"When you first disappeared, your mother warned me that finding out exactly what happened to you would be worse than never knowing." ~ from Karin Slaughter's Pretty Girls |
|
| The Killing Lessons by Saul BlackSerial Killer Thriller. In this menacing, unnerving novel, which combines nail-biting suspense with all the details of a police procedural, a damaged female detective offers the best hope for justice for the victims of a sadistic killer -- and for preventing more cruel, violent deaths at his hands. Or are there two monsters? Detective Valerie Hart, battling personal and professional problems, shares narrative duties with both a potential victim desperate to live and the killer himself. Graphic and bloody, this series debut will be a good choice for fans of author Chelsea Cain. |
|
| Icarus: A Novel by Deon MeyerSuspense Fiction. In his 5th appearance, Captain Benny Griessel of South Africa's Cape Town Directorate of Priority Crime Investigations risks losing his hard-earned sobriety and destroying his relationships after visiting the scene of a murder/suicide that hits particularly close to home. In addition, he's responsible for a high-profile murder case after the founder of a sleazy Internet service (providing alibis for cheating spouses) is found dead. Plot twists and several sub-plots make Icarus a "standout entry in a superior series" (Kirkus Reviews). |
|
| Those We Left Behind by Stuart NevillePsychological Suspense. In this nuanced, complex novel, 19-year-old Ciaran Devine has returned to Belfast after serving seven years in prison for killing his foster father. DCI Serena Flanagan never believed he did it, and still believes that Ciaran confessed to protect his older brother, Thomas -- and the dead man's unstable son, Daniel, shares the same opinion. Between the media's unhealthy interest in Ciaran, Thomas' hold over him, and Daniel's instability, both Serena and Ciaran's probation officer are worried about an increasingly tense situation that threatens to trap Ciaran once more. |
|
| Pretty Girls: A Novel by Karin SlaughterPsychological Suspense. In her second standalone novel, bestselling author Karin Slaughter tells the story of two estranged sisters -- Claire and Lydia -- reunited by the murder of Claire's husband, whom Lydia had accused of harassment years ago. Hidden computer files pique Claire's interest and provoke suspicion that he may have known something about the disappearance of her oldest sister, Julia, decades previously. Realistic characters, moments of unexpected humor, poignant chapters from their father's perspective, ample suspense, and the slow healing of damaged relationships make for a tense, unsettling, but utterly compelling read. |
|
| My Sister's Grave by Robert DugoniSuspense Fiction. Twenty years ago, Tracy Crosswhite's teenage sister, Sarah, disappeared. Her remains have just been found in a shallow grave near the mountain town in Washington State where they grew up, and Tracy, now a Seattle homicide detective, is determined to reopen the case. She's unconvinced that the man convicted for the crime 20 years previously is actually guilty, but there are those who will do anything to prevent the investigation from moving forward. Try My Sister's Grave if you liked the similarly emotionally wrenching set-up of Michael Koryta's The Prophet (see below). |
|
| Iron House by John HartSuspense Fiction. As children, brothers Michael and Julian lived in a grim North Carolina orphanage. When another orphan was killed, Michael fled to New York City and eventually ended up as a hitman for the Mob. Sensitive, vulnerable Julian was adopted and took to exorcising his demons through his writing. They haven't seen each other in the 20 years since, but that's about to change as Julian comes under threat from one of Michael's rivals. With themes of loyalty and love laid against the violence and brutality of men and boys alike, their reconnection makes for compelling, if blood-soaked, reading. |
|
| The Prophet by Michael KorytaSuspense Fiction. In Chambers, Ohio, two very different brothers, estranged over their sister's abduction and murder when they were teens nearly 20 years ago, are forced into a reunion when another teenage girl is killed. While Kent is the well-respected coach of a winning football team, Adam is a bail bondsman, and the guilt-ridden, unwitting catalyst of both his sister's death and the more recent murder. His desire to find the person responsible for the latter may push him over the edge he already teeters near. Like John Hart's Iron House, this is a complex and "compulsively readable" (Kirkus Reviews) novel about brothers, family ties, and morality. |
|
| Sister: A Novel by Rosamund LuptonPsychological Suspense. Beatrice is devastated when she learns that her sister, Tess, has been found dead -- and that Tess' death has been ruled a suicide. Though she has a full life of her own, Bee begins to take over Tess' life, starting with Tess' job and apartment, as she looks for a killer she knows must exist. As Bee's search goes on (she relates it, poignantly, in the form of a letter to Tess), the twists in the tale multiply -- Tess had been pregnant, though spurned by her married lover; she'd been in a clinical trial to cure her unborn baby of cystic fibrosis; and she may have had at least one stalker. A compelling tale of sisterly bonds as well as an eerie, slowly unfolding story, Sister was a bestseller in the U.K. |
|
| That Night by Chevy StevensPsychological Suspense. When Toni Murphy was 20, she and her boyfriend were convicted of the murder of her younger sister, damned by false testimony from a classmate. Fifteen years later, she's returned to her hometown, hoping to keep her head down and acclimate quickly to the outside world. Contact with her ex is prohibited, but he wants her help clearing their names -- a dangerous proposition. Moving smoothly from present to past and back again, this novel will appeal to fans of Tana French's The Secret Place or Megan Abbot's Dare Me for its dark portrayal of teen girls. |
|
Contact your librarian for more great books!
|
|
|