Black Rain


Graham Brown - 2009
    . .Covert government operative Danielle Laidlaw leads an expedition into the deepest reaches of the Amazon in search of a legendary Mayan city. Assisted by a renowned university professor and protected by a mercenary named Hawker, her team journeys into the tangled rain forest—unaware that they are replacements for a group that vanished weeks before, and that the treasure they are seeking is no mere artifact but a breakthrough discovery that could transform the world. Shadowed by a ruthless billionaire, threatened by a violent indigenous tribe, and stalked by an unseen enemy that leaves battered corpses in its wake, the group desperately seeks the connection between the deadly reality of the Mayan legend, the nomadic tribe that haunts them, and the chilling secret buried beneath the ancient ruins.

River Ghosts


B.R. Robb - 2008
    Richard survives, a witness to violence and, he believes, his own cowardice. On the strength of Richard's testimony, a white jury convicts Henry Clayton, a teen bearing swastika tattoos, and sentences him to death. His future in ruins, Richard soon perceives that the mix of his parents satisfies neither side.Sixteen years after the murders, Richard receives a letter from the prosecutor's office. DNA evidence has exonerated Henry Clayton. Richard is the man who remains imprisoned, alone within his discredited nightmare. Henry Clayton soon arrives, dressed in the clothes of a preacher, claiming rebirth, extending his hand not only to return Richard to faith, but to use this faith to find the real killer. Even as Richard begins to take a step in a new direction, his youth and voices from his past reach out to oppose Clayton.But how can a traumatized memory from so long ago defeat a perfect science? Its frightening insight into the best and worst of men and their institutions, thoughtful intrigue, and superb attack upon preconceptions make River Ghosts a mystery devoid of coincidences or tidy endings, that will grip readers from the stunning opening to its powerful last page.

Binary


John Lange - 1972
    including the President of the United States?

Children of the Fog


Cheryl Kaye Tardif - 2011
    Choose! Sadie O'Connell is a bestselling author and a proud mother. But her life is about to spiral out of control. After her six-year-old son Sam is kidnapped by a serial abductor, she nearly goes insane. But it isn't just the fear and grief that is ripping her apart. It's the guilt. Sadie is the only person who knows what the kidnapper looks like. And she can't tell a soul. For if she does, her son will be sent back to her in “little bloody pieces.” When Sadie's unfaithful husband stumbles across her drawing of the kidnapper, he sets into play a series of horrific events that sends her hurtling over the edge. Sadie's descent into alcoholism leads to strange apparitions and a face-to-face encounter with the monster who abducted her son--a man known only as...The Fog.

The Outsider


Stephen King - 2018
    A confounding investigation. At a time when the King brand has never been stronger, he has delivered one of his most unsettling and compulsively readable stories.An eleven-year-old boy’s violated corpse is found in a town park. Eyewitnesses and fingerprints point unmistakably to one of Flint City’s most popular citizens. He is Terry Maitland, Little League coach, English teacher, husband, and father of two girls. Detective Ralph Anderson, whose son Maitland once coached, orders a quick and very public arrest. Maitland has an alibi, but Anderson and the district attorney soon add DNA evidence to go with the fingerprints and witnesses. Their case seems ironclad.As the investigation expands and horrifying answers begin to emerge, King’s propulsive story kicks into high gear, generating strong tension and almost unbearable suspense. Terry Maitland seems like a nice guy, but is he wearing another face? When the answer comes, it will shock you as only Stephen King can.

Three Days to Never


Tim Powers - 2006
    . . until now. This extraordinary new novel from one of the most brilliant talents in contemporary fiction is a standout literary thriller in which one man stumbles upon the discovery Einstein himself tried to keep hidden.When twelve-year-old Daphne Marrity takes a videotape labeled Pee-wee's Big Adventure from her grandmother's house, neither she nor her college-professor father, Frank Marrity, has any idea that the theft has drawn the attention of both the Israeli Secret Service and an ancient European cabal of occultists—or that within hours they'll be visited by her long-lost grandfather, who is also desperate to get that tape.And when Daphne's teddy bear is stolen, a blind assassin nearly kills Frank, and a phantom begins to speak to her from a switched-off television set, Daphne and her father find themselves caught in the middle of a murderous power struggle that originated long ago in Israel and Germany but now crashes through Los Angeles and out to the Mojave Desert. To survive, they must quickly learn the rules of a dangerous magical chess game and use all their cleverness and courage—as well as their love and loyalty to each other—to escape a fate more profound than death.A pulse-pounding epic adventure that blurs the lines between espionage and the supernatural; good and evil; past, present and future, Three Days to Never is an exhilarating masterwork of speculative suspense from the always remarkable imagination of the incomparable Tim Powers.

Black In White


J.C. Andrijeski - 2015
    Quentin Black."Gifted with an uncanny sense about people, psychologist Miri Fox works as an off and on profiler for the police. So when they think they've finally nailed the "Wedding Killer," she agrees to check him out, using her gift to discover the truth.But the suspect, Quentin Black, isn't anything like Miri expects. He claims to be hunting the killer too and the longer Miri talks to him, the more determined she becomes to uncover his secrets. When he confronts her about the nature of her peculiar "insight," Miri gets pulled into Black's bizarre world and embroiled in a game of cat and mouse with a deadly killer--who still might be Black himself. Worse, she finds herself irresistibly drawn to Black, a complication she doesn't need with a best friend who's a homicide cop and a boyfriend in intelligence. Can Miriam see a way out or is her future covered in Black?Standalone novel. No cliffhanger.*Warning: this book contains graphic language, sex, and violence. Mature readers only. Not intended for young readers.*BLACK IN WHITE is book 1 in the Quentin Black Mystery series - a series set in the Quentin Black World. It is also a spinoff from the Bridge & Sword (Allie's War) series, and takes place in the wider history/world of the seers.Next in the Quentin Black Mystery series: Black As Night, Black On Black, Black Is Back.THE QUENTIN BLACK WORLD encompasses a number of dark, gritty paranormal mystery arcs with science fiction elements, starring brilliant and mysterious Quentin Black and forensic psychologist Miriam Fox. For fans of realistic paranormal mysteries with romantic elements, the series spans continents and dimensions as Black solves crimes, takes on other races and tries to keep his and Miri's true identities secret to keep them both alive.QUENTIN BLACK MYSTERY SERIESBlack In White (Quentin Black Mystery #1)Black As Night (Quentin Black Mystery #2)Black On Black (Quentin Black Mystery #3)Black Is Back (Quentin Black Mystery #4)

Apocalypse Island


Mark Edward Hall - 2012
    Is it a serial killer, someone with a penchant for the macabre and a need to destroy? Or is it a darker force, an ancient legend from a mysterious Island come ashore to wreak havoc upon the unsuspecting?Amid the backdrop of Portland's burgeoning night scene, Police Lieutenant Rick Jennings discovers that no one is safe, and that evil has many faces. Danny Wolf, a gifted musician with alcohol problems is witnessing brutal murder in his dreams. Someone is carving a cross on each of the young female victims before crucifying them. Newly released from prison for a crime he did not commit, Wolf is having trouble adjusting to civilian life. He believes the dreams are a symptom of his adjustment until he discovers that they are real and that the victims are his own groupies. He soon begins to doubt his sanity. Could he be a homicidal madman? Wolf has no memory of his early childhood but discovers that he spent his first eight years in a Catholic orphanage on a mysterious island off the coast of Maine. Is it possible that his early life and the murders are somehow connected? Soon the killings become more bold and gruesome, as members of the church begin to die. Enter Police Lieutenant Rick Jennings and his young assistant Laura Higgins. They discover a government conspiracy involving the Catholic Church, and a cold war CIA mind control program known as MK-Ultra where children were used as test subjects. Danny Wolf becomes the number one suspect in the murders, but no one, not even Wolf, is prepared for what they discover on Apocalypse Island, a mind blowing secret that was supposed to stay hidden forever.

The Boys from Brazil


Ira Levin - 1976
    Josef Mengele gathers a group of former colleagues for a horrifying project—the creation of the Fourth Reich. Barry Kohler, a young investigative journalist, gets wind of the project and informs famed Nazi hunter Ezra Lieberman, but before he can relay the evidence, Kohler is killed. Thus Ira Levin opens one of the strangest and most masterful novels of his career. Why has Mengele marked a number of harmless aging men for murder? What is the hidden link that binds them? What interest can they possibly hold for their killers: six former SS men dispatched from South America by the most wanted Nazi still alive, the notorious "Angel of Death"? One man alone must answer these questions and stop the killings—Lieberman, himself aging and thought by some to be losing his grip on reality. At the heart of The Boys from Brazil lies a frightening contemporary nightmare, chilling and all too possible.

Unseen


John Michael Hileman - 2012
    When Jake's estranged sister, Holly, finds herself the target of a national serial killer who has chosen her son as his next victim, Jake begins to wonder if there is a connection. Could these children be the ghosts of the killer's victims?As the kidnapper's plan unfolds, Jake uncovers a startling secret about the unseen children that will change his life forever--and Holly discovers just how far she is willing to go to save her son. Unseen is a riveting story of rescue, restoration, and romance that will leave you thinking long after the last page has been turned.

The Last Orphans


N.W. Harris - 2014
    In a span of mere hours, the entire adult population is decimated, leaving their children behind to fend for themselves and deal with the horrific aftermath of the freak occurrence. As one of the newly made elders in his small town, Shane finds himself taking on the role of caretaker for a large group of juvenile survivors. One who just happens to be Kelly Douglas—an out-of-his-league classmate—who, on any other day, would have never given Shane a second glance. Together, they begin their quest to find out why all of the adults were slaughtered. What they find is even more horrifying than anything they could have expected—the annihilation of the adults was only the beginning. Shane and his friends are not the unlucky survivors left to inherit this new, messed-up planet. No, they are its next victims. There is an unknown power out there, and it won’t stop until every person in the world is dead. A spine-tingling adventure that will have you gasping for breath all the way until the last page, The Last Orphans is the first book in an all-new apocalyptic series.

The Intruders


Michael Marshall - 2007
    The family members of a scientist have been brutally murdered, and the scientist—who may have had something to hide—is nowhere to be found.But Jack has more pressing matters on his mind. His wife has told him that she's on a routine business trip to Seattle, yet she hasn't checked into her hotel. Calls to her cell phone go unanswered, and when Jack travels to Seattle to investigate, she's vanished.And in Oregon a little girl goes missing. She's found miles away, but it soon becomes clear that she's not an innocent victim, and is far from defenseless.Unusual events, all leading to the same place. As a former patrol cop who left the force under difficult circumstances, Jack is determined to find some answers. Yet the more he digs, the more the intrigue grows. Searching into the dark secrets of a past that still haunts him, Jack discovers that the truth has roots deeper and more evil than he ever feared.

The Faithful


S.M. Freedman - 2014
    His obsession has led him to compile hundreds of cases. All involve children rumored to have psychic abilities—and all have no witnesses, no leads, and no resolution.Meanwhile, Rowan Wilson, a meteorite hunter for NASA’s Spaceguard Program, is losing her grip on the past. Memories of the childhood she thought she’d had are vanishing, and dark recollections of kidnappings, mind control, and an isolated mountain ranch are taking their place.When Rowan’s shadowed past converges with Josh’s research, they uncover a deadly plot to reshape humanity. With the world’s survival dependent on stopping a vast network of conspirators, can they decipher—and expose—the truth in time? Revised edition: This edition of The Faithful includes editorial revisions.

The 13th Hour


Richard Doetsch - 2009
    At 9pm, Nick is being held in jail, accused of Mary's murder. He saw her bloody corpse; he knows that she is dead. That's when a grey haired gentleman presents him with a talisman that allows him to go back in time, one hour at a time, for a total of twelve hours. With each hour that Nick journeys back in time, he finds more clues to the identity of Mary's real killer, but he also discovers that his actions in the past have unexpected repercussions on the future. All his good intentions of saving Mary's life may in fact lead to a far greater catastrophe than he could have imagined. If he hasn't set things right by the thirteenth hour, all will be lost. A surprising and utterly original thriller that blends a dash of fantasy with page-turning suspense, The 13th Hour has all the ingredients of a massive international bestseller.

Trade-Off


Tom Kasey - 2012
    A body is discovered with a human femur driven through the top of its skull. Hunter must find out who killed them, and why.But someone high-up doesn’t want the case solved. Facing the deadliest test of his career, Hunter must stay one step ahead, uncover the killer and, somehow, stay alive… Part conspiracy, part manhunt, with an extraordinary twist, fans of David Baldacci, Chris Kuzneski and Scott Mariani will love Trade-Off, book one in The Steven Hunter Thrillers, previously published as written by Tom Kasey. ‘A knock-out thriller. Trade-Off will blow you away’ Matt Lynn, best-selling author of Death Force and Fire Force.