Mr. Mercedes


Stephen King - 2014
    They are tired and cold and desperate. Emerging from the fog, invisible until it is too late, a lone driver plows through the crowd in a stolen Mercedes, running over the innocent, backing up, and charging again. Eight people are killed; fifteen are wounded. The killer escapes.Months later, an ex-cop named bill Hodges, still haunted by the unsolved crime, contemplates suicide. When he gets a crazed letter from "the perk," claiming credit for the murders, Hodges wakes up from his depressed and vacant retirement, fearing another even more diabolical attack and hell-bent on preventing it.Brady Hartfield lives with his alcoholic mother in the house where he was born. He loved the feel of death under the wheels of the Mercedes, and he wants that rush again. Only Bill Hodges, with a couple of eccentric and mismatched allies, can apprehend the killer before he strikes again. And they have no time to lose, because Brady's next mission, if it succeeds, will kill or maim thousands.Mr. Mercedes is a war between good and evil from the master of suspense whose insight into the mind of this obsessed, insane killer is chilling and unforgettable.--front flap

Killing Me Softly


Bianca Sloane - 2012
    Her body was discovered days later, her beautiful face bashed in with a rock. Police determine her brutal death to be a mugging gone wrong and drop the matter into their cold case files.Over a year later, Tracy’s sister, Sondra, still can’t come to grips with what happened. She throws herself into her work as a documentary filmmaker to try and forget the cruelty of her sister’s death. However, a chance encounter with a man from Tracy’s past rips the wound open and sends Sondra on a desperate search for answers about the secrets from her sister’s life that may have led to her death.As Sondra struggles to uncover what happened to Tracy, she’s launched into a tangled web of deceit and danger that put her on a collision course with life and death…

The Sisters


Claire Douglas - 2015
    One died. When one sister dies, the other must go to desperate lengths to survive. Haunted by her twin sister's death, Abi is making a fresh start in Bath. But when she meets twins Bea and Ben, she is quickly drawn into their privileged and unsettling circle. When one sister lies, she must protect her secret at all costs. As Abi tries to keep up with the demands of her fickle friends, strange things start to happen - precious letters go missing and threatening messages are left in her room. Is this the work of the beautiful and capricious Bea? Or is Abi willing to go to any lengths to get attention? When the truth outs, will either sister survive?

Bad Games


Jeff Menapace - 2013
    Some fishing, some barbecue, some games...The Fannelli brothers are heading to Crescent Lake too. Some stalking, some kidnapping, some murder, definitely some games...though not necessarily the type of games the Lamberts had in mind. But it doesn't matter. The Lamberts are going to play whether they like it or not.An intense psychological thriller, Bad Games has the dark, mind-bending chills of The Bad Seed combined with the fish-out-of-water dread and suspense of Deliverance. So let Jeff Menapace's highly anticipated suspense thriller keep you up all night as it delves into the mystery of nature versus nurture when comprehending the evil in man, along with the will and determination an innocent family must summon to fight back against horrific odds.

The One You Love


Paul Pilkington - 2011
    Her fiancé vanishes, leaving the battered and bloodied body of his brother in their London apartment. Someone is stalking her, watching her every move. And her family are hiding a horrifying secret; a secret that threatens all those she loves. In a desperate race against time, Emma must uncover the truth if she ever wants to see her fiancé alive again. The One You Love is a fast-paced suspense mystery, full of twists and turns, following in the tradition of writers such as Nicci French and Sophie Hannah.

Dance With Me


Hayden Braeburn - 2012
    She loved him despite the secrecy surrounding their relationship, but she refused to take advantage of him or his wealth.Mason Everett wants nothing more than to share his life, his family, and his fortune with Kat, but keeping her a secret was the only way he could keep her safe. He'd rather hide her away than chance losing her.When Kat and Mason's relationship finally goes public, it sets in motion a plan to keep them apart. Can they survive the firestorm to dance together forever?

The Day I Died


E.B. Black - 2019
    Her entire life is changed when she survives her attempt, but she's surprised by the ripple effect it has on the world around her. Sometimes living is harder than dying, but that doesn't mean that being alive isn't worth it.

Gutshot Straight


Lou Berney - 2009
    So he agrees to run an errand for his former boss and lover, Alexandra Illandryan, formidable pakhan of the Armenian mob in L.A. All Shake has to do is deliver a package to Las Vegas and pick up a briefcase. But the package turns out to be a wholesome young housewife named Gina who's run afoul of Dick "The Whale" Moby, a murderous 300-pound strip club owner. Shake decides to set Gina free and now the two of them are on the run to Panama, hoping to sell the valuable (and unusual) contents of the briefcase. But first Shake will have to out-maneuver two angry crime bosses, an Armenian thug plagued by erectile super-function, and a devious billionaire swindler. Not to mention, Shake will have to survive his own heart, since he's going to discover that Gina is more complicated than he thought.

Dark Remnants


L.K. Hill - 2013
    Especially handsome detectives with kind voices and beautiful eyes. So when her conscience just won’t shut the hell up, and convinces her to corner one such cop in a dark parking lot to tell him what she’s learned, she can just feel this won’t be the end of it. She doesn’t have time to worry about it, though. She has gangsters to piss off, homicidal gangs to infiltrate, and people to search for. Yes, this is Kyra’s life. The endgame is worth it, though. If she lives long enough to attain it. Join Kyra and Gabe in a pulse-pounding chase through Abstreuse City to find a killer and save a child before it’s too late. Because everyone loves good cop meets mysterious woman meets serial killer. And darkness lives in us all. “Intriguing storyline. Good fun…Highly recommend!” –R.V.P. Author Interview: What got you into writing crime fiction? Like so many others, I’ve always loved mysteries. Even a minor mystery is compelling to me and I’ve finished otherwise mediocre books, just to learn what the answer is. I watch a lot of police procedurals and have always especially been fascinated with criminal psychology and serial killers. It was always just a matter of time before I started writing about it. Yeah, but what’s a nice Christian girl like you doing writing about serial killers? Kind of dark subject matter, isn’t it? *laughs* It’s a question I’ve gotten a lot. It’s definitely dark subject matter. I prefer it that way, though. The darker the story becomes, the greater the capacity for character redemption. Lovers of horror understand this concept well. If the character can’t demonstrate a visceral ability to overcome a ridiculous amount of darkness, they’re almost not worth rooting for. Nothing is darker than a person willing to coldly take the lives of other human beings. I think that’s why our society is so interested in this type of villain. It’s a darkness we can’t understand, but want to, if for no other reason than to keep it at bay in ourselves. As an author, exploring that is both fascinating and kind of fun. Why this story? Why Abstreuse and the Mire? I came up with this story all at once. Many authors come up with stories based on the story they would like to see told, but haven’t found. It was more or less that way for me. There wasn’t any specific crime fiction story I was unsatisfied with, but rather while reading and watching them, I couldn’t help but start to form something in my mind I’d love to read myself. By the time I sat down to write, I had the entire draft of book 1 already formed in my head, and basic shape of the rest. It’s one of those stories that took on an urgency because I became so excited to tell it. So I did! You’ve written stories about both urban and rural crime. Do you have a preference? No, I don’t think I prefer one over the other. Being something of a country girl myself, writing about a killer in a small desert town held an interest all its own. But the urban setting of the inner city can definitely prove grittier. They present us with two different feels to the same kind of darkness. I personally find both tremendously compelling.

Safe With Me


K.L. Slater - 2016
    Now it’s her turn to get even …Anna lives a solitary existence, taking solace in order and routine. Her only friend is the lonely old lady next door. She doesn’t like to let people get too close – she knows how much damage they can do.Then one ordinary day Anna witnesses a devastating road accident and recognises the driver as Carla, the woman who ruined her life all those years ago. Now it’s Anna’s chance to set things straight but her revenge needs to be executed carefully …First she needs to get to know Liam, the man injured in the accident. She needs to follow the police investigation. She needs to watch Carla from the shadows…But as Anna’s obsession with Carla escalates, her own secrets start to unravel. Is Carla really dangerous or does Anna need to worry about someone far closer to home?

Birdsongs


Jason Deas - 2009
    Fired from the FBI for inadvertently sleeping with the perp in a murder case, he tries to disappear to a houseboat and retirement. Not having what it takes to relax, Benny starts a service offering discreet investigations. That is until a body is found crucified near his marina. The local police department requests Benny’s help and he knows if he can catch the killer, redemption is his. The Chief gives Benny and the department ten days to solve the crimes before he promises to request the help of the FBI. As the case grows, grabbing national attention, and the murders continue, the media soon fills the normally quiet town. Media goddess, Rachael Martin arrives and adds spice to an already flavorful mix. A few newcomers straggle in as well. An ex-convict fresh out of prison from a thirty year murder rap slinks in unnoticed with revenge on his mind. Days later, a Greyhound bus delivers a strange young man raised by deaf-mute parents from deep within the Ozark Mountains. An old newspaper clipping and a dark secret pulls him to town. Whatever is going on has something strange to do with birds. At each murder site, dead birds are displayed in disturbing ways—the killer arranging them as an artist might. All the strange occurrences and unexplained visitors to this quiet town press Benny James to his max as he vehemently struggles to solve the most important case of his life.

3 a.m.


Nick Pirog - 2013
    Henry Bins is awake for one. He wakes up each day at 3 a.m. then falls asleep at 4 a.m. Life is simple. Until he hears the woman scream. And sees the man leave the house across the street. But not just any man. The President of the United States.

Marshland


D.R. Bell - 2016
    Years ago he was a popular athlete in the local school, then a successful mid-level executive, father, husband. Now Ben is a loner, content to spend his free time in the "reality" of the internet.Ben reluctantly snaps out of his seclusion when he tries to understand why an old friend and neighbor killed himself and realizes that this is no longer the same neighborhood he grew up in. It's as if someone used resources of social media, internet and surveillance to strip away a layer of civilization, exposing a nightmare of conflicts and betrayals. When Ben is threatened by the same forces, he has to re-discover his own strengths to fight back against a shadow opponent.

Wired In


Toby Neal - 2016
    identifies an anomaly that leads her into a cat-and-mouse game online with a deadly enemy whose motives are unclear. The chase lures her through dark corridors of cyberspace into a confrontation with the violence from her past that sent her fleeing to the United States. She’ll need every skill she’s learned to defeat her worst nightmare — and the stakes couldn’t be higher.

Back to Lazarus


Judy K. Walker - 2014
    He beat and choked her to death. I'm told that he was found hanging from a homemade noose in his cell. I want to know why he waited so long to do it." Sydney Brennan isn't sure how to answer her client's question, short of holding a séance, and the Tallahassee detective has some questions of her own. Why does Noel Thomas remember so little about her childhood? Why is she delving into her father's suicide now? And, most importantly, why isn't Noel telling her the truth?Sydney crisscrosses the Florida Panhandle, reconstructing the tragic Thomas family history. The violence that destroyed the Thomas family connects to a present-day web of deceit and corruption through a desperate man willing to do anything to keep his secrets safe. To discover his identity, Sydney must go Back to Lazarus, back to the town where Noel's beautiful but troubled mother began her inevitable descent over twenty years ago. But by following in the footsteps of the murdered woman, does Sydney risk sharing her fate?Rooted in bars and back roads and Panhandle prisons, forgotten towns and forgotten people, at its heart Back to Lazarus is about stories: the stories people tell us, the stories we tell ourselves, and what happens when we realize it's all a lie.