Book picks similar to
Temple Mount by Keith Raffel


thriller
next
fiction-action-adventure
t

If I Could Remember


Vedant Saxena - 2021
    Only to find it was a dream. Or was it? He can’t differentiate between reality and dreams. And his memories lapses aren’t helping him either. Haunted by a past he can’t remember about, he stands at odd with the society, and his family—who favours their prodigal son, Yash.UNTIL! He discovers the session tapes of his classmate Ananya, in his psychiatrist father’s office. What’s in those tapes that incite fear in the school diva? When the tapes go missing from the office, he believes something sinister is being protected. Meanwhile, he is able to win the trust of Ananya, who reluctantly bares her traumatic past, revealing she was—RAPED & MOLESTED. It compels him to seek justice for her. But, the evils bestowed upon her stretch deep, even forcing her to—KILL.Will he be able to save her after the revelation of his family‘s involvement in her destruction? Or will the truth drive him to insanity?In this vicious dark thriller, everyone’s a liar. Everyone is hiding a secret which can’t come to light...

Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King - A 30-Minute Summary


Instaread Summaries - 2014
    Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King - A 30-minute Summary of the Novel Inside this Instaread Summary: Overview of the entire bookIntroduction to the Important people in the bookSummary and analysis of all the chapters in the bookKey Takeaways of the bookA Reader's Perspective Preview of this summary: Part1Chapter 1Down-on-his-luck, Augie Odenkirk helps homeless Janice Cray care for her baby as they wait in the early morning fog for a job fair. A gray Mercedes plows into the crowd. Augie, Janice and the baby are among the victims.Part 2Chapters 1-3About a year after the Mercedes crash, Retired Detective K. William Hodges watches more grubby reality shows, fails to enjoy his beer, and thinks, again, of shooting himself. The arrival of the mail distracts him. A letter, allegedly from the driver of the killer Mercedes, stuns him. The writer brags about killing eight and wounding many. He says that he got off sexually at he drove into the crowd. He wore a condom and used bleach to get rid of any DNA. He wore a hair net under a clown mask for the same reason. He knows Hodges is miserable and hopes the letter cheers him up. He gives Hodges a website where they can talk, including a username: kermitfrog19.Chapters 4-6Hodges wonders if he should turn the letter over to his former partner, Pete Huntley. He believes the writer is the killer because he knows inside information about the condom and the bleach. The idea of using this letter, and chats on line, to catch the killer gives Hodges a reason to live.Chapter 7-9Hodges analyzes the letter and sees that the writer has several identifying traits, including misusing perk for perp and peppering his words with an image of a smiley face. The same smiley face was glued onto the steering wheel of the Mercedes. Hodges calls Pete and makes a lunch date....

One Last Step


Sarah Sutton - 2020
     Two hikers go missing along the Appalachian Trail, leaving only a bloodstained forest behind them, and when another hiker collapses on someone’s porch in New Hampshire, murdered by crossbow, the local police realize they have a serial killer on their hands––and need to call in the FBI. FBI Agent Tara Mills is young, brilliant and new to the force. With a promising career in front of her, she faces the ultimate test when she is assigned the case. It soon proves to be more challenging than she ever could have imagined––an impossible riddle that leaves even her seasoned partner stumped. Meanwhile, something about the case stirs a darkness within her––a tortured past that even her long-term boyfriend doesn’t fully understand. As nightmares consume her, she only hopes that her past will not come back to ruin her once again. As more hikers go missing, and with her job on the line, Tara finds herself on a race against time as she combs through the forest’s trails. Peeling back each layer, she soon realizes that she is up against a true diabolical mastermind. And just when she thinks she has it all figured out, her instincts lead her to the most shocking truth of all. Book #2 in the series––ONE LAST BREATH––is also now available for pre-order!

The Patmos Enigma


Ken Fry - 2017
    Archaeologist Joshua Agar makes a stunning discovery when on one of his excavation sites, they unearth an ancient ossuary, untouched since the day it was buried. Evidence and analysis reveals that the contents of the find appear to be the six of the Seven Seals mentioned in the bible's Book of Revelation.The Seventh is missing.Meanwhile, a mysterious man has been walking the earth for millennia. He waits... amassing knowledge and power, seeking to bring about the one event that would release him from his endless existence. With the discovery in Tel Aviv, his waiting might soon be over.Joshua Agar and his team, Professor Simon Rockwell and Dr. Rachel Carver soon realises the significance of their find. An ancient society known as The Keepers awakens, and they are after the Seven Seals. For it has been told, that whosoever breaks the seven seals will have unimaginable power and control over the new world promised through the Second Coming of Christ.The frantic hunt for the Seventh Seal begins. Through dusty caves, ancient churches, and even within the most secretive vault on earth, they search for clues to the possible resting place of the missing seal.The archaeologists are not alone. Another ancient secret brotherhood called the Guardians have long protected the Seven Seals, since the time John of Patmos entrusted to them the Seventh. Using their resources, they attempt to discover the identity of The Grand Keeper and impede his plans for global upheaval.As scientists, the archaeologists perceive their discovery as a historical relic and not a religious find. But with the forces aroused by the unearthing of the artefact, they start to question if there is indeed truth in the story.The Patmos Enigma will take you on a journey of wonders and thrills as it hurtles from dark truths to enlightening revelations as the war between science and mysticism commences.

Mayan Star


Howard Allan - 2018
    What we don’t know is why. Excavations at a recently discovered Mayan site near Valladolid in the Yucatan unearth a codex – the first to be discovered in over 50 years. A mangled body is found among the ruins. It belongs to Father Colvin McNeery, an expert on the Gospel of Matthew, the only Gospel to mention the Star of Bethlehem. The local police say he was killed by a jaguar. Dr. Isabel Reyes, renegade daughter of one of the wealthiest families in Mexico, is called away from her clinic to issue a death certificate. She wonders, when she sees the claw marks, what sort of jaguar is left-handed? Ex-rabbi and scholar Simon Press has just seen another of his controversial lectures on the spread of Christianity end in violence. He’s back at his hotel nursing a scotch when he gets the news that his friend and colleague, Colvin McNeery, is dead in the Yucatan. Press has always been resentful of Christianity’s success; what he finds in McNeery’s translation of the codex will allow him to get even. Detective First Class Benito Rufino of the Antiquities Police is pulled off a sting he’s spent nine months setting up, and ordered to Valladolid. He’s furious until he finds out why: a codex worth $500 million pesos is missing. Leon Cortes - devout Catholic and a direct descendant of the Conquistador - has become drug overlord for all of the Yucatan because he believes his faith requires him to mortify his soul as his Savior mortified his body. Now he’s ordered by the Vatican to find the codex and send it to them. The 1500 year old codex contains an account of a holy man, a savior who is born under a bright star to a virgin, performs miracles, dies a horrible death, and is resurrected. If McNeery’s translation of the codex is correct, then something is radically wrong with the conventional accounts of the European discovery of the Americas. Or - and this is the only other possibility - something is radically wrong with Christianity’s notion of itself. Mayan Star is mystery/thriller with a Borgesian twist.

Exile


Richard North Patterson - 2007
    But when the phone rings and he hears the voice of Hana Arif—the Palestinian woman with whom he had a secret affair in law school—he begins a completely unexpected journey.The next day, the prime minister of Israel is assassinated by a suicide bomber while visiting San Francisco. Soon, Hana is accused of being the mastermind behind the murder. Now David faces an agonizing choice: Will he, a Jew, represent her?The most challenging case of David’s career requires that he delve deep into the lives of Hana and her militant Palestinian husband, all the way back to Israel and the West Bank. There he uncovers the couple’s dangerous connections…culminating in an explosive trial where the stakes are Hana’s life—and the future of two peoples.

T-Minus


Shannon Greenland - 2019
    But now my father and brother are missing, too. This goes deeper than anyone thinks. Only someone on the inside would know how to pull this off—how to make the entire First Family disappear.I can’t trust anyone, so it’s up to me to uncover the conspiracy and stop these madmen. Because little do they know, they picked the wrong person to terrorize.My name is Sophie Washington, and I will not be a victim. No one, I repeat no one, is taking me or my family down. But the clock is ticking…

Black Canvas


Laura Rossi - 2021
    A must-read. A masterpiece. A thrill."Eleanor Lloyd-Jones“I dream of waking up and being someone else—my hair, my eyes, even my voice, completely different—and each time I go to the mirror to check my reflection, to see what I look like, I’m her. Every time. Her. It’s her reflection that stares back at me, but I’m the one who controls it. I’m in control, and that’s exactly why it feels so good. I control her and what happens to me; I control both lives—mine and hers—and I have what I want the most: her looks, her status, her marriage. There’s nothing left of me, and only I know the secret. Only I know it’s me inside, it’s me under that perfect porcelain skin, it’s me behind those sweet, smart deep brown eyes.And I have him. He’s mine—just mine now. I’m not the other woman anymore. I’m everything he needs."

Forgotten Boy (A Chicago Detective Thriller)


Todd Luchik - 2015
     It’s February 2003 and private detective Glenn Wozniak just wants to ride out the remainder of a cold Chicago winter perched on a bar stool, pairing shots of Irish whiskey with cheap beer. But when a client neglects to pay him for services rendered, Glenn finds himself desperate for work, any work. Enter a wealthy new client offering a lot of money to find his missing daughter. On the eve of the U.S. war in Iraq, Glenn begins an investigation that will take him from the far northern edge of Chicago to an industrial wasteland at its southern border to some of the most dangerous parts of the city’s west side. Along the way, he’ll encounter anti-war protesters, ex-cons, drug dealers, corrupt cops, and a gang member leading a double life, ultimately unearthing deadly secrets that will make him some dangerous enemies. This new mystery and suspense release is the first in a series about Chicago Private Investigator Glenn Wozniak. It is recommended to readers who enjoy gritty, fast-paced thrillers in the tradition of Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, Ross MacDonald and Robert Parker. The Glenn Wozniak private eye fiction series can be found under the following ebook categories: - Chicago crime - Thriller books with a twist - Chicago detective - Chicago private investigator - Mystery and suspense new releases - Private eye series - Pulp modern - Private detective novels - Private eye fiction

The Spy Killer (John Smith Book 1)


Jimmy Sangster - 2019
     "An exquisite series launch. A tight and often violent tale of intrigue. Spy fiction fans will revel in this dark, witty story." Publishers Weekly Ex-British spy John Smith is nearly broke, has bad teeth, is lousy in bed, and drinks too much. But he's no fool. He's a man who knows his own limitations and works within them. He blackmailed his way out of the secret service years ago and is barely making a living as a London private eye when his ex-wife comes calling and asks him to follow her philandering husband. But that sleazy, all-too-common job leads to some uncommon trouble...and Smith is thrown like a chunk of raw meat into a lion's den of international espionage, betrayal, and killing. His only hope of surviving is to outwit his clever and brutal adversaries at their own deadly game. "Very astutely plotted, with many surprising twists and a sharp bite" The New York Times "There's nothing ordinary about this adventure. It's big league intrigue." Kirkus Reviews "A deadly, cold, serious drama of counter-espionage." Atlanta Constitution "A witty spy story in the anti-James Bond tradition." The Cedar Falls Courier This novel was originally published under the title private I and was adapted into a feature film The Spy Killer starring Robert Horton, Jill St. John and Sebastian Cabot.

The Mackinac Incident: A Thriller


Len McDougall - 2013
    Navy vessel patrolling the area. The men make up a team of al-Qaeda-trained specialists skilled in the black arts of terrorist warfare and are headed by a man who has billions of dollars in oil money with which to indulge his murderous fantasies. What they do next will determine the fates of thousands of Americans.Rod Eliot, an aging ex-con turned survival expert, stands between them and one of the most devastating plots ever hatched by the deviated mind of a killer: to blow up the five-mile-long Mackinac Bridge and detonate enough plutonium to contaminate the area for decades. When an encounter with the bomb-toting terrorists occurs deep in the woods of the Upper Peninsula, Eliot finds himself in a dangerous cat-and-mouse game with no alternative but to go head-to-head with these murderers. Rod may be the only person who can stop them. But he’s in over his head.Due to Eliot’s checkered past, law enforcement officials have him pegged for the crimes that unfold over the next few days. Only one, a seasoned FBI agent who is on his trail, thinks Eliot is innocent and is willing to prove it.

Vow of Silence (The Jill Shannon Murder #2)


Chris Patchell - 2018
     Five years after the brutal slaying of her husband, software executive Jill Shannon is ready to take the next step in her life. But with her wedding to prosecuting attorney Conner Manning just eight weeks away, her future father-in-law’s political ambitions for her fiancé threaten all her hopes. Jill’s past holds dark secrets. Secrets she can’t afford to have exposed under the relentless lights of a political campaign. When Phoenix Detective David Shaw turns up at Jill’s door asking questions about a reporter's murder, he has no idea what a lethal Pandora’s Box he’s just opened. Was the womanizing reporter killed by a jealous husband, or was it related to his drug use? Or did it have something to do with the secret expose the reporter was working on? Jill Shannon looks like a dead-end lead but Shaw can’t shake the feeling the beautiful widow has secrets she’s not sharing. Jill is caught between the sins of her past and the shattered hopes for her future. Shaw finds himself drawn deeper into a twisted labyrinth of lies and danger. One thing is clear: some vows are made out loud in front of witnesses. But some vows are made in silence, and witnesses can’t be left alive.

Green Lake


S.K. Epperson - 1996
     (Warning: graphic material may be disturbing.)

Nine Steps to Sara


Lisa Olsen - 2012
    With 8 year old son Jack and best friend Joanie in tow, they explore the nearly deserted mansion, isolated from the rest of the world except for the nearby village where everybody seems to know her business. Distracted by the charming chauffeur, Will, soon Sara never wants to leave her newfound home.But the eerie manor house is hiding more than a ruined garden and plumbing issues, and it's up to Sara to find out what the loyal staff isn't telling. When Sara finds Jack talking to an empty room, she begins to wonder if she made the right decision uprooting her tiny family as the spooky surroundings fuel her imagination.Especially when she starts to hear the voice talk back.Is her ancestor's unnatural attachment to Jack borne of concern or something more sinister? When she discovers the truth, will Sara accept the legacy she's inherited, or run for her life?

The Silence


Katharine Johnson - 2017
     When human remains are discovered in the grounds of an idyllic Tuscan holiday home she is forced to confront the memories she has suppressed until now and relive the summer she spent at the villa in 1992. A summer that ended in tragedy. The nearer she gets to the truth the closer she comes to losing her sanity. In order to hold onto the people she loves most, she must make sure they never discover what she did. But the reappearance of someone else from that summer threatens to blow her secret wide open.