Blood Trails

Blending fantasy and science fiction, N. E. Davenport’s fast-paced, action-packed debut kicks off a duology of loyalty and rebellion, in which a young Black woman must survive deadly trials in a racist and misogynistic society to become an elite warrior. It’s all about blood. The blood spilled between the Republic of Mareen and the armies of the Blood Emperor long ago. The blood gifts of Mareen’s deadliest enemies. The blood that runs through the elite War Houses of Mareen, the rulers of the Tribunal dedicated to keeping the republic alive. The blood of the former Legatus, Verne Amari, murdered. For his granddaughter, Ikenna, the only thing steady in her life was the man who had saved Mareen. The man who had trained her in secret, not just in martial skills, but in harnessing the blood gift that coursed through her. Who trained her to keep that a secret. But now there are too many secrets, and with her grandfather assassinated, Ikenna knows two things: that only someone on the Tribunal could have ordered his death, and that only a Praetorian Guard could have carried out that order. Bent on revenge as much as discovering the truth, Ikenna pledges herself to the Praetorian Trials—a brutal initiation that only a quarter of the aspirants survive. She subjects herself to the racism directed against her half-Khanaian heritage and the misogyny of a society that cherishes progeny over prodigy, all while hiding a power that—if found out—would subject her to execution…or worse. Ikenna is willing to risk it all because she needs to find out who murdered her grandfather…and then she needs to kill them. Mareen has been at peace for a long time… Ikenna joining the Praetorians is about to change all that. Magic and technology converge in the first part of this stunning debut duology, where loyalty to oneself—and one’s blood—is more important than anything.

A young woman’s search for answers leads her into danger in this stunning conclusion to a romantic suspense trilogy by a New York Times–bestselling author. Her “father’s” deathbed confession reveals that Holly’s real father was almost certainly the notorious serial killer known as “The Hunter,” and that her mother gave Holly up to save her life. But The Hunter was never caught—and Holly’s mother simply vanished. In search of her past, Holly leaves both her home and Bud Tate, the handsome ranch foreman she’s afraid to love, horrified by the knowledge that the blood of a depraved killer might run through her veins. Haunted, driven, she searches for The Hunter and hopes her mother was wrong. But her search leads to a terrible truth no one could have imagined, and even Bud’s determination to follow and protect the woman he loves may not be enough to save Holly from the terrors of a past become present. Praise for Blood Stains “[A] strong romantic suspense trilogy opener. . . . Powerful plotting and strong characters.” —Publishers Weekly “Ms. Sala is an author whose words instantly draw you into the story.” —Fresh Fiction

“Every page crackles with authenticity and truth. This is the kind of true crime that grabs you by the throat and never lets go.” —Gregg Olsen, #1 New York Times bestselling author In this classic true crime book, veteran journalist Steven Walker and decorated police detective Rick Reed delve into the disturbed mind of a sadistic serial killer. The murderous crimes of serial killer Joseph W. Brown first came to light in October 29, 1997, when Andrea "Slick" Hendrix's beaten and strangled naked body was discovered in a roadside ditch near Stewartsville, Indiana. With no leads for police to follow, the case went cold, but it wouldn't stay that way. In 1999 Brown, an ex-con with a brutal history, met Ginger Gasaway, 53, at a Gambler's Anonymous meeting. She didn't know that when she took up with him, she was gambling with her life. On August 30, 2000, Brown murdered and dismembered Gasaway and scattered her remains across three Indiana counties. Detective Rick Reed of the Evansville Police Department was on the scene when Brown led investigators to his ex-lover’s body parts. Reed was again present when Brown later confessed that during the past five years, he had indulged in a seven-state rampage of torture and murder, including Andrea Hendrix among more than a dozen victims. For Gasaway’s grisly death, he was sentenced to life in prison without parole. But being behind bars did not end his murder spree. On June 19, 2011 Brown strangled his cellmate, Charles Miller, to death, then called to the desk sergeant to come and get the body. Blood Trail tells the twisting, fascinating true story of a monster who killed at whim—and the dedicated law enforcement professionals who brought him to justice. Includes 16 pages of photos

Don’t miss the JOE PICKETT series—now streaming on Paramount+ It's elk season in the Rockies, but a different kind of hunter is stalking prey in this novel in the #1 New York Times bestselling Joe Pickett series. Game wardens have found a man dead at a mountain camp—strung up, gutted, and flayed as if he were the elk he'd been hunting. Is the murder the work of a deranged anti-hunting activist or of a lone psychopath with a personal vendetta? Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett is the man to track the murderer and stop him, before someone declares open season on humans...

BAPTISM BY FIRE Chris Ronnau volunteered for the Army and was sent to Vietnam in January 1967, armed with an M-14 rifle and American Express traveler’s checks. But the latter soon proved particularly pointless as the private first class found himself in the thick of two pivotal, fiercely fought Big Red One operations, going head-to-head against crack Viet cong and NVA troops in the notorious Iron Triangle and along the treacherous Cambodian border near Tay Ninh. Patrols, ambushes, plunging down VC tunnels, search and destroy missions–there were many ways to drive the enemy from his own backyard, as Ronnau quickly discovered. Based on the journal Ronnau kept in Vietnam, Blood Trails captures the hellish jungle war in all its stark life-and-death immediacy. This wrenching chronicle is also stirring testimony to the quiet courage of those unsung American heroes, many not yet twenty-one, who had a job to do and did it without complaint–fighting, sacrificing, and dying for their country. Includes sixteen pages of rare and never-before-seen combat photos

Detective Roger Colby thought he ended serial killer Morgan Laird's murderous spree 28 years ago when Laird was sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison. But Colby soon finds out that nothing is certain in today's ever-changing society. The wheelchair bound criminal has been released from prison and granted parole. But is it coincidence that a new series of homicides has suddenly begun, identically mirroring Laird's brutal series of murders from the past? As Colby reluctantly joins a federal task force investigating these new crimes, he begins to uncover a new and sinister plot so unthinkable that it virtually defies belief. When Morgan Laird's DNA is recovered from the scene of one of the recent murders, Colby realizes that the unthinkable has suddenly become reality. Shunned by the task force and without support, Colby knows he must trace his new blood tail to its source and bring these new and brutal crimes to a stop, regardless of the consequences.

As worldwide law enforcement's facial recognition software improved by leaps and bounds, criminal cartels around the globe scrambled to find a solution to defeat the new and improved identity system. One cartel, in particular, using an unlimited pool of resources, designed a foolproof way to give the underworld a new face. Or so they thought. Until a pair of twins and a small California high desert police department pulled the thread that would unravel their well-oiled machine. A gruesome murder would lead to a hidden surgical suite where missing migrants were used as tissue donors for clandestine facial reconstruction surgery. A manhunt through the sage and cactus of the high desert would lead three detectives to a final showdown with a pair of ex-military butchers hired by the cartel. At least they thought the case was closed. However, the greed from within the organization would ultimately ignite a new flashpoint with the cartel's head man sending in a team of assassins and a beautiful woman hacker to erase both people and secret files. Files kept of the cartel's surgical clients as they were before and after facial reconstruction. It then became a race against time. If the encryption on each file were broken and the files sent to Interpol, then the cartel itself would become a worldwide target to every criminal with a new face.

Written by one of the countrys best-known deer-hunting fanatics (rock 'n roll legend, host of Surviving Nugent on VH1 and Spirit of the Wild on the Outdoor Channel), Blood Trails II is packed with lore and lessons on hunting whitetails today.