Book picks similar to
When He Vanished by T.J. Brearton


thriller
netgalley
mystery
mystery-thriller

Element of Secrecy


Heather Slawecki - 2020
    The setting is picturesque with old farmhouses, dirt roads, covered bridges, streams. It's also rich with Native and early American history. What sets it apart is a big secret. Jenny O’Rourke has been haunted by blurred memories of the town's dark secrets for over twenty years. Brick walls and tight lips have kept her from understanding why she was torn from her home and family in the middle of the night. And why her brother’s murder was brushed under the rug. To find the answers, she has to elude two powerful forces standing in her way ... an estranged but lurking father and the watchful eyes of the Witness Protection Program. She's about to break the only rule they have in common: Never go home. Jenny finds an opportunity, giving her access to everything she thought she ever wanted to know. What she discovers changes everything and leaves a small town in need of some major damage control.

Gone the Next


Ben Rehder - 2012
    He's working a routine case, complete with hours of tedious surveillance, when he sees something that shakes him to the core. There, with the subject, is a little blond girl wearing a pink top and denim shorts—the same outfit worn by Tracy Turner, a six-year-old abducted the day before. When the police are skeptical of Ballard's report—and with his history, who can blame them?—it's the beginning of the most important case of his life.

Dead Certain


Adam Mitzner - 2017
    By night, she pursues her passion for singing in the darkest clubs of Manhattan.No one knows her secret, not even Charlotte, the younger sister she practically raised. But it seems she’s not the only one in the family with something to hide. When Charlotte announces she’s sold her first novel, Ella couldn’t be more thrilled…until she gets a call that her sister’s gone missing.Ella starts investigating with the help of Detective Gabriel Velasquez, an old flame in the NYPD, and what she finds is shocking. If art imitates life, then her sister’s novel may contain details of her real-life affairs. And any one of her lovers could be involved in her disappearance.Desperate to bring Charlotte home, Ella works through her list of suspects, matching fictitious characters with flesh-and-blood men. But will it be too late to save the sister she only thought she knew?

The Child Taker & Slow Burn


Conrad Jones - 2015
    How far would you go to get your children back......?A stand alone novel based on high profile child abductions, which have been followed by millions of concerned parents on the news. 5 year old twins are abducted from a tent in the Lake District and the hunt for a dangerous paedophile ring begins. Police procedure follows the premise that 60% of abducted children are murdered within the first four hours of being taken. The first hour is called "The golden hour" and the longer a child is missing, the less chance there is of them being recovered unharmed. The Child Taker follows the desperate search for the missing twins. Packed with action and twists, this is one of the best thriller novels around. Guardian Reviews SLOW BURNThe second Detective Alec Ramsay novel. A young girl is bullied and abused at school. Her brother is habitually beaten by the same gang for nothing more than being overweight and a different religion. Later in life when their paths cross again, a terrible revenge ensues.'Tank' is like Jack Reacher on steroids! Guardian Reviews. Crime thriller writing that will have you chewing your fingers as you read! ; Review

Irreparable Harm


Melissa F. Miller - 2011
    Downloaded by more than one million readers!Attorney Sasha McCandless has one goal: Make partner at the best firm in town. Then a plum assignment plunges her into a world of deceit and danger.When a commercial flight crashes, killing everyone on board, she's tapped to defend the airline. It's her big chance ... high-stakes litigation for an important client. But, as she digs into the evidence, people close to the case start dying.She discovers the crash was intentional, caused by a smartphone app capable of overriding the cockpit controls. But she's not sure who she can trust with the horrifying truth. She teams up with a federal air marshal, and they race to prevent another airline disaster.Soon, Sasha finds herself with a brand-new life goal: Stop a madman before he kills her.

Someone Else's Daughter


Linsey Lanier - 2011
    Independent. Skeptical.Thirteen years ago her abusive husband stole her baby and gave it up for adoption.She comes to Atlanta to find her daughter.THE PIWade Parker.Ace detective.Wealthy owner of the Parker Investigative Agency.The most eligible forty-four-year-old bachelor in Atlanta.Still mourning the death of his socialite wife, he must solve a disturbing murder case.Before the killer strikes again.THE MURDERERA serial killer strangling young girls in a bizarre ritual.Why?She doesn't need a man.He needs to find a killer.Together, can they save a thirteen year old girl?

Sex, Marry, Kill


Todd Travis - 2014
    A fat chick. A slow learner. A psycho suicide girl. A wannabe criminal. Five outcast high school kids with nothing in common except that nobody liked them. Five losers with nothing to look forward to but torment and harassment every day; nothing, that is, until they were introduced to the game. SEX, MARRY, KILL. An online game that would change their lives and give them power over others. They could do anything they wanted, sleep with anyone they wanted to, kill anyone who got in their way. Their every fantasy fulfilled. But at a mortal price. They soon discover that game will consume and destroy them unless they find some way to stop it before it’s too late. For fans of Stephen King and Joe Hill, a dark tale of horror, revenge and gaming gone lethally wrong.

Underneath


Andie M. Long - 2014
    An extra-ordinary vendetta.From the outside Lauren’s life looks idyllic, yet beneath the surface there are cracks in her marriage.When an old schoolfriend returns home, Lauren doesn’t know whether to avoid her or befriend her. Her husband thinks she should give Bettina a chance; her best friend thinks she has a hidden agenda. A sexy schoolteacher proves an unlikely ally, even if he is an extra threat to her marriage.Slowly Lauren’s life begins to unravel: a car crash and poison-pen letters are just the beginning.Someone is out to ruin her. But who?

The Marriage


K.L. Slater - 2021
    Today I married him.Ten years ago my darling son Jesse was murdered and our perfect family was destroyed. My strong, handsome boy, so full of life, became a memory, a photo I carried with me everywhere.But today I’m finally close to finding happiness again. My ash-blonde hair has been curled into ringlets. Carefully placed white flowers frame my delicate features. The small, drab chapel has been prettied up with white satin, and there are tiny red hearts scattered on the small table where I will soon sign the register with my new husband.The man who killed my son. My friends and family can’t understand it. My neighbours whisper in the street whenever I walk past. How can I love a man like Tom?They don’t really know me at all…

What You Did


Claire McGowan - 2019
    A devastating accusation. Who should she trust, her husband or her best friend?It was supposed to be the perfect reunion: six university friends together again after twenty years. Host Ali finally has the life she always wanted, a career she can be proud of and a wonderful family with her college boyfriend, now husband. But that night her best friend makes an accusation so shocking that nothing will ever be the same again.When Karen staggers in from the garden, bleeding and traumatised, she claims that she has been assaulted—by Ali’s husband, Mike. Ali must make a split-second decision: who should she believe? Her horrified husband, or her best friend? With Mike offering a very different version of events, Ali knows one of them is lying—but which? And why?When the ensuing chaos forces her to re-examine the golden era the group shared at university, Ali realises there are darker memories too. Memories that have lain dormant for decades. Memories someone would kill to protect.

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.

The Babysitter


Sheryl Browne - 2018
    Would you trust her with your life? Mark and Melissa Cain are thrilled to have found Jade, a babysitter who is brilliant with their young children. Having seen her own house burn to the ground, Jade needs them as much as they need her. Moving Jade into the family home can only be a good thing, can’t it? As Mark works long hours as a police officer and Melissa struggles with running a business, the family become ever more reliant on their babysitter, who is only too happy to help. And as Melissa begins to slip into depression, it’s Jade who is left picking up the pieces. But Mark soon notices things aren’t quite as they seem. Things at home feel wrong, and as Mark begins to investigate their seemingly perfect sitter, what he discovers shocks him to his core. He’s met Jade before. And now he suspects he might know what she wants … Mark is in a race against time to protect his family. But what will he find as he goes back to his family home?

Or Else


Joe Hart
    For Rachel, struggling to maintain the facade of a picture-perfect life, it’s an escape from an emotionally abusive marriage. Then Andy receives an anonymous note warning him to end the affair. Or else.Whoever’s been watching is going to make Andy pay. Weeks later, Rachel’s husband, David, is shot to death. Rachel and her two young sons vanish without a trace. One misstep, one careless reveal, and Andy could look as guilty as sin. Clue by clue, as his investigation into the mystery unfolds, Andy discovers that he and Rachel weren’t the only ones keeping secrets.Nothing in this quiet neighborhood is as it seems. No one peeking from behind the curtains of their homes can be trusted. And the worst is yet to come. Because David isn’t the only one who will die.

The Hidden Legacy


G.J. Minett - 2015
    A horrifying crime at a secondary school, with devastating consequences for all involved.2008. A life-changing gift, if only the recipient can work out why…Recently divorced and with two young children, Ellen Sutherland is up to her elbows in professional and personal stress. When she’s invited to travel all the way to Cheltenham to hear the content of an old woman’s will, she’s far from convinced the journey will be worthwhile. But when she arrives, the news is astounding. Eudora Nash has left Ellen a beautiful cottage worth an amount of money that could turn her life around. There’s just one problem – Ellen has never even heard of Eudora Nash.Her curiosity piqued, Ellen and her friend Kate travel to the West Country in search of answers. But they are not the only ones interested in the cottage, and Ellen little imagines how much she has to learn about her past.…

If Angels Fall


Rick Mofina - 2000
    Pointing them out now no longer applies to the current edition.Tom Reed is a crime reporter with The San Francisco Star, whose superb journalistic skills earned him a Pulitzer nomination. But years later Reed’s life is coming apart. His editor wants him fired. His wife has left him to wrestle with his demons. Alone, Reed is tormented by the fear he may have caused the suicide of an innocent man suspected of murdering a two-year-old girl.Reed’s friend on the case is legendary San Francisco Homicide Inspector, Walt Sydowski, who has one of California’s highest clearance rates. He is also a lonely widower haunted by the fact he cannot solve the girl's heartbreaking death.Both men grapple with the past while they race the clock to learn the truth behind a several new abductions that have anguished the Bay Area, in this acclaimed thriller set in the late 1990s.