Book picks similar to
Depraved Heart by Kathleen Valentine


give-away
mystery
mystery-and-thriller
boomer-lit

The Healer


C.J. Anaya - 2013
    Keeping a secret like that isn’t easy, but a small town is the perfect place for her to heal those who can’t heal themselves, and an even better place for her father, James Fairmont, to hide his daughter from the rest of the world. Life takes an unexpected turn when two handsome strangers move into town and begin unearthing other secrets concerning Hope's future and past, revealing to Hope that her gift for healing may be the fulfillment of an ancient, Japanese prophecy gone wrong. Staying away from these mysterious newcomers would be the smart thing to do, but Victor's gentle, easy manner, and Tie's mixed signals and strange mood swings draw her hopelessly closer to revealing the secret she and her father have been so desperate to hide. Hope's life is complicated further with visions of a previous life and the arrival of a supernatural demon sent to assassinate her before she learns what she is truly capable of. With the support of her father, the fiery loyalty of her best friend Angie, and the child-like love of Kirby, a ten-year-old patient, Hope must fight against the forces of a relentless demon god while unwinding the tangled pieces of her past, proving to herself and those she loves that destiny isn’t determined by some cosmic reading of the stars, but by the individual choices one makes.

Megan's Way


Melissa Foster - 2009
    What would you give up for the people you love? When Megan Taylor, a single mother and artist living on Cape Cod, receives the shocking news that her cancer has returned, she's faced with the most difficult decision she's ever had to make. The love she has for her daughter, Olivia, and her closest friends will be stretched and frayed. Megan's illness reawakens her best friend, Holly Townsend's, torment of a long-held secret and years of betrayal. How does one choose between a daughter and a life-long best friend? Can the secret she has been keeping be revealed after years of lying without destroying everyone in its wake? Meanwhile, fourteen-year-old Olivia's world is falling apart right before her eyes, and there's nothing she can do about it. She finds herself acting in ways she cannot even begin to understand. When her internal struggles turn to dangerous behavior, even the paranormal connection she shares with her mother might not be enough to save her - her life will hang in the balance. Megan's Way is a journey of self discovery and heartfelt emotions, exploring the depth of the mother-daughter bond, and the intricacies of friendship. WINNER, READERS FAVORITE AWARD: Fiction/DramaWINNER, BEACH BOOK AWARD: SpiritualFINALIST, Next Generation Indie Book Awards: New AgeFINALIST, READERS FAVORITE AWARD: Women's FictionHONORABLE MENTION, NEW ENGLAND FILM FESTIVAL: Spirituality***Olivia's story will be continued in LOVING LIVI, Harborside Nights new adult romance series. Sign up for Melissa's newsletter and follow her on her author page here on Amazon to be notified of this release!

Crime At Cripple Creek


Elizabeth Sherry - 2012
    On the flight she is seated next to a very handsome, single FBI agent named Tyler. Both Tyler and Beth can feel a strong attraction growing by the time their plane lands in Denver. Beth is distracted by this attraction but knows this week is primarily for the three sisters to laugh, be silly and have fun, which they start off doing until Beth stumbles upon a dead body and Tyler is worried that he might not be able to keep Beth alive long enough for the two to explore the romance they briefly started.This book is a novella.

Too Little, Too Late


Marta Tandori - 2012
    When one of those teenagers, seventeen-year-old Karen Devane, is implicated in the woman’s homicide, the tabloids are quick to exploit the tragedy, thanks to Karen’s recent antics as a spoiled Tinseltown “celebrat” riding on the coattails of her famous grandmother, the legendary Kate Stanton. Complicating matters is the dead woman’s daughter, who’s determined that Karen be held accountable for her mother’s death, even after the charges against Karen are dropped. With tensions between Karen and her family near breaking point and the paparazzi relentlessly hounding her every move, Karen makes a startling discovery which finally puts her on the road to redemption – and links the dead woman to her beloved grandmother.Karen’s discovery raises a host of troubling questions for Kate, forcing her to revisit the horrors of her past in search of answers. But Kate soon realizes that some questions are better left unasked after a seemingly random shooting leaves her granddaughter fighting for her life and Kate scrambling to stay one step ahead of a killer who’s determined to end her life in order to save his own.

Flawless


Heather Graham - 2016
    Kieran Finnegan, who still works there whenever she can, has become a criminal psychologist—a fitting reaction, perhaps, to her less-than-lawful past. Meanwhile, New York's Diamond District has been hit by a rash of thefts. No one's been killed—until now. FBI agent Craig Frasier is brought in to investigate; he and Kieran meet at a jewelry store in the middle of a heist. She's there to "unsteal" a flawless stone taken by her light-fingered youngest brother as an act of vengeance. He's there to stop the gang. But the police and FBI soon discover that there are two gangs of diamond thieves, the original and a copycat group of killers. And the second group seems to think their scheme is as flawless as the stones they steal. Thrown together by circumstance, drawn together by attraction, Kieran and Craig both end up working on the case. Unfortunately, there's more and more evidence that, somehow, the pub is involved. Because everyone goes to Finnegan's…

Kismet


K.A. Poe - 2014
    Sometimes you get what you ask for.Sixteen-year-old Madison Banner had the perfect life: a good home, great friends, and loving parents. Everything was normal, until she overheard that she had been adopted.After confronting her parents, Madison was left with more questions than what had been answered. Rules were set. She would be told the truth after she graduated -- two years.As Madison pries into the secrets of her heritage, she discovers more than she ever bargained for. Strange things begin to happen. Dreams of a mysterious nightly visitor seem all too real. A power within her awakens. There was more handed down through her DNA than dark hair and purple eyes. She has been given a destiny, whether she wanted it or not.Kismet is the first novel in the follow-up-series to K.A. Poe’s Nevermore, but can be read as a stand-alone series. This novel is approximately 70,000 words in length (340 pages).

Zenn Diagram


Wendy Brant - 2017
    But that’s my mistake. I can’t help. You can’t fix people like you can solve a math problem.Math genius. Freak of nature. Loner.Eva Walker has literally one friend—if you don’t count her quadruplet three-year-old-siblings—and it’s not even because she’s a math nerd. No, Eva is a loner out of necessity, because everyone and everything around her is an emotional minefield. All she has to do is touch someone, or their shirt, or their cell phone, and she can read all their secrets, their insecurities, their fears.Sure, Eva’s “gift” comes in handy when she’s tutoring math and she can learn where people are struggling just by touching their calculators. For the most part, though, it’s safer to keep her hands to herself. Until she meets six-foot-three, cute-without-trying Zenn Bennett, who makes that nearly impossible.Zenn’s jacket gives Eva such a dark and violent vision that you’d think not touching him would be easy. But sometimes you have to take a risk…

Slow Burning Lies


Ray Backley - 2012
    The last waitress goes to lock up.But a man appears at the door, desperate to talk to her, to tell her Patrick’s story. He says she is the only person he can trust.The waitress decides to let him come in, and he tells her a twisting tale of a man driven to the edge of madness by evil dreams in which he commits unspeakable acts.But just who is Patrick? Some poor demented soul still suffering somewhere?Or the man sitting in front of her?(Previously released under the pen name Ray Kingfisher)

The Labyrinth


Dorian Zari - 2010
    Sarah's renowned for being a deaf cellist, when in truth she uses her instrument as a shield against maddening noises like a fly a continent away. Dan can see the dust on Pluto, but can only see his hands through a haze of tears. (He’s in therapy.) Carly can smell everything to the point that cocaine is needed to dull the sense, and Zack can break down the ingredients in Col. Sanders’ secret KFC recipe, so he numbs his tongue by drinking - a lot. With the pain and isolation their crippling senses cause, all four haven given up on being normal - and the only thing that keeps them from madness is the hope that they’re not alone.Their hope is justified when they become aware of each other during a mysterious event that causes them to briefly swap bodies. They set out to meet; however, something else wants to find them, too. A monster in the guise of a teenager that calls itself the Guardian and wants their abilities for itself. When Dan inadvertently has a flashback to a previous life, they realize that they`re at the end of a roller coaster ride of multiple reincarnations spanning all of history - and that the Guardian has hunted them through each of their lives. To survive in the present, they must relive their brutal clashes with the monster to discover its weakness in the hope of making their next encounter with it the last.

It Began With a Lie


Michele Pariza Wacek - 2018
    That was what Becca hoped the move from New York to Redemption, Wisconsin would be for her troubled family. A way to get her crumbling marriage back on track, and to bond with her difficult 16-year-old stepdaughter. But instead of a new beginning, Becca is thrust into a mysterious past she barely remembers, as she is now living in her aunt's house (or what the locals call "The Witch House"). But is the house really haunted? Or is there something far more sinister out to destroy them?

Smoke and Mirrors: Trunk #1 - a noir crime thriller


Steve M - 2019
     Trunk won’t kill, unless he has to. Between one and two percent of the population are psychopaths. Trunk is highly functional. He has a steady job, an ex-wife, and a plan to kill her boyfriend. He offers discreet services that work well with his condition. From investigations to body disposal, Trunk has your back. But he’s been good at solving puzzles since he was a kid. When drug houses in Florida start burning down Trunk is hired to find out who is behind it. A vigilante out for revenge? Maybe a competitor trying to gain new territory? Is it an inside job? There are many suspects and all of them willing to kill. Trunk #1 - a noir crime thriller... ...and your new guilty pleasure.

Flux


Mark R. Faulkner - 2012
    In this disturbing, yet darkly funny novel, Iain’s near death experience is not a vision of exquisite godliness with light at the end of a tunnel. Instead he experiences a place of darkness and heat, inhabited by foul creatures, the sounds of suffering and a beast. During a long recovery Iain becomes plagued by nightmares and premonitions, shadowy apparitions, a magpie, and a vile old man. They all have a message, that something wants Iain and it won't give up easily. Iain’s friends do their best to cheer him up in ways they know how, until the unexpected events of one sunny afternoon mean that he is on his own, caught up in the age old battle of good versus evil.

Beginnings


Jan McDonald - 2014
    But he came back with a gift. He could see ghosts. These five short stories bridge the gap between what happened in the immediate aftermath of the crash to his arrival in Crowsmoor, Cornwall, where his help has been summoned in an effort to prevent the return of an ancient evil. Beginnings charts his progress from his first encounter with a ghost to his becoming a recognised investigator into all things paranormal. For readers of the series, these five short stories will be familiar territory. If you haven’t yet met Mike, Beginnings can be read as a stand-alone collection of short stories. Or it may just invite you into Mike’s paranormal world.

Dead to the Max


Jasmine Haynes - 2010
    Her husband, Cameron, is dead, killed in a botched 7-11 robbery two years ago. She’s cut herself off from friends, moved out of her San Francisco home in favor of a studio apartment, and dumped her flourishing career as a CPA to do temp work.And now Max has developed an annoying penchant for attracting the spirits of murdered women. Okay, they possess her. And to exorcize them, Max must unmask their killers. But how?! By stepping into the void their deaths created, taking their jobs, befriending the loved ones they left behind. Max goes wherever she has to go and does whatever she has to do, with a lot of help from the ghost of her late husband Cameron and hunky and very enticing Detective Witt Long.In Dead to the Max, Book 1 in the Max Starr series, Max steps into the shoes of a murdered accountant and starts to learn that even supposedly boring accountants can have secret lives and secret desires. Max just has to hope the secrets she uncovers don’t get her killed, too.*** Warning: Explicit material ***

Rogue Alliance


Michelle Bellon - 2012
    When the case of a lifetime takes her back to her hometown of Redding, she is thrown into a world of organized crime, deceit, and bitter reminders of her childhood. As Shyla’s path crosses that of Brennan, a troubled sidekick to the ringleader she’s intent on taking down, she discovers he has a past even darker than hers and she is forced to re-evaluate everything she believes about herself, her job, and what she knows about right and wrong. Can she face the demons of her upbringing and learn to trust again? Her life will depend on it.