Book picks similar to
The Carnage Account by Ben Lieberman


mystery
first-reads
armchair-new-england
guilty-pleasure

The Remains


Vincent Zandri - 2010
    Vowing to keep it a secret the two grow up struggling with their past and their belief in God. Thirty years later their attacker is released from prision. One of the twins is dead from cancer, the remaining twin must face her biggest fear and face a killer who wants her dead. The Remains will test your faith and will bring you through the question of why bad things happen to good people.

Terminated


Ray Daniel - 2014
    Now, six months later, another software engineer is dead, bringing new clues to light in Carol’s cold case. Shocked by the brutal violence he’s witnessed, Tucker is determined to track down the truth behind the killings—no matter what the cost. Hired as a consultant by his old company, Tucker discovers their most important project is in danger of being corrupted . . . and there are people willing to kill to get their hands on it.

The Death of Danny Daggers


Haydn Wilks - 2015
    The last few days of summer.Danny Daggers is about to die. He just doesn’t realise it yet.A Leeds University student with a very popular YouTube channel, Danny Daggers is taking his alcohol-downing stunts on tour. He’s about to find out that not everyone’s a fan.Ji Eun is a Korean student doing work experience at the South Wales Post.Rory Gallagher is the alcoholic veteran journo who’s mentoring her.Carnage in Cardiff might be just what they need to begin and revive their respective careers.Tom and Joseph work at one of Cardiff’s many call centres.Tom is fed up of working boring jobs and living for the weekend.Joseph is just happy to have a job.Then there’s the Amstell brothers.Simon’s just escaped from prison. And he happens to be the father of Joseph’s girlfriend’s son.And his brothers happen to be psychopaths.These stories collide and intersect over a frantic few days of heavy drinking, drugs and ultraviolence, set against a backdrop of dystopian modern Britain.

Leave No Trace


Mindy Mejia - 2018
    Ten years ago a man and his son trekked into this wilderness and never returned.Search teams found their campsite ravaged by what looked like a bear. They were presumed dead until a decade later...the son appeared. Discovered while ransacking an outfitter store, he was violent and uncommunicative and sent to a psychiatric facility. Maya Stark, the assistant language therapist, is charged with making a connection with their high-profile patient. No matter how she tries, however, he refuses to answer questions about his father or the last ten years of his lifeBut Maya, who was abandoned by her own mother, has secrets, too. And as she’s drawn closer to this enigmatic boy who is no longer a boy, she’ll risk everything to reunite him with his father who has disappeared from the known world.

Hiding in Sunshine


John Stuart - 2012
    HIDING IN SUNSHINE celebrates one family’s abiding courage in the face of abject treachery -- and a young girl’s faith in the triumph of the truth.

Mortal Ambitions


Patrick Philippart - 2012
    But when the suave politician vacationing next door becomes the victim of a robbery—and kills the intruder in self-defense—Boizot gets an unexpected scoop.As Boizot dives into the investigation, however, it’s clear the politician isn’t telling the whole truth. Worse, the police can’t identify the thief’s dead body but seem willing to close the case anyway. As Boizot scrambles to uncover the true motives behind the crime, he reveals hints of a monstrous cover-up involving a French mining company with shadowy dealings in Africa.Soon, the journalist is scoring his biggest headlines ever and getting cozy with a mysterious blonde who could be part of the conspiracy. As his editor begs for more revelations, and as the dead bodies continue to pile up, Boizot must decide whom he can trust—and how much he’s willing to risk to get the real story.

Grist Mill Road


Christopher J. Yates - 2018
    Now she wants justice. But is she blind to the truth?Christopher J. Yates’s cult hit Black Chalk introduced that rare writerly talent: a literary writer who could write a plot with the intricacy of a brilliant mental puzzle, and with characters so absorbing that readers are immediately gripped. Yates’s new book does not disappoint. Grist Mill Road is a dark, twisted, and expertly plotted Rashomon-style tale. The year is 1982; the setting, an Edenic hamlet some ninety miles north of New York City. There, among the craggy rock cliffs and glacial ponds of timeworn mountains, three friends—Patrick, Matthew, and Hannah—are bound together by a terrible and seemingly senseless crime. Twenty-six years later, in New York City, living lives their younger selves never could have predicted, the three meet again—with even more devastating results.

You Were Made for This


Michelle Sacks - 2018
    and friendship. Doting wife, devoted husband, cherished child. Merry, Sam, and Conor are the perfect family in the perfect place. Merry adores the domestic life: baking, gardening, caring for her infant son. Sam, formerly an academic, is pursuing a new career as a filmmaker. Sometimes they can hardly believe how lucky they are. What perfect new lives they've built.When Merry's childhood friend Frank visits their Swedish paradise, she immediately becomes part of the family. She bonds with Conor. And with Sam. She befriends the neighbors, and even finds herself embracing the domesticity she's always seemed to scorn.All their lives, Frank and Merry have been more like sisters than best friends. And that's why Frank soon sees the things others might miss. Treacherous things, which are almost impossible to believe when looking at this perfect family. But Frank, of all people, knows that the truth is rarely what you want the world to see.

The Caretakers


Eliza Maxwell - 2020
    But there’s no escaping the past in this chilling novel from the bestselling author of The Unremembered Girl. Filmmaker Tessa Shepherd helped free a man she believed was wrongly imprisoned for murder. When he kills again, Tessa’s life is upended.She’s reeling with guilt, her reputation destroyed. Worse, Tessa’s mother has unexpectedly passed away, and her sister, Margot, turns on her after tensions from their past escalate. Hounded by a bullying press, Tessa needs an escape. That’s when she learns of a strange inheritance bequeathed by her mother: a derelict and isolated estate known as Fallbrook. It seems like the perfect refuge.A crumbling monument to a gruesome history, the mansion has been abandoned by all but two elderly sisters retained as caretakers. They are also guardians of all its mysteries. As the house starts revealing its dark secrets, Tessa must face her fears and right the wrongs of her past to save herself and her relationship with Margot. But nothing and no one at Fallbrook are what they seem.

The Passenger


Lisa Lutz - 2016
    I didn’t have anything to do with Frank’s death. I don’t have an alibi, so you’ll have to take my word for it...Forty-eight hours after leaving her husband’s body at the base of the stairs, Tanya Dubois cashes in her credit cards, dyes her hair brown, demands a new name from a shadowy voice over the phone, and flees town. It’s not the first time.She meets Blue, a female bartender who recognizes the hunted look in a fugitive’s eyes and offers her a place to stay. With dwindling choices, Tanya-now-Amelia accepts. An uneasy―and dangerous―alliance is born.It’s almost impossible to live off the grid today, but Amelia-now-Debra and Blue have the courage, the ingenuity, and the desperation, to try. Hopscotching from city to city, Debra especially is chased by a very dark secret…can she outrun her past?

One Perfect Lie


Lisa Scottoline - 2017
    He’s applying for a job as a teacher and varsity baseball coach at the local high school, and he looks perfect, on paper. But his name is an alias, his resume is false, and everything about him is a lie. And he has a secret plan - for which he needs a pawn on the baseball team.Susan Sematov loves her younger son Raz, the quirky and free-spirited pitcher of the team. But Raz’s adored father died only a few months ago, and the family is grief-stricken. Secretly, Raz is looking to fill the Daddy-shaped hole in his heart.Heather Larkin is a struggling single mother who’s dedicated to her only son Justin, the quiet rookie on the team. But Justin’s shy and reserved nature renders him vulnerable to attention, including that of a new father-figure.Mindy Kostis is the wife of a busy surgeon and the queen bee of the baseball boosters, where her super-popular son Evan is the star catcher. But she doesn’t realize that Evan’s sense of entitlement is becoming a full-blown case of affluenza, and after he gets his new BMW, it’s impossible to know where he’s going – or whom he’s spending time with.The lives of these families revolve around the baseball team – and Chris Brennan. What does he really want? How far will he go to get it? Who among them will survive the lethal jeopardy threatening them, from the shadows?Enthralling and suspenseful, One Perfect Lie is an emotional thriller and a suburban crime story that will keep readers riveted to the shocking end, with killer twists and characters you won’t soon forget.

Miranda Rijks' Psychological Thriller Box Set


Miranda Rijks - 2021
    But things are different behind closed doors - Lydia is desperately unhappy and wants a divorce. Then, shockingly, her husband Adam dies. When her grief eases, Lydia starts online dating and almost immediately meets Patrick. Handsome, successful, loving, he’ll make the perfect second husband. But is Patrick too good to be true? Can you really find prince charming online? Deserve to DieDom and Stacey have the perfect life. Until they meet Tamara. Brilliant, beautiful, she hides a horrifying plan -- one that may destroy them all. And as her plan unfolds, Dom and Stacey find their lives slipping out of control. Taking them from heaven into the deepest, darkest hell. You Are MineRupert has spent years searching for his perfect wife. Now he’s found her. Her name is Charlotte Aldridge and she’s wonderful. A talented artist, modest and beautiful, she’s everything he ever dreamed of. Her hair, her eyes, her mouth - every little detail is perfect. Rupert is confident that when they meet, she’ll fall in love with him just as he has with her. But what if Charlotte can’t see that they’re a perfect fit, that they’re meant for each other? Well, Rupert can be very, very persuasive.

Before You Leap


Keith Houghton - 2016
    But when Scarlett’s killer is released early from prison with a cast-iron alibi, Greg realizes that his past is about to explode into his present, with terrifying consequences.To expose the truth he must open up old wounds. As a talk therapist, Greg knows all about dark secrets, but when a childhood friendship comes to the fore and the police turn their spotlight on him, the thought of analyzing his own psyche is a disturbing prospect. How far can he trust his own memories?With his life coming apart at the seams, and his grip on reality beginning to unravel, Greg must face the ghosts of his past if he hopes to prove his innocence and live to see another day.

Unpaved Surfaces


Joseph Souza - 2015
    Raphael, Amazon Vine Reviewer. "Souza takes his considerable talents to the next level in Unpaved Surfaces, delivering an emotionally charged, exquisitely tuned suspense story."--Steve Konkoly, bestselling author of The Perseid Collapse Series. Enter into the life of an ideal family--Auggie is a happy nine-year-old boy whose father, Keith, loves him more than anything. Keith's life seems ideal--until one day Auggie vanishes. A year has passed since Keith's son disappeared, and he's haunted by glimpses of his son appearing in his small Maine town. With the investigation at a dead end and his family paralyzed with grief, Keith worries that he's losing his mind. In a thrilling twist, the case turns in a new direction--a direction that could either heal his family or tear them, and the rest of the town, apart.

The Windchime Legacy


A.W. Mykel - 1980
    Mykel came out of nowhere with this brilliantly inventive espionage thriller. It became an overnight, international bestseller...astonishing readers with its daringly imaginative plot, larger-than-life characters, and outstanding action...becoming one of the most entertaining and beloved spy novels of the century. American has a secret: our espionage operations are run by Sentinel, an intelligent super computer that communicates with spies through an implant in their brains that massively expands their intellectual capabilities. But the power comes with a price. The implants are also explosives that Sentinel can ignite at its whim. Now one of Sentinel's creators is defecting to Russia with plans to create a red Sentinel twin and must be stopped. Superspy Justin Chaple is assigned to the mission, pitting him against the KGB's top assassins and, as a shocking conspiracy is revealed, the all-knowing, explosive killer hiding in his own skull.