Book picks similar to
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Never Have I Ever
Joshilyn Jackson - 2019
Her greatest joy is her family: her devoted professor husband, her spirited fifteen-year-old stepdaughter, her adorable infant son. And, of course, the steadfast and supportive Charlotte. But Amy’s sweet, uncomplicated life begins to unravel when the mysterious and alluring Angelica Roux arrives on her doorstep one book club night.Sultry and magnetic, Roux beguiles the group with her feral charm. She keeps the wine flowing and lures them into a game of spilling secrets. Everyone thinks it’s naughty, harmless fun. Only Amy knows better. Something wicked has come her way—a she-devil in a pricey red sports car who seems to know the terrible truth about who she is and what she once did.When they’re alone, Roux tells her that if she doesn’t give her what she asks for, what she deserves, she’s going to make Amy pay for her sins. One way or another.To protect herself and her family and save the life she’s built, Amy must beat the devil at her own clever game, matching wits with Roux in an escalating war of hidden pasts and unearthed secrets. Amy knows the consequences if she can’t beat Roux. What terrifies her is everything she could lose if she wins.A diabolically entertaining tale of betrayal, deception, temptation, and love filled with dark twists leavened by Joshilyn Jackson’s trademark humor, Never Have I Ever explores what happens when the transgressions of our past come back with a vengeance.
Things We Have in Common
Tasha Kavanagh - 2015
You were looking down at your brown straggly dog, your mouth going slack as your eyes clocked her. Alice Taylor.I was no different. I’d catch myself gazing at the back of her head in class, at her thick fair hair swaying between her shoulder blades.If you’d glanced just once across the field, you’d have seen me standing in the middle on my own looking straight at you, and you’d have gone back through the trees to the path quick, tugging your dog after you. You’d have known you’d given yourself away, even if only to me.But you didn’t. You only had eyes for Alice.
No Looking Back
Alex Kane - 2017
Kat Denton is a woman running away from her past. For the past sixteen years, her life has been a living hell as Jimmy, the man she fell in love with as a teenager, becomes ever more cruel and abusive. Following the fire that killed her parents, leaving her an orphan when she was just a teenager, Kat is utterly alone and can’t see a way out. Until the day she finds out that she’s pregnant. Vowing to protect her child from Jimmy’s violence, Kat decides to fight for survival – for her and her unborn baby. Fleeing the traveller camp that has been her lifelong home isn’t easy. But along with her sister in law, Kat escapes with just the clothes on her back and the one photograph she has of her parents. Kat, along with her baby girl Lucia, starts to build a better life. But when she looks into what really happened in her parents’ death Kat uncovers dark secrets - including a revelation that will lead Kat back to the place she had been so desperate to run away from. Is she strong enough to uncover the truth and save everything that she loves most, or will Jimmy Denton have his revenge? Previously published as Chasing the Traveller A fast-paced, totally unputdownable crime thriller that fans of Mel Sherratt, Mandasue Heller and Kimberley Chambers will absolutely love. Praise for No Looking Back: ‘definitely going on my favourites list, it was a compulsive, gritty, unputdownable domestic thriller which I highly recommend!’ (5 stars) Dash Fan Book Reviews ‘The start of the book already sent chills down my spine… I loved this book and the writing style and the author has gained a fan. (5 stars) B for Book Review ‘a fabulous thriller packed with tension and emotion… If you like a tense thriller with strong characters, you can’t go wrong’ A Knight’s Reads ‘dramatic, gritty, suspenseful and oh so addictive!... I am SO looking forward to reading more from this author’ The Writing Garnet ‘A brilliantly written story, fast paced and a page turner of a read.’ Between the Pages Book Club ‘Jam-packed with emotion and suspense… If you are looking for something to get your teeth into, then this is the book for you.’ Baker’s Not So Secret Blog ‘a corker of a read that held me captive throughout. I loved that danger could be on every page, which has you racing through to see how it will all end.’ (5 stars) By The Letter Book Reviews ‘I finished it in one night!...Jealousy, trauma, power and control are all explored in this taut and nail-biting read… kept me hooked all the way through’ (5 stars) Chapter In My Life ‘had me gripped from the early chapters and I read it in two straight sittings…an amazing book w
The Memory Wood
Sam Lloyd - 2020
Chilling, moving and unputdownable, The Memory Wood is a thriller like no other.
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Elijah has lived in the Memory Wood for as long as he can remember. It’s the only home he’s ever known.
Elissa has only just arrived. And she’ll do everything she can to escape.
When Elijah stumbles across thirteen-year-old Elissa, in the woods where her abductor is hiding her, he refuses to alert the police. Because in his twelve years, Elijah has never had a proper friend. And he doesn’t want Elissa to leave.Not only that, Elijah knows how this can end. After all, Elissa isn’t the first girl he’s found inside the Memory Wood.As her abductor’s behaviour grows more erratic, Elissa realises that outwitting strange, lonely Elijah is her only hope of survival. Their cat-and-mouse game of deception and betrayal will determine both their fates, and whether either of them will ever leave the Memory Wood . . .
The Cursed Girls
Caro Ramsay - 2021
As she approaches the grand Scottish country estate where she grew up, the memories come flooding back. Just what did happen on the night of Melissa's wedding five years before? Where has Megan and Melissa's mother disappeared to? And why does Melissa whisper that solitary word before she finally slips away: Sorry.In order to overcome her demons, Megan must confront her painful recollections of that terrible night, the night of Melissa's wedding. The night somebody died. But can she really trust her memories? And who is so determined that she should forget?
The Darkest Corners
Kara Thomas - 2016
Tessa left when she was nine and has been trying ever since not to think about it after what happened there that last summer. Memories of things so dark will burn themselves into your mind if you let them.Callie never left. She moved to another house, so she doesn’t have to walk those same halls, but then Callie always was the stronger one. She can handle staring into the faces of her demons—and if she parties hard enough, maybe one day they’ll disappear for good.Tessa and Callie have never talked about what they saw that night. After the trial, Callie drifted and Tessa moved, and childhood friends just have a way of losing touch.But ever since she left, Tessa has had questions. Things have never quite added up. And now she has to go back to Fayette—to Wyatt Stokes, sitting on death row; to Lori Cawley, Callie’s dead cousin; and to the one other person who may be hiding the truth.Only the closer Tessa gets to the truth, the closer she gets to a killer—and this time, it won’t be so easy to run away.
The Serial Killer’s Wife
Alice Hunter - 2021
And they’re saying she knew.Beth and Tom Hardcastle are the envy of their neighbourhood – they have the perfect marriage, the perfect house, the perfect family.When the police knock on their door one evening, Beth panics. Tom should be back from work by now – what if he’s crashed his car? She fears the worst.But the worst is beyond imagining.As the interrogation begins, Beth will find herself questioning everything she believed about her husband.They’re husband and wife – till death do them part…
The Assassin Game
Kirsty McKay - 2015
when they come for me. I am already awake, strung out on the fear that they will come, and the fear that they won’t. When I finally hear the click of the latch on the dormitory door, I have only a second to brace myself before—At Cate's isolated boarding school, Killer is more than a game—it’s an elite secret society. Members must avoid being “Killed” during a series of thrilling pranks, and only the Game Master knows who the “Killer” is. When Cate’s finally invited to join the Assassins’ Guild, she know it’s her ticket to finally feeling like she belongs.But when the game becomes all too real, the school threatens to shut it down. Cate will do anything to keep playing and save the Guild. But can she find the real assassin before she’s the next target?
The Silent Patient
Alex Michaelides - 2019
A famous painter married to an in-demand fashion photographer, she lives in a grand house with big windows overlooking a park in one of London’s most desirable areas. One evening her husband Gabriel returns home late from a fashion shoot, and Alicia shoots him five times in the face, and then never speaks another word.Alicia’s refusal to talk, or give any kind of explanation, turns a domestic tragedy into something far grander, a mystery that captures the public imagination and casts Alicia into notoriety. The price of her art skyrockets, and she, the silent patient, is hidden away from the tabloids and spotlight at the Grove, a secure forensic unit in North London.Theo Faber is a criminal psychotherapist who has waited a long time for the opportunity to work with Alicia. His determination to get her to talk and unravel the mystery of why she shot her husband takes him down a twisting path into his own motivations—a search for the truth that threatens to consume him....The Silent Patient is a shocking psychological thriller of a woman’s act of violence against her husband—and of the therapist obsessed with uncovering her motive.
If I Die Before I Wake
Emily Koch - 2018
As his family debate withdrawing life support, and his friends talk about how his girlfriend Bea needs to move on, he can only listen.But Alex soon begins to suspect that the accident that put him here wasn’t really an accident. Even worse, the perpetrator is still out there and Alex is not the only one in danger.As he goes over a series of clues from his past, Alex must use his remaining senses to solve the mystery of who tried to kill him, and try to protect those he loves, before they decide to let him go.A stunning edge-of-your-seat debut novel with an unforgettable narrator.
The Guest Room
Rona Halsall - 2022
You’re wrong.Ever since Steph’s husband walked out after a thirty-year marriage, home hasn’t felt like a safe haven. Her daughter Bea thinks she’s imagining things. But Steph knows that the noises in the night, the open windows she knows she left closed, the strange smell in the kitchen – none of it feels right.Then her house is broken into, and a young man named Noah helps her fix the front window. He’s fallen on hard times and Steph impulsively offers him a place to stay. At least if he is there, she won’t be home alone.Before long Noah is living in Bea’s old bedroom, paying rent, and getting his life back on track. Steph’s ex-husband and Bea are furious. But Steph feels secure at last.Until the strange things start happening once more.Until it becomes clear someone will stop at nothing to make her never, ever feel safe again.The most twisty and unputdownable thriller of the year – perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell, Mark Edwards and Gone Girl.
Black Out
Lisa Unger - 2008
Her husband, Gray, loves her fiercely; together, they dote on their beautiful young daughter, Victory. But the bubble surrounding Annie is pricked when she senses that the demons of her past have resurfaced and, to her horror, are now creeping up on her. These are demons she can't fully recall because of a highly dissociative state that allowed her to forget. Disturbing events trigger strange and confusing memories for Annie, who realizes she has to quickly piece them together before her past comes to claim her future . . . and her daughter.
The Assistant
Cathryn Grant - 2020
One office. A fight to the death.Laura has sacrificed a lot for her high-powered career – her marriage, the chance to have kids. Now, finally, she’s in line for a big jump up the corporate ladder – all the way to the boardroom.But there’s a fly in the ointment in the shape of beautiful Vanessa, a lowly assistant who seems to have it in for Laura. Vanessa is PA to Hank, the most powerful executive in the company, a man whose support Laura desperately needs if she is to secure the job of her dreams. Repelled by Laura’s naked ambition, fiercely possessive of her boss, Vanessa deliberately sabotages Laura’s every attempt to make a good impression on Hank. Laura threatens and cajoles but Vanessa just won’t play fair. Soon their mutual dislike escalates to an all-out war. But career-obsessed Laura has always been willing to do whatever it takes to get ahead. And if Vanessa stands in her way… she’s going to pay the ultimate price. The stunning psychological thriller from the best-selling author of The Guest.
The Storm
Amanda Jennings - 2020
1 bestselling author of Lies Lies Lies‘Her best novel yet… Twisty, malevolent and gripping’ Lisa Jewell, No. 1 bestselling author of The Family UpstairsTo the outside world Hannah married the perfect man. Behind the closed doors of their imposing home it’s a very different story. Nathan controls everything Hannah does. He chooses her clothes, checks her receipts, and keeps her passport locked away. But why does she let him? Years before, in the midst of a relentless storm, the tragic events of one night changed everything. And Hannah has been living with the consequences ever since. Keeping Nathan happy. Doing as she’s told. But the past is about to catch up with them. Set against the unforgiving backdrop of a Cornish fishing port in the ‘90s, this is a devastating exploration of the power of coercive control in a marriage where nothing is quite as it seems…Praise for The Storm:‘Beautifully written, chilling and absorbing’ Adele Parks‘Her best novel yet. This twisty, malevolent and gripping story of a controlling husband and his oddly compliant wife was virtually impossible to put down. The dark and craggy Cornwall backdrop is exquisitely drawn and the sense of foreboding that runs through the whole novel is masterfully done’ Lisa Jewell‘An evocative story of coercive control and the decisions – often disastrous – that we make in order to protect the ones we love. Amanda Jennings is a fantastic storyteller and she’s at her very best here: warm-hearted, darkly atmospheric, and wholly addictive' Lucy Atkins‘Suspenseful, beautifully written, and utterly compelling’ Alice Feeney‘A brilliant book. Gripping, intelligent, and beautifully written’ Cass Green‘Vivid and evocative, the beautifully drawn characters and Cornish setting will linger in your mind long after you’ve turned the final page’ Lucy Dawson'Unravelling the secrets that lie beneath a toxic marriage. Both beautifully crafted and chilling. A compelling tale you won't want to put down’ Colette McBeth