"I mean to kill you in one minute, Ned." ~ from Charles Portis' True Grit |
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| Normal by Graeme CameronSuspense Fiction. While the narrator's neighbors like him just fine, they probably wouldn't if they knew that his favorite hobby is to kill young women, sometimes kidnapping them and holding them in a cage in his basement first. A happenstance meeting at a grocery store leads to his desire to cease his violent activities (our killer may be falling in love)... but the girl currently caged in his basement still needs dealing with. This debut -- and its graphically depicted acts of violence -- isn't for everyone, but fans of black comedy will enjoy it. |
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| House of Echoes: A Novel by Brendan DuffyPsychological Suspense. Hoping that a change in venue will help fix their various troubles -- career setbacks, mental health issues, and the bullying of their son -- Ben and Caroline and their two children move to an isolated estate with links to Ben's ancestors. But their plans to turn it into an inn are challenged at every turn, while a sense of looming menace unsettles everyone but their oldest boy. A mysterious fire and, finally, the disappearance of their baby force them to confront the truth: someone, or something, wants them to leave -- or wants them dead. This creepy debut will appeal to fans of horror novels, and has been compared to Jennifer McMahon's The Winter People and Chris Bohjalian's The Night Strangers. |
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| What You Left Behind: A Novel by Samantha HayesPsychological Suspense. In this 2nd in a loosely connected series from British author Samantha Hayes (after Until You're Mine), DI Lorraine Fisher and her daughter are off to visit her sister Jo in the wealthy village of Radcote. But Jo's husband has left, and her teenage son is depressed and withdrawn. Despite knowing she should concentrate on helping her sister, Lorraine can't help but be drawn in when the bodies of two teens are found -- two years previously, six teens had committed suicide in two weeks, and these two look to be suicides as well. But are they? Filled with plenty of red herrings, this fast-paced, suspenseful novel will please fans of police procedurals as well as domestic thrillers like those by Lisa Gardner. |
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| Signature Kill: A Novel by David LevienSuspense Fiction. Frank Behr was once an Indianapolis cop. Now he's a down-on-his-luck P.I., with no money in the bank and a dwindling circle of friends. Desperate enough to go after reward money for a girl who's been missing for a year, he finds links to a serial killer (who narrates alternating and increasingly gruesome chapters). Relentlessly driven, Behr will find the monster, but it's a terrifying journey. Be warned -- there are extremely graphic depictions of violence, but "for those who can take it, this is a stunning thriller" (Booklist). |
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| The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWittWestern. When their boss, the enigmatic Commodore, sends gun-toting brothers Charlie and Eli Sisters to kill a gold prospector named Hermann Kermit Warm, the boys set out on a quest that takes them from trail's end Oregon City all the way to bustling San Francisco. But as their target proves elusive, the siblings -- particularly Eli -- begin to question the purpose of their mission. Set during the boom times of the California Gold Rush and narrated by Eli in a matter-of-fact voice that recalls Mattie Ross of Charles Portis' True Grit, The Sisters Brothers is a gritty, darkly humorous Western. |
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| Glorious: A Novel of the American West by Jeff GuinnWestern. Nineteenth-century street kid Cash McLendon rose to a life of wealth after a robber baron hired him as a fixer and bagman, but when the boss blames him for his daughter's death, Cash flees St. Louis for the silver mining camp of Glorious, in the Arizona Territory. Unable to ride a horse, Cash isn't a natural at frontier life, but he's there to make amends with a former girlfriend. The robber baron, however, isn't going to let him go so easy, and there's another threat to Cash -- and the town -- lurking in the wings. With a realistically drawn supporting cast of characters and a richly depicted frontier, this 1st in a projected trilogy will be followed later this year by Buffalo Trail. |
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| The Outcasts: A Novel by Kathleen KentWestern. After escaping from a brothel in Fort Worth, epileptic prostitute Lucinda Carter heads for the tiny Texas town of Middle Bayou, planning to rendezvous with her lover and hunt for buried treasure. Meanwhile, Oklahoma transplant and new police recruit Nate Cannon, tasked by the government to track down murderer William McGill, teams up with veteran Texas Rangers George Deerling and Tom Goddard. As these colorful characters pursue their separate goals, their parallel storylines converge in surprising ways. Don't miss this suspenseful, compelling Western set in 1870, which explores the richly atmospheric and starkly beautiful landscape of post-Civil War Texas. |
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| Appaloosa by Robert B. ParkerWestern. Appaloosa, like many 19th-century frontier towns, is run by one man and his crew, who take what they want and hang the consequences. Old West lawmen Everett Hitch and Virgil Cole make a living cleaning up such towns, while adhering to the law and their own moral code. In Appaloosa, however, the remorseless bad guy gives them the slip, only to return with a presidential pardon. Published in 2005 to rave reviews, this series debut offers melancholy and honor, spare writing and in-depth character studies; it's been followed by several more. Though author Robert B. Parker died in 2010, the series has carried on with a new author, and the latest (The Bridge) was published in December. |
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| True Grit by Charles PortisWestern. Mattie Ross is only 14 when her father is killed and she decides to follow the murderer into Indian Territory to exact revenge. Convincing mean, deadly, drunken U.S. Marshal Rooster Cogburn to accompany her, Mattie proves to be just as smart as she is stubborn, outmaneuvering everyone who crosses her path. Fifty years later, irritated by inconsistencies told about her story, she sets the record straight in a deadpan narrative. With two well-known film adaptations, this is a well-traveled story; read the novel for the language, the characters, and the Western tropes it turns on its head. |
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