together, Pine and Puller must pull back the layers of deceit, lies and cover-ups that strike at the very heart of global democracy. And the truth about what happened to Mercy will finally be revealed. That truth will shock Atlee Pine to her very core. Continue the gripping series with Mercy.