Book picks similar to
The Skin Show by Kristopher Rufty


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A Deadly Vice (DC Jake Tanner, #0.5)


Jack Probyn - 2021
    So when a body is found face-down in the city’s farmlands, head crushed, split in two, Jake jumps at the opportunity. The victim is soon identified as Zeke Harrison. A successful businessman and philanthropist. A man who had it all. But, as the investigation into his death develops, it becomes clear that Zeke had more secrets than success. And he had his debts - debts that got him killed.But now they've been passed on to someone else. And Jake must find out to whom before history repeats itself.

Descendants


Stephen R. King - 2016
    King’s mysterious and thriller packed story vaults. Open up your imagination and let the vivid writing and frightening tales awaken your mind. Scream late into the night with more great horror for all your senses. Evil comes in many forms. Travel through the desert, speak with others from another world, and smell the roses in these incredible journeys and wild realities. WARNING: Not the famous Stephen King from Maine.

Epitaph


Shaun Hutson - 2010
    He trailed his hands across the satin beneath him and to both sides of him and, when he raised his hands, above him too. He knew why it was so dark. He understood why he could see nothing. He realized why he was lying down. He was in a coffin.What would you do?

The Ancient


Muriel Gray - 2000
    They don't think their incantation has worked; but that night a teenage drugrunner is gunned down across their makeshift altar. As his killers walk away, his body stirs. Not because it still contains a spark of life. But because something is stirring beneath it…Port Callao. The MV Lysicrates, a three-quarter-mile long supertanker, is being loaded with hundreds of tonnes of trash. Watching from the bridge, in a bleary state of hungover gloom, is second-in-command Matthew Cotton; more interesting is the arrival of a young American student who has missed the boat she should have been on.They should have paid more attention to the trash.

Dreams the Ragman


Greg F. Gifune - 2011
    But as an alcoholic ravaged with senility, his grandfather’s stories were dismissed as delusions.When years later, murder comes to Derrick’s small hometown, he and his best friend Caleb—both teenage outcasts—discover that the killer is a hobo dressed in rags who rides the rails in and out of town when committing his crimes. They dub him “The Ragman” unaware of just how accurate that nickname may be, but the murders are never solved.As time passes, Derrick weds and settles into a troubled marriage while Caleb moves to New York City and spirals into drug addiction and madness. Thirty years later, in a dying seaside resort town, the killings have begun again. Has The Ragman returned, or is something even more sinister taking place?As Derrick and Caleb meet at the scene of the latest grisly murders, they soon find themselves confronted with an unsolved mystery that has haunted them for decades and an eternal evil they may never be able to escape. The rain falls, darkness descends, a train’s whistle blows, and the Ragman begins to dream…

Wrath Child


Erik Henry Vick - 2020
    DO NOT RESEARCH THESE EVENTS! Think of it as fiction, and nothing more.The Smith has returned, leaving a new trail of gruesome serial murders across Manhattan--all blonde, beautiful, beaten to death with a blacksmith's hammer. Gavin Gregory, an FBI agent who profiles serial killers for the Behavioral Analysis Unit, couldn't capture The Smith the first time around and wants a second stab at catching the killer. The case takes a bizarre turn when Debra Esteves, a psychiatrist from a New York mental hospital, says she knows The Smith's identity.Esteves spins a tale of disturbing horror from her past, claiming The Smith controlled one of her patients through his psychic influence. But Gavin considers himself a rational man. He believes in science over superstition and rejects her version of events.When his wife is kidnapped, Gavin has no choice but to turn to Esteves for help. Can she keep him safe from the devil hunting him long enough to free his wife from the clutches of the killer or will The Smith make him a pawn in future murders?

Grave Girl: The Complete Trilogy


Amy Cross - 2019
    In the center of the village, the local cemetery might at first seem rather ordinary. Old gravestones lean in every direction, watched over by statues of angels. There are rumors, however, that the cemetery in Rippon hides one very dark secret. Could it be that this is where the Devil himself is buried? After running away from home in search of a fresh start, Samantha Marker can't afford to be picky about finding a new job. When she's hired to look after Rippon's cemetery, she thinks she can simply hide away from society and get on with her life. She soon discovers, however, that Rippon has begun to attract some very unwelcome attention. Dark forces are determined to recover the Devil's body, and they'll stop at nothing in their quest. Even if that means bringing about the end of the world. Thrown into a battle she doesn't even understand, Sam finds herself up against demons, ghosts and other nightmares. As if those dangers aren't bad enough, there's also the distinct possibility that all these battles might accidentally cause the Devil to rise from his grave. Even as she tries to save the world, however, Sam also has to deal with the consequences of a terrible mistake that she made long ago. How can she save humanity when she's already abandoned the one person who needs her even more? Grave Girl: The Complete Trilogy is an omnibus edition containing the three books in the Grave Girl trilogy: Grave Girl (2013), Raven Revivals (2014) and The Gravest Girl of All (2018).

The Final Strain: A Post Apocalyptic Survival Thriller (Surviving the Virus Book 9)


Ryan Casey - 2020
    

The Children in the Lake: A Story You Will Never Forget


Mark Edward Hall - 2019
    Nearly a century later there are those who still report seeing the children swimming beneath the surface like elusive dolphins. After losing her husband in a violent car crash, Rachel King and her two young sons venture to Arrowhead Lake to heal. When Rachel discovers that Great Woods Timber is planning to clear-cut this beautiful wilderness she enlists the help of Lilly Bowman and her mysterious father, chief and shaman of the Wabanaki nation. But dark events have been set in motion and Arrowhead Lake is under siege by a sinister force of mercenaries. When Chief Neptune vanishes, Rachel and Lilly call on Seth Ferguson, the local deputy sheriff for help. Together they discover an astonishing truth; a shadowy cabal that will stop at nothing to obtain the secret of Arrowhead Lake, a secret that if unearthed could have far-reaching consequences. When one of Rachel’s sons vanishes in the Lake, she and Lilly embark on a harrowing journey to find him. What they discover is a mind boggling truth that will change their lives forever. *

The Jack Stratton Collection


Christopher Greyson - 2014
    This set contains Girl Jacked, Jack Knifed, Jacks are Wild and Jack and the Giant Killer. The Jack Stratton mystery collection that has 500+ Five-Star reviews with over 200,000 eBooks and paperbacks in distribution. If you love mysteries with action, humor and a dash of romance, try the Jack Stratton Collection today. Girl Jacked Police Officer Jack Stratton is hiding. Hiding from the world. From pain. From the memories of losing his best friend, Chandler, in Iraq. Suffering from PTSD, and isolated from those he cares about, the last thing Jack expects to hear is his foster sister Michelle is gone – Chandler’s sister. The words cut straight to his core. Although the police think she just took off, he knows Michelle would never leave those she loved behind – like he did. Now he must take action, find Michelle and bring her home... or die trying. The first novel in the Jack Stratton Mystery Collection introduces us to handsome rogue, Jack Stratton, and his dark past. With a debt of honor to his dead foster brother, Chandler, Jack’s guilt drives him into a world of deception and lies. As Jack’s walls begin to crumble, he must navigate the quirky characters that seep into the mystery of his foster sister’s disappearance. And in the sleepy community of Darrington, like so many things in this world, nothing is as it appears to be. The hidden mysteries that often go unnoticed begin to emerge as Jack and his new unpredictable sidekick begin to turn over the rocks. Following a trail that has grown cold, Jack must tread carefully to protect his job, his family, and his own life… Jack Knifed Handsome Police Officer Jack Stratton is the “hometown hero cop with a heart of gold.” Constant nightmares have forced him to seek answers about his rough childhood, and the dark secrets that lay hidden there. With Replacement by his side, Jack travels to Hope Falls to solve a murder that occurred before he was born. Everyone in the small town remembers the unsolved murder of Steven Ritter, but after 27 years, no one thought that someone would look into it – They don’t know Jack. Jacks are Wild Handsome, white-knight, Police Officer Jack Stratton is back in this action-packed, thrilling adventure. When his sexy, old flame disappears, no one thinks it’s suspicious except Jack and one unbalanced witness. Jack feels in his gut that something is wrong. He knows that Marisa has a past and if it ever caught up with her – it would be deadly. Determined to buck the critics, and listen to his instincts, he and his young, feisty sidekick plunge ahead and start to track down leads hoping to find Marisa in time. The trail leads them into all sorts of trouble – landing them smack in the middle of an all-out Mob war between the Italian Mafia and the Japanese Yakuza. When evidence surfaces that Marisa was kidnapped, Jack must navigate between the warring parties, assassins, and cold-blooded hit men to outwit the cunning kidnappers before it is too late. As the body count rises, the stakes in this game are life and death – with no rules except one – Jacks are Wild. Jack and the Giant Killer Jack Stratton is back in another action-packed, thrilling adventure. While recovering from a gunshot wound and the loss of his job on the police force, Jack’s romance with feisty Replacement continues to develop. When Replacement gets a seemingly harmless private investigation job—locate the owner of a lost dog—Jack begrudgingly assists. Little do they know that it will place them both into the cross hairs of a merciless serial killer.

एक दिवा विझताना [Ek Diwa Vizatana]


Ratnakar Matkari
    ‘Chauthi khidaki’ is a fantastic scientific tale built around the concept of Time. ‘Porkhel’ uses theanalogy of a childat play with her dolls, to highlight that human beings are mere pawns in the hands of Fate. ‘Sucheta Chakrapani ani Ticha Kokilkanth’ tackles the tangle between an artiste and her art – a fantastic rendering reminiscent of magical realism. Matkari’s stories give us the feeling of entering a jungle at dusk. The reader begins his journey along the border that separates reality from fantasy. Matkari employs different narrative styles and structure to lead the reader along familiar as well as unfamiliar paths in this jungle.While being immensely attractive, this journey takes the reader into ever deeper regions.

My Name Is Mister Grief (Tales of the Unusual)


Luke Smitherd - 2015
    The man who has a tale of his own to tell.A story within a story within a story, MY NAME IS MISTER GRIEF continues the Luke Smitherd tradition of making the reader wonder 'what would I do?' while transporting them to the place where everyone has a secret and the impossible is possible.

Sari Caste


Catherine Kirby - 2001
     Manasa is abandoned by the man she should marry. He marries her sister instead. Meanwhile Manasa finds herself pregnant with his child. She flees her Bengali village wondering where to go. Eventually, she finds herself wandering the streets of Calcutta. Without money or food, life is a daily struggle. Finally, she is taken on by a brothel. She is desperately unhappy until she meets a different sort of man. This man she marries in secret and together they plan her escape from the brothel. Murder, corruption, and intrigue threaten to swallow up the new life they attempt to establish in the beautiful hill country of Darjeeling.

Blue November Storms


Brian James Freeman - 2004
    Twenty years spent living in the shadow of something they did in high school, an event that defined them forever in the minds of everyone in their small town. Now they're returning for what should be a relaxing weekend of hunting and fishing, a chance to reminisce about old times and forget their troubles... but mother nature has other plans in mind. There's a storm brewing. A meteor shower is in the forecast, but it's going to be unlike any event in recorded history. This meteor shower is bringing change to the world, it's awakening the creatures of the forest from their quiet slumber... and before long, the Lightning Five are going to find themselves trapped on the roof of their cabin, with their numbers dwindling and supplies running low... Trapped with no means of escape, the men will have to make some hard choices... like who gets to live and who has to die.

After Darkness Falls - Volume One


Matt Drabble - 2013
    From the painted faces of a child's nightmare to discovering what we really put in our bodies in the name of health. Here are 10 tales to read with the light on.TALE #1 - "Roll up, Roll up"TALE #2 - "Late Shift"TALE #3 - "You call that music?"TALE #4 - "Whose face is this anyway?"TALE #5 - "Pink Bow"TALE #6 - "Careful what you wish for"TALE #7 - "Recycling can be hazardous to your health"TALE #8 - "Mommy's little soldier"TALE #9 - "Trick or Treat"TALE #10 - "You are what you eat"