African American Suspense Thriller

Helen wasn't just born the devious vixen of New Day Temple of Faith. There had to be something rooted deep within her to make her inflict and feed off other people's pain. Perhaps it was her own pain that she had suppressed for so many years - an unimaginable pain - that created an internal prison of which her mind was the only captive. But once the demons within her break free, those around her better beware, as Helen surely becomes the epitome of the saying, "Hurt people, hurt people".

At first, med student Misty Heiress just wants to help. With her cousin Jillian in constant pain, and the doctor refusing to prescribe, Misty steals opioids from the Virginia Beach pharmacy where she works. But when Jillian starts reselling them to local dealers and gets big money, Misty grabs an unbelievable opportunity to get out of crushing debt. Soon Misty's boss, Sanjay, learns the truth and wants in. In no time, their illegal business dominates the street - and racks up a fortune. But when demand quickly outstrips supply, Sanjay way overplays his hand - and the Feds come calling.

She killed her abusive boyfriend in self-defense. But in jail, violent female gangs paid off by her enemies keep her fearing for her life - and land her in the hospital. From there, a medical testing facility is her one dubious hope for some kind of safety. But from the moment she hits the yard, she and other prisoners are victimized by illegal medical experiments. Injected with lethal diseases and made a test subject for experimental vaccines, she's clinging to determination by the slimmest thread - until she forms an alliance with a Corrections Officer.

Thanks to James Johnson's ground-breaking technology, the drug game and oil exports are now on life support. His prophecy has been fulfilled. However, the Saudi Arabian Oil King, Shalik Khalid, has unleashed a vicious death squad on American soil. The message is clear, and now the surviving members of the Johnson clan must regroup, while the architect of their movement lies in critical condition. The reigns have been passed down and now there exists one logical decision for the heirs to the throne. "Bring to them what they brought to us!"

Texas Ranger Darren Mathews isn’t sure he’s been a good cop, but believes he’s got a shot at being a good man—if he manages to dodge the potential indictment hanging over his head and if he, from here on out, pledges allegiance to the truth. It’s a virtue the country appears to have wholly lost its grip on, but one Darren sees as his salvation. He is in the midst of remaking his life with the woman he loves when he is visited by his mother armed with a tall tale about a missing Black college student, Sera (whose white sorority sisters insist she isn’t missing at all).

New York Times best-selling author Mary Monroe takes you on the ultimate twist-filled ride with her Lonely Heart, Deadly Heart series. For two restless women looking for satisfaction, too much of a good thing is never enough - even as a lethal passion closes in. Best friends Lola Poole and Joan Proctor-Riley have finally found the love and excitement they've always longed for. Online-dating an endless line of wealthy, no-strings-attached lovers is the perfect escape from their unfulfilling lives.

Some of the best-known and most influential pieces of crime fiction have been from African American writers. Be it Walter Mosley's great Detective Easy Rawlins, or the mean streets of Harlem at the hands of Chester Himes, the stories and characters in this anthology have shaped the mystery genre with their own unique viewpoints and styles. Contributors to the collection include Robert Greer, Chester Himes, Walter Mosley, Cary Phillips, Frankie Bailey, and Richard Wright.

They were just kids when Claudette McPhearson took them all in. Eight of them all together. All different races and ethnic makeups, but she loved them as her own. One woman taught them how to love, trust, and respect one another. She was the only glue that kept them together, the only one they wanted to please and never let down. She had been their light at the end of a long troublesome tunnel - it shined so bright. Then, one dreadful day, it all came to a crashing halt.

Trick Baby tells the story of White Folks, a blue-eyed, light-haired con artist whose pale skin allows him to pass in the streets as a white man. Folks is tormented early in life, rejected by other children and branded a "trick baby," a child conceived between a hooker and her trick. Refusing to abandon his life in the ghetto and a chance at revenge, Folks is taken under the wing of an older mentor, Blue. What happens next is unbelievable.

Detective Easy Rawlins returns in a mystery set in 1961 Los Angeles as Easy accepts a job searching for a beautiful woman nicknamed Black Betty who works as a housekeeper in Beverly Hills.

After dropping her child off at preschool, Marla Hancock, a stay-at-home mother, disappears. She had recently left her verbally abusive husband in rural Indiana and moved in with her sister, Shelly, who simply can’t believe that her sister would ever willingly vanish without her children. But with limited support from the town’s police department or media resources, Shelly fears that Marla’s disappearance won’t get the attention it deserves, or worse, will go unsolved. So, several weeks after filing a missing person’s report, she reaches out to TV journalist Jordan Manning for help.

Jasmyn and King Williams move their family to the planned Black utopia of Liberty, California hoping to find a community of like-minded people, a place where their growing family can thrive. King settles in at once, embracing the Liberty ethos, including the luxe wellness center at the top of the hill, which proves to be the heart of the community. But Jasmyn struggles to find her place. She expected to find liberals and social justice activists striving for racial equality, but Liberty residents seem more focused on booking spa treatments and ignoring the world’s troubles.

Caren Gray manages Belle Vie, a sprawling antebellum plantation that sits between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, where the past and the present coexist uneasily. The estate's owners have turned the place into an eerie tourist attraction, complete with full-dress re-enactments and carefully restored slave quarters. Outside the gates, a corporation with ambitious plans has been busy snapping up land from struggling families who have been growing sugar cane for generations, and now replacing local employees with illegal laborers. Tensions mount when the body of a female migrant worker is found in a shallow grave on the edge of the property.

Comprising two distinct short novels - Monroe's Nightmare in Paradise and Bad Luck Shadow from critically acclaimed Victor McGlothin - Borrow Trouble is a hot double-feature that perfectly showcases each author's unique style.

Faith often feels that her man has way too much money for the small legal endeavors that he tells her about, but she chooses to believe in him. That is until the feds kicks in her door one day. She doesn't know if she has it in her to be a ride-or-die, but putting her belief in Trust may give her an everlasting love or cause her to lose what she loves most.

A prequel to Ashley and JaQuavis' New York Times best-selling Cartel series, this story follows the rise of notorious gangster Carter Diamond, taking listeners through his days on the mean streets of Michigan to his becoming the biggest drug lord Miami has ever seen. Before the cartel was ever created, he stood alone.

Dawn and Reese Spencer just can't get ahead. Between her desperate desire to start a family and his gambling debts, they barely keep afloat, even with well-paying Norfolk International port jobs. But their calculating co-worker has the perfect plan: help him smuggle containers of precious, illegal - human - cargo past US Customs. Reese persuades Dawn that no one will get hurt. Then several immigrants turn up dead on arrival. Now the Feds and cold-blooded loan sharks are closing in, as the real brains behind the operation start killing off loose ends.

Essence® best-selling authors Kiki Swinson and De’nesha Diamond are two rising stars in the world of urban fiction. Heist presents two novellas starring young women hustling their way to the top of the game through daring robbery schemes. In Swinson’s The Ultimate Heist, pampered Shannon Marshall is accustomed to a big-money lifestyle. Her world is shattered, however, when her man is thrown into prison for gun running.

Enzo and Angel are back and this time with a vengeance. Micah was hell-bent on forcing their hands and pushing them back into the lifestyle they'd left behind after Damien Orlando's demise. With time ticking away along with Enzo's desire to keep his career and family intact, he will become the monster Micah accused him of being. Enzo will embrace the darkness that flows freely through his veins and make Micah rue the day he awakened the sleeping giant.

Meet the Banks sisters - Simone, Bunny, Tallhya, and Ginger. The four beauties are living under the same roof by force, but they can't stand each other. Their only common denominator is their loving grandmother, Me-Ma. When she's not at work trying to make ends meet, she's home with her girls, trying to keep them from killing each other.