Publisher: Reagan Arthur Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 02/08/2012
ISBN-13: 9780316032193
ISBN-10: 0316032190

Thriller. Former hit man Pietro Brnwa is still hiding from the Mafia -- this time as cruise ship doc Lionel Azimuth -- when his WitSec patron sends him to Minnesota to investigate the possibility that a ferocious water beast has killed four people. Accompanied by a sexy paleontologist, he confronts murderers, mobsters, drug dealers, and possibly even the rumored lake monster. With plenty of profanity, madness, and mayhem, this offbeat thriller may not be for everyone, but readers who consider snappy writing, comedic dialog, trivia-laden footnotes, and dope fiends necessary parts of a great novel will be well pleased -- as will fans of Brnwa's 1st appearance in Beat the Reaper.

Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 02/07/2012
ISBN-13: 9780802120069
ISBN-10: 0802120067

Psychological Suspense. Sisters Zoe and Sally have been estranged for years, though they both still live in Bath, England. Smart, introverted Zoe's a detective inspector with the police; divorced Sally cleans houses to pay the bills. When a friend of Sally's teenage daughter is raped and killed, Zoe's assigned to investigate. What emerges -- secrets, jealousies, links to pornography, and blackmail -- is dark and seedy, and at least one more must die before novel's end. Though Mo Hayder's known for gritty, violent books, most of the violence in this novel takes place off-screen, and the sisters' evolving relationship is as much a part of the plot as the investigation.

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Publisher: Pamela Dorman Books/Viking
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 02/02/2012
ISBN-13: 9780670023288
ISBN-10: 0670023280

Psychological Suspense. In this atmospheric tale of guilt and secrecy, errors of the past come back to haunt both gardener Louisa and her young lover, Paul, who are brought together by a community service project renovating a 16th-century garden. Paul is there after turning on a friend in order to avoid prison, while Louisa is trying to forget a past that includes an obsessive relationship that ended badly. In chapters that relate these two characters' present lives as well as the pasts they're trying to outrun, author Erin Kelly keeps the tension high. Fans of gothic novels will appreciate the setting and feeling of dread, while others will appreciate Kelly's captivating writing.

Publisher: Delacorte Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 01/31/2012
ISBN-13: 9780385344227
ISBN-10: 0385344228

Legal Thriller. For 20 years, Andy Berber has been happy with his law career as a prosecutor and his home life in suburban Massachusetts. All that changes, however, when his son is accused of murdering a fellow middle-schooler. Throwing his all into the investigation and -- for the first time -- into a law defense, Andy must make wrenching decisions as he considers that his son may in fact be guilty. Compared to the best work of Scott Turow and John Grisham, Defending Jacob is a suspenseful, character-driven thriller from an award-winning author. 

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Publisher: Minotaur Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 02/14/2012
ISBN-13: 9780312598372
ISBN-10: 0312598378

Suspense Fiction. Though author David Rosenfelt is better known for his series of witty, warm-hearted courtroom mysteries starring lawyer Andy Carpenter, his stand-alone suspense novels are worthy of a read as well. This one stars underachieving lawyer Jamie Wagner, who takes on a morally and legally wrenching case: a woman convicted of murder wants to be killed so that her heart can be donated to her daughter, who's dying of a congenital heart defect. Authorities refuse, so the next step is to get her freed so that she can end her life herself. "Satisfyingly inventive," says Kirkus Reviews.

Publisher: Pocket Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 03/01/1999
ISBN-13: 9780671024093
ISBN-10: 0671024094

Serial Killer Thriller. Though the novel opens with pilot Edward Carney ("When Edward Carney said good-bye to his wife, Percey, he never thought it would be the last time he'd see her."), it's really quadriplegic forensic scientist Lincoln Rhyme who'll catch your attention. In his 2nd appearance, he and protégé Amelia Sachs are pursuing a serial killer -- a master of disguise who changes his modus operandi with every hit and leaves no shred of evidence behind. He's only got 48 hours to catch the killer, making every moment count.

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Publisher: Three Rivers Press
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 05/04/2010
ISBN-13: 9780307341570
ISBN-10: 0307341577

Psychological Suspense. When Libby Day was seven years old, her mother and sisters were murdered while she hid nearby; after her testimony, her brother was sent to prison. Twenty-five years later she's still struggling to get through each day when she starts to sell off family artifacts to make some money -- the buyers, a group of obsessed true-crime fanatics, also push her to look into the murders, which eventually forces her to question her memories. Graphic and violent (it starts with the line, "I have a meanness inside me, real as an organ.") Dark Places is "a gritty, riveting thriller with a one-of-a-kind, tart-tongued heroine" (Booklist).

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Publisher: Ballantine Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 01/01/2003
ISBN-13: 9780345426277
ISBN-10: 0345426274

Psychological Suspense. Just one day away from a much-needed vacation, Dr. Frederick Starks, a New York psychoanalyst, receives an anonymous and horrifying letter -- he's been given two weeks to either identify the writer or kill himself, or one of his relatives will suffer or die. And just in case Ricky isn't convinced that his unknown nemesis is serious, the situation becomes ever more precarious as one of his patients commits suicide and his professional reputation is ruined. Ricky's got two weeks -- but it'll take you far less to tear through this breathtaking, addictive thriller, which starts with the line, "In the year he fully expected to die, he spent the majority of his fifty-third birthday as he did most other days, listening to people complain about their mothers."

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Publisher: Vintage Crime/Black Lizard
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 07/27/2010
ISBN-13: 9780307455451
ISBN-10: 0307455459

Thriller. This 7th Hap and Leonard novel starts off with a bang -- or perhaps more accurately, the lack of one. Freelance troublemaker Hap Collins has just observed that "I hadn't been shot at in a while, and no one had hit me in the head for a whole month or two. It was kind of a record, and I was starting to feel special." when two friends arrive on his doorstep. The result: Hap and Leonard agree to rescue a friend's granddaughter from an abusive drug dealer. In the process, Hap and Leonard wind up enraging both the Dixie Mafia and the FBI, ensuring that Hap's record will fall -- fast. Violent, politically incorrect, raunchy, and with a strong sense of right and wrong, Hap and Leonard are "more damn fun than a barrel of Rambos" (Kirkus Reviews).

First Chapter  

Publisher: The University of Chicago Press
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 08/15/2011
ISBN-13: 9780226770659
ISBN-10: 0226770656

Crime Thriller. "When the phone rang, Parker was in the garage, killing a man." But don't worry -- his companion Claire answered the phone, and since the dead man was bent on killing Parker, we won't worry too much about him. Though Parker must first dispose of the body, he eventually learns what the phone call was about (he's needed to help steal an illegally obtained art collection). But problems abound, as the tech whiz on the job is already being watched by legal authorities, and the collection's owner has come under suspicion as well. This is Parker's 20th appearance in a series that started in 1961 (check out The Hunter to get started), and he's just as tough, brutal, and deadly as he was back then.