This column was submitted by Evangeline Cessna, Local History Librarian at the Warren County-Vicksburg Public Library.

This week’s column features suspense from the New Adult Fiction section.

Bestselling author Sandra Brown sets her latest — “Blind Tiger” — in Prohibition-Era Texas. Thatcher Hutton is a war-weary soldier on his way back to his cowboy life but must jump from a moving freight train to avoid trouble. He arrives in Foley, Texas, on the same day that a local woman goes missing, so, naturally, the locals suspect the only stranger in town. Standing between him and exoneration are a corrupt mayor, a crooked sheriff, a notorious whorehouse madam, a crafty bootlegger, feuding moonshiners and a young widow whose gentle features conceal a will of iron. Laurel Plummer had to make her way in the world after her husband left her destitute. She plunges herself into the local industry; much to the chagrin of the good ole boys who have ruled the moonshine business from its inception. Her success makes her a target for these cutthroat competitors who use violence at the drop of a hat. As the tensions boil over, Laurel and — now deputy — Thatcher find themselves on opposite sides of this moonshine war.

Taylor Moore introduces decorated undercover DEA agent Garrett Kohl in his latest “Down Range.” Battle-hardened Green Beret Garrett Kohl has traveled the world and fought in most of it, but he calls the High Plains of northwest Texas home and that is where he dreams of returning to one day. While in the middle of an assignment in Afghanistan, he is ordered back to Texas on a short mission expected to only last a week. Unfortunately, he has moved from one kind of war to another. He finds it unsettling that this once peaceful ranching community is under attack by a criminal syndicate who has infiltrated law enforcement, corrupted local businesses and is now terrorizing Kohl’s own family. At first, Kohl tries to resolve matters peacefully, but the group strikes first and he has no choice but to go on the offensive. Although he’s outnumbered and outgunned, Kohl knows the wild of Llano Estacado region of Texas better than anyone and he’s determined to show these goons what happens to trespassers in this rough-and-tumble land.

P.T. Deutermann delivers a gripping and authentic World War II naval adventure with “The Hooligans.” This is a fictional account of the little-known but remarkable exploits of “The Hooligan Navy” that fought in the Pacific Theatre of World War II. Loosely organized and fast-moving squadrons of PT (patrol torpedo) boats were the nemesis of the formidable Japanese navy. They were dubbed “the mosquito fleet” and “devil boats” for their daring raids against warships, tankers and transport ships. Young surgical resident Lincoln Anderson enlists in the Navy medical corps soon after the attack on Pearl Harbor. His first deployment is in August 1942 at Guadalcanal, when after a brutal sea battle and the landing of Marines on the island, he finds himself triaging hundreds of casualties while under relentless air and land attacks by the Japanese. With the navy short of doctors, Anderson soon finds himself transferred to serve aboard a PT boat. He and the crew members of his boat confront submarines and surface ships, are attacked from the air by the dreaded Kawanishi flying boats and are hunted by destroyers. In the end, Anderson must lead a division of boats in a seemingly impossible mission against a Japanese battleship formation. The mettle of his men will be tested and Anderson will learn the true nature of his character.

“Once There Were Wolves” by Charlotte McConaghy tells the story of a woman desperate to save the creatures she loves while trying not to be swallowed by the wilderness that she loves so much. Inti Flynn arrives in Scotland with her twin sister, Aggie, to lead a team of biologists tasked with reintroducing 14 gray wolves into the remote Highlands. Inti hopes to not only heal the languishing landscape but also Aggie who was devastated by the terrible secrets that drove them out of Alaska. Inti is also feeling broken after witnessing the evil mankind has inflicted on the land and each other. The wolves they are tasked with overseeing thrive despite expectations. Inti, too, begins to let her guard down and open herself up to the possibility of love, but when a farmer is found dead, she knows that the wolves will be blamed. Unable to accept that her wolves may be responsible, she recklessly decides to protect them. If the wolves didn’t kill the man, however, who did? And what happens when the man Inti is falling for becomes the prime suspect?

Catherine Coulter’s latest thriller is called “Vortex.” Mia Briscoe was at a frat party seven years ago with her best friend Serena when a fire broke out. Everyone was accounted for except Serena who was never heard from or seen again. Now an investigative journalist, Mia hasn’t given up trying to find out what happened to her friend that awful night. When a photo turns up from the frat party, she finds a clue to where to look. She enlists the help of FBI agent Sherlock to help uncover a sinister series of events going all the way back to that disastrous party. But there are powerful people ready to do anything to keep their secrets buried. Meanwhile, CIA Operative Olivia Hildebrant is leading a mission in Iran to rescue an outed undercover operative, but she’s nearly killed by a grenade. After leaving Walter Reed Hospital, she finds that the team member that saved her life is missing and there are two men at her house trying to kill her. What intelligence was at stake? Who betrayed them? These hidden enemies will stop at nothing, including murder.