Book picks similar to
The Darkest Heart by Dan Smith
thriller
fiction
signed-by-author
books-set-in-south-america
South of Good (Hardin Steel #1)
Randall Reneau - 2014
Twice divorced, with a bit of a drinking problem, he’s now dating Rory Roughton, a fiery sixth-generation Texan who’s as rich as she is beautiful—and hell-bent on keeping Steel on the straight and narrow. But then his best friend, Wes Stoddard, is nearly shot down flying in a load of pot, Rory is kidnapped by a Russian mercenary working for the most dangerous cartel in Mexico, and the Cuban Mafia decides they’d like the former DEA agent—dead. Steel is forced to take unsanctioned, unconventional—and mostly illegal—action in order to save himself and those closest to him . . .
Last Bird Singing
Jane Holland - 2015
But her days are running out. Perhaps some lives are not worth saving ... A dark and disturbing psychological thriller set in Newcastle of the nineties, from the author of GIRL NUMBER ONE and MIRANDA. A gritty urban read, this contains graphic language and scenes of violence.
The History Teacher
Susan Bacon - 2019
Nearby, a CIA officer lies buried under two feet of snow. Their secret meeting—sabotaged. When Emma Quinn gets a call in her Manhattan apartment—your grandmother, found dead—she has no reason to suspect foul play. But she is drawn into an intrigue that harks back to the beginnings of the Cold War—and forced to confront the truth about her family and history as we know it.
Scorpion Trail
Geoffrey Archer - 1995
Though he is an aid worker, the secret service minders who have protected him for twenty years have reactivated him: they want information about the man who perpetrated a massacre in a Muslim village in Bosnia. His target is the most ruthless killer in the whole war zone: Milan Pravic, codename the Scorpion. And the only eyewitness to the massacre is a twelve-year-old girl whom Pravic will do anything to silence-
Wolf Kill
Cary J. Griffith - 2013
Sam left the family farm some 20 years ago. He found solace in nature and built a respected career as a special agent for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. His experiences have given him a penchant for understanding predators--a skill he'll need, now, more than ever.After his father is killed in a hunting accident, Sam at last returns to northern Minnesota to fulfill his mother's dying wish. But all is not as it seems. A bizarre wolf attack on local livestock leads Sam to a series of clues that could change everything he knows--or thinks he knows--about the town, his family, and himself.It is a case unlike any he's worked before. His knowledge of frigid winters, wolves, and wilderness will be put to the test, as he tries to solve the case--and stay alive.
The Timeweaver's Wager
Axel Blackwell - 2016
Eight years ago, Connie Salvatore was savagely murdered here. Glen has spent his life seeking redemption, haunted by the knowledge that he might have been able save her. The time has come to let go of his past and move on with his life. But as he prepares to do so, an old friend offers Glen the redemption he has always sought – a chance to relive that horrible night and change the past. All he has to do... is die.
False Prophet
Richard Davis - 2016
He will do anything to save himWhen a rogue cult turns deadly, the FBI call on former conman Agent Saul Marshall. FALSE PROPHET introduces a gripping new series from thriller writer Richard DavisMarshall is soon drawn into a cat and mouse chase with the leader of the cult, Ivan Drexler. As the scale of Drexler’s terrorist ambition becomes ever clearer, news arrives that he has taken Marshall’s son hostage. Removed from the line of duty, he must work alone, off-grid.As the attacks intensify, Saul will stop at nothing to defeat Drexler.But the FBI are questioning Saul’s own part in the carnage. He must work fast to save both his country and his life. Can Saul stop the carnage before it’s too late? And can he save his son?As wave after wave of attacks break, the clock is ticking for Saul.Fast-paced, relentless and brutally exciting, FALSE PROPHET marks the entrance of a major new thriller talent. For readers of Lee Child, David Baldacci and Michael Connolly, it will leave your heart pounding.
Breakaway: Clan of the Ice Mountains
C.S. Bills - 2012
The Warming is coming. The ocean ice they have lived and hunted on for generations is melting, and they must flee to the safety of an unknown land before they all drown. In this powerful tale of survival at the end of an Ice Age, the young hunter, Attu, must choose between saving his clan or saving Rika, the golden-eyed healer he is forbidden to love.Show more Show less --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Devil's Harbor
Alex Gilly - 2015
As Marine Interdiction Agents for Customs and Border Protection, the two hunt drug smugglers, human traffickers, and other criminals who hide in the vastness of the waters surrounding southern California.One night, Finn and Diego track a phantom boat off the Los Angeles coast, but it disappears before they can intercept it. They find a dead body in its wake, ravaged by sharks. Their investigation into the floater stalls when Finn is accused of using excessive force following the death of a suspected drug smuggler.Then Diego is murdered—and Finn is the number-one suspect. As he races to find the real killer and save his marriage, Finn is forced to partner with Linda Blake, the desperate captain of the Pacific Belle and mother of Lucy, a very sick little girl, to attempt the one thing he has devoted his life to stopping.In order to clear his name and save a child's life, Finn must smuggle narcotics by sea into the United States…and avoid the net that his CBP colleagues have cast for him.
Forbidden Room
Joanne Lewis - 2013
Murder? Suicide? Was that Uncle Charlie running from the scene? The children refuse to speak to the police and the crime is never solved.Flash forward to the present and Sara – now an adult and the heiress to a very large fortune - is accused of killing Uncle Charlie. Soldier Boy has disappeared.New attorney Michael Tucker has few clients, yearns to be like his famous grandmother and cannot afford to move out of his parents’ home. When Sara hires Michael, he gets the chance to defend an innocent person, a beautiful lover and notoriety like his grandmother. But is it more than he bargained for? Is Sara innocent or is she really a murderer?Forbidden Room, a murder mystery, begins in the courtroom on the last day of Sara’s murder trial. The foreperson reads from the verdict form. “In The People of New York vs. Sara Goldstein, the defendant is found….”Sara awakens in a hospital room where she was taken after fainting. Michael is by her side. Court is in recess until the following day. The verdict has not yet been announced. Told from the points of view of both Sara and Michael, Forbidden Room unfolds in complicated layers until the verdict is pronounced and Uncle Charlie’s murderer is revealed.
Very Nearly Dead
A.K. Reynolds - 2019
At the age of 16, she was in a gang of youths that committed a horrendous crime. As members of the gang start being killed one by one, Jasmine fears for her life. Desperate to uncover who is responsible for the murders, Jasmine starts to investigate. But can she uncover the truth before it’s too late?
Very Nearly Dead is a gripping and suspenseful psychological thriller with an ending you won't see coming. The perfect read for fans of authors like K.L. Slater, Mark Edwards and C.L. Taylor.
Menagerie
E. Stuart Marlowe - 2014
They belong to the world of storybooks and legends. Or so you have been led to believe. For the past twenty years, Gomer Horsenick has been building the world's strangest zoo. He and his ragtag group of men have explored the globe, collecting monsters of the sea, sand, sky and sewers. And now the zoo is ready to open. But not if Juniper Lowery can stop him. A fervent animal activist, Juniper gets wind of Gomer’s intentions and makes it her mission to set these creatures free. When her plan backfires, the monsters flee, descending upon the nearby town. A horrific nightmare of chaos and destruction ensues. It is up to Juniper and Gomer to reconcile their differences and save the city before the terror spreads.
A Child for the Devil
Conrad Jones - 2013
There's an odd shift of perspective that somewhat breaks the fourth wall and this may upset the suspension of disbelief for some readers. It's a unique plot mechanic though and although it wasn't entirely necessary it didn't disrupt the actual story. After the initial and shocking chapter, the story settles down and slowly unfolds as secrets spill. There is potential to create a larger story, yet Jones keeps it tightly focused and grounded because of it. It also keeps its cards very close to its chest in regards to exactly which genre it falls in to, so read with an open mind and enjoy the misdirection. A great read which thrills, captivates and shocks in equal measure. When an author is asked to help the police with the investigation into a double murder by identifying occult symbols, which had been carved into the victims, he is plunged into nightmare and forced to go on the run. Hunted by law and a powerful cult, he has to stay one step ahead to survive.
Secrets of the Kill
Lawrence Kelter - 2014
Mather, who’s spent fighting time in Afghanistan, is a delightful heroine. She gets on well with her live-in love, Liam, a meteorologist, and they both share a cottage in Huntington, with her mother Grace. Chloe’s feisty and smart, and it takes her no time to find out the name of the homicide victim, a young woman whose dismembered torso has been accidentally speared one night by a guy into illegal fishing. It turns out that the woman, Rachel Rabin, was working for Israeli intelligence in an office not far from JFK that fronts as a freight transport business. In reality, the place manages an operation run by The Mob, an exchange program – heroin for guns that are sent to a well-heeled sheik planning to kill thousands of Jews in New York. The most engaging parts of the novel involve put-down exchanges between her and her FBI partner, the fast-mouth, equally funny Dominic Cabrera (he calls her “Gumdrop”) who matches her, insult for insult. No romance, but lots of affection and mutual respect. Meanwhile, another kind of adventure has kicked in: an airplane in distress. The pilot of an incoming Israeli Air Force Gulfstream radios JFK that his co-pilot is ill, but soon he, too, falls unconscious. A lone passenger, a top intelligence agent on his way to find out what happened to Rachel, takes over and lands the plane. These chapters, though exciting, seem removed from the Chloe-centered ones, especially as the narrative becomes more ideological – terrorists vs. Israel. Everything is explained eventually, including some simulation technology. Secrets of the Kill is a fast-moving romp. Kelter, who has a fine comic sense, should roll it out without distraction next time and stay away from international scenarios that in real life often seem stranger – and more “secretive” than fiction. A mutilated body has been discovered; a body not meant to be found, but now that it has, Pandora’s box is open and secrets never to be learned have been revealed. An Israeli woman living in New York has been murdered. She has been raped and butchered; an outrage that ignites a fuse that burns all the way back to Tel Aviv. Enter FBI Agent Chloe Mather, a hard-charging ex-Marine who has no sympathy for the kind of maggot who could commit such a violent atrocity. A veteran of the war in Afghanistan, she was one of the first woman Marines to be deployed into an active combat area. She struggles with PTSD and the consequences of a fatherless childhood, yet this is a woman who accepts no pity and operates according to a moral code that is second to none. She’ll stop at nothing to find the psychopath responsible for this unspeakable crime. In Secrets of the Kill, Mather and this code will face the ultimate test. What begins as a challenging homicide becomes more, much more, and Mather is pulled into an investigation that involves the mob, Israeli intelligence, and a radical terrorist faction. They say that blood is thicker than water but is it thicker than the bonds of patriotism? Mather will ponder this question and many others as she fights to bring an innocent woman’s murderer to justice, and prevent a geopolitical atrocity from taking place on American shores.
Bridge Through Time
Scott Spotson - 2014
Max's son, Dr. Kyle Thorning, is now a high particle physicist at CERN in Switzerland. Meanwhile, after First Contact, powerful aliens with four arms and four legs, named Darsians, are taking control of the planet, with the muted subservience of its human population due to the astounding technological advances that the aliens introduce. Kyle has a powerful weapon—a new Time Travel machine—and must decide to travel to his father's old parallel universe, where he doesn't even exist, or confront the aliens in his home universe.