Library Picks: 'The Jaguar,' 'Gideon's Corpse' and More

This week, it's all about the books and movies that make your heart race at . This week's Library Picks are:

The Jaguar by T. Jefferson Parker

Bradley Jones, a deputy in the L.A. sheriff's department who's been transporting drugs for a Mexican cartel since he was 17, turns to fellow deputy Hood for help after henchmen of a rival cartel kidnap Jones's pregnant wife, Erin. If Jones doesn't pay the rival cartel's leader, Benjamin Armenta, a million dollars within 10 days as an apology for the trouble he's caused Armenta, Armenta will have Erin skinned alive.

Gideon’s Corpse by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

A top nuclear scientist goes mad and takes an innocent family hostage at gunpoint, killing one and causing a massive standoff. A plume of radiation above New York City leads to a warehouse where, it seems, a powerful nuclear bomb was assembled just hours before. Sifting through the evidence, authorities determine that the unthinkable is about to happen: in ten days, a major American city will be vaporized by a terrorist attack. And Gideon Crew, tracking the mysterious terrorist cell from the suburbs of New York to the mountains of New Mexico, learns the end may be something worse — far worse — than mere Armageddon.

Copper Beach by Jayne Ann Krentz

Within the pages of very rare books some centuries old lie the secrets of the paranormal. Abby Radwell's unusual psychic talent has made her an expert in such volumes — and sometimes, they have taken her into dangerous territory. After a deadly incident in the private library of an obsessive collector, Abby receives a blackmail threat, and rumors swirl that an old alchemical text known as The Key has reappeared on the black market. Convinced that she needs an investigator who can also play bodyguard, she hires Sam Coppersmith, a specialist in paranormal crystals and amber. When it comes to dealing with a killer who has paranormal abilities, and a blackmailer who will stop at nothing to obtain an ancient alchemical code, no one is safe.

Moneyball (DVD)

The story of Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane's successful attempt to put together a baseball club on a budget by employing a computer-generated analysis to draft his players.

Killer Elite (DVD)

When two of the world's most elite operatives Danny, a retired contract killer, and Hunter, his longtime mentor, go up against the cunning leader of a secret military society, their hunt takes them around the globe from Australia to Paris, London, and the Middle East. As the stakes rise along with the body count, Danny and Hunter are soon plunged into an action-packed game of cat and mouse where no one is what they seem.

To check out any of these books or movies, visit the library's website and reserve your copy straight from the online catalogue. Make sure you come back to Birmingham Patch next week, to see what else is new in the stacks.