Book picks similar to
The Legacy by Necole Ryse
young-adult
mystery
mystery-thriller
black-authors
This Is Why We Lie
Gabriella Lepore - 2021
But even more shocking is the fact that her drowning was no accident.Once Jenna's best friend becomes a key suspect, Jenna starts to look for answers on her own. As she uncovers scandals inside Preston Prep School leading back to Rookwood reform school, she knows she needs Adam on her side.As a student at Rookwood, Adam is used to getting judgmental looks, but now his friends are being investigated by the police. Adam will do whatever he can to keep them safe, even if that means trusting Jenna.As lies unravel, the truth starts to blur. Only one thing is certain: somebody must take the fall.
The Ivies
Alexa Donne - 2021
Far more important are the Ivies. The Ivies at Claflin Academy, that is. Five girls with the same mission: to get into the Ivy League by any means necessary. I would know. I’m one of them. We disrupt class ranks, club leaderships, and academic competitions…among other things. We improve our own odds by decreasing the fortunes of others. Because hyper-elite competitive college admissions is serious business. And in some cases, it’s deadly.A thriller about teens who will stop at nothing to get into the college of their dreams. Too bad no one told them murder isn’t an extracurricular.
Teen Killers Club
Lily Sparks - 2020
When she's convicted of her best friend Rose's brutal murder, she's designated a Class A--the most dangerous and manipulative criminal profile. To avoid prison, Signal signs on for a secret program for 18-and-under Class As and is whisked off to an abandoned sleep-away camp, where she and seven bunkmates will train as assassins. Yet even in the Teen Killers Club, Signal doesn't fit in. She's squeamish around blood. She's kind and empathetic. And her optimistic attitude is threatening to turn a group of ragtag maniacs into a team of close-knit friends. Maybe that's because Signal's not really a killer. She was framed for Rose's murder and only joined the program to escape, track down Rose's real killer, and clear her name. But Signal never planned on the sinister technologies that keep the campers confined. She never planned on the mysterious man in the woods determined to pick them off one by one. And she certainly never planned on falling in love. Signal's strategy is coming apart at the seams as the true killer prepares to strike again in Teen Killers Club.
Out of Control
Sarah Alderson - 2014
But when the police station is attacked and bullets start flying it becomes clear that Liva is not just a witness, she’s a target.Together with a car thief called Jay, Liva manages to escape the massacre but now the two of them are alone in New York, trying to outrun and outwit two killers who will stop at nothing to find them.When you live on the edge, there’s a long way to fall.
No Shelter
Robert Swartwood - 2011
NANNY BY DAY. ASSASSIN BY NIGHT. Holly Lin is living two lives. To her friends and family, she's a pleasant, hardworking nanny. To her boss and colleagues, she's one of the best non-sanctioned government assassins in the world. But when a recent mission goes wrong causing one of her team members to die, she realizes she might no longer be cut out for the work — except the mission, as it turns out, is only half over, and to complete it will take her halfway across the world and bring her face to face with a ghost from her past. Things are about to get personal. And as Holly Lin's enemies are about to find out, she is not a nanny they want to piss off. Praise for NO SHELTER: "Excellent—memorable and something I’ll read more than once." —Roxane Gay, New York Times bestselling author of An Untamed State "NO SHELTER is part mystery, part thriller suspense, and all kinds kick ass!" —The Man Eating Bookworm
Promise Not to Tell (Ulverscroft)
Jennifer McMahon - 2007
On the night she arrives, a young girl is murdered—a horrific crime that eerily mirrors another from Kate's childhood. Three decades earlier, her dirt-poor friend Del—shunned and derided by classmates as "Potato Girl"—was brutally slain. Del's killer was never found, while the victim has since achieved immortality in local legends and ghost stories. Now, as this new murder investigation draws Kate irresistibly in, her past and present collide in terrifying, unexpected ways. Because nothing is quite what it seems . . . and the grim specters of her youth are far from forgotten.More than just a murder mystery, Jennifer McMahon's extraordinary debut novel, Promise Not to Tell, is a story of friendship and family, devotion and betrayal—tautly written, deeply insightful, beautifully evocative, and utterly unforgettable.
You Have to Believe Me
Sunday Tomassetti - 2019
Every day on her way home from work, Dove Damiani drives past her ex-house, where her ex-husband lives with her ex-dog and her ex-yoga instructor, next to her ex-neighbors and the ex-life she once affectionately described as “frighteningly perfect.” To outsiders, Dove is bitter and resentful. The divorce left her alone, with nothing but a set of car keys and 50% of a paltry savings account. So when the lifeless body of her former husband is discovered in the birch grove outside Dove’s apartment on what would have been their fifth wedding anniversary, investigators waste no time making Dove a person of interest. She swears she didn’t do it. She’s never so much as killed a spider in her thirty-four years. But as evidence mounts against her, Dove finds herself questioning her memory, her sanity, and finally—her innocence.
Inherit Midnight
Kate Kae Myers - 2015
As the black sheep of the VanDemere clan--the illegitimate daughter, sent away to boarding school--she'd love to use that prize money to run away from the family who ostracized her . . . and discover the truth about her long-lost mother.Marshall might be Avery's uncle by blood, but there's no love lost between them. He'll do anything to win, even if it means turning on his own children.Riley is the charming son of Grandmother VanDemere's lawyer. As the game progresses, Avery finds herself drawn to him--even though she isn't quite sure she can trust him.The Winner?Treacherous turns in the competition serve as brutal reminders that only one person can win it all. Is Avery willing to risk both her heart and her life to claim the grand prize?
Arcadia Falls
Carol Goodman - 2010
. . . Meg Rosenthal is driving toward the next chapter in her life. Winding along a wooded roadway, her car moves through a dense forest setting not unlike one in the bedtime stories Meg used to read to her daughter, Sally. But the girl riding beside Meg is a teenager now, and has exchanged the land of make-believe for an iPod and some personal space. Too much space, it seems, as the chasm between them has grown since the sudden, unexpected death of Meg’s husband. Dire financial straits and a desire for a fresh start take Meg and Sally from a comfortable life on Long Island to a tucked-away hamlet in upstate New York: Arcadia Falls, where Meg has accepted a teaching position at a boarding school. The creaky, neglected cottage Meg and Sally are to call home feels like an ill portent of things to come, but Meg is determined to make the best of it and to make a good impression on the school’s dean, the diminutive, elegant Ivy St. Clare.St. Claire, however, is distracted by a shocking crisis: During Arcadia’s First Night bonfire, one of Meg’s folklore students, Isabel Cheney, plunges to her death in a campus gorge. Sheriff Callum Reade finds Isabel’s death suspicious, but then, he is a man with secrets and a dark past himself. Meg is unnerved by Reade’s interest in the girl’s death, and as long-buried secrets emerge, she must face down her own demons and the danger threatening to envelop Sally. As the past clings tight to the present, the shadows, as if in a terrifying fairy tale, grow longer and deadlier. In Arcadia Falls, award-winning author Carol Goodman deftly weaves a mesmerizing narrative of passion: for revenge, for art, for love.
Slated
Teri Terry - 2012
But echoes of the past whisper in Kyla’s mind. Someone is lying to her, and nothing is as it seems. Who can she trust in her search for the truth?
Ghost Gifts
Laura Spinella - 2016
Her remarkable gift may help others rest in peace, but it also made for an unsettling childhood and destroyed her marriage. Finally content as the real estate writer for a local newspaper, Aubrey keeps her extraordinary ability hidden—until she is unexpectedly assigned the story of a decades-old murder.Rocked by the discovery of a young woman’s skeletal remains, the New England town of Surrey wants answers. Hard-nosed investigative reporter Levi St John is determined to get them. Aubrey has no choice but to get involved, even at the terrifying risk of stirring spirits connected to a dead woman’s demise and piquing her new reporting partner’s suspicions.As Aubrey and Levi delve further into the mystery, secrets are revealed and passion ignites. It seems that Aubrey’s ghost gifts are poised to deliver everything but a normal life.
Daughters of the Lake
Wendy Webb - 2018
Tucked in the folds of the woman’s curiously vintage gown is an infant, as cold and at peace as its mother. No one can identify the woman. Except for Kate. She’s seen her before. In her dreams…One hundred years ago, a love story ended in tragedy, its mysteries left unsolved. It’s time for the lake to give up its secrets. As each mystery unravels, it pulls Kate deeper into the eddy of a haunting folktale that has been handed down in whispers over generations. Now, it’s Kate’s turn to listen.As the drowned woman reaches out from the grave, Kate reaches back. They must come together, if only in dreams, to right the sinister wrongs of the past.
Isolation Island: Into the Wild
Johnny Moscato - 2021
I would go so far as to compare it to the works of Stephen King.” -Amazon/Goodreads Reviewer”The action leaps off the page and smacks you in the face. Once you start reading it's very hard to find a stopping point.” Amazon/Goodreads ReviewerIt was supposed to be the opportunity of a lifetime—the chance to be on a reality show and win a million dollars. Ten contestants are dropped individually on a remote island in the Pacific Ocean with one goal in mind—SURVIVE. But, there are more dangers lurking in the shadows than just the wolves, bears, isolation and harsh environment. Nobody expected a murderer among them. The last survivor standing will win the million dollar prize, but the real prize might be merely coming home alive when all communication with the outside world is lost and sleeping bags start turning into body bags. The Cast:Derrick Bond- A twenty-nine year-old ex-Marine from Texas. He’s come to Isolation Island to escape the demons of his past and prove he still has what it takes to adapt, overcome, and survive. Jillian Hill- 49 years-old. A self-proclaimed badass. She’s a wife and mother of six from Kentucky, full of grit and determination. She signed up for the ultimate test of endurance to prove to her kids anything is possible.Tucker Jordan- A yoga instructor from Vermont looking to become one with nature and test his ability to live off the land. But, Isolation Island’s harsh climate does not welcome visitors with open arms. Can he find peace and harmony among the hungry wild animals?Stephanie Hamilton- An artist and experienced survivalist from Colorado. She can survive anywhere, but what she wants most is to win the million dollars so she can live off the grid on a Caribbean island. Wes Wood- A farmer from Mississippi looking to strike it rich on his first trip outside the country. Will his shady past catch up with him in a competition where mental toughness is as important as physical ability?Kimmie Arden- A burnt-out nurse from New York who’s sick of the daily grind and work-related stress. If she can outlast the others, it can mean a more peaceful life for her whole family.Seaton Rogers- A screenwriter and self-described introvert—perhaps the type of personality most suited for months of isolation. He wants the million dollars so he can distance himself from society and live a self-sustaining life on his own terms. Zoey Price- A dance instructor and the youngest person in the competition entering at twenty-four years-old. She’ll have to learn quickly and adapt if she wants a shot at beating the older, more experienced survivalists. Floyd Benson- A pizza delivery man from Florida with two young children depending on him. Can his energy-conserving strategy help him survive longer than the others?Ezra Greer- A hard-nosed truck driver from Alaska. He’s come to Isolation Island to escape his dark past and make a new start. One million dollars would surely go a long way. Ten contestants. One million dollars up for grabs. The last person remaining wins.Welcome to Isolation Island.
Let the game begin.
Next Girl to Die
Dea Poirier - 2019
Claire has finally carved out a life for herself as a homicide detective in Detroit, but the past comes calling when the local police back home ask for her help with a murder eerily similar to Rachel’s.Still haunted by Rachel’s cold case, Claire returns home, hoping to solve the crime and finally put her grief to rest. As she starts investigating, the last thing she needs is tenacious journalist Noah Washington asking questions she’s not ready to answer. But like her, Noah won’t give up until he finds the truth—and Claire reluctantly finds herself relying on him more and more when disturbing new details about Rachel’s death come to light.When the killer strikes once again, Claire knows he’s not done. Now he’s set his sights on Claire, who will have to find the courage she needs to survive a deadly confrontation years in the making.
Deadly Offerings
Alexa Grace - 2011
It is the first adventure in this sizzling romantic suspense trilogy.Anne Mason thinks she’ll be safe living in the Midwest building a wind farm. She may be dead wrong. Someone is dumping bodies in her corn field and telling Anne they are gifts—for her!As the body count rises, Anne realizes a cold-blooded serial killer is patiently waiting and watching her every move. And he won’t stop until he ends her life. It is clear there are no limits to this killer’s thirst for revenge or how far he will go to get it.After a nasty divorce, Anne Mason does not want to get romantically involved, especially with ex-husband’s attorney, Michael Brandt.The ruggedly handsome new County Prosecutor is the last person Anne can trust, but may offer her only chance at survival from a psychopathic killer. But will she survive the passion that rages between them?