Book picks similar to
Manchester Vice by Jack Strange


noir
dysfunctional-family
top-books
wickedly-disturbing

Darling Rose Gold


Stephanie Wrobel - 2020
    She was allergic to everything, used a wheelchair and practically lived at the hospital. Neighbors did all they could, holding fundraisers but no matter how many doctors, tests, or surgeries, no one could figure out what was wrong with Rose Gold.Turns out her mom, Patty Watts, was just a really good liar.After serving five years in prison, Patty begs her daughter to take her in. The entire community is shocked when Rose Gold says yes. And Rose Gold is no longer her weak little darling...And she's waited such a long time for her mother to come home.

True Fiction


Lee Goldberg - 2018
    Now one of those schemes has come true, and Ian is the only person alive who knows how it was done...and who is behind the plot. That makes him too dangerous to live.Ian goes on the run, sweeping up an innocent bystander in his plight--Margo French, a dog walker and aspiring singer. They are pursued by assassins and an all-seeing global-intelligence network that won't stop until Ian and Margo are dead. Ian has written thrillers like this before, but this time he doesn't know how it's going to end--or if he will be alive to find out.

The Bullhead Murders (The Jena Halpern Mysteries, #1)


Michael Allan Scott - 2019
    Four murders within six months, a record for the riverside community of Bullhead City. A serial killer is suspected by local police, the work of one maniac. But they can't do it alone. Is it a closeted homophobe or the desperate diversion of an abused girl-child?Eyes in the sky, she sees. Head in the clouds, she searches. Feet on the ground, she answers the call--Jena Halpern, the reluctant police consultant.   A mystery/thriller whose hidden characters, their secret motivations, and the unintended consequences are as real as it gets. Treat yourself to a twisted thrill ride, tonight.

Hide Away


Jason Pinter - 2020
    After an unspeakable crime shatters her life, she changes her identity and moves to a small town in Illinois, hoping to spare her children from further trauma…or worse. But crime follows her everywhere.When the former mayor winds up dead, Rachel can’t help but get involved. Where local detectives see suicide, she sees murder. They resent her for butting in—especially since she’s always one step ahead. But her investigative genius may be her undoing: the deeper she digs, the harder it is to keep her own secrets buried.Her persistence makes her the target of both the cops and a killer. Meanwhile, the terrifying truth about her past threatens to come to light, and Rachel learns the hard way that she can’t trust anyone. Surrounded by danger, she must keep her steely resolve, protect her family, and stay one step ahead, or else she may become the next victim.

The Arrangement


Robyn Harding - 2019
    All that’s required is to look pretty and hang on his every word. Sexual favours are optional.Though more than thirty years her senior, Gabe, a handsome corporate finance attorney, seems like the perfect candidate, and within a month, they are madly in love. At least, Nat is…Gabe already has a family, whom he has no intention of leaving.So when he abruptly ends things, Nat can’t let go. She begins drinking heavily and stalking him: watching him at work, spying on his wife, even befriending his daughter, who is not much younger than she is. But Gabe’s not about to let his sugar baby destroy his perfect life. What was supposed to be a mutually beneficial arrangement devolves into a nightmare of deception, obsession, and, when a body is found near Gabe’s posh Upper East Side apartment, murder.

Cornelius


Tanya R. Taylor - 2015
    A LONELY GHOST. A SPINE-TINGLING, PARANORMAL TALE.Thirteen-year-old Mira Cullen is very unhappy at home. She hates the way her emotionally unavailable father treats her mother--a woman who worships the ground he walks on. Michael, the family's patriarch, has real issues that prevent him from being the type of husband and father his family wishes he could be. However, unbeknownst to him, his life is about to take a drastic turn.One day, Mira and her brother, Wade head out to explore a large, abandoned house in a wooded area near their home. They are unaware that their innocent adventure would open up the bowels of history in a most uncanny way. Shortly after their exploration, an uninvited guest invades their personal space. Unsure of what to do, Mira turns to the one source that is bound to have all the answers--a rather unlikely source.Drawn into the life of one cut short by jealousy, Mira doesn't realize that her willingness to help a mere stranger would result in a new beginning for her own family.CORNELIUS is a spine-tingling, paranormal tale that ties a painful history into the present day. Get ready to be chilled to the bone!!!The Plot: Romance Betrayal A Brutal History An unexpected Guest Paranormal Activity˃˃˃ #1 Bestseller in the Teen & Young-adult Multi-generational Family Fiction category.Welcome to the strange world of Mira Cullen.

The Good Liar


Catherine McKenzie - 2018
    She was supposed to be in the building that day. Instead, she stood on the street and witnessed it going down, with her husband and best friend inside. Kate, now living thousands of miles away, fled the disaster and is hoping that her past won’t catch up with her. And Franny, a young woman in search of her birth mother, watched the horror unfold on the morning news, knowing that the woman she was so desperate to reconnect with was in the building.Now, despite the marks left by the tragedy, they all seem safe. But as its anniversary dominates the media, the memories of that terrifying morning become dangerous triggers. All these women are guarding important secrets. Just how far will they go to keep them?

The Slanted Gutter


S. Craig Zahler - 2020
    Others might refer to him as a criminal or a pimp or an extortionist or all of these things, if they knew what he was doing at night. His income is derived from a number of brothels and gambling parlors that are secreted behind iron doors in what appear to be typical apartment buildings. The police—whom he refers to as “the machos”—are oblivious of his enterprises, but he was incarcerated years ago and is uncommonly careful. When Tasking cannot convince someone to do something he wants, he alters that person’s life—elaborately and maliciously—until that person yields to his wishes. He is oblique and autonomous, and he is successful. Daily, his plots, parlors, and prostitutes bring him closer to the large dollar amount that is his ultimate career goal. Things start to change when he walks into the Cherry Red strip club for the first time and meets the dancer, Erin Green. . . .

Ramonst


A.F. Knott - 2016
    Within a balance of terror and innocence, he bears silent witness to ghosts of the dead and the cruelties of a teenage killer while local justice plays out in a community carved from legacies of coal mining and religion.

The Weight of Lies


Emily Carpenter - 2017
    But Meg knows that the glow of their very public life hides a darker reality of lies, manipulation, and the heartbreak of her own solitary childhood. Desperate to break free of her mother, Meg accepts a proposal to write a scandalous, tell-all memoir.Digging into the past—and her mother’s cult classic—draws Meg to Bonny Island, Georgia and an unusual woman said to be the inspiration for the book. At first, island life seems idyllic, but as Meg starts to ask tough questions, disturbing revelations come to light…including some about her mother.Soon, Meg’s search leads her to question the facts of a decades-old murder. She’s warned to leave it alone, but as the lies pile up, Meg knows she’s getting close to finding a murderer. When her own life is threatened, Meg realizes the darkness found in her mother’s book is nothing compared to the chilling truth that lurks off the page.

It Takes A Village To Kill Your Husband


Jethro Collins - 2012
    Hollis Whitney is a successful and fabulous HGTV hostess on the brink of turning 40. She also happens to be madly in love with her carpenter even though she is married to sleazy movie director Frank Fielder. When Hollis discovers that Frank is diddling his latest (and much younger) leading lady, she sets out on a mission to kill him off. Her bitchy Beverly Hills friends catch wind of her plan and insist on helping her plot out the perfect murder. Together the women use their power and connections to help Hollis dig the hole that will bury Frank – figuratively and literally. What follows is a tale of the unique skills each woman brings to the plan and a moving story about long-lost love, finding yourself, onion rings and the importance of pink. Killing your husband could just be the secret to a happy ending.

The Strange Case at Misty Ridge


David Brian - 2017
    He knows he is a lucky man. Life changing injuries forced Jack into semi-retirement, but he now spends his days fulfilling what has become a lifetime passion; investigating reports of paranormal activity. These cases have led to his experiencing a number of unexplained incidents; though he also has his own cross to bear when it comes to the bizarre. Since the accident which almost ended him, Jack has developed a tendency to experience out-of-body events, and these unaccountable bouts of astral projection are now presenting questions of their own.When a young woman turns up at Jack's door, claiming her home is infested with troublesome spirits, his investigation leads to a haunted cottage, the restless dead, and the revelation of a maleficent force that will forever change Jack's perception of reality.

The Apology Project


Jeanette Escudero - 2021
    She’s been fired for not compromising her principles in a high-profile case and then punching her partner in the nose for the misogynistic comment he made in retort (not her finest moment). Leaving a career that gave her purpose, Amelia can only ask, What next?Let it be better than her epic failure of a fortieth birthday party: an open bar full of no-shows except for John Ellis, a total stranger and the new associate at her ex-firm. As it turns out, though, he’s very good company—and a wake-up call. With the help of John and a lot of champagne, Amelia considers the people she’s wronged, from old besties to former boyfriends to coworkers. Amelia resolves to make amends—to those who really deserve it.One apology at a time, Amelia’s looking at the choices she’s made in the past, the new ones she’s making with John, and those she’s making for herself. What next? Maybe a second chance she never expected.

Behind Her Eyes


Sarah Pinborough - 2017
    On a rare night out, she meets a man in a bar and sparks fly. Though he leaves after they kiss, she’s thrilled she finally connected with someone.When Louise arrives at work on Monday, she meets her new boss, David. The man from the bar. The very married man from the bar…who says the kiss was a terrible mistake but who still can’t keep his eyes off Louise.And then Louise bumps into Adele, who’s new to town and in need of a friend, but she also just happens to be married to David. David and Adele look like the picture-perfect husband and wife, but then why is David so controlling, and why is Adele so scared of him?As Louise is drawn into David and Adele’s orbit, she uncovers more puzzling questions than answers. The only thing that is crystal clear is that something in this marriage is very, very wrong, but Louise can’t guess how wrong―and how far a person might go to protect their marriage’s secrets.

The Night Olivia Fell


Christina McDonald - 2019
    And pregnant.A search for the truth. A lifetime of lies.In the small hours of the morning, Abi Knight is startled awake by the phone call no mother ever wants to get: her teenage daughter Olivia has fallen off a bridge. Not only is Olivia brain dead, she’s pregnant and must remain on life support to keep her baby alive. And then Abi sees the angry bruises circling Olivia’s wrists.When the police unexpectedly rule Olivia’s fall an accident, Abi decides to find out what really happened that night. Heartbroken and grieving, she unravels the threads of her daughter’s life. Was Olivia’s fall an accident? Or something far more sinister?Christina McDonald weaves a suspenseful and heartwrenching tale of hidden relationships, devastating lies, and the power of a mother’s love. With flashbacks of Olivia’s own resolve to uncover family secrets, this taut and emotional novel asks: how well do you know your children? And how well do they know you?