Book picks similar to
Murder For Hire by Theo Baxter


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psychological-thriller

The Man from Murmansk


Trevor Scott - 2017
    On a cold February night, while flying a drone, he takes video of a missile on a transporter erector launcher being loaded aboard a merchant ship. This could be a violation of the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty signed by Reagan and Gorbachev. Karl is recalled to America, but not for long. The Agency wants him to continue with his mission, which brings him to a tumultuous South American country. As the U.S. Navy tracks the Russian ship across the Atlantic, it soon becomes clear that a new Cold War could turn hot, bringing the two superpowers to the brink of war. With Karl being the son of legendary CIA officers Jake Adams and Toni Contardo, he definitely has the DNA to complete this mission. But in the cat and mouse spy game, nobody is safe.

The Bellhop Only Stalks Once


Cat Hickey - 2020
    But the vacation of a lifetime quickly takes a dark turn when a young, overly flirty bellhop starts following her everywhere. It gets even worse when he disappears, and Chloe is the sole witness.As bellhop after bellhop goes missing, she struggles to figure out what’s happening. When suspicion falls upon her, Chloe must not only try to rescue the kidnapped bellhops, but also to clear her name.Complicating things further is the relationship she forms with Mateo, Club Pacifica’s guest liaison. Charming and easygoing, he is everything that her fiancé at home is not, and she finds herself fighting a growing attraction to him. But can he be trusted?She soon discovers that she’s landed herself in a world of secrets, and, worse, that these are not just those of others, but also the secrets she keeps from herself.Can Chloe find her way through all the lies to finally discover the truth before it’s too late?

Break Of Dawn


Marie Reyes - 2021
    Her parents will not be at her wedding.They still live in the commune where she was raised - the commune she refuses to return to. Her fiancé convinces her to go and visit the commune to invite them. She'll regret it if she doesn't, right?When she gets there, her father is still struggling with substance abuse and her mother is nowhere to be found. Dawn has no choice but to stay and try to find her mother but being back there is causing her mental health to backslide as memories she buried deep bubble to the surface.Fighting demons both past and present, Dawn needs to get out before it's too late.Content warning: This book explores sensitive themes such as mental health, drug use, and abuse. Includes some coarse language.

A Frayed Web


Jon Ripslinger - 2016
    After his dad’s death, she reconnected with an old sweetheart, but Adam Kingsley may not be the same person she dated in high school. Even his teenage daughter doesn’t seem to know him very well. Probing into Kingsley’s background, Walter discovers some disturbing things about his soon-to-be stepdad. Kingsley has secrets, and he might be willing to kill to protect them. Can Walter convince his mother of the danger before it’s too late?

The Silent Speak


Val Collins - 2021
    So for the moment, her fledgeling career as a freelance journalist has been put on hold.  Then comes the horrific news that an entire family has been slaughtered in their own home. Aoife is shocked to discover two of the victims were members of her on-again-off-again book club. Even more disturbing is the revelation that the police believe it was a murder-suicide. That’s when Aoife receives a tantalising offer. Lisa, the main suspect’s sister, will grant Aoife access to the victims’ extended family for an exclusive news story—if Aoife will help find the real killer. Moved by Lisa’s unwavering belief in her brother’s innocence, Aoife agrees to help.  As she digs into the secrets of her fellow book club members, Aoife discovers potential suspects everywhere: people having affairs, a jealous husband, and a power-hungry business partner who’s clearly hiding something. Aoife keeps pulling at the threads of the story, untangling more and more deception. Is the killer really dead and buried? Is it someone Aoife already knows? Could the lunatic be closer than Aoife ever imagined? You won’t be able to put down this twisty thriller from international bestselling author Val Collins.

Flash Drive


Peter C. Foster - 2018
    Every Sunday evening she brings it back. Until one day, when the car comes back, but she doesn’t. A stranger wearing cargo pants and an attitude shows up in her place. After he leaves, you find her bag and all her possessions in the trunk. You realize that wherever she is, she has nothing but the clothes on her back.What do you do? You don’t know her well, but you know she disappeared. You’re afraid she’s been harmed, but no-one believes you. You think you know who’s responsible, but then that guy turns up dead. And when the cops open an investigation, you are their prime suspect in the murder.Erstwhile taxi driver Alex Ryan is the guy in the parking lot. Sexy bank executive Chantal Dorval is the mystery woman. Who kidnapped her? Is she alive or dead? Who killed Cargo Pants? And why? Ryan sets out to answer these questions, to find Chantal and exonerate himself. But the more he learns about her life, the more disturbing secrets he discovers, and the more suspects he turns up. And the more the police are convinced he’s guilty.Flash Drive is action-packed and sexually-charged. It deals with contemporary themes such as substance abuse, alternate lifestyles, and social media privacy issues. It will appeal to readers of the work of Gillian Flynn, Robert Galbraith (JKR), or Harlan Coben.

Burying the Truth (The Society #1)


J. Stark - 2021
    Secret Societies. Missing VIPs.When a billion-dollar corporation attempts to commit the crime of the century, an investigative reporter, Nathan Hughes, and his beautiful ex-girlfriend, Jenny Mars, begin to hear rumors of fraud, payoffs, and secret societies through a frightened whistleblower.Skeptical at first, both become the target of a ruthless assassin as they dig deeper into the business dealings of JVK Inc., an international company whose CEO is a cool and calculating manipulator.Soon, people associated with the case turn up missing and the FBI joins to assist in taking them down. Death lurks around the corner and lies spring up from every crack in the wall.Someone is burying the truth.

Steel and Shadows


Stuart Field - 2019
    What at first appears to be the work of a serial killer soon turns out to be a deeper level of darkness and deceit, with relentless mercenaries, a shadowy informant and ghosts from the past for both McCall and Steel all involved.As unexpected alliances and Steel’s personal mission reveal a complex web of treachery, will he and McCall find a way to work together and solve the case?

Canaryville


Charlie Newton - 2021
    Canaryville will be the flashpoint—violent, insular, bare-knuckle Irish, and fiercely defensive of what little neighborhood it has left.As the Southside musters for its massive Irish-only but now-banned St. Patrick’s Day parade, extremist groups descend from all sides. A grisly double-homicide occurs at Canaryville’s eastern border. Within hours, a pub bomb explodes at the western border. Amid the rage and carnage, a third targeted homicide rocks the neighborhood.Embattled homicide lieutenant Denny Banahan races to prove the killings are a purge within the Irish mob, not the graffiti-implied threats of another “Red Summer”—Chicago’s horrifying rampage of racial murder and arson in 1919. But the shocking secrets that Denny’s detectives begin to exhume may say otherwise.Buried in those secrets are Denny’s deep and tragic childhood roots in Canaryville, and his major sins in the violent Black neighborhoods that surround it. The explosive combination will make Denny the one cop who might stop Chicago’s long-predicted descent into Red Summer, or the one who will finally ignite it.

Baby Dear


Linda Huber - 2017
    Caro married Jeff because her biggest wish was to be a mother, and he had the means to give their children a better life than she’d had. Jeff, who is besotted with Caro, is terrified he will lose her now they can’t have a baby.Across town, Sharon is eight months pregnant and unsure if she really wants to be a mother. Soon her world will collide with Jeff’s. He wants to keep Caro happy and decides that getting a baby is the only way.   Then Caro is accidently drawn into an underworld of drugs…Meanwhile, Jeff is increasingly desperate to find a baby – but what lengths is he prepared to go to? Is Sharon in danger, and will Caro ever have the family she’s always dreamed of?

Follow Me Down


Gordon Mackinney - 2017
    Six years earlier, Drax Enterprises’ negligence killed his father and left his mother strung out on Valium. Lucas longs to punish the corrupt behemoth of Cincinnati real estate development, but what can one man do? "Plenty," says old Mr. Blumenfeld, Lucas's boss and a former photojournalist with too many secrets. Evidence to bury Drax exists, he claims, but to find it, Lucas must breach the city's welded-shut subway system. Lucas takes the plunge, aided by his best friend and moral compass, Reuben Klein. The deeper the duo infiltrates the dangerous underground, the further back they turn the clock. They learn that Drax's corruption intertwined with fascism's rise in Germany. That campfire tales of a subway crypt were true. That no one can be trusted, not even Lucas's boss.

Sycamore Bluff


Jude Hardin - 2013
    Given a set of rules and the promise of a generous compensation package at the end, can several hundred people govern themselves and live in relative harmony for six years? The experiment, designed to mimic future colonization on a distant planet, appears to be a huge success. Until something goes terribly wrong… Two undercover operatives from an ultra-clandestine government agency called The Circle are sent to investigate. When Diana Dawkins and Nicholas Colt discover the shocking truth, it’s clear the experiment must be stopped. What isn’t clear is if they’ll make it out alive.

No Kiss Goodbye


Janelle Harris - 2015
    Things will never be the same again, they said. Isn't it wonderful, they said. But no one knows what to say now. My husband wants to take the kids. My husband thinks the accident was my fault. My husband thinks I need help. But I think he wants rid of me.

The Protector


Danielle Lenee Davis - 2014
     Detective Sydney Valentine is more than willing to sacrifice a normal life to put ruthless killers behind bars. But even the seasoned detective can't quite shake the image of Scrabble letters stuffed into a dead social worker’s mouth. With a puzzling crime scene and no immediate suspects, Valentine's trail threatens to turn cold…When another suspicious death hints at a shadowy past, Valentine suspects she has a clever serial killer on her hands. As the investigative noose tightens and the body count rises, will the determined detective piece together the clues in time, or will she become the next victim of the murderer's deadly game?The Protector is a gripping police procedural novel. If you like stories with complex twists and gutsy heroines, then you'll love Danielle L. Davis's captivating book. Buy The Protector to scrabble for killer clues today!

Cicada Spring


Christian Galacar - 2015
    . .On a warm May evening in the spring of 1979, the people of Heartsridge, Massachusetts, are living the American dream. Families are gathered for barbecues. Kids are playing in front yards. Gardens are being kept. Meanwhile, Kara Price stumbles home through the woods, raped and beaten, her life shattered by a wicked act of violence, perpetrated by one of the town’s most beloved and public figures. Surrounding Kara is a cast of compelling and nefarious characters—a violent-tempered mayor who can do no wrong in the eyes of the town, a sheriff bound by the rules and plagued by a guilty conscience, a father bent on revenge, a serial killer in the midst of an identity crisis. And at the center of it all there's Kara, who just wants to move on with her life and forget everything that happened to her. But how can she do that when everyone thinks she is a liar who is only out for attention? With plot and emotion braided together by a careful hand, this haunted group of people all acting on behalf of their own interests begs the question: How far would you go to protect your own?