Book picks similar to
Pitfall by Clair M. Poulson


suspense
mystery
lds-fiction
fiction

Undercover Honeymoon


Kari Iroz - 2019
    After their adventurous beginning, the happy couple finds the relative calm leading up to their big day a huge relief. Unfortunately, it seems the peace and quiet were too good to last. As they embark on their honeymoon, a weeklong cruise, Jack can’t shake the feeling that something is off with her new husband. When she stumbles upon a secret plot—one in which her husband is a key player—she realizes this getaway will be anything but smooth sailing. When she delves into the shady happenings aboard the ship, Jack realizes Damon’s involvement is just the tip of the iceberg—she has become an unwitting player in a deadly conspiracy, and in such close quarters, there is no escape. Now, Jack has no choice but to work with her new husband to unravel the truth before their happily ever after—and their lives—are ended all too soon.

The Cuban Affair


Nelson DeMille - 2017
    At age thirty-five he’s living in Key West, owner of a forty-two-foot charter fishing boat, The Maine. Mac served five years in the Army as an infantry officer with two tours in Afghanistan. He returned with the Silver Star, two Purple Hearts, scars that don’t tan, and a boat with a big bank loan. Truth be told, Mac’s finances are more than a little shaky.One day, Mac is sitting in the famous Green Parrot Bar in Key West, contemplating his life, and waiting for Carlos, a hotshot Miami lawyer heavily involved with anti-Castro groups. Carlos wants to hire Mac and The Maine for a ten-day fishing tournament to Cuba at the standard rate, but Mac suspects there is more to this and turns it down. The price then goes up to two million dollars, and Mac agrees to hear the deal, and meet Carlos’s clients—a beautiful Cuban-American woman named Sara Ortega, and a mysterious older Cuban exile, Eduardo Valazquez.What Mac learns is that there is sixty million American dollars hidden in Cuba by Sara’s grandfather when he fled Castro’s revolution. With the “Cuban Thaw” underway between Havana and Washington, Carlos, Eduardo, and Sara know it’s only a matter of time before someone finds the stash—by accident or on purpose. And Mac knows if he accepts this job, he’ll walk away rich…or not at all.Brilliantly written, with his signature humor, fascinating authenticity from his research trip to Cuba, and heart-pounding pace, Nelson DeMille is a true master of the genre.

Maggie's Place


Annette Haws - 2019
    But secrets have an inconvenient way of surfacing when least expected.Three weeks before Christmas, an elegant man in a penthouse, a young woman named Carly—homeless and ill with pneumonia—and two calculating thieves invade Maggie’s carefully reconstructed life, and in different ways, each is connected to Maggie’s difficult past. As Maggie and friends nurse Carly back to health, hearts begin to heal with a hope for the future. But all is not as it seems. When faced with the shocking truth, Maggie must rely on her wits, her friends, and her own strength as never before.

Haunts Haven


Joan Sowards - 2009
    But Callie doesn’t believe in ghosts, and she plans to turn the inn into a bed and breakfast. Then things start to happen—strange, spooky things— and she begins to wonder if there is some truth to the ghost stories. If that weren’t bad enough, Callie discovers a mysterious grave in the cellar. As she confronts the inn’s tragic secrets, she also faces her lonely past and learns to embrace her heritage. But it takes a handsome cowboy and a harming rancher to prove that Callie’s long-guarded heart can love again.

Missing Pieces


Jeni Grossman - 2009
    Yet when terrorist attack her entourage, a perilous pollitican plot is revealed. Al Qaeda henchman Aboud is hunting the statue to fulfill an ancient prophecy that would grant the extremists ultimate power over Islam. The CIA has gone undercover in Zeugma to prevent this coup. The safety of the free now hinges on the cooperation of Americans and Turks. With the help of native guide Asena. Dulcey navigates the power struggles and cultural clashes that arise as the dig progresses. But as tensions mount outside and inside the excavation camp, she struggles to distinguish friends from enemies. In a pulse-pounding race to secure the goddess, Dulcey learns the value of honor, family, and heritage as she risk her life to preserve her most precious treasures.

Secrets Never Die


Laurie L.C. Lewis - 2019
    Raised in isolation by her mother, Julia, Tallie was dragged suddenly and without explanation from one third-world outpost to another until life normalized seven years ago when Julia took a position on a mountaintop in the Pacific northwest. But when Julia unexpectedly dies, Tallie uncovers clues suggesting that Julia had a secret life.Journalistic phenom Jackson James is still recovering from the devastating mistake that flatlined his promising career. Now he's paying the price, working as the editor of a syrupy community rag in a posh D.C. suburb. But when the very man who destroyed him drops a tantalizing lead about a potential D.C. scandal, the reporter sees his chance for redemption and sets off to chase the story.Jackson's investigation leads him to Cutler's Ridge, a dying Virginia coal town, and directly into the path of the mysterious and beautiful Tallie. As these two mistrustful loners follow their leads, their stories begin to intertwine until they reach an alarming conclusion - something terrible happened in Cutler's Ridge. As they doggedly pursue the story, the town's cold reception spirals into threats and danger, proving that there are those who will stop at nothing to keep the past hidden forever - because secrets never die.

Not a Word


Stephanie Black - 2016
    As fresh personal challenges begin heaping on top of professional ones, Natalie’s best friend, Camille, confides that she thinks someone is stalking her. Natalie suspects that stress, not a stalker, is shadowing Camille—but Camille’s fear only continues to grow when the widow of a local businessman starts whispering that her husband was murdered and a new client of Natalie’s seems to be concealing something much more frightening than her inability to stand up for herself. Soon a shattering crime proves the danger is real. But when everyone has something at stake, is there anyone Natalie can trust? Or will she fall victim to a killer who will do anything to keep secrets hidden?

The Operative


Willard Boyd Gardner - 2007
    Desperate to escape his anguish, he takes a job halfway across the world and leaves everything behind: his home, his career, and his beautiful, bewildered wifeCIA agent Rhiana Daniels.When an undercover operative is kidnapped by a fanatical Arab faction in Yemen, Kams knowledge of the language and culture prove to be invaluable, and he is recruited to help rescue the agent. However, the mission becomes even more complicated when he learns that one of theteam members is his estranged wife.Traveling with a research group sponsored by Brigham Young University, Kam and Rhiana attempt to navigate the obstacles that distance and time have placed between them, even as they confront dangerous militants determined to prevent the agents rescue by any means necessary.From the lethal deserts of the Middle East to the battlefield of a troubled soul, best-selling author Willard Boyd Gardner delivers an unforgettable story of action and conspiracy, of heartbreak and betrayal, and of faith and forgiveness.

Crooked House


Marlene Bateman - 2015
    In the quaint historic district of Dover, Delaware, lies Crooked House—an apt name for the once magnificent home. Following an alarming rise in the number of “accidents” surrounding Liz, the girls enlist Erica’s help to stop the mysterious assailant. Soon the mishaps become blatant attempts on Liz’s life, and Erica’s initial skepticism disappears when things go from disturbing to deadly. As she uncovers a tangled web of love, money, and greed, Erica must draw upon her investigative prowess to crack the case before she becomes an unwitting victim herself .

Sleeper agent


John Birmingham - 2021
    Since the car accident that wiped his memories, Cooper has been...a little foggy. Cooper doesn’t know how to do much, but one thing he instinctively seems to know about is strength training, and with his help, Gainesville High’s football team has just won the Mid-States final. With Cooper the hero of the hour, the whole town is getting ready to celebrate in style.When three strangers crash the party and decide to pick on the harmless-looking guy carrying a cooler full of sodas, they trigger something inside Cooper. Afterwards, the folks in Gainesville can never look at him in quite the same way. Is he really just a regular guy who suffered a brain injury in a car crash, or is he someone else? Or something else?As Cooper tries to come to terms with baffling new memories, he’s about to be plunged into a terrifying world of secret experiments and covert assassins that will test his new-found abilities to the limit.

Desperate Measures


Kristen McKendry - 2013
    So thinks Mormon mom extraordinaire Annie Fisher . . . that is, until she finds herself embroiled in the baffling disappearance of family friend Angus Puddicombe. Following the delivery of a puzzling message and a few startling discoveries, all signs point to—confusion. What Annie knows for sure is that Angus is in over his head, and there is no time to lose. Unaware of the danger that awaits, Annie, her trusty husband, Newton, and a vanload of kids forge ahead to unravel the mystery. Can this group of amateur sleuths get to the bottom of what’s going on before something goes horribly wrong?If you enjoyed this book, watch for The Song of Copper Creek, coming this July. Annie, Newton, and Angus make a cameo appearance!

Cutting Edge


Jeffrey S. Savage - 2001
    It's the perfect job. A hot new company is in desperate need of his expertise--and they're willing to make it worth his while. But everything changes when Travis discovers that someone has been stealing sensitive files off of his computer, and the person he confides in mysteriously disappears. Before long, Travis realizes that he can't trust anyone; not his coworkers, his boss, not even members of his ward. Travis must use all of the means at his disposal to prove his innocence and keep his family alive. Because in Silicon Valley, while some ideas are worth billions, other ideas can get you killed.

The Alias


Mandi Slack - 2011
    But when the FBI reveals some disturbing information about her ex-husband, she is forced into hiding to protect herself and her son. In the process, she risks losing her identity, her future, and her heart. Thrilling and suspenseful, this novel is an edge-of-your-seat read.

Extreme Measures


Michele Ashman Bell - 2015
    She’s engaged to a wonderful man and anticipates a fresh start, free from her troubled past. Only one persistent obstacle remains: Margaret Lowell, her former mother-in-law. Margaret continues to be a demanding presence in Emma’s life, and her requests have become increasingly disconcerting. When Margaret asks Emma to accompany her on a sentimental journey to the family’s mountain cabin, the young woman reluctantly agrees. After all, her fiancé is out of town. No one will miss her. Emma could never have suspected the horror that awaits in the snow-bound cabin, for beneath Margaret Lowell’s elderly façade lies a sinister and terrifying nature—and a plot born of insanity. Alarmed by the dark plan that unfolds, Emma struggles to escape the isolated cabin in a chilling game of cat and mouse. As the danger escalates, and with little hope of rescue, Emma must engage in a battle of wills if she is to avoid becoming the final piece in Margaret’s twisted puzzle . . .

The Madera Murder


Deanne Blackhurst - 2014
    But what self-respecting twenty one year old can resist the promise of a vacation in Mexico? She should have known it was too good to be true. Her dreams of exotic adventure come crashing down when she and her father arrive at their destination: the Madera Hacienda. Once a proud symbol of wealth and success, the ramshackle estate is falling apart, and the Madera family has hired Ashley's lawyer father to help save the family home. A dusty derelict ranch is not the vacation she had in mind-but Ashley can't deny a thrilling shiver of premonition. When she hears rumors of a tragic eighteenth-century death and a long hidden treasure, Ashley joins the centuries-long search of the mysterious trove in the company of a group of American archaeological students. But as the shocking clues lead Ashley closer to the hidden riches, it becomes clear that someone is willing to kill to keep the secret of the treasure--and the next tragic death may well be her own...