TopShelf - February 2021

Genre: Science Fiction

https://tsmag.co/Revival

Twenty-one years after fleeing Earth due to a genetic plague that decimated the population, the Galileo Colony Ship Kutanga arrives at Gaia, an Earth-like world in the Alpha Centauri system. The ship carries the memories and DNA of 4,492 human survivors and Aneni, the ship’s AI commander, is on a mission to save them. But she has a problem—instead of finding an uninhabited world, devoid of intelligent life and ready to receive her precious cargo, she finds a planet populated by ten’s of millions of people. The people of Gaia are primitive by Earth standards, with most living simple, agrarian lives in small towns and villages. Some are even less advanced—surviving as nomadic hunter-gatherers. The four races have little contact with one another, but all share a common legend of a fifth race that once lived among them. The fifth race was an inquisitive species and, as their knowledge grew, so too did their hubris and cruelty. They enslaved millions and brought destruction and war to a world that had previously known only harmony and peace. And they would have done far worse, were it not for the Creators. Aneni faces increasingly difficult choices as she explores this new world: Does she establish a human colony on Gaia and complete her mission? Or does she leave Gaia to its native inhabitants as the mysterious Creators intended? Her decision may mean the survival of one species and the destruction of another.

Genre: Crime Thriller

https://tsmag.co/Americans

This crime/mystery from award winning author Peter S. Rush is the riveting story of Tommy Logan, a small time pot dealer, who is swept into the international smuggling scene by the cunning con man Harry Burr. Trying to extricate himself and his girl friend Sandy, he finds himself confronted by the dilemma of saving Sandy or himself.

Genre: Science Fiction

https://tsmag.co/Foundra

The Huzien Empire has existed for 80 millennia and a powerful invisible force known as the enesmic permeates every aspect of the Twin Galaxy. Neven is an engineer working for the pinnacle of scientific achievement known as the MinSci on the Huzien homeworld of Thae. His genius draws the attention of one of the immortal Founders and he finds himself drafted into the military as part of an elite group of special forces known as the Founder’s Elites. Not given much time to adjust, his team is called to investigate stories of otherworldly creatures attacking fringe colony worlds. Soahc is the most powerful wielder of the enesmic in the Twin Galaxy, he’s also incredibly cocky. That is until he senses a powerful shifting in the enesmic that he can’t explain. Terrified that something is horribly wrong, Soahc leaves his comfortable planet and hitches a ride with Neven and the Founder’s Elites as they investigate the carnage on the fringes of the empire. Neven, Soahc and their allies discover something ancient from another plane of existence. Something that exposes the fragility of their galactic empire as they fight to survive annihilation from enesmic beings.

Genre: Thriller

https://tsmag.co/WC

Gavin Gregory often stares into the abyss--that's his job. An elite profiler at the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit, he hunts serial killers for a living. He knows how they behave, how they think, what motivates them. Considered the best at what he does, Gavin goes to investigate when it appears a dormant psychopath has reactivated. The case takes a bizarre turn when psychiatrist, Debra Esteves, contacts him and says she knows who the enigmatic killer is. It soon becomes apparent that what she means is that she knows what the killer is. But Gavin is a man of science, a rational man. Can she keep him safe from what is hunting him long enough to convince him she's right?

Genre: Time Travel Romance

https://amzn.to/2UvT7Kc

While Forrest goes to college, quick witted Annet works at the Keizer Manor, the museum where the oils from 19th century master painter Alexander Keizer are exhibited.After a fight, the couple strolls through the dunes to make up. When dark clouds roll in, the beautiful sunny weather turns into a thunderstorm so violent that they get separated. The next morning, Forrest finds himself alone. So does Annet.Regaining consciousness in a monastery, Annet is convinced the nuns are playing a prank on her. It can't be the 1800’s!

Genre: Suspense Thriller

https://tsmag.co/HICB

For Victor Sykes, business is good. His illegal diamond importing business is thriving, and circumstances require that he bring more people to his team. His niece and nephew, Rubi Lee and Zeke, are as dangerous as they are desperate, and they follow orders to make sure everything goes right. But when the shipment of diamonds-sewn into the inner lining of a sweatshirt-is mistakenly confiscated, the entire operation is put at risk. Ever since she moved to the heart of Washington, DC, Daisy's life has been fabulous. While in graduate school, she enjoys tending bar at the Black LaSalle, one of DC's most popular bars. After a chance encounter with her childhood friend NT-now called Nick-her future is bright. But one cold night when Daisy wears a left-behind sweatshirt home from the bar, she sets in motion a domino effect that leaves some of her friends in danger and others dead. Soon, Daisy and her friends are thrust into an elaborate heist involving the higher echelons of government-and when they come face to face with the criminals, not everyone will survive.