Book picks similar to
The Alchemist by Ken Goddard


fiction
thriller
mystery
ken-goddard

The Book of Fate


Brad Meltzer - 2006
    None of us knew it was coming."So says Wes Holloway, a young presidential aide, about the day he put Ron Boyle, the chief executive's oldest friend, into the president's limousine. By the trip's end, a crazed assassin would permanently disfigure Wes and kill Boyle. Now, eight years later, Boyle has been spotted alive. Trying to figure out what really happened takes Wes back into disturbing secrets buried in Freemason history, a decade-old presidential crossword puzzle, and a two-hundred-year-old code invented by Thomas Jefferson that conceals secrets worth dying for.

The Mad Girl


Andrew Colvin - 2021
    Her father's abuse dominates Cee Stark's childhood memories, her young mind scarred by the betrayal and trauma. Fearing that life will never improve, she prays for help. After Cee's father and beloved brother are dead from an accident which she feels responsible for, the twelve-year-old turns to her parish priest for forgiveness and comfort. Over the next few years, she falls under the influence of his tortured mind and distorted teachings. Cee's struggle for emotional independence and the priest's desire for control begins a battle of wills. Several bad decisions are made resulting in three acts of violence in Albuquerque in the winter of 2012. Seventeen-year-old Cee is connected to the three victims, and the police follow the threads leading to her. However, the truth is more tangled.The Mad Girl asks the question: Can a teen ever escape her mistakes, now that they have become deadly?

Bleak Harbor


Bryan Gruley - 2018
    Deep down, they think they’re to blame. Summertime in Bleak Harbor means tourists, overpriced restaurants, and the Dragonfly Festival. One day before the much-awaited and equally chaotic celebration, Danny Peters, the youngest member of the family that founded the town five generations ago, disappears. When Danny’s mother, Carey, and stepfather, Pete, receive a photo of their brilliant, autistic, and socially withdrawn son tied to a chair, they fear the worst. But there’s also more to the story. Someone is sending them ominous texts and emails filled with information no one else should have. Could the secrets they’ve kept hidden—even from one another—have led to Danny’s abduction?As pressure from the kidnapper mounts, Carey and Pete must face their own ugly mistakes to find their son before he’s taken from them forever.

Killfile


Christopher Farnsworth - 2016
    He hears the the songs stuck in their heads, their most private traumas and fears, the painful memories they can’t let go. The CIA honed his skills until he was one of their most powerful operatives, but Smith fled the Agency and now works as a private consultant, trying to keep the dark potentials of his gift in check—and himself out of trouble. But now Smith is unexpectedly plunged into dangerous waters when his latest client, billionaire software genius Everett Sloan, hires him to investigate a former employee—a tech whiz kid named Eli Preston—and search his thoughts for some very valuable intellectual property he’s stolen. Before John can probe Preston’s mind, his identity is compromised and he’s on a run for his life with Preston’s young associate, Kelsey. Hunted by shadowy enemies with deep resources and unknown motives, John and Kelsey must go off the grid. John knows their only hope for survival is using his powers to their fullest—even if means putting his own sanity at risk.

The Best Laid Plans


Sidney Sheldon - 1997
    Oliver Russell is fated to rise to the pinnacle of power, President of the United States. She wanted revenge. Leslie Stewart is his betrayed fiancee. Amassing her own media empire, on her fortieth birthday, she looks back. What went wrong?

See Jane Die


Erica Spindler - 2004
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Fatal Flowers


Enes Smith - 1992
    Ellie wonders why the madman let her escape and tell the police every horrible thing she saw. But he's not finished with Ellie yet. Or her baby daughter.

The Dark Fields


Alan Glynn - 2001
    A drug that made you focused, charming, fast, even attractive. Eddie Spinola is on such a drug. It's called MDT-48, and it's Viagra for the brain-a designer drug that's redesigning his life. But while MDT is helping Eddie achieve the kind of success he's only dreamed about, it's also chipping away at his sanity-splitting headaches, spontaneous blackouts, violent outbursts. And now that he's hooked and his supply is running low, Eddie must venture into the drug's dark past to feed his habit. What he discovers proves that MDT, once a dream come true, has become his worst nightmare.

Diary of an Assassin


Victor Methos - 2013
    But the assignment turns out to be a trap and pits him against the deadliest assassin in the world, Gustav Fabrice. A MADMAN WITH NO PURPOSE BUT TO DESTROY...Gustav is cunning, ferocious, and insane. Without the inhibitions a person would feel against extreme violence, Gustav is on a rampage with the death of Isaac Rhett as his only goal. A single police officer from Interpol is the only witness to the monster that's been let loose on society and attempts to track him down before Gustav carries out his mission. A DESPERATE FIGHT FOR SURVIVAL...Rhett's mark turns out to be a congresswoman with no known enemies. Rhett flees with her with Gustav on their heels. But Rhett knows you cannot escape a man like Gustav. At some point, they will have to fight. But there is only one way that Rhett knows to stop Gustav... you must let him kill you first. An action-packed thriller that spans the globe, the new novel from Kindle Top 100 bestselling author Victor Methos is sure to keep you on the edge of your seat.

Stalking Horse


John Francome - 2003
    He's ridden over 1000 winners and landed all the big prizes in the sport - all except one. So he's determined that this season the title of champion jockey will finally be his. But it won't be easy. There's Ben O'Brien, the brilliant young Irish rider in his first full season who already has a lead on Josh in the championship race. And leading trainer Leo Lovall, once Josh's best friend and now his most bitter enemy. There's also someone else with a keen interest in Josh. She's his biggest fan, though he has no idea she exists. And hers is the kind of obsession that will never be satisfied - not even by murder...

Our Wicked Lies


Glede Browne Kabongo - 2021
    With a gorgeous, successful husband who whisks her away on romantic trips, a beautiful home in one of the country's richest zip codes, and two wonderful daughters, life couldn't be better. However, she'll soon discover that an enviable marriage comes at a deadly cost. Who is Faith, and why are dozens of emails between her and Alicia's husband hidden in his draft folder? Why were the messages never sent? As Alicia embarks on a desperate quest to uncover Faith's identity, a shocking death hits close to home and sends her reeling. Was it a tragic accident or cold-blooded murder? In this beautiful town of wealth and privilege, nothing is as it seems, and everyone has something to hide. As Alicia struggles under the weight of dark secrets from her own past, someone knows more than they're saying--someone who knows the truth will come at a devastating price. Emotionally gripping and expertly plotted, this heart-pounding, compulsive read is the perfect domestic thriller for fans of The Wife Between Us, The Husband's Secret and The Couple Next Door.

Too Far Gone


John Ramsey Miller - 2006
    Casey LePointe West is heiress to one of the greatest fortunes in America. Now, as Hurricane Katrina roars toward New Orleans, these two women are finding common ground in a city of ghosts and grandeur...Alexa as the FBI’s representative in a case guaranteed to destroy careers, and Casey as a woman whose husband has gone missing—and who herself may be the next victim of a brilliant manipulator’s rage. From the violent wards of an insane asylum to the primordial Louisiana swamps, Alexa is entering the darkest corners of a deadly mystery, peeling back layers of family secrets, hidden relationships, and a twenty-five-year-old crime. And as a raging hurricane gathers strength, she is plunged into a frantic race against time, in the eye of a storm of violence...and just where a ruthless killer wants her to be.

The Bone Keeper


Luca Veste - 2018
    Your bones he'll keep. Twenty years ago, four teenagers went exploring in the local woods, trying to find to the supposed home of The Bone Keeper. Only three returned. Now, a woman is found wandering the streets of Liverpool, horrifically injured, claiming to have fled the Bone Keeper. Investigating officer DC Louise Henderson must convince skeptical colleagues that this urban myth might be flesh and blood. But when a body is unearthed in the woodland the woman has fled from, the case takes on a much darker tone. The disappeared have been found. And their killer is watching every move the police make.The brilliant new police procedural from Luca Veste, featuring series characters Murphy and Rossi - a guaranteed page-turner.

The King of Torts


John Grisham - 2003
    Clay Carter has been there too long and, like most of his colleagues, dreams of a better job in a real firm. When he reluctantly takes the case of a young man charged with a random street killing, he assumes it is just another of the many senseless murders that hit D.C. every week.As he digs into the background of his client, Clay stumbles on a conspiracy too horrible to believe. He suddenly finds himself in the middle of a complex case against one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, looking at the kind of enormous settlement that would totally change his life--that would make him, almost overnight, the legal profession's newest king of torts...'From the Hardcover edition'

Critical Judgment


Michael Palmer - 1996
    Abby Dolan was on the fast track at a major San Francisco hospital when she made a critical choice: to follow her fiance, Josh Wyler, to the picturesque California town of Patience, where he has a new job with manufacturing giant Colstar. Working in a small-town emergency room, knowing that her every move sparks gossip, Abby nonetheless begins to feel at home - until the first undiagnosable patients start showing up.Abby calls them NIWWs: No Idea What's Wrong. And despite her considerable skills, she can't crack these baffling, seemingly random cases. At the same time, Josh is experiencing blinding headaches and pain-driven episodes of manic, even violent, behavior.Abby wonders whether Colstar could somehow be poisoning the town. Her suspicions are shared by ER colleague Dr. Lew Alvarez, whose investigating committee has shrunk from several dozen members to a cautious three. When Abby finds herself playing a dangerous game of cat and mouse with Colstar's steely head of security, Lew warns her that her predecessor in the ER, a Colstar detractor, died in a dubious climbing accident.But Abby cannot back off. She loses a patient in the ER, the victim of a murderous rage in a normally easygoing man. Another patient nearly dies during a routine diagnostic test. And Abby starts to question everyone and everything in the now hostile town of Patience - while her most dangerous enemy is far closer than she thinks.