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Thrillers and Suspense May 2021
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| The Outside Man by Don BentleySeries alert: The Outside Man is the sequel to Without Sanction, which first introduced readers to traumatized intelligence operative Matt Drake.
What it's about: Former Army Ranger Drake is trying to move on from the dark events of his past, but when he is attacked in broad daylight, he gets pulled back into a world of old enemies and unsettled scores that he just can't resist.
Who it's for: readers who like their thrillers full of pulse-pounding action and adventure. |
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| The Fourth Child by Jessica WinterWhat it's about: Troubled empty-nester Jane Brennan adopts a toddler traumatized by the notorious Romanian orphanage system, an action that will have drastic consequences for her biological children and initially reluctant husband.
Is it for you? Jane is compellingly complex, although her membership in a radical anti-abortion group may alienate some readers.
Reviewers say: author Jessica Winter "deftly depicts all-too-human inconsistency" (Booklist). |
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Double Agent
by Tom Bradby
What it is: the intricately plotted sequel to Secret Service, which continues the story of MI6 agent Kate Henderson.
Her mission: to investigate allegations that the Prime Minister might be a Russian agent, a case which could end her career for good.
Is it for you? Part of Agent Henderson's case involves child abuse, which some readers might want to know about going in.
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The Big Book of Espionage
by Otto Penzler
The Edgar Award-winning editor and owner of a the Mysterious Bookshop in New York City presents a new anthology of spy stories describing tales of state secrets, double agents and leaks from authors including Lee Child and Charles McCarry. Original.
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Animals
by Will Staples
"When rhino poachers kill two of his fellow rangers in Kruger Park, South African Defense Force veteran Cobus Venter reaches his breaking point. Quitting his job, he embarks on a vigilante mission to take down the animal-trafficking syndicate from the inside. Meanwhile, in Florida, insurance investigator Randall Knight is called to a private roadside zoo, where a new tiger cub of suspect lineage brought a virus that wiped out all the zoo's tigers. The disease is just one species jump away from erupting into a deadly global human pandemic. What starts as a simple insurance claim leads Knight to discover a shocking new evolution in the business of illicit animal trafficking. Both men's journeys take them from the darkest corners of Southeast Asia to the VIP gambling rooms of Macau, where they must stay alive long enough to stop a vicious international triad from ending wildlife as we know it."
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Endings : a novel
by Linda L. Richards
With nothing left to lose, one woman reinvents herself as a killer for hire until she learns about a serial killer so horrible she vows to find him and kill him but instead, plagued by self-doubt, finds herself seeking redemption instead of revenge.
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| The Kill Club by Wendy HeardThe premise: Jasmine "Jazz" Benavides is on her own after surviving the foster care system, but her 13-year-old brother Joaquin was eventually adopted by their controlling foster mother, Carol Coleman.
The problem: As Carol's behavior towards Joaquin becomes increasingly abusive, Jazz finds a potential (and permanent) solution to her Carol problem, but the price is a bargain reminiscent of Strangers on a Train.
About the author: Wendy Heard co-hosts the thriller podcast Unlikeable Female Characters and previously published the psychological thriller Hunting Annabelle. |
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| The Secretary by Renee KnightWhat it is: a menacing and intricately plotted psychological thriller about ruthless ambition, betrayal, and the consequences of codependent self-sacrifice.
Starring: prominent businesswoman Mina Appleton, who will do anything to expand the supermarket chain started by her father; Christine Butcher, Mina's indispensable personal assistant for almost 20 years whose need to be needed drives her but also ruins her life.
You might also like: Sarah Pinborough's Behind Her Eyes, in which unhealthy dynamics develop between an assistant and her employer's family after the lines between her personal and professional lives start to blur. |
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| 29 Seconds by T.M. LoganThe premise: Adjunct professor Sarah Hayward is disgusted when her slimy department head Alan, a well-connected serial sexual predator, suggests that she could finally get a tenure by sleeping with him.
No good deed: Stumbling upon what appears to be an attempted kidnapping, Sarah's instincts take over and she saves the victim, the young daughter of shady businessman James Grosvenor. In gratitude, Grosvenor lets Sarah know that he has ways of making anyone disappear without a trace, if she's interested.
Why you might like it: The narrative's rip-roaring plot and action-packed scenes mix interestingly with Sarah's inner turmoil. |
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| The Furies by Katie LoweThe setup: Sixteen-year-old Violet Taylor is worried about fitting in at Elm Hollow Academy, an elite English boarding school, but it's not long before she falls in with a close-knit trio of girls who share an obsession -- the mysterious 17th-century witch trials that took place nearby.
What happens next: After Violet suffers a traumatic assault, the four girls band together to exact revenge on her attacker through unusual channels and their actions have unexpected consequences for everyone involved.
For fans of: iconic teen movies that mix vintage glamour with darkness, like The Craft, Heathers, and Jawbreaker. |
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| Sister Dear by Hannah Mary McKinnonWhat it's about: While mourning the man she thought was her father, Eleanor Hardwicke discovers she’s the daughter of wealthy Stan Gallinger, who warns her to stay away from his family. But Stan has underestimated her, and driven by a deep need to connect, Eleanor decides to find another way into their lives...
Read it for: the shocking contrast between the Gallinger family's picture-perfect image and the way they really live, and Eleanor's journey of self-discovery as she gets pulled deeper into their web.
You might also like: The Half Sister by Sandie Jones, another suspenseful look into the fallout of discovering secret half-siblings after a parent's death. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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