Absolute Power by David Baldacci.
At 66, with several jail terms behind him, Luther Whitney has decided this will be his last robbery. Everything goes according to plan, until Christine Sullivan comes home unexpectedly. Luther quickly hides in the walk-in safe and discovers it contains a one-way window. Soon Luther finds himself witnessing a brutal murder involving the president of the United States. Strong language and some descriptions of sex. RC 41882.

The Black Echo by Michael Connelly.
When Los Angeles police detective Harry Bosch sees the tattoo on a corpse, he recognizes the man as William Meadows, one of his fellow tunnel rats in Vietnam. Although evidence points to death by drug overdose, Bosch's suspicions of foul play soon have him tangling with the FBI. With the help of Agent Eleanor Wish, Bosch begins to uncover a 20-year-old robbery scheme. Harry Bosch series, book 1. Strong language, violence, and some descriptions of sex. RC 34800.

Blood Marks by Bill Crider.
When nine Houston women are murdered over two years, the only link is the lack of clues left at the crime sites. As the murderer begins to secretly record his strategy for posterity, he meets his new neighbor Casey Buckner. She, too, has the blood marks and so she, too, must die.  But how? Meanwhile, a witness to his only sloppy murder, his first, has finally remembered something. Strong language, violence, and explicit descriptions of sex. RC 36527.

Chromosome 6 by Robin Cook.
The body of a murdered Mafia boss vanishes from the city morgue and is later recovered in a mutilated condition. A pair of forensic pathologists traces the mystery to the jungles of equatorial Africa and uncovers a conspiracy to alter the course of evolution. Strong language and violence. RC 44637.

A Dance at the Slaughterhouse by Lawrence Block.
Unlicensed private investigator Matthew Scudder has gained control over his drinking and has a new friend and assistant, call girl Elaine. Scudder has been hired by a man who believes his sister was murdered by her husband. He has also been asked to investigate a snuff films case. Scudder soon discovers the cases are related. Matthew Scudder series. Violence, strong language, and descriptions of sex. RC 35110.

Death Games by Michael Jahn.
Using a Civil War Colt revolver, a beautiful hit woman is killing the leaders of organized crime on Manhattan's West Side. Police Lieutenant Bill Donovan and his partner, Sergeant Jefferson, must sort out the murders and prevent a threatened underworld slaughter. The two policemen follow a trail that leads them to Virginia, Ireland, and the yacht races off the coast of Newport, Rhode Island. Some strong language and some descriptions of sex. RC 25569.

The Doomsday Conspiracy by Sidney Sheldon.
Witnesses had stared in horror at the crash of a "weather balloon" in the Swiss Alps. Commander Robert Bellamy of Naval Intelligence has been ordered to find all of them and assure their silence. His only clue is that the witnesses were on the same tour bus. As Bellamy travels the globe, he discovers he is in the midst of an international conspiracy guided by alien forces. Strong language and some explicit descriptions of sex. RC 34012.

Everybody Dies by Lawrence Block.
Matt Scudder is asked by his old friend, Irish mobster Mick Ballou to investigate the killings of members of his gang. Soon Scudder and Ballou are targets for murder. Scudder receives little help from his former colleagues, the cops, who hate Ballou. Matthew Scudder series. Strong language and violence. RC 48201.

The Fourth Deadly Sin by Lawrence Sanders.
When saintly New York psychiatrist Simon Ellerbee is murdered, retired Chief of Detectives Edward X. Delaney takes charge of the case. The victim's beautiful widow supplies Delaney with a list of the doctor's six most potentially violent patients. Edward X. Delaney series, book 4. Some strong language and some descriptions of sex. RC 22970, BR 6334.

Hard Drive by David Pogue.
Artelligence Software, a Silicon Valley company, is about to introduce Master Voice, a computer with a speech-recognition system. Once all the bugs are worked out and the machines are installed all across the country, a lethal virus creates havoc. This is clearly not the sort of debut intended, and no one seems to know how to stop it until a programmer creates SURvIVor, an antiviral cure. But it must work immediately to save the company. Strong language. RC 38258.

Hard Time by Sara Paretsky.
Chicago private detective V.I. Warshawski finds a fatally injured female escaped convict in the road. Police want to charge V.I. with murder, and the victim's powerful former employer is less than helpful. The relentless sleuth is burglarized, beaten, and imprisoned before she learns the truth. V.I. Warshawski series, book 10. Violence and some strong language. RC 48812, BR 12395.

Heaven's Prisoners by James Lee Burke.
Ex-New Orleans cop Dave and his wife, Annie, are fishing on the gulf when a small plane crashes nearby. The plane's passengers are Nicaraguan refugees attempting to enter the United States illegally, and they all perish except a young girl whom Dave rescues. This encounter lands Dave and Annie in the midst of an immigration squabble and then a drug war. Dave Robicheaux series, book 2. Some strong language and some descriptions of sex. RC 28064.

Killer's Wedge by Ed McBain.
It is a normal Friday afternoon in the 87th Precinct squad room, until Virginia Dodge walks in. Now the detectives are under siege by a woman holding a gun and a bottle of nitroglycerin. Dodge's husband has just died in jail, and she is seeking retribution against Steve Carella, the cop who sent him there. As Dodge waits for Carella's arrival, she vows to kill anyone who attempts to stop her. 87th Precinct series, book 7. Strong language and some violence. RC 38234.

Kiss by John Lutz.
Greedy relatives are hiring a special kind of hit man who speeds up the inevitable for certain wealthy residents of Sunhaven Retirement Home and then takes a cut from the settled estate. Disabled ex-cop Fred Carver, with some help from a teenage runaway working as a receptionist at the home, finds plenty of suspects. Fred Carver series. Some strong language. RC 28564.

Mirror Maze by William Bayer.
Two cases are consuming New York Lieutenant Frank Janek. A young woman is drugging "marks" and robbing them while they sleep. She is driven by a twisted past that is centered in the maze of mirrors built by her father beneath their house. Meanwhile, clues concerning the decade-old kinky murder of a society woman have come to light. Just as Janek is finally wrapping up both cases, they merge in a horrifying way. Strong language and violence. RC 37811.

Rainbow Drive by Roderick Thorp.
Mike Gallagher, acting head of the Hollywood homicide squad, is lying in the bed of his married girlfriend when he hears noises which sound an awful lot like people being killed. Pretty soon, Mike realizes that vicious corruption and terrible secrets abound throughout the Los Angeles Police Department. Strong language, some violence, and explicit descriptions of sex. RC 25279.

Rambo: First Blood, Part II by David Morrell.
The fiery veteran, Rambo, is released from prison and sent to Vietnam in search of missing Americans. He has been ordered not to rescue them or to seek revenge.  But for Rambo, that is an impossible restriction. Sequel to First Blood (RC 23287).  Strong language and violence. RC 22963.

Violent Crimes by Hugh Holton.
The bombing of a Black Muslim mosque is psychopath Steve Zalkin's first strike for imagined past wrongs. Zalkin is working a Chicago hit list that includes cops, a reporter, and a nun. Also targeted is officer Larry Cole, who races to stop the madman. Strong language, violence, and descriptions of sex. RC 46632.

Whiskey River by Loren D. Estleman.
While testifying before a grand jury, journalist Connie Minor relives the previous decade of Prohibition in Detroit, gangster wars, liquor runs, and police corruption. A key figure in Minor's recollections is Jack Dance, a young hood who quickly rose through the ranks. Detroit series, book 1. Violence and strong language. RC 34363, BR 8823.