Book picks similar to
Blood Oath by William W. Johnstone


horror
william-w-johnstone
thriller
serial-killer

First Project Gutenberg Collection of Edgar Allan Poe


Edgar Allan Poe - 2009
    You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

One by One


Robert Enright - 2015
    Daily Muay Thai training sessions with his best friend, a progressive career as a mechanic and married to Helen, the love of his life. All of it comes to an end on a rainy saturday night in London. When Helen is ripped from the world by the notorious Drayton family on a visit to the capital and the police, including the prodigal Officer Starling, do little to bring them to justice, Lucas embarks on a rain soaked London to put things right himself. As the body count rises and the ripple effects of the escalating violence reaches further than he could have imagined, Lucas has to confront his dark past, his continuous grief, a nationwide police hunt and, of course, the Draytons.... One by One. A riveting story of revenge and redemption with hard-hitting action and heart-wrenching grief, One by One is a must for fans of Crime Thrillers.

Fragment


Warren Fahy - 2009
    . . an ecosystem that could topple ours like a house of cards. The time is now. The place is the Trident, a long-range research vessel hired by the reality TV show Sealife. Aboard is a cast of ambitious young scientists. With a director dying for drama, tiny Henders Island might be just what the show needs. Until the first scientist sets foot on Henders—and the ultimate test of survival begins . . .For when they reach the island’s shores, scientists are utterly unprepared for what they find—creatures unlike any ever recorded in natural history. This is not a lost world frozen in time, an island of mutants, or a lab where science has gone mad: this is the Earth as it might have looked after evolving on a separate path for half a billion years.Soon the scientists will stumble on something more shocking than anything humanity has ever encountered: because among the terrors of Henders Island, one life form defies any scientific theory—and must be saved at any cost. International Thriller Writers nominee Best First Novel

Chained Guilt


Terry Keys - 2015
    A fifteen-year veteran of the Houston Police Department, Porter was one of the best serial killer detectives in the country, his talents known worldwide. The recently promoted officer couldn’t ask for much more. He was husband to one of the hottest women on the planet, former-model-turned-news-anchor Miranda Porter. He also had two beautiful daughters. Yes, life was good . . . or so it seemed. A cunning serial killer was on the prowl, brutally killing every child he could get his hands on. Porter was hot on his trail, but the killer was an expert – no mistakes. A late night of work, a storm and a car accident would lead David head first into another case – a kidnapping – and this time it was personal. Could there be a connection between the two? David was staring face-first down the barrel of both cases and time was running out. Does Detective Porter have what it takes to bring these criminals to justice? Will the good life he once enjoyed elude him forever? Only time will tell.

The Essence of Evil


Rob Sinclair - 2019
    He’s a murderer.He’s your twin. When D.I Dani Stephens returns to work after the attack that almost ended her life, she’s quickly plunged into a horrific new case, as dead bodies are discovered on the streets of Birmingham. But with no link between the victims, Dani has to get inside a killer’s mind - so turns to the murderer she knows best. Her own twin brother… But what makes a psychopath? Can understanding her twin help her find a murderer who leaves no trace? As the circle closes on Dani, the clock is ticking and she needs a breakthrough – before she becomes the latest victim. A heart-stopping crime thriller that fans of Peter James and Mark Billingham won’t be able to put down.

The Watcher


Jo Robertson - 2011
    Working with a single-minded tenacity, she sets out to prove it.Deputy Sheriff Ben Slater hides his personal pain behind the job, but Kate's arrival in his county knocks his world on its axis. He wants to believe her wild theory, but the idea of a serial killer with the kind of pathology she proposes is too bizarre.Together they work to find a killer whose roots began in a small town in Bigler County, but whose violence spread across the nation. A Janus-like killer, more monster than man, he fixates on Kate. The killer wants nothing more than to kill the "purple-eyed girl again."

Bottom Feeders


Jerry Roth - 2020
    Noticing a sudden change in her son’s behavior, and his horrifying drawings of murders no child should ever witness, she must decide if her abusive ex-husband is the cause. Supernatural events begin to transpire with all signs leading to the town’s prison and its poisonous past. With children mysteriously disappearing from the community, Jenny has little time to prove he’s the killer before her son becomes his next victim.A decaying prison hides a dark secret. Robert Deville, the youngest prison warden in the history of the state, never expected to feel a supernatural connection with a prison. After discovering a diary, Robert learns a prisoner, thought to be the Devil, was hidden away under his feet. Was this prisoner responsible for a fire that killed hundreds of prisoners? Did he play a part in the murder of a local family years earlier? Robert must learn the prisoner’s true identity and unravel his mystery. Why hasn’t he aged in decades? Was the prisoner locked away for his protection or ours?

Burn the Rabbit: Rabbit in Red Volume Two


Joe Chianakas - 2016
    He's looking forward to learning the craft, renewing last year's friendships, and above all, to seeing Jaime, and finally asking her to be his girlfriend.But before he even gets to see her, one of their own is violently attacked. JB goes on the hunt, and the students learn about his troubled past, which changes their views of him forever. As their project, they create Rabbit in Red's most terrifying and disturbing challenge yet, Hellfire, and use it to recruit a new class of horror students.Then the bodies start piling up, and the mysteries become more and more dangerous. Is this another one of JB's dark games-within-a-game, or will Rabbit in Red--and everyone in it--burn in the end

Give the Devil His Due (The Sanheim Chronicles Book 3)


Rob Blackwell - 2013
    Quinn O'Brion and Kate Tassel, two small-town journalists, became the Prince of Sanheim and used that power to defeat a serial killer.In Band of Demons, Quinn and Kate battled a new threat, two legendary creatures who had already destroyed everyone in their path. But Kate and Quinn's victory came at a heavy price. In Give the Devil His Due, Kate's only hope to save Quinn is to trust the man who took him from her. Don't miss the epic finale to the trilogy that has readers raving about its great characters, plot twists and deft combination of urban fantasy, mystery and suspense.The Lord Sanheim rules forever...

Death in Nostalgia City


Mark S. Bacon - 2014
    Nostalgia City is the ultimate resort for anyone who wants to visit the past. A meticulous recreation of an entire small town from the early 1970s, it’s complete with period cars, music, clothes, shops, restaurants, hotels—the works. The relaxed theme-park atmosphere is just what Lyle needs—until rides are sabotaged and tourists killed. Then park founder, billionaire “Max” Maxwell, drafts Lyle into investigating—unofficially. As the violence escalates and employees get rattled, Lyle gets help. Kate Sorensen, the park’s PR director—and former college basketball player—becomes another incognito investigator. Except that she’s six-foot-two-and-a-half-inches tall and drop-dead gorgeous. So much for incognito. Together, Lyle and Kate unravel a conspiracy of corporate greed and murder.

The Straw Men


Michael Marshall - 2002
    . . if you've ever known fear. In Palmerston, Pennsylvania, two men in long coats walk calmly into a crowded fast-food restaurant--then, slowly and methodically, gun down sixty-eight people. They take time to reload. On the Promenade of Santa Monica, California, a teenage girl gives sightseeing tips to a distinguished English tourist. She won't be going home tonight. In Dyersburg, Montana, a grief-stricken son tries to make sense of the accident that killed his parents--then finds a note stuffed in his father's favorite chair. It reads, "We're not dead."Three seemingly unrelated events, these are the first signs of an unimaginable network of fear that will lead one unlikely hero to a chilling confrontation with The Straw Men. No one knows who they are--or why they kill. But they must be stopped. Michael Marshall's electrifying debut novel is an instant masterpiece of modern suspense. An epic thriller for anyone who has feared that someone is watching us.

The 7th Victim


Alan Jacobson - 2008
    His brutal murders confound the local task force, despite the gifted profiling skills of Special Agent Karen Vail. But along with Vail’s insight and expertise comes considerable personal and professional baggage. On leave pending a review of her assault on her abusive ex-husband, Vail must battle forces determined to bring her down, as she fights to find Dead Eyes before he murders more young women. But the seventh victim is the key to all that stirs this killer...the key that will unlock secrets perhaps too painful for Vail to bear. These are secrets that threaten to destroy her, secrets that will bring down her storied career. For Karen Vail, the truth rests at the heart of a lie. And uncovering it could get her killed...With material meticulously researched during seven years of study with the Bureau’s vaunted profiling unit, Alan Jacobson brings refreshing realism and unprecedented accuracy to his pages.The 7th Victim is a page-turner as only Alan Jacobson can write, with a stunning twist of an ending that will satisfy even the most discerning thriller reader.

Total Victim Theory


Ian Ballard - 2013
    Puzzling over the document's sinister entries, Jake pieces together a story of mass murder near the Texas-Mexico border two decades before. If Jake's theory is correct, the names listed on the ledger's final page are the victims of a previously unknown serial killer. Leads are scarce until a gruesome new crime scene, deep in the Mexican desert, shows a chilling connection to the border deaths of long ago.

The Pendergast Files: (Relic, Reliquary)


Douglas Preston - 2017
    Hidden deep beneath Manhattan lies a warren of tunnels, sewers, and galleries, mostly forgotten by those who walk the streets above. There lies the ultimate secret of the Museum Beat.Relic — Just days before a massive exhibition opens at the popular New York Museum of Natural History, visitors are being savagely murdered in the museum's dark hallways and secret rooms. Autopsies indicate that the killer cannot be human...Reliquary —When two grotesquely deformed skeletons are found deep in the mud off the Manhattan shoreline, museum curator Margo Green is called in to aid the investigation. Margo must once again team up with police lieutenant D'Agosta and FBI agent Pendergast, as well as the brilliant Dr. Frock, to try and solve the puzzle. Books by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child The Pendergast Series Relic Reliquary Other books Mount Dragon Books by Douglas Preston The Kraken Project Impact Blasphemy The Monster of Florence The Codex Jennie At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

The Sculptor


Gregory Funaro - 2009
    In death, they are perfect works of art--killed, preserved, and carefully molded into replicas of Michelangelo's most celebrated creations. Only The Sculptor can bring forth their true beauty and teach the world to appreciate his gift.He Is The MasterFBI Special Agent Sam Markham has a reputation for tracking serial killers, but this artful adversary is meticulous, disciplined, and more ruthless than any he's encountered. The only clue is a note dedicating the latest "statue" to Cathy Hildebrant, an art historian who shares Sam's fear that the killing has just begun.And She Is The Perfect SubjectIn a quiet Rhode Island town, The Sculptor shapes his latest macabre creation, waiting for Cathy to draw nearer so that his message can be understood at last. And the only way to save her is for Sam to unlock a psychopath's twisted mind before his final, terrifying masterpiece is revealed. . ."Funaro provides clever plotting and plenty of suspense." --John Lutz, New York Times bestselling author "Fast-paced, exciting. . .Funaro delivers gasp-out-loud terror and relentless suspense. A genuine page-turner!" --Kevin O'Brien, New York Times bestselling author"It reminded me of why I loved Silence of the Lambs so much." --Gregg Olsen "A stone cold thrill ride! Unique and unexpected twists make this one a keeper!" –Lisa Jackson, New York Times bestselling author