Book picks similar to
The Good Teacher by Emily Shiner
02-06-21
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The Wrong Twin
Lorna Dounaeva - 2021
Mel just needs some space so she can recover from a painful separation and get ready to begin a new phase in her life. But something isn’t right… The twins have always been close, but Abbie seems like a different person. She used to be outgoing and gregarious, now she’s sullen and hostile. Even worse, a sinister man Mel has never seen before is following her. She doesn’t know what he wants, but she’s pretty sure it’s nothing good. And Mel is right to be worried. As she is inexorably pulled into a vortex of unimaginable terror, she discovers the horrifying truth about Abbie’s secret life… And the terrible price that has to be paid – by the wrong twin.
The Neighbors in Apartment 3D
C.G. Twiles - 2020
After she tells her teenage son a despicable lie, her husband asks for a trial separation. She must go six months without a single fib. That’s harder than it sounds for a compulsive liar.Cintra moves in with an old college pal, and befriends the sociable couple next door, who have a young boy staying with them while his mother is “in Europe.” Then she spots a note on their door: “I’m being held” written in a childish scrawl, with a drawing of a boy with a gun to his head. Add in the eerie sounds she hears through their shared wall, and Cintra suspects they’ve kidnapped the boy.To unravel the truth of what’s happening in apartment 3D, Cintra must return to her lying ways.What she discovers proves the most dangerous people can be the ones living right next door.Fans of The Couple Next Door and Behind Closed Doors won’t see this stunning twist coming.
Forget Her Name
Jane Holland - 2018
Or is she?
As she prepares for her wedding to Dominic, Catherine has never been happier or more excited about her future. But when she receives an anonymous package—a familiar snow globe with a very grisly addition—that happiness is abruptly threatened by secrets from her past.Her older sister, Rachel, died on a skiing holiday as a child. But Rachel was no angel: she was vicious and highly disturbed, and she made Catherine’s life a misery. Catherine has spent years trying to forget her dead sister’s cruel tricks. Now someone has sent her Rachel’s snow globe—the first in a series of ominous messages…While Catherine struggles to focus on her new life with Dominic, someone out there seems intent on tormenting her. But who? And why now? She doesn't have the answers - and in one final question lies her greatest fear.Is Rachel still alive?
The Nanny
Sam West - 2019
She is to care for Mr and Mrs Hiddleston’s daughter, eight-month-old Tabitha. The pay is exceptional, the Georgian mansion in which they live exquisite, the child a delight. The job is a dream come true. But. Nothing at Buckley Manor is quite as it first appears. Rotten, festering secrets hide behind the mansion’s glossy façade. Lauren will discover the hard way that Mr and Mrs Hiddleston are far from the charming, generous people that they present themselves to be. Everything in life comes at a price. Nothing is sacred. Only death awaits at Buckley Manor.
The Chain
Joy Richards - 2021
What does it take to make a house a home?When four sets of strangers all decide to move, their lives become linked and changed forever.Paul is a young man who is struggling to piece his life back together.Married couple Florence and John are having problems.The empty-nesters Claire and Michael are adapting to their new life.Sarah and Alex are a city power couple who are hoping to relocate.As each of them navigate the troublesome path of buying and selling houses, relationships come under strain.Does moving to a new house mean a fresh start? And is home really where the heart is?
Just a Breath Away
Carlene Thompson - 2018
Kelsey and her beautiful sister Lorelei were walking home from the local bar.A man appeared in the shadows, holding a gun. Lorelei was shot dead. Kelsey couldn’t do anything to save her.Police think the murderer was a crazed stalker.But what if he was a hitman and he got the wrong sister?
The Snow Globe
Tony Faggioli - 2017
Abandoned by a criminal justice system that cannot seem to protect her despite multiple restraining orders, she is ready to give up. But it isn’t that easy. Maggie’s dead grandmother keeps haunting her dreams, warning her in cryptic phrases of the future. Or is it the past? Determined to end her ordeal one way or another, Maggie confronts Michael, and he disappears, seeming to have tired of the chase. Instead, the hunter has decided to make himself the hunted, in a way that no one could have imagined. Knowing both the depths of his psychosis, and the repeated failures of law enforcement to help her in the past, Maggie decides she has no choice but to go after him alone. In a chase that takes her from New York to Washington, D.C. and into the deepest corners of her mind, Maggie Kincaid is about to learn that you can be stalked by things far worse than a love gone bad. “
The House On Rectory Lane
Stuart James - 2017
Jake and Kate live in Camden, London and have had enough of the hassle with parking, overbooked restaurants and burglaries.After an altercation with a stranger who pulls a knife on Jake, they take their son Sean and move to a house in the woods.It’s their dream home, or so they think.People in the village warn them they shouldn’t have come.Neighbours are overly friendly and who was the face at the window Kate saw late at night?They find a tape hidden in the loft of their new house, a homemade video recording of the previous family, the Prescotts.What they view, chills them to the bone.They realise that the family living there before them have disappeared and now, they could be next....................
His Secret Family
Ali Mercer - 2019
White roses scent the air and the summer sunlight streams in. A spoon chimes against a champagne flute and the room falls silent. And there he is – my husband – getting to his feet to propose a toast. He’s still handsome. His new wife is next to him, gazing upwards, oblivious.I’m not supposed to be here. All these years in the same town and I had no idea until I saw his name on the seating plan. He lived with me, once. Loved me. Small-town memories are long, but the people in this room don’t want to remember.They say the healing is in letting go, but after what he did, he needs to know we haven’t gone away just because he’s shut his eyes.So I take Daisy by the hand and step forward from the shadows. He notices us and his eyes widen. The champagne glass falls from his hand and smashes. Then he sags forward, making a terrible sound – a sort of strangled scream…A powerfully emotional novel with a dark secret at its heart. This family drama will keep you hooked until the very last page. Perfect for fans of The Silent Wife, We Were Mothers and Jodi Picoult.
She's Not Coming Home
Philip Cox - 2012
If she doesn’t work there, where has she been going?Matthew Gibbons thought he had it all – a house in a leafy Boston suburb, his wife Ruth and a beautiful son. But when one evening, after texting him ‘leaving now’, she doesn’t arrive home, and the staff at her office say they have no Ruth Gibbons working there, he sees his whole life collapse around him.What could have made Ruth walk away from her home and her family? When Matt tries to piece together his wife’s life, he finds he never really knew the woman he married, the woman who apparently died in a car crash three years earlier…
The Parents
Claire Seeber - 2021
But it’s not long before I realise: I should have never made friends with them…I knew it wouldn’t be easy for my kids to adjust when we moved to a tiny village where they didn’t know a soul. But after the death of my husband, we needed a fresh start.Suddenly, we’re outsiders. I know the only way we’ll be accepted is if I throw myself into my new life, so when my son joins a local club, I volunteer to help along with the other parents.Before moving here, I didn’t know people like this really existed; their lives seem too perfect to be real. Although my own life couldn’t be more different, they welcome me into the fold. For the first time since my husband died, I feel like I made the right decision for my family…That is until I overhear something that tells me these other parents aren’t as perfect as they seem. Something that turns my world upside down again.My secret has already ruined my life once. I thought the truth had died with my husband… I should have known that it wouldn’t be buried for long.A completely addictive page-turner about the secrets and lies hiding beneath seemingly perfect lives. Fans of Big Little Lies, Lisa Jewell and Louise Candlish will be absolutely hooked by this pacey read with a jaw-dropping twist you just won’t see coming.
In the Absence of Miracles
Michael J. Malone - 2019
Malone‘A tense, immersive thriller that kept me guessing’ Ian Rankin‘Malone is the master of twists, turns and the unexpected, with the skill to keep things grounded. So much so, that the reader can picture themselves in the very circumstances described. Superb storytelling from a master of his craft’ Herald Scotland‘Beautiful, lyrical prose takes the reader through a perfectly constructed, often harrowing tale’ Denzil Meyrick_________________John Docherty’s mother has just been taken into a nursing home following a massive stroke and she’s unlikely to be able to live independently again.With no other option than to sell the family home, John sets about packing up everything in the house. In sifting through the detritus of his family’s past he’s forced to revisit, and revise his childhood.For in a box, in the attic, he finds undeniable truth that he had a brother who disappeared when he himself was only a toddler. A brother no one ever mentioned. A brother he knew absolutely nothing about. A discovery that sets John on a journey from which he may never recover.For sometimes in that space where memory should reside there is nothing but silence, smoke and ash. And in the absence of truth, in the absence of a miracle, we turn to prayer. And to violence._________________Shocking, chilling and heartbreakingly emotive, In the Absence of Miracles is domestic noir at its most powerful, and a sensitively wrought portrait of a family whose shameful lies hide the very darkest of secrets.‘With each turn of the page, a more shocking detail is revealed and some of the people John thought might help him are not who they seem … The domestic noir tale is one that many families will be able to relate to … There is barely enough time to catch your’ Scotsman‘Challenging and emotional, In the Absence of Miracles enthrals as it corkscrews to a shocking, yet ultimately rewarding end’ LoveReading‘Malone’s latest is an unsettling, multi-layered and expertly paced domestic noir drama that delves into one family’s dark secrets, shame and lies’ CultureFly‘Malone is a poet, there are wonderful lyrical passages here and very skilful storytelling. Some issues are not spoken about enough, Malone raises a couple of those issues and sensitively but realistically addresses them…’ New Books Magazine‘Engrossing, hard-hitting – even shocking – with a light poetic frosting. Another superb read!’ Douglas Skelton‘A chilling tale of secrets, lies and the ultimate betrayal’ Theresa Talbot‘Emotional. Brave. Dark. Raw. Utterly beautiful’ Louise Beech’A breathtakingly good book; powerful yet tender and an emotional master class in how to write about harrowing and difficult issues.
The Vacancy
Elisabeth Carpenter - 2021
But behind the closed doors of Dorothy's house, she quickly discovers that nothing is as it seems.When Dorothy's manuscript throws up striking similarities to events in Rachel's own life, she becomes convinced that the past she's tried to hide is catching up with her.Then the phone calls start. The parcel arrives. The blood shows up in the bathroom.And Dorothy's friend disappears.Terrified of being blamed for murder, Rachel has nobody left to turn to.Because who can she believe when she doesn't even trust herself...?
The Donor
J.J. Burgess - 2021
But who is he really?Anna’s life is almost perfect. She has a great husband, a huge home, wonderful friends and a soaring career. There’s just one thing missing - a child.Anna has always dreamed of being a mother, it’s what she wants more than anything else in the world.So when it becomes clear that she and her husband can’t conceive, the way forward is obvious – they will use a sperm donor.They select the perfect candidate and Anna soon falls pregnant. She’s never been so happy.But then some disturbing information about their donor comes to light. And Anna begins to wonder about the father of the child she is carrying… Who is he really?She begins to dig for the truth and uncovers a secret more horrifying than her worst nightmare. Because even though she has what she always wanted, she realises she may have to pay a terrible price…The Donor – the stunning psychological thriller, perfect for fans of Mark Edwards, K L Slater, Miranda Rijks.
Come a Little Closer
Karen Perry - 2019
It should be the happiest summer of her life, but she can't help feeling lonely with Jake's attention divided between her, his ex-wife and his young son. As insomnia sets in, the walls of their new basement flat feel as if they're closing in around her.Until she meets her upstairs neighbour, Anton, who has recently moved back in after a long absence from the street. He's a sympathetic ear when Jake can't be, and even though others on the street seem strangely hostile towards him, Leah soon comes to rely on Anton and their secret conversations in the night.Leah has no idea that nineteen years before, Anton was convicted of killing his wife. A wife who looked a little bit like Leah. He has always said he didn't do it.Is Leah his redemption? Or is she befriending a killer intent on luring her closer and closer?