Research Guides: Lambuth Library Virtual Book Display: New Mystery/Thriller

New Mystery/Thriller

The Last Housewife by Ashley Winstead "Deliciously unputdownable." --The Washington Post "A stunning, disturbing thriller that will have your mind and heart racing." --Samantha Downing From the author of the acclaimed In My Dreams I Hold a Knife comes a pitch-black thriller about a woman determined to destroy a powerful cult and avenge the deaths of the women taken in by it, no matter the cost. While in college in upstate New York, Shay Evans and her best friends met a captivating man who seduced them with a web of lies about the way the world works, bringing them under his thrall. By senior year, Shay and her friend Laurel were the only ones who managed to escape. Now, eight years later, Shay's built a new life in a tony Texas suburb. But when she hears the horrifying news of Laurel's death--delivered, of all ways, by her favorite true-crime podcast crusader--she begins to suspect that the past she thought she buried is still very much alive, and the predators more dangerous than ever. Recruiting the help of the podcast host, Shay goes back to the place she vowed never to return to in search of answers. As she follows the threads of her friend's life, she's pulled into a dark, seductive world, where wealth and privilege shield brutal philosophies that feel all too familiar. When Shay's obsession with uncovering the truth becomes so consuming she can no longer separate her desire for justice from darker desires newly reawakened, she must confront the depths of her own complicity and conditioning. But in a world built for men to rule it--both inside the cult and outside of it--is justice even possible, and if so, how far will Shay go to get it?
ISBN: 9781728229911
Publication Date: 2022-08-16
A Tidy Ending by Joanna Cannon From the bestselling author of The Trouble with Goats and Sheep and Three Things About Elsie, a delightfully sinister novel about a married woman living a nice, quiet suburban life--but things aren't always what they seem... Linda has lived in a quiet neighborhood since fleeing the dark events of her childhood in Wales. Now she sits in her kitchen, wondering if this is all there is: pushing the vacuum around and cooking fish sticks for dinner, a far cry from the glamorous lifestyle she sees in the glossy magazines coming through the mail slot addressed to the previous occupant, Rebecca. Linda's husband Terry isn't perfect--he picks his teeth, tracks dirt through the house, and spends most of his time in front of the TV. But that seems fairly standard--until he starts keeping odd hours at work, at around the same time young women in the town start to go missing. If only Linda could track down and befriend Rebecca, maybe some of that enviable lifestyle would rub off on her and she wouldn't have to worry about what Terry is up to. But the grass isn't always greener and you can't change who you really are. And some secrets can't stay buried forever...
ISBN: 9781982185572
Publication Date: 2022-08-02
The It Girl by Ruth Ware INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The #1 New York Times bestselling author of the "claustrophobic spine-tingler" (People) One by One returns with an unputdownable mystery following a woman on the search for answers a decade after her friend's murder. April Clarke-Cliveden was the first person Hannah Jones met at Oxford. Vivacious, bright, occasionally vicious, and the ultimate It girl, she quickly pulled Hannah into her dazzling orbit. Together, they developed a group of devoted and inseparable friends--Will, Hugh, Ryan, and Emily--during their first term. By the end of the year, April was dead. Now, a decade later, Hannah and Will are expecting their first child, and the man convicted of killing April, former Oxford porter John Neville, has died in prison. Relieved to have finally put the past behind her, Hannah's world is rocked when a young journalist comes knocking and presents new evidence that Neville may have been innocent. As Hannah reconnects with old friends and delves deeper into the mystery of April's death, she realizes that the friends she thought she knew all have something to hide...including a murder. "The Agatha Christie of our generation" (David Baldacci, #1 New York Times bestselling author) proves once again that she is "as ingenious and indefatigable as the Queen of Crime" (The Washington Post) with this propulsive murder mystery that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
ISBN: 9781982155261
Publication Date: 2022-07-12
The Retreat by Sarah Pearse From the New York Times bestselling author of The Sanatorium, a Reese's Book Club pick, here, Detective Elin Warner uncovers the truth behind the suspicious deaths on a stunning island getaway They couldn't wait to stay here. An idyllic wellness retreat has opened on an island off the English coast, promising rest and relaxation--but the island itself, known locally as Reaper's Rock, has a dark past. Once the playground of a serial killer, it's rumored to be cursed. But now they can't leave. A young woman is found dead below the yoga pavilion in what seems to be a tragic fall. But Detective Elin Warner soon learns the victim wasn't a guest--she wasn't meant to be on the island at all. And they would do anything to escape. The longer Elin stays, the more secrets she uncovers. And when someone else drowns in a diving incident, Elin begins to suspect that there's nothing accidental about these deaths. But why would someone target the guests at this luxury resort? Elin must find the killer--before the island's history starts to repeat itself. Most are here to recharge and refresh. But someone's here for revenge. . . .
ISBN: 9780593489420
Publication Date: 2022-07-19
Just Like Home by Sarah Gailey Just Like Home is a darkly gothic thriller from nationally bestselling author Sarah Gailey, perfect for fans of Netflix's The Haunting of Hill House as well as HBO's true crime masterpiece I'll Be Gone in the Dark. "Come home." Vera's mother called and Vera obeyed. In spite of their long estrangement, in spite of the memories -- she's come back to the home of a serial killer. Back to face the love she had for her father and the bodies he buried there, beneath the house he'd built for his family. Coming home is hard enough for Vera, and to make things worse, she and her mother aren't alone. A parasitic artist has moved into the guest house out back and is slowly stripping Vera's childhood for spare parts. He insists that he isn't the one leaving notes around the house in her father's handwriting... but who else could it possibly be? There are secrets yet undiscovered in the foundations of the notorious Crowder House. Vera must face them and find out for herself just how deep the rot goes.
ISBN: 9781250174727
Publication Date: 2022-07-19
The Pallbearers Club by Paul Tremblay "Books can have teeth. A whole mouthful of them. The Pallbearers Club has a whole lifetime of them." --Stephen Graham Jones, New York Times bestselling author of My Heart Is a Chainsaw A cleverly voiced psychological thriller about an unforgettable--and unsettling--friendship, with blood-chilling twists, crackling wit, and a thrumming pulse in its veins--from the nationally bestselling author of The Cabin at the End of the World and Survivor Song. What if the coolest girl you've ever met decided to be your friend? Art Barbara was so not cool. He was a seventeen-year-old high school loner in the late 1980s who listened to hair metal, had to wear a monstrous back-brace at night for his scoliosis, and started an extracurricular club for volunteer pallbearers at poorly attended funerals. But his new friend thought the Pallbearers Club was cool. And she brought along her Polaroid camera to take pictures of the corpses. Okay, that part was a little weird. So was her obsessive knowledge of a notorious bit of New England folklore that involved digging up the dead. And there were other strange things - terrifying things - that happened when she was around, usually at night. But she was his friend, so it was okay, right? Decades later, Art tries to make sense of it all by writing The Pallbearers Club: A Memoir. But somehow this friend got her hands on the manuscript and, well, she has some issues with it. And now she's making cuts. Seamlessly blurring the lines between fiction and memory, the supernatural and the mundane, The Pallbearers Club is an immersive, suspenseful portrait of an unusual and disconcerting relationship.
ISBN: 9780063069916
Publication Date: 2022-07-05
The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "As you patiently await season two of Only Murders in the Building, cozy up with Lucy Foley's latest whodunnit." -- Parade "Exceedingly clever." -- Booklist From the New York Times bestselling author of The Guest List comes a new locked room mystery, set in a Paris apartment building in which every resident has something to hide... Jess needs a fresh start. She's broke and alone, and she's just left her job under less than ideal circumstances. Her half-brother Ben didn't sound thrilled when she asked if she could crash with him for a bit, but he didn't say no, and surely everything will look better from Paris. Only when she shows up - to find a very nice apartment, could Ben really have afforded this? - he's not there. The longer Ben stays missing, the more Jess starts to dig into her brother's situation, and the more questions she has. Ben's neighbors are an eclectic bunch, and not particularly friendly. Jess may have come to Paris to escape her past, but it's starting to look like it's Ben's future that's in question. The socialite - The nice guy - The alcoholic - The girl on the verge - The concierge Everyone's a neighbor. Everyone's a suspect. And everyone knows something they're not telling.
ISBN: 9780063003057
Publication Date: 2022-02-22
So Happy for You by Celia Laskey *A PureWow Best Beach Read of Summer 2022* *A Washington Post Best Book of June* *An Entertainment Weekly Best Book for Summer*? A wedding weekend spirals out of control in this bold, electrifying, hilarious novel about the complexities of female friendship Robin and Ellie have been best friends since childhood. When Robin came out, Ellie was there for her. When Ellie's father died, Robin had her back. But when Ellie asks Robin to be her maid of honor, she is reluctant. A queer academic, Robin is dubious of the elaborate wedding rituals now sweeping the nation, which go far beyond champagne toasts and a bouquet toss. But loyalty wins out, and Robin accepts. Yet, as the wedding weekend approaches, a series of ominous occurrences lead Robin to second-guess her decision. It seems that everyone in the bridal party is out to get her. Perhaps even Ellie herself. Manically entertaining, viciously funny and eerily campy, So Happy for You is the ultimate send-up to our collective obsession with the wedding industrial complex and a riveting, unexpectedly poignant depiction of friendship in all its messy glory.
ISBN: 9781335426901
Publication Date: 2022-06-07
A Secret about a Secret by Peter Spiegelman A hypnotic literary mystery thriller about a murder at a secluded research facility and the secrets that it exposes. * "Cyber thievery, lust, corporate espionage, and a host of deleterious secrets comprise the chords of this sweeping, riveting symphony. A bold and original thriller by a masterful storyteller." --Elizabeth Brundage, author of The Vanishing Point Looming high above the cliffside along a remote coastline, Ondstrand House is the headquarters of the shadowy biotech firm Ondstrand Biologic. When the body of the organization's most gifted young scientist, Allegra Stans, is discovered in a walk-in refrigerator--her neck has been broken--Agent Myles is called in to investigate. Myles works for Standard Division, the most feared element of a vast state security apparatus, and he's been dispatched to the brooding manor, a massive stone campus that once housed a notorious boarding school, to do what Standard Division agents do best--complete the task at hand. As his investigation proceeds, Myles discovers that "gifted scientist" is only one thread in the complicated fabric of Allegra's life. There are darker strands as well--of ambition, manipulation, and bitter grievance--all woven into a pattern of secrets, each presenting a reasonable motive for murder. It appears everyone has something to hide, including Allegra's colleagues, lovers, and former lovers--even the very halls of Ondstrand House itself. Questions continue to pile up: What interest does Standard Division, an organization best known for intelligence gathering and clandestine international operations, have in this seemingly straightforward case? Could the killing have anything to do with the sprawling estate's sordid past? And what, exactly, is this research facility researching? Before long, another murder is discovered, and Myles finds himself an increasingly unwelcome presence in an ever more hostile landscape with few allies and fewer answers.
ISBN: 9780307961297
Publication Date: 2022-06-07
The Omega Factor by Steve Berry "Dan Brown fans will want to check this one out" (Publishers Weekly): The Ghent Altarpiece is the most violated work of art in the world. Thirteen times it has been vandalized, dismantled, or stolen. Why? What secrets does it hold? Enter UNESCO investigator, Nicholas Lee, who works for the United Nations' Cultural Liaison and Investigative Office (CLIO). Nick's job is to protect the world's cultural artifacts--anything and everything from countless lesser-known objects to national treasures. When Nick travels to Belgium for a visit with a woman from his past, he unwittingly stumbles on the trail of a legendary panel from the Ghent Altarpiece, stolen in 1934 under cover of night and never seen since. Soon Nick is plunged into a bitter conflict, one that has been simmering for nearly two thousand years. On one side is the Maidens of Saint-Michael, les Vautours--the Vultures--a secret order of nuns and the guardians of a great truth. Pitted against them is the Vatican, which has wanted for centuries to both find and possess what the nuns guard. Because of Nick the maidens have finally been exposed, their secret placed in dire jeopardy--a vulnerability that the Vatican swiftly moves to exploit utilizing an ambitious cardinal and a corrupt archbishop, both with agendas of their own. From the tranquil canals of Ghent, to the towering bastions of Carcassonne, and finally into an ancient abbey high in the French Pyrenees, Nick Lee must confront a modern-day religious crusade intent on eliminating a shocking truth from humanity's past. Success or failure--life and death--all turn on the Omega Factor.
ISBN: 9781538720943
Publication Date: 2022-06-07
Hide by Kiersten White NATIONAL BESTSELLER * A high-stakes hide-and-seek competition turns deadly in this dark supernatural thriller from New York Times bestselling author Kiersten White. "The suspenseful plot combines elements of Thomas Tryon's classic Harvest Home, Netflix's Squid Game, and the social commentary of Jordan Peele's film oeuvre and mixes these with a revelatory pacing reminiscent of Spielberg's Jaws."--Booklist The challenge: Spend a week hiding in an abandoned amusement park and don't get caught. The prize: enough money to change everything. Even though everyone is desperate to win--to seize a dream future or escape a haunting past--Mack is sure she can beat her competitors. All she has to do is hide, and she's an expert at that. It's the reason she's alive and her family isn't. But as the people around her begin disappearing one by one, Mack realizes that this competition is even more sinister than she imagined, and that together might be the only way to survive. Fourteen competitors. Seven days. Everywhere to hide but nowhere to run. Come out, come out, wherever you are.
ISBN: 0593359232
Publication Date: 2022-05-24
The Children on the Hill by Jennifer McMahon From the New York Times bestselling author of The Drowning Kind comes a genre-defying new novel, inspired by Mary Shelley's masterpiece Frankenstein, that brilliantly explores the eerie mysteries of childhood and the evils perpetrated by the monsters among us. 1978: At her renowned treatment center in picturesque Vermont, the brilliant psychiatrist, Dr. Helen Hildreth, is acclaimed for her compassionate work with the mentally ill. But when she's home with her cherished grandchildren, Vi and Eric, she's just Gran--teaching them how to take care of their pets, preparing them home-cooked meals, providing them with care and attention and love. Then one day Gran brings home a child to stay with the family. Iris--silent, hollow-eyed, skittish, and feral--does not behave like a normal girl. Still, Violet is thrilled to have a new playmate. She and Eric invite Iris to join their Monster Club, where they catalogue all kinds of monsters and dream up ways to defeat them. Before long, Iris begins to come out of her shell. She and Vi and Eric do everything together: ride their bicycles, go to the drive-in, meet at their clubhouse in secret to hunt monsters. Because, as Vi explains, monsters are everywhere. 2019: Lizzy Shelley, the host of the popular podcast Monsters Among Us, is traveling to Vermont, where a young girl has been abducted, and a monster sighting has the town in an uproar. She's determined to hunt it down, because Lizzy knows better than anyone that monsters are real--and one of them is her very own sister. A haunting, vividly suspenseful page-turner from the "literary descendant of Shirley Jackson" (Chris Bohjalian, author of The Flight Attendant), The Children on the Hill takes us on a breathless journey to face the primal fears that lurk within us all.
ISBN: 9781982153953
Publication Date: 2022-04-26
The Change by Kirsten Miller GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK "Miller triumphs...THE CHANGE is that rare treat: a suspenseful story with great pacing, memorable characters, and an engaging voice. Fantastic in every way, this fierce anthem against misogyny is a smash."--Publishers Weekly (starred review) "A pointed, punchy, and potent thriller...wry and clever, serious and exacting, and masterfully suspenseful."--Booklist (starred review) Big Little Lies meets The Witches of Eastwick--a gloriously entertaining and knife-sharp feminist revenge fantasy about three women whose midlife crisis brings unexpected new powers--putting them on a collision course with the evil that lurks in their wealthy beach town. In the Long Island oceanfront community of Mattauk, three different women discover that midlife changes bring a whole new type of empowerment... After Nessa James's husband dies and her twin daughters leave for college, she's left all alone in a trim white house not far from the ocean. In the quiet of her late forties, the former nurse begins to hear voices. It doesn't take long for Nessa to realize that the voices calling out to her belong to the dead--a gift she's inherited from her grandmother, which comes with special responsibilities. On the cusp of 50, suave advertising director Harriett Osborne has just witnessed the implosion of her lucrative career and her marriage. She hasn't left her house in months, and from the outside, it appears as if she and her garden have both gone to seed. But Harriett's life is far from over--in fact, she's undergone a stunning and very welcome metamorphosis. Ambitious former executive Jo Levison has spent thirty long years at war with her body. The free-floating rage and hot flashes that arrive with the beginning of menopause feel like the very last straw--until she realizes she has the ability to channel them, and finally comes into her power. Guided by voices only Nessa can hear, the trio of women discover a teenage girl whose body was abandoned beside a remote beach. The police have written the victim off as a drug-addicted sex worker, but the women refuse to buy into the official narrative. Their investigation into the girl's murder leads to more bodies, and to the town's most exclusive and isolated enclave, a world of stupendous wealth where the rules don't apply. With their newfound powers, Jo, Nessa, and Harriett will take matters into their own hands...
ISBN: 9780063144040
Publication Date: 2022-05-03
The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas During the overthrow of the Mexican government, Beatriz's father was executed and her home destroyed. She flees to Hacienda San Isidro with her secretive fiance Don Rodolfo Solorzano. However, it is not the sanctuary she imagines, and is soon haunted by visions and voices that invade her sleep. Something is wrong with the hacienda. And no one there will help her. Desperate for help, she clings to the young priest, Padre Andres, as an ally. No ordinary priest, Andres will have to rely on his skills as a witch to battle the malevolent presence haunting the hacienda.
ISBN: 9780593436691
Publication Date: 2022-05-03
Magpie by Elizabeth Day She has almost everything. The rest she'll take. For fans of Gone Girl and The Perfect Nanny, a taut, psychological suspense novel about a perfect couple and their seemingly perfect roommate--that is until she threatens to destroy everything they've worked so hard to create. Marisa and Jake are a perfect couple. And Kate, their new lodger, is the perfect roommate--and not just because her rent payments will give them the income they need to start trying for the baby of their dreams. Except--no one is truly perfect. Sure, Kate doesn't seem to care much about personal boundaries and can occasionally seem overly-familiar with Jake. But Marisa doesn't let it concern her, knowing that soon Kate will be gone, and it will just be her, Jake, and their future baby. Conceiving a baby is easier said than done, though, and Jake and Marisa's perfect relationship is put to the test through months of fertility treatments and false starts. To make matters worse, Kate's boundary-pushing turns into an all-out obsession--with Jake, with Marisa, and with their future child. Who is this woman? Why does she seem to know everything about Marisa and Jake? In her quest to find out who Kate really is, Marisa might destroy everything she's worked so hard to create--her perfect romance, her perfect family, and her perfect self. Jake doesn't know the half of what Marisa has created--and what she stands to lose. For fans of Gone Girl and The Perfect Nanny, Magpie is a tense and twisting novel about mothers and children, envy and possession, and the dangers of getting everything you've ever dreamed of.
ISBN: 9781982187606
Publication Date: 2022-05-03
What Happened to the Bennetts by Lisa Scottoline From #1 bestselling author Lisa Scottoline comes a pulse-pounding new novel. Your family has been attacked, never again to be the same. Now you have to choose between law...and justice. Jason Bennett is a suburban dad who owns a court-reporting business, but one night, his life takes a horrific turn. He is driving his family home after his daughter's field hockey game when a pickup truck begins tailgating them, on a dark stretch of road. Suddenly two men jump from the pickup and pull guns on Jason, demanding the car. A horrific flash of violence changes his life forever. Later that awful night, Jason and his family receive a visit from the FBI. The agents tell them that the carjackers were members of a dangerous drug-trafficking organization--and now Jason and his family are in their crosshairs. The agents advise the Bennetts to enter the witness protection program right away, and they have no choice but to agree. But WITSEC was designed to protect criminal informants, not law-abiding families. Taken from all they know, trapped in an unfamiliar life, the Bennetts begin to fall apart at the seams. Then Jason learns a shocking truth and realizes that he has to take matters into his own hands. Sometimes justice is a one-man show.
ISBN: 9780525539674
Publication Date: 2022-03-29
The Long Weekend by Gilly Macmillan "Twisty, dark, and packs a punch. . . . Gripping and genuinely nail-biting." -- SARAH PEARSE, New York Times bestselling author of The Sanatorium In this pulse-pounding thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of The Nanny, a group of women travel to the most remote place in England for a weekend escape, only to discover a startling note that one of their husbands will be killed before they return home--perfect for fans of Ruth Ware and Lucy Foley. Three couples Two bodies One secret Dark Fell Barn is a "perfectly isolated" retreat, or so says its website when Jayne books a reservation for her friends. A quiet place, far removed from the rest of the world, is exactly what they need. The women arrive for a girls' night ahead of their husbands. There's ex-Army Jayne, hardened and serious, but also damaged. Ruth, the driven doctor and new mother who is battling demons of her own. Young Emily, just wed and insecure, the newest addition of this tight-knit band. Missing this year is Edie, who was the glue holding them together, until her husband died suddenly. But what they hoped would be a relaxing break soon turns to horror. Upon arrival at Dark Fell Barn, the women find a devastating note claiming one of their husbands will be murdered. There are no phones, no cell service to check on their men. Friendships fracture as the situation spins wildly out of control. Betrayal can come in many forms. This group has kept each other's secrets for far too long. "Fast-paced and incredibly compelling . . . this book will not let you put it down." -- SHARI LAPENA, New York Times bestselling author of The Couple Next Door
ISBN: 9780063074323
Publication Date: 2022-03-29
The Harbor by Katrine Engberg "Reading Engberg feels like reading early Jo Nesbo, getting in on the ground of a major crime-writing career." --The New York Times Book Review This third novel in the "thrilling, nerve-wracking" (Shelf Awareness) Korner and Werner series follows the two detectives as they search for a missing teenager and uncover the web of lies that has threatened his life--and may prevent him from ever being found. When fifteen-year-old Oscar Dreyer-Hoff disappears in this "masterpiece of Nordic noir" (Booklist, starred review), the police assume he's simply a runaway--a typically overlooked middle child doing what teenagers do all around the world. But his frantic family is certain that something terrible has happened. After all, what runaway would leave behind a note that reads: He looked around and saw the knife that had stabbed Basil Hallward. He had cleaned it many times, till there was no stain left upon it. It was bright and glistened. As it had killed the painter, so it would kill the painter's work, and all that that meant. It would kill the past, and when that was dead, he would be free. It's not much to go on, but it's all that detectives Jeppe Kørner and Anette Werner have. And with every passing hour, as the odds of finding a missing person grow dimmer, it will have to be enough.
ISBN: 9781982127633
Publication Date: 2022-02-22
A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham A New York Times Bestseller "A smart, edge-of-your-seat story with plot twists you'll never see coming. Stacy Willingham's debut will keep you turning pages long past your bedtime." --Karin Slaughter When Chloe Davis was twelve, six teenage girls went missing in her small Louisiana town. By the end of the summer, her own father had confessed to the crimes and was put away for life, leaving Chloe and the rest of her family to grapple with the truth and try to move forward while dealing with the aftermath. Now twenty years later, Chloe is a psychologist in Baton Rouge and getting ready for her wedding. While she finally has a fragile grasp on the happiness she's worked so hard to achieve, she sometimes feels as out of control of her own life as the troubled teens who are her patients. So when a local teenage girl goes missing, and then another, that terrifying summer comes crashing back. Is she paranoid, seeing parallels from her past that aren't actually there, or for the second time in her life, is Chloe about to unmask a killer? From debut author Stacy Willingham comes a masterfully done, lyrical thriller, certain to be the launch of an amazing career. A Flicker in the Dark is eerily compelling to the very last page.
ISBN: 9781250803825
Publication Date: 2022-01-11
Find Me by Alafair Burke "Alafair Burke's latest propulsive thrill-ride is a suspenseful, twisty mystery about memory, friendship and secrets. A page-turner of the highest order." -Laura Dave, author of The Last Thing He Told Me The disappearance of a young woman leaves her best friend reeling and an NYPD homicide detective digging into her own past in this twisty mystery about the power of female friendships. From the New York Times bestselling author of The Better Sister and The Wife. Some pasts won't stay forgotten . . . She calls herself Hope Miller, but she has no idea who she actually is. Fifteen years ago, she was found in a small New Jersey town thrown from an overturned vehicle, with no clue to her identity. Doctors assumed her amnesia was a temporary side effect of her injuries, but she never regained her memory. Hope eventually started a new life with a new name in a new town that welcomed her, yet always wondered what she may have left behind--or been running from. Now, she's leaving New Jersey to start over once again. Manhattan defense lawyer Lindsay Kelly, Hope's best friend and the one who found her after the accident, understands why Hope wants a new beginning. But she worries how her friend will fare in her new East Hampton home, far away from everything familiar. Lindsay's worst fears are confirmed when she discovers Hope has vanished without a trace--the only lead a drop of blood found where she was last seen. Even more ominously, the blood matches a DNA sample with a connection to a notorious Kansas murderer. With nowhere else to turn, Lindsay calls NYPD homicide detective Ellie Hatcher, the daughter of the cop who dedicated his life to hunting the Kansas killer. Ellie has always believed there was more to the story of her father's death twenty years earlier--and she now fears that Hope's recent disappearance could be related. In pursuit of answers, the women search for the truth beneath long-buried secrets. And when their searches converge, what they find will upend everything they've ever known.
ISBN: 9780062853363
Publication Date: 2022-01-11
The Sorority Murder by Allison Brennan "The 10 Best New Mystery and Thriller Books of December are Giving Us Literal Chills"--E! Online "10 Books to Cozy Up With This December"--PopSugar A popular sorority girl. An unsolved murder. A campus podcast with chilling repercussions. Lucas Vega is obsessed with the death of Candace Swain, who left a sorority party one night and never came back. Her body was found after two weeks, but the case has grown cold. Three years later while interning at the medical examiner's, Lucas discovers new information, but the police are not interested. Lucas knows he has several credible pieces of the puzzle. He just isn't sure how they fit together. So he creates a podcast to revisit Candace's last hours. Then he encourages listeners to crowdsource what they remember and invites guest lecturer Regan Merritt, a former US marshal, to come on and share her expertise. New tips come in that convince Lucas and Regan they are onto something. Then shockingly one of the podcast callers turns up dead. Another hints at Candace's secret life, a much darker picture than Lucas imagined--and one that implicates other sorority sisters. Regan uses her own resources to bolster their theory and learns that Lucas is hiding his own secret. The pressure is on to solve the murder, but first Lucas must come clean about his real motives in pursuing this podcast--before the killer silences him forever. "Fans of Jeff Abbott and Karin Slaughter will find this crime novel hard to put down." --Publishers Weekly on The Third to Die "Downright spectacular... [A] riveting page turner as prescient as it is purposeful." --Providence Journal on Tell No Lies
ISBN: 9780778312185
Publication Date: 2021-12-28
Twenty Years Later by Charlie Donlea Fans of Lisa Unger and Allen Eskens won't want to miss this thrilling new suspense novel from the #1 internationally bestselling author of The Girl Who Was Taken! Hiding her own dark past in plain sight, a TV reporter is determined to uncover the truth behind a gruesome murder decades after the investigation was abandoned. But TWENTY YEARS LATER, to understand the present, you need to listen to the past... The New York Times Best Thrillers This Season | E! News Recommended Books | Overdrive Biggest Books of the Month | Everything Zoomer, December's Best Fiction "Excellent...Donlea tells a propulsive tale." - The New York Times Avery Mason, host of American Events, knows the subjects that grab a TV audience's attention. Her latest story--a murder mystery laced with kinky sex, tragedy, and betrayal--is guaranteed to be ratings gold. New DNA technology has allowed the New York medical examiner's office to make its first successful identification of a 9/11 victim in years. The twist: the victim, Victoria Ford, had been accused of the gruesome murder of her married lover. In a chilling last phone call to her sister, Victoria begged her to prove her innocence. Emma Kind has waited twenty years to put her sister to rest, but closure won't be complete until she can clear Victoria's name. Alone she's had no luck, but she's convinced that Avery's connections and fame will help. Avery, hoping to negotiate a more lucrative network contract, goes into investigative overdrive. Victoria had been having an affair with a successful novelist, found hanging from the balcony of his Catskills mansion. The rope, the bedroom, and the entire crime scene was covered in Victoria's DNA. But the twisted puzzle of Victoria's private life just the beginning. And what Avery doesn't realize is that there are other players in the game who are interested in Avery's own secret past--one she has kept hidden from both the network executives and her television audience. A secret she thought was dead and buried . . . Accused of a brutal murder, Victoria Ford made a final chilling call from the North Tower on the morning of 9/11. Twenty years ago, no one listened. Today, you will. "Breathtaking pacing and clever plot twists." --Publishers Weekly "An entertaining thriller...surprises lurking around every corner." --Kirkus Reviews
ISBN: 9781496727169
Publication Date: 2021-12-28
Anthem by Noah Hawley The first big novel of 2022: an epic literary thriller set where America is right now, in which a band of unlikely heroes sets out on a quest to save one innocent life--and might end up saving us all. Something is happening to teenagers across America, spreading through memes only they can parse. At the Float Anxiety Abatement Center, in a suburb of Chicago, Simon Oliver is trying to recover from his sister's tragic passing. He breaks out to join a woman named Louise and a man called The Prophet on a quest as urgent as it is enigmatic. Who lies at the end of the road? A man known as The Wizard, whose past encounter with Louise sparked her own collapse. Their quest becomes a rescue mission when they join up with a man whose sister is being held captive by the Wizard, impregnated and imprisoned in a tower. Noah Hawley's new novel is an adventure that finds unquenchable lights in dark corners. Unforgettably vivid characters and a plot as fast and bright as pop cinema blend in a Vonnegutian story that is as timeless as a Grimm's fairy tale. It is a leap into the idiosyncratic pulse of the American heart, written with the bravado, literary power, and feverish foresight that have made Hawley one of our most essential writers.
ISBN: 9781538711514
Publication Date: 2022-01-04
A History of Wild Places by Shea Ernshaw "What a wonderful rabbit hole to fall down." --Erika Swyler, author of Light from Other Stars and The Book of Speculation "A terrifying and timely book." --Erica Ferencik, bestselling author of The River at Night and Into the Jungle "As spine-chilling as it is beautifully crafted." --Ruth Emmie Lang, author of Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance The New York Times bestselling author of The Wicked Deep weaves a richly atmospheric adult debut following three residents of a secluded, seemingly peaceful commune as they investigate the disappearances of two outsiders. Travis Wren has an unusual talent for locating missing people. Hired by families as a last resort, he requires only a single object to find the person who has vanished. When he takes on the case of Maggie St. James--a well-known author of dark, macabre children's books--he's led to a place many believed to be only a legend. Called Pastoral, this reclusive community was founded in the 1970s by like-minded people searching for a simpler way of life. By all accounts, the commune shouldn't exist anymore and soon after Travis stumbles upon it...he disappears. Just like Maggie St. James. Years later, Theo, a lifelong member of Pastoral, discovers Travis's abandoned truck beyond the border of the community. No one is allowed in or out, not when there's a risk of bringing a disease--rot--into Pastoral. Unraveling the mystery of what happened reveals secrets that Theo, his wife, Calla, and her sister, Bee, keep from one another. Secrets that prove their perfect, isolated world isn't as safe as they believed--and that darkness takes many forms. Hauntingly beautiful, hypnotic, and bewitching, A History of Wild Places is a story about fairy tales, our fear of the dark, and losing yourself within the wilderness of your mind.
ISBN: 9781982164805
Publication Date: 2021-12-07
Last Girl Ghosted by Lisa Unger "A five-alarm fire of a situation...the surprises keep coming." --The New York Times Secrets, obsession and vengeance converge in this riveting thriller about an online dating match turned deadly cat-and-mouse game, from the New York Times bestselling author of Confessions on the 7:45 She met him through a dating app. An intriguing picture on a screen, a date at a downtown bar. What she thought might be just a quick hookup quickly became much more. She fell for him--hard. It happens sometimes, a powerful connection with a perfect stranger takes you by surprise. Could it be love? But then, just as things were getting real, he stood her up. Then he disappeared--profiles deleted, phone disconnected. She was ghosted. Maybe it was her fault. She shared too much, too fast. But isn't that always what women think--that they're the ones to blame? Soon she learns there were others. Girls who thought they were in love. Girls who later went missing. She had been looking for a connection, but now she's looking for answers. Chasing a digital trail into his dark past--and hers--she finds herself on a dangerous hunt. And she's not sure whether she's the predator--or the prey.
ISBN: 9780778311041
Publication Date: 2021-10-05
These Silent Woods by Kimi Cunningham Grant A father and daughter living in the remote Appalachian mountains must reckon with the ghosts of their past in Kimi Cunningham Grant's These Silent Woods, a mesmerizing novel of suspense. No electricity, no family, no connection to the outside world. For eight years, Cooper and his young daughter, Finch, have lived in isolation in a remote cabin in the northern Appalachian woods. And that's exactly the way Cooper wants it, because he's got a lot to hide. Finch has been raised on the books filling the cabin's shelves and the beautiful but brutal code of life in the wilderness. But she's starting to push back against the sheltered life Cooper has created for her--and he's still haunted by the painful truth of what it took to get them there. The only people who know they exist are a mysterious local hermit named Scotland, and Cooper's old friend, Jake, who visits each winter to bring them food and supplies. But this year, Jake doesn't show up, setting off an irreversible chain of events that reveals just how precarious their situation really is. Suddenly, the boundaries of their safe haven have blurred--and when a stranger wanders into their woods, Finch's growing obsession with her could put them all in danger. After a shocking disappearance threatens to upend the only life Finch has ever known, Cooper is forced to decide whether to keep hiding--or finally face the sins of his past. Vividly atmospheric and masterfully tense, These Silent Woods is a poignant story of survival, sacrifice, and how far a father will go when faced with losing it all.
ISBN: 9781250793393
Publication Date: 2021-11-16
The Corpse Flower by Anne Mette Hancock The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo meets Sharp Objects in this internationally bestselling psychological thriller, for fans of Jo Nesb and Henning Mankell, now for the first time in English. Danish journalist Heloise Kaldan is in the middle of a nightmare. One of her sources has been caught lying, and she could lose her job over it. Then she receives the first in a series of cryptic and unsettling letters from a woman named Anna Kiel. Wanted in connection with the fatal stabbing of a young lawyer three years earlier, Anna hasn't been seen by anyone since she left the crime scene covered in blood. The police think she's fled the country until homicide detective Erik Schafer comes up with a lead after the reporter who originally wrote about the case is found murdered in his apartment. Has Anna Kiel struck again, or is there more than one killer at large? And why does every clue point directly to Heloise Kaldan? Meanwhile, the letters keep coming, and they hint at a connection between Anna and Heloise. As Heloise starts digging deeper, she realizes that to tell Anna's story she will have to revisit the darkest parts of her own past--confronting someone she swore she'd never see again. The Corpse Flower is the first in the #1 bestselling Danish crime series, the Kaldan and Schafer mysteries.
ISBN: 9781643858289
Publication Date: 2021-10-12
The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward "The buzz...is real. I've read it and was blown away. It's a true nerve-shredder that keeps its mind-blowing secrets to the very end." --Stephen King An Indie Next Pick! A LibraryReads Top 10 Pick! A Library Journal Editors' Pick! STARRED reviews from Library Journal and Publishers Weekly! "Brilliant....[a] deeply frightening deconstruction of the illusion of the self." --The New York Times Catriona Ward's The Last House on Needless Street is a shocking and immersive read perfect for fans of Gone Girl and The Haunting of Hill House. In a boarded-up house on a dead-end street at the edge of the wild Washington woods lives a family of three. A teenage girl who isn't allowed outside, not after last time. A man who drinks alone in front of his TV, trying to ignore the gaps in his memory. And a house cat who loves napping and reading the Bible. An unspeakable secret binds them together, but when a new neighbor moves in next door, what is buried out among the birch trees may come back to haunt them all. "The new face of literary dark fiction." --Sarah Pinborough
ISBN: 9781250812629
Publication Date: 2021-09-28
Friends Like These by Kimberly Mccreight A GMA Buzz Pick "Kim McCreight's thrillers are smart, propulsive and impossible to put down." - Laura Dave, author of The Last Thing He Told Me In this relentlessly twisty literary thriller from New York Times bestselling author Kimberly McCreight, a desperate intervention brings together a group of college friends 10 years after graduation--a reunion marked by lies, betrayal, and murder. Coming Soon from Amblin Television Everyone has those friends. Doesn't matter how long it's been, or how badly they've occasionally behaved, or how late it is when that call finally comes--you show up. No questions asked. Honestly, that's how the five of us ended up here in the Catskills. We did have the best of intentions. Especially after what happened to Alice all those years ago, we can't bear to think of losing anyone else. In fact, we'll do anything to make sure that doesn't happen. We'll go so much farther than we ever thought we would. In the end, maybe that's what caught up with us. That, and the fact that we're such a complicated group--so much history and so many big personalities. Secrets, too, that can slip out at the most inopportune moments. Of course, we love each other despite all of those things. We love each other no matter what. There's something so beautiful about that kind of unconditional love. It can turn ugly, though. Or maybe that's just us. After all, we've already been through so much together. And we have so very much to hide.
ISBN: 9780063061569
Publication Date: 2021-09-07
No Gods, No Monsters by Cadwell Turnbull One October morning, Laina gets the news that her brother has been shot and killed by Boston cops. But what looks like a case of police brutality soon reveals something much stranger. Monsters are real. And they want everyone to know it. As creatures from myth and legend come out of the shadows, seeking safety through visibility, their emergence sets off a chain of seemingly unrelated events. Members of a local werewolf pack are threatened into silence. A professor follows a missing friend's trail of bread crumbs to a mysterious secret society. And a young boy with unique abilities seeks refuge in a pro-monster organization with secrets of its own. Meanwhile, more people start disappearing, suicides and hate crimes increase, and protests erupt globally, both for and against the monsters. At the center is a mystery no one thinks to ask: Why now? What has frightened the monsters out of the dark? The world will soon find out.
ISBN: 1982603720
Publication Date: 2021-09-07
Mercy by David Baldacci FBI Agent Atlee Pine's harrowing search for her long-lost sister Mercy reaches a boiling point in this breakneck thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author David Baldacci. For her entire life, FBI agent Atlee Pine has been searching for her twin sister, Mercy, who was abducted at the age of six and never seen again. Mercy's disappearance left behind a damaged family that later shattered beyond repair when Atlee's parents inexplicably abandoned her. Now, after a perilous investigation that nearly proved fatal, Atlee has finally discovered not only the reason behind her parents' abandonment and Mercy's kidnapping, but also the most promising breakthrough yet: proof that Mercy survived her abduction and then escaped her captors many years ago. Though Atlee is tantalizingly close to her family at last, the final leg of her long road to Mercy will be the most treacherous yet. Mercy left at least one dead body behind before fleeing her captors years before. Atlee has no idea if her sister is still alive, and if so, how she has been surviving all this time. When the truth is finally revealed, Atlee Pine will face the greatest danger yet, and it may well cost her everything.
ISBN: 9781538719725
Publication Date: 2021-11-16
We Were Never Here by Andrea Bartz NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK * "This book is every suspense lover's dream and it kept me up way too late turning pages. . . . A novel with crazy twists and turns that will have you ditching your Friday night plans for more chapters."--Reese Witherspoon A backpacking trip has deadly consequences in this "eerie psychological thriller . . . with alluring locales, Hitchcockian tension, and possibly the best pair of female leads since Thelma and Louise" (BookPage), from the bestselling author of The Lost Night and The Herd. A Marie Claire Book Club Pick * Named One of the Most Anticipated Books of the Year by Oprah Daily, BuzzFeed, Reader's Digest, Men's Journal, and CrimeReads Emily is having the time of her life--she's in the mountains of Chile with her best friend, Kristen, on their annual reunion trip, and the women are feeling closer than ever. But on the last night of the trip, Emily enters their hotel suite to find blood and broken glass on the floor. Kristen says the cute backpacker she brought back to their room attacked her, and she had no choice but to kill him in self-defense. Even more shocking: The scene is horrifyingly similar to last year's trip, when another backpacker wound up dead. Emily can't believe it's happened again--can lightning really strike twice? Back home in Wisconsin, Emily struggles to bury her trauma, diving headfirst into a new relationship and throwing herself into work. But when Kristen shows up for a surprise visit, Emily is forced to confront their violent past. The more Kristen tries to keep Emily close, the more Emily questions her motives. As Emily feels the walls closing in on their cover-ups, she must reckon with the truth about her closest friend. Can Emily outrun the secrets she shares with Kristen, or will they destroy her relationship, her freedom--even her life?
ISBN: 9781984820464
Publication Date: 2021-08-03
Her Perfect Life by Hank Phillippi Ryan The next thrilling standalone novel by USA Today bestselling author Hank Phillippi Ryan. Everyone knows Lily Atwood--and that may be her biggest problem. The beloved television reporter has it all--fame, fortune, Emmys, an adorable seven-year-old daughter, and the hashtag her loving fans created: #PerfectLily. To keep it, all she has to do is protect one life-changing secret. Her own. Lily has an anonymous source who feeds her story tips--but suddenly, the source begins telling Lily inside information about her own life. How does he--or she--know the truth? Lily understands that no one reveals a secret unless they have a reason. Now she's terrified someone is determined to destroy her world--and with it, everyone and everything she holds dear. How much will she risk to keep her perfect life?
ISBN: 9781250258885
Publication Date: 2021-09-14
Nice Girls by Catherine Dang "Darkly delicious . . . Nice Girls is about the girlhood we never really leave behind, and what happens when we dare to confront our past demons. A pulsating mystery with a narrator you won't soon forget." -- Laura Dave, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author of The Last Thing He Told Me "If you're a total true crime addict, Catherine Dang's debut novel will have you hooked real fast." -- Cosmopolitan Recommended by New York Times Book Review * Entertainment Weekly * Cosmopolitan * Harper's Bazaar * New York Post * E! Online * Bustle * Popsugar * CrimeReads * The Nerd Daily * PureWow * Mystery & Suspense Magazine * Criminal Element * and more! A pulse-pounding and razor-sharp debut with the emotional punch of Luckiest Girl Alive and All the Missing Girls that explores the hungry, angry, dark side of girlhood and dares to ask: Which is more dangerous for a woman--showing the world what it wants to see, or who she really is What did you do Mary used to be such a nice girl. She was the resident whiz kid of Liberty Lake, Minnesota--the quiet, chubby teen with the scholarship to an Ivy League school. But three years later, "Ivy League Mary" is back--a thinner, cynical, restless failure who was kicked out of Cornell at the beginning of her senior year and won't tell anyone why. Taking a job at the local grocery store, Mary tries to make sense of her life's sharp downward spiral. Then beautiful, magnetic Olivia Willand goes missing. A rising social media star, Olivia is admired by everyone in Liberty Lake--except Mary. Once Olivia's best friend, Mary knows better than anyone that behind the Instagram persona hides a willful, manipulative girl with sharp edges. As the town obsesses over perfect, lovely Olivia, Mary wonders if her disappearance might be tied to another missing person: nineteen-year-old DeMaria Jackson, whose case has been widely dismissed as a runaway. Who is the real Olivia Willand, and where did she go What happened to DeMaria As Mary pries at the cracks in the careful facades surrounding the two missing girls, old wounds will bleed fresh and force her to confront a horrible truth. Maybe there are no nice girls, after all. "Complex characters, questionable choices, and conflicted feelings about who we are and the people we leave behind combine in a compelling thriller that will have you flipping pages to discover how it all fits together."-- Darby Kane, #1 internationally bestselling author of Pretty Little Wife "Nice Girls finds itself among the most haunting of mysteries, those that resonate with our current affairs, like Alyssa Cole's When No One Is Watching and Rumaan Alam's Leave the World Behind. Perfect for the millennial armchair detective, Nice Girls will satisfy your true crime addiction and intensify your desire for justice."-- Paperback Paris
ISBN: 9780063027558
Publication Date: 2021-09-14
Billy Summers by Stephen King #1 New York Times Bestseller From legendary storyteller Stephen King, whose "restless imagination is a power that cannot be contained" (The New York Times Book Review), comes a thrilling new novel about a good guy in a bad job. Billy Summers is a man in a room with a gun. He's a killer for hire and the best in the business. But he'll do the job only if the target is a truly bad guy. And now Billy wants out. But first there is one last hit. Billy is among the best snipers in the world, a decorated Iraq war vet, a Houdini when it comes to vanishing after the job is done. So what could possibly go wrong? How about everything. This spectacular can't-put-it-down novel is part war story, part love letter to small town America and the people who live there, and it features one of the most compelling and surprising duos in King fiction, who set out to avenge the crimes of an extraordinarily evil man. It's about love, luck, fate, and a complex hero with one last shot at redemption. You won't put this story down, and you won't forget Billy.
ISBN: 9781982173616
Publication Date: 2021-08-03
My Sweet Girl by Amanda Jayatissa "My Sweet Girl pushes the boundaries of what a thriller can do."--The Washington Post "Fiendish, full-of-twists...Sri Lankan author Amanda Jayatissa keeps us guessing and worrying until the very end."--The New York Times "A thriller centered on the meaning of identity and all the layers it can have."--NPR A Most Anticipated Novel of Fall 2021 by Entertainment Weekly, NPR, New York Post, The Boston Globe, Fortune, Buzzfeed, Goodreads, Shondaland, PopSugar, Bustle, Betches, Lit Hub, Crime Reads, BookRiot, Crime by the Book, The Nerd Daily, The Every Girl, and more! Paloma thought her perfect life would begin once she was adopted and made it to America, but she's about to find out that no matter how far you run, your past always catches up to you... Ever since she was adopted from a Sri Lankan orphanage, Paloma has had the best of everything--schools, money, and parents so perfect that she fears she'll never live up to them. Now at thirty years old and recently cut off from her parents' funds, she decides to sublet the second bedroom of her overpriced San Francisco apartment to Arun, who recently moved from India. Paloma has to admit, it feels good helping someone find their way in America--that is until Arun discovers Paloma's darkest secret, one that could jeopardize her own fragile place in this country. Before Paloma can pay Arun off, she finds him face down in a pool of blood. She flees the apartment but by the time the police arrive, there's no body--and no evidence that Arun ever even existed in the first place. Paloma is terrified this is all somehow tangled up in the desperate actions she took to escape Sri Lanka so many years ago. Did Paloma's secret die with Arun or is she now in greater danger than ever before?
ISBN: 9780593335086
Publication Date: 2021-09-14
The Death of Jane Lawrence by Caitlin Starling From the Bram Stoker-nominated author of The Luminous Dead comes a gothic fantasy horror--The Death of Jane Lawrence. "Intense and amazing! It's like Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell meets Mexican Gothic meets Crimson Peak." --BookRiot Practical, unassuming Jane Shoringfield has done the calculations, and decided that the most secure path forward is this: a husband, in a marriage of convenience, who will allow her to remain independent and occupied with meaningful work. Her first choice, the dashing but reclusive doctor Augustine Lawrence, agrees to her proposal with only one condition: that she must never visit Lindridge Hall, his crumbling family manor outside of town. Yet on their wedding night, an accident strands her at his door in a pitch-black rainstorm, and she finds him changed. Gone is the bold, courageous surgeon, and in his place is a terrified, paranoid man--one who cannot tell reality from nightmare, and fears Jane is an apparition, come to haunt him. By morning, Augustine is himself again, but Jane knows something is deeply wrong at Lindridge Hall, and with the man she has so hastily bound her safety to. Set in a dark-mirror version of post-war England, Caitlin Starling crafts a new kind of gothic horror from the bones of the beloved canon. This Crimson Peak-inspired story assembles, then upends, every expectation set in place by Shirley Jackson and Rebecca, and will leave readers shaken, desperate to begin again as soon as they are finished. "Don't read this one alone at night; Caitlin Starling has done it again. Unsettling, atmospheric, and downright brutal at times, The Death of Jane Lawrence will continue to haunt you long after you leave Lindridge Hall...if the house lets you leave, that is." --Genevieve Gornichec, author of The Witch's Heart
ISBN: 9781250272584
Publication Date: 2021-10-05
A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins AN INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The scorching new thriller from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Girl on the Train. "A Slow Fire Burning twists and turns like a great thriller should, but it's also deep, intelligent and intensely human." - Lee Child "Only a clairvoyant could anticipate the book's ending" - New York Times With the same propulsion that captivated millions of readers worldwide in The Girl on the Train and Into the Water, Paula Hawkins unfurls a gripping, twisting story of deceit, murder, and revenge. When a young man is found gruesomely murdered in a London houseboat, it triggers questions about three women who knew him. Laura is the troubled one-night-stand last seen in the victim's home. Carla is his grief-stricken aunt, already mourning the recent death of yet another family member. And Miriam is the nosy neighbor clearly keeping secrets from the police. Three women with separate connections to the victim. Three women who are - for different reasons - simmering with resentment. Who are, whether they know it or not, burning to right the wrongs done to them. When it comes to revenge, even good people might be capable of terrible deeds. How far might any one of them go to find peace? How long can secrets smolder before they explode into flame? Look what you started.
ISBN: 9780735211230
Publication Date: 2021-08-31
Reprieve by James Han Mattson "Like Whitehead's The Intuitionist, Alyssa Cole's When No One Is Watching or Zakiya Dalila Harris' The Other Black Girl, Reprieve straddles genres in the best possible way. . . . Sure to spark conversation and debate at book clubs across the land." -LOS ANGELES TIMES "An eventual American classic that is unrelenting in its beauty and incisive cultural critique." - KIESE LAYMON Recommended by New York Times * Los Angeles Times * Esquire * O Quarterly * Boston Globe * Chicago Tribune * Harper's Bazaar * Shondaland * Thrillist * The Millions * Crimereads * XTRA * Tor * Literary Hub * and more! A chilling and blisteringly relevant literary novel of social horror centered around a brutal killing that takes place in a full-contact haunted escape room--a provocative exploration of capitalism, hate politics, racial fetishism, and our obsession with fear as entertainment. On April 27, 1997, four contestants make it to the final cell of the Quigley House, a full-contact haunted escape room in Lincoln, Nebraska, made famous for its monstrosities, booby-traps, and ghoulishly costumed actors. If the group can endure these horrors without shouting the safe word, "reprieve," they'll win a substantial cash prize--a startling feat accomplished only by one other group in the house's long history. But before they can complete the challenge, a man breaks into the cell and kills one of the contestants. Those who were present on that fateful night lend their points of view: Kendra Brown, a teenager who's been uprooted from her childhood home after the sudden loss of her father; Leonard Grandton, a desperate and impressionable hotel manager caught in a series of toxic entanglements; and Jaidee Charoensuk, a gay international student who came to the United States in a besotted search for his former English teacher. As each character's journey unfurls and overlaps, deceit and misunderstandings fueled by obsession and prejudice are revealed, forcing all to reckon with the ways in which their beliefs and actions contributed to a horrifying catastrophe. An astonishingly soulful exploration of complicity and masquerade, Reprieve combines the psychological tension of classic horror with searing social criticism to present an unsettling portrait of this tangled American life.
ISBN: 9780063079915
Publication Date: 2021-10-05
Never Saw Me Coming by Vera Kurian "I devoured this riveting book through a day of travel...My desire to rush to the end clashed with my desire to savor every word. Who would be the last psychopath standing?" -- New York Times Book Review "Fresh, fast-paced and fiendishly clever! If you love watching true crime and wonder about the psychopaths among us, this is the book for you!" -- Lisa Gardner, #1 New York Times bestselling author You should never trust a psychopath. But what if you had no choice? It would be easy to underestimate Chloe Sevre... She's a freshman honor student, a legging-wearing hot girl next door, who also happens to be a psychopath. She spends her time on yogalates, frat parties and plotting to kill Will Bachman, a childhood friend who grievously wronged her. Chloe is one of seven students at her DC-based college who are part of an unusual clinical study of psychopaths--students like herself who lack empathy and can't comprehend emotions like fear or guilt. The study, led by a renowned psychologist, requires them to wear smart watches that track their moods and movements. When one of the students in the study is found murdered in the psychology building, a dangerous game of cat and mouse begins, and Chloe goes from hunter to prey. As she races to identify the killer and put her own plan for revenge into action, she'll be forced to decide if she can trust any of her fellow psychopaths--and everybody knows you should never trust a psychopath.
ISBN: 9780778311553
Publication Date: 2021-09-07
Rabbit Hole by Mark Billingham Alice Armitage is a police officer. Or she was. Following a debilitating bout of PTSD, self-medication with drink and drugs, and a psychotic breakdown, Alice is now a long-term patient in an acute psychiatric ward. Though convinced that she doesn't really belong there, she finds companionship with the other patients in the ward despite their challenging and often intimidating issues. So when one of her fellow patients is murdered, Alice feels personally compelled to launch an investigation from within the ward. Soon, she becomes convinced thatshe has identified the killer and that she can catch them. Ignored by the police, she must gather proof on her own, relying on the few contacts she has on the outside that stilltake her calls. But Alice's life begins to unravel as she realizes that she cannot trust anyone in the ward, least of all herself. Having lost her conviction and with her investigative confidence shattered, she comes dangerously close to a psychological pointof no return. Mark Billingham has crafted a mind-bending, heart-stopping and wholly original thriller.
ISBN: 9780802158703
Publication Date: 2021-08-03
Survive the Night by Riley Sager THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER One of New York Times Book Review's "summer reads guaranteed to make your heart thump and your skin crawl"; An Amazon Best of the Month Pick; Named a must-read summer book by The Washington Post, USA Today, Vulture, BuzzFeed, Forbes, Entertainment Weekly, CNN, New York Post, Good Housekeeping, E!, PopSugar, CrimeReads, Thrillist, and BookRiot. It's November 1991. Nirvana's in the tape deck, George H. W. Bush is in the White House, and movie-obsessed college student Charlie Jordan is in a car with a man who might be a serial killer. Josh Baxter, the man behind the wheel, is a virtual stranger to Charlie. They met at the campus ride board, each looking to share the long drive home to Ohio. Both have good reasons for wanting to get away. For Charlie, it's guilt and grief over the shocking murder of her best friend, who became the third victim of the man known as the Campus Killer. For Josh, it's to help care for his sick father--or so he says. The longer she sits in the passenger seat, the more Charlie notices there's something suspicious about Josh, from the holes in his story about his father to how he doesn't want her to see inside the trunk. As they travel an empty, twisty highway in the dead of night, an increasingly anxious Charlie begins to think she's sharing a car with the Campus Killer. Is Josh truly dangerous? Or is Charlie's jittery mistrust merely a figment of her movie-fueled imagination? One thing is certain--Charlie has nowhere to run and no way to call for help. Trapped in a terrifying game of cat and mouse played out on pitch-black roads and in neon-lit parking lots, Charlie knows the only way to win is to survive the night.
Call Number: PS3618.I79 S87 2021
ISBN: 9780593183168
Publication Date: 2021-06-29
Firebreak by Nicole Kornher-Stace One young woman faces down an all-powerful corporation in this all-too-near future science fiction debut that reads like a refreshing take on Ready Player One, with a heavy dose of Black Mirror. Ready Player One meets Cyberpunk 2077 in this eerily familiar future. "Twenty minutes to power curfew, and my kill counter's stalled at eight hundred eighty-seven while I've been standing here like an idiot. My health bar is flashing ominously, but I'm down to four heal patches, and I have to be smart." New Liberty City, 2134. Two corporations have replaced the US, splitting the country's remaining forty-five states (five have been submerged under the ocean) between them: Stellaxis Innovations and Greenleaf. There are nine supercities within the continental US, and New Liberty City is the only amalgamated city split between the two megacorps, and thus at a perpetual state of civil war as the feeds broadcast the atrocities committed by each side. Here, Mallory streams Stellaxis's wargame SecOps on BestLife, spending more time jacked in than in the world just to eke out a hardscrabble living from tips. When a chance encounter with one of the game's rare super-soldiers leads to a side job for Mal--looking to link an actual missing girl to one of the SecOps characters. Mal's sudden burst in online fame rivals her deepening fear of what she is uncovering about BestLife's developer, and puts her in the kind of danger she's only experienced through her avatar. Author Kornher-Stace's adult science fiction debut--Firebreak-- is loaded with ambitious challenges and a city to save.
Call Number: PS3611.O747 F57 2021
ISBN: 9781982142742
Publication Date: 2021-05-04
The Executive Order by David Fisher In David Fisher'sThe Executive Order, this one-step-ahead-of-the-headlines thriller, a reporter races to uncover a conspiracy when he learns that the post-Trump president elected to heal the nation has more sinister plans. In a post-Trump and Biden world, an independent senator, Ian Wrightman, is elected president to heal a nation frayed by extreme partisanship. After years of reporting chaos in the White House, digital journalist Rollie Stone and his colleagues embrace the normalcy. But after the country is rocked by a series of devastating terrorist attacks, the new administration springs into action and begins rolling out executive orders that claim to protect the American people--while slowly chipping away at their constitutional freedoms. Rollie Stone is a wounded warrior whose hi-tech Mighty Chair serves as his unique assistant in investigations. When he uncovers evidence that the terrorist attacks are being coordinated much closer to home, he knows he needs to get this information into safe hands--but the president has declared war, and through his new executive powers is rounding up journalists, dissenters, and anyone else who gets in his way. Forced on the run with the help of an underground resistance movement, Rolliefinds himself in a race for his life to reveal the truth. But who can he trust? In this all-too-realistic thriller inspired by the Sinclair Lewis classic,It Can't Happen Here, one journalist will do whatever it takes to stop his country turning from democracy to dictatorship.
Call Number: PS3556.I8126 E94 2021
ISBN: 9781250183453
Publication Date: 2021-05-25
The Photographer by Mary Dixie Carter Mary Dixie Carter'sThe Photographeris a slyly observed, suspenseful story of envy and obsession, told in the mesmerizing, irresistible voice of a character who will make you doubt that seeing iseverbelieving. WHEN PERFECT IMAGES As a photographer, Delta Dawn observes the seemingly perfect lives of New York City's elite: snapping photos of their children's birthday parties, transforming images of stiff hugs and tearstained faces into visions of pure joy, and creating moments these parents long for. ARE MADE OF BEAUTIFUL LIES But when Delta is hired for Natalie Straub's eleventh birthday, she finds herself wishing she wasn't behind the lens but a part of the scene--in the Straub family's gorgeous home and elegant life. THE TRUTH WILL BE EXPOSED That's when Delta puts her plan in place, by babysitting for Natalie; befriending her mother, Amelia; finding chances to listen to her father, Fritz. Soon she's bathing in the master bathtub, drinking their expensive wine, and eyeing the beautifully finished garden apartment in their townhouse. It seems she can never get close enough, until she discovers that photos aren't all she can manipulate.
Call Number: PS3603.A777754 P48 2021
ISBN: 9781250790330
Publication Date: 2021-05-25
The Prodigal Daughter by Mette Ivie Harrison In the wake of the #MeToo movement, has it become easier to speak out about sexual assault in religious communities? Linda Wallheim, increasingly disillusioned with her religion, has begun marriage counseling with her husband, Kurt, a bishop in the Mormon Church. On other days, Linda occupies herself with happier things, like visiting her five grown sons and their families. When Linda's eldest son, Joseph, tells her his infant daughter's babysitter, a local teenager named Sabrina Jensen, has vanished, Linda can't help but ask questions. Her casual inquiries form the portrait of a girl under extreme pressure from her parents to be the perfect Mormon daughter, and it eventually emerges that Sabrina is the victim of a terrible crime at the hands of her own classmates-including the high school's golden boys and future church leaders. Linda's search for Sabrina will lead her to the darker streets of Utah and cause her to question whether the Mormon community's most privileged and powerful will be called to task for past sins.
Call Number: PS3608.A783578 P76 2021
ISBN: 9781641292450
Publication Date: 2021-05-25
The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Named Most Anticipated of 2021 by Newsweek, Good Housekeeping, Hello! magazine, Oprah.com, Bustle, Popsugar, Betches, Sweet July, and GoodReads! March 2021 Indie Next Pick and #1 LibraryReads Pick "A bold, edgy, accomplished debut!" --Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author of The Alice Network A forgotten history. A secret network of women. A legacy of poison and revenge. Welcome to The Lost Apothecary... Hidden in the depths of eighteenth-century London, a secret apothecary shop caters to an unusual kind of clientele. Women across the city whisper of a mysterious figure named Nella who sells well-disguised poisons to use against the oppressive men in their lives. But the apothecary's fate is jeopardized when her newest patron, a precocious twelve-year-old, makes a fatal mistake, sparking a string of consequences that echo through the centuries. Meanwhile in present-day London, aspiring historian Caroline Parcewell spends her tenth wedding anniversary alone, running from her own demons. When she stumbles upon a clue to the unsolved apothecary murders that haunted London two hundred years ago, her life collides with the apothecary's in a stunning twist of fate--and not everyone will survive. With crackling suspense, unforgettable characters and searing insight, The Lost Apothecary is a subversive and intoxicating debut novel of secrets, vengeance and the remarkable ways women can save each other despite the barrier of time.
Call Number: PS3616.E5562 L67 2021
ISBN: 9780778311010
Publication Date: 2021-03-02