Book picks similar to
The Lost Story by Amit Goyal
fiction
india
loved-it
suspense
The Lake of Dead Languages
Carol Goodman - 2002
Twenty years ago, Jane Hudson left the Heart Lake School for Girls in the Adirondacks after a terrible tragedy. Now she has returned to the placid, isolated shores of the lakeside school as a Latin teacher, recently separated and hoping to make a fresh start with her young daughter. But ominous messages from the past dredge up forgotten memories that will become a living nightmare.Since freshman year, Jane and her two roommates, Lucy Toller and Deirdre Hall, were inseparable–studying the classics, performing school girl rituals on the lake, and sneaking out after curfew to meet Lucy’s charismatic brother Matt. However, the last winter before graduation, everything changed. For in that sheltered, ice-encrusted wonderland, three lives were taken, all victims of senseless suicide. Only Jane was left to carry the burden of a mystery that has stayed hidden for more than two decades in the dark depths of Heart Lake. Now pages from Jane’s missing journal, written during that tragic time, have reappeared, revealing shocking, long-buried secrets. And suddenly, young, troubled girls are beginning to die again . . . as piece by piece the shattering truth slowly floats to the surface.At once compelling, sensuous, and intelligent, The Lake of Dead Languages is an eloquent thriller, an intricate balance of suspense and fine storytelling that proves Carol Goodman is a rare new talent with a brilliant future.From the Hardcover edition.
Shantaram
Gregory David Roberts - 2003
Shantaram is narrated by Lin, an escaped convict with a false passport who flees maximum security prison in Australia for the teeming streets of a city where he can disappear.Accompanied by his guide and faithful friend, Prabaker, the two enter Bombay's hidden society of beggars and gangsters, prostitutes and holy men, soldiers and actors, and Indians and exiles from other countries, who seek in this remarkable place what they cannot find elsewhere.As a hunted man without a home, family, or identity, Lin searches for love and meaning while running a clinic in one of the city's poorest slums, and serving his apprenticeship in the dark arts of the Bombay mafia. The search leads him to war, prison torture, murder, and a series of enigmatic and bloody betrayals. The keys to unlock the mysteries and intrigues that bind Lin are held by two people. The first is Khader Khan: mafia godfather, criminal-philosopher-saint, and mentor to Lin in the underworld of the Golden City. The second is Karla: elusive, dangerous, and beautiful, whose passions are driven by secrets that torment her and yet give her a terrible power.Burning slums and five-star hotels, romantic love and prison agonies, criminal wars and Bollywood films, spiritual gurus and mujaheddin guerrillas—this huge novel has the world of human experience in its reach, and a passionate love for India at its heart. Based on the life of the author, it is by any measure the debut of an extraordinary voice in literature.
The Stepford Wives
Ira Levin - 1972
It is. For behind the town's idyllic facade lies a terrible secret—a secret so shattering that no one who encounters it will ever be the same.At once a masterpiece of psychological suspense and a savage commentary on a media-driven society that values the pursuit of youth and beauty at all costs, The Stepford Wives is a novel so frightening in its final implications that the title itself has earned a place in the American lexicon.
The Dead Summer
Helen Moorhouse - 2011
Living in a tranquil cottage in the heat of a perfect summer, it seems that all her wishes have come true.Until the noises start.Plagued by mysterious footsteps, scratchings, and crying in the night, Martha is at first unnerved and then terrified. What is happening to her idyllic existence? Is it all her imagination or is someone persecuting her?Little does Martha know but the cottage has witnessed terrible hatred, fear and pain in the past, when two young Irish sisters lived in it. The fate of these girls and the baby born there now casts a dark shadow over Martha and her daughter.Martha begins to unravel the story of the cottage's past, and uncover the terrifying secret that still haunts it. But can she discover the truth in time to keep herself and her little girl safe from the evil that threatens them?
The Front Page Murders
Puja Changoiwala - 2016
Over 21 days five murder cases were discovered that led to the unravelling of a spine-chilling tale of cold-blooded crime. Half-naked bodies; missing suspects; a desperate manhunt; connections with the underworld, police and Bollywood; and a seductress who lured victims - all led to a man named Vijay Palande.Palande, who targeted dreamers, mainly Bollywood aspirants in Mumbai, had an uncomplicated modus operandi - he would befriend the target, gauge his wealth, murder him, hack his body into pieces, and abandon the remains in the Western Ghats. Equipped with the sophistication of Charles Sobhraj, the nonchalance of serial-killer Raman Raghav and the cruelty of Jack the Ripper, Palande had the country hooked.In The Front Page Murders, Puja Changoiwala, who covered the story as it came to light, recounts in gripping detail one of the most sensational cases in India’s recent history and the personalities involved in it. In doing so, she delves into the functioning of daily crime reporting and police investigations, providing startling insights into the worlds of journalism and crime
The Death House
Sarah Pinborough - 2015
until it was unravelled by something as simple as a blood test.Taken from his family, Toby now lives in the Death House: an out-of-time existence far from the modern world, where he, and the others who live there, are studied by Matron and her team of nurses. They're looking for any sign of sickness. Any sign of their wards changing. Any sign that it's time to take them to the sanatorium.No one returns from the sanatorium.Withdrawn from his house-mates and living in his memories of the past, Toby spends his days fighting his fear. But then a new arrival in the house shatters the fragile peace, and everything changes.Because everybody dies. It's how you choose to live that counts.
Gypsy Masala
Preethi Nair - 2000
"Tell me about your dreams, and if you have dared to follow them." This is the challenge for three members of the Vishavan family. Evita (real name Molu, but she's always had a tendency towards the theatrical) is stuck in a 9-to-5 job until she hears the irresistible beat of a drum, summoning her to follow her dream. It takes her to faraway places and people, but the rhythm of change is also to be found closer to home. Sheila and Bali have raised Evita as their own child. Yet their sadness has kept them apart; holding on to their separate secrets, they have rejected the possibility of following any dreams. Neither expects the disruption that follows Evita's return. From remote villages in Kerala to the heart of contemporary London, this is a story of discovery, love, and what might happen if you dare to live your dream.
Crawlspace
Dan Padavona - 2015
After Jerry stumbles delirious from a bloody accident, a beautiful girl rescues the boy and brings him home to her decrepit apartment complex.Soon Jerry discovers a hidden entrance into the attic, a crawlspace through which he can secretly enter any apartment.But he isn't the only person aware of the secret entrance.Crawlspace is a terrifying journey into urban legend, darkness, and murder.
Prisoner of Yakutsk: The Subhash Chandra Bose Mystery Final Chapter
Shreyas Bhave - 2019
Or so it seems.• In 1947, Mr Mrs Singh, an illustrious army couple, both veterans of the Indian National Army, are last seen in Delhi, and then never again.• In 1949, the plane carrying the first deputy Prime Minister of India, Sardar Vallabhai Patel, mysteriously disappears for seven hours.• In 2012, following the fall of WikiLeaks, a female hacker of the notorious X group is on the run as most wanted by everyone from Interpol to the KGB• In 2015, the millionaire CEO of a Fortune 500 company suddenly resigns and vanishes from the public eye.A set of seemingly unconnected disappearances emerge to be woven into a single fabric as the answer to one leads to another… In this riveting narrative, bestselling author Shreyas Bhave, takes the reader on a thrilling adventure to solve the greatest mystery the Indian nation has known.
Sanctuary
Donna Ball - 1991
Legend has it that their home is built on holy ground. Other legends tell of hideous beasts that roam the mountainside, Yeti-like creatures so terrifying that no one has ever dared disturb their sanctuary… until now.First there are random acts of vandalism, then small pets begin to disappear, and then men go into the woods and don’t come back. When Christy’s nightmares begin to suggest that she can actually communicate with the creatures who are wreaking such havoc on their small and vulnerable community, Laura is terrified. Because Christy’s dreams tell her that the monsters are coming for her next.And she is right.Sanctuary is a suspense-filled tale of love, courage and redemption that will take you in its grip from the first page and leave you breathless by the last. Because sometimes the real monsters are the ones you can’t escape, no matter how far you run.
House of Cards
Michael Dobbs - 1989
He has his hands on every secret in politics - and is willing to betray them all to become Prime Minister. Mattie Storin is a tenacious young political correspondent. She faces the biggest challenge of her life when she stumbles upon a scandalous web of intrigue and financial corruption at the very highest levels. She is determined to reveal the truth, but she must risk everything to do so . . .
The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle
Stuart Turton - 2018
again.It is meant to be a celebration but it ends in tragedy. As fireworks explode overhead, Evelyn Hardcastle, the young and beautiful daughter of the house, is killed.But Evelyn will not die just once. Until Aiden – one of the guests summoned to Blackheath for the party – can solve her murder, the day will repeat itself, over and over again. Every time ending with the fateful pistol shot. The only way to break this cycle is to identify the killer. But each time the day begins again, Aiden wakes in the body of a different guest. And someone is determined to prevent him ever escaping Blackheath...
The Neglected Garden
Suzanne Winterly - 2019
A property developer with secrets. Will the restoration of an old walled garden dig up more than they can handle? Ireland, 2010. Gilly Townsend’s beloved landscaping business doesn’t survive the financial crash. Just when she thinks she’ll have to move back home, a profitable project to restore an inspirational walled garden lands in her lap. But she never expected her wealthy boss from London to inspire her as well.Marc Fletcher just wants an escape for him and his four-year-old son. As he tries to forget a dark past, Gilly’s skills in the garden bring light back into his life. As he and his landscaper grow closer, a family shadow threatens everything he holds dear. Amidst increasingly angry blackmail, Marc and Gilly’s love starts to blossom. But when threats transform into criminal action, will the developer’s poisonous past bury Gilly six-feet-under?The Neglected Garden is a standalone novel seeded with intrigue. If you like gutsy heroines, enigmatic heroes, and twists you won't see coming, then you’ll love Suzanne Winterly’s captivating garden mystery.
Buy The Neglected Garden to untangle a romantic mystery thriller today!
Pandaemonium
Christopher Brookmyre - 2009
Scatalogical humour. Razor wit. Convoluted plot. High readability. It's the new Christopher Brookmyre novel.The senior pupils of St Peter's High School are on retreat to a secluded outdoor activity centre, coming to terms with the murder of a fellow pupil through the means you would expect: counselling, contemplation, candid discussion and even prayer - not to mention booze, drugs, clandestine liaisons and as much partying as they can get away with. Not so far away, the commanders of a top-secret military experiment, long-since spiralled out of control, fear they may have literally unleashed the forces of Hell. Two very different worlds are on a collision course, and will clash in an earthly battle between science and the supernatural, philosophy and faith, civilisation and savagery. The bookies are offering evens.