Book picks similar to
Leave Well Alone by A.J. Campbell
thriller
psychological-thriller
dnf
mystery
Something To Be Brave For
Priscilla Bennett - 2017
Just a few short years after marrying Claude, she now lives in fear for her safety and that of her young daughter, Rose. Claude, the dashing and charming Frenchman she’d fallen in love with, so attentive and considerate during their whirlwind courtship, has become a monster. Nothing she does is right and she constantly walks on eggshells, terrified that she will unwittingly inflame his anger. He humiliates her, he violates her, he beats her… But Claude is a well-respected, highly successful surgeon, always so polite and thoughtful to everyone but her. As a result, he has succeeded in creating the perfect façade behind which to hide his true self. Katie’s parents think the world of him, his own patients adore him – everyone loves Claude. So, who will ever believe what he does behind closed doors? This story sensitively lifts the lid on the processes of an abusive relationship, which anyone who has ever experienced will identify with, and for those who haven’t, will answer questions like, ‘Why is she putting up with that?’ Something To Be Brave For is a deeply moving account about one woman’s battle for survival. Praise for Priscilla Bennett ‘A unique – yet still universal – story of domestic violence’ – bestselling author Rosemary Rogers ‘Spellbinding’ – Lewis Burke Frumkes, author of Advice for Young Writers Priscilla Bennett, born and raised in Boston, is a retired emergency room nurse. For more than 20 years she witnessed and treated abused women from all backgrounds. She merged her love of writing with her sincere desire to spotlight firsthand domestic violence with the goal of empowering women to escape and heal.
Due Date
Nancy Wood - 2012
A Rolling Stone ad for a surrogate mother offers her a way to erase the loans and right her karmic place in the cosmos. Within a month, she's signed a contract with intended parents Jackson and Diane Entwistle, relocated to Santa Cruz, California, and started fertility treatments.But Jackson and Diane have their own secret agenda, one that has nothing to do with diapers and lullabies. With her due date looming and the clues piling up, Shelby must save herself and her twins, and outwit those who wish her ill... She learns the real meaning of the word “family.”
Danny's Mom
Elaine Wolf - 2012
Beth didn’t want Danny to drive that snowy night, but her husband insisted the roads were safe. Beth blames him for Danny’s death, and she blames herself for allowing fear of confrontation to paralyze her. Now back at work, Beth rails against the everyday injustices she had overlooked until her world cracked open. Her new circumstances cause Beth to become a major player in the moral battles being waged at Meadow Brook High—where homophobia snakes through the halls, administrators cling to don’t-rock-the-boat policies, and mean girls practice bullying as if it were a sport. While Beth struggles to find her “new normal,” she learns to speak out, risking her career, her marriage, and the very life she’s learned to embrace.Danny’s Mom illustrates what really goes on behind the closed doors of our schools, from the perspective of the adults who are charged with keeping our children safe. It is a powerful novel that will appeal to all readers, especially mothers, the millions of adults who work in our schools, and the LGBTQ community.
Pretty, Nasty, Lovely
Rosalind Noonan - 2017
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Pledging to Theta Pi at Merriwether University seemed to offer Emma Danelski a passport to friendship, fun, and popularity. But the excitement of pledge training quickly fades, as does the warmth of her so-called sisters. What's left is a stifling society filled with petty rules, bullying, and manipulation. Most haunting are the choices Emma makes in the wake of another sorority sister's suicide . . .It doesn't matter that no one else needs to know what Emma did, or how vastly different life at Theta House is from the glossy image it projects. Emma knows. And now, with her loyalties tested, she must decide which secrets are worth keeping and how far she'll go to protect them-and herself . . .Praise for Rosalind Noonan's Domestic Secrets"This suspenseful read is Noonan at her best. Fans will be eager to get their hands on her latest, and it doesn't disappoint." -Booklist"Noonan delivers another page-turning thriller whose deeply flawed characters draw you into a web of family secrets." -Kirkus Reviews"Recommended for readers wanting stories of dysfunctional families, scandal, and violence that involve entire communities." -Library Journal
Dark Hearts: Four Novellas of Dark Suspense
Jeremy Bates - 2015
For twelve-year-old Brian Garrett, a weekend camping trip in the park promises to be an opportunity to bond with his aloof parents. But after his father suffers a horrible accident during a hike to the chasm's floor, events spiral quickly out of control, and over the next twenty-four hours Brian will uncover a terrifying dark side to his father-and an even darker side to himself.Rewind - When a man wakes in a rundown apartment, hooked up to a strange machine, a dead body in the next room, he has no memory of who he is, or what he is doing there. Over the next forty-eight hours, however, as he works to unravel the mystery of his identity, he'll come to realize that some things are better left unknown.Run - When a former soldier recently released from prison comes looking for his longtime girlfriend, and discovers she has moved on with another boyfriend, he vows to kill her. Now, it seems, she only has one option: Run. Neighbors New York City. Eight million people. You never know what kind of psycho may be living next door.Neighbors - New York is a city of eight million strangers. For twenty-five-year old Buddy Smith, who values his privacy, it's the only place he would call home. Yet his simple life is flipped upside down when a new neighbor moves in next door. She's young, beautiful, a bit nosy...and might just be a cold-blooded killer. Against his better judgment, Buddy spends the night with her--a decision that will prove to be the biggest mistake of his life.Praise for Jeremy Bates and his books:"Bates' approach to the story is surprisingly restrained, cultivating impressive frights in the unnerving environment...an understated horror story that will remind readers what chattering teeth sound like."-- Kirkus Reviews on Suicide Forest"Bates takes an intriguing premise to shocking lengths, revealing the outcome only in an epilogue. A graphically violent story with building suspense and a moral about where weaving such a web may lead."-- Booklist on White Lies"The Catacombs is easy to consume whole, like a shocking, but delicious, pint of ice cream, as Bates never shies away from the bad or the ugly. If you are looking for something to give you chills before you go to bed or make you think twice about turning off your light, then The Catacombs is the book for you."-- San Francisco Book Review on The Catacombs"Jeremy Bates has written a great book that would make a great Hollywood screenplay!"-- Suspense Magazine on The Taste of Fear"The story culminates in a tense situation and a surprising yet satisfying ending...well written and an exciting thriller."-- Suspense Magazine on White Lies"The Catacombs is a thrilling descent into the unknown, peeling back the dark layers like a rotting onion, tears running down your face as you try to climb your way out. A hypnotic story of buried truths, disfigured creatures, and lost histories told with an authoritative voice full of heart and insight."-- Richard Thomas, Bram Stoker nominated author on The Catacombs"Big on suspense...think of The Blair Witch Project with the exception being that this takes place in...a real haunted setting."-- HorrorAddicts on Suicide Forest"Here's an enjoyable book to lose yourself in. Jeremy Bates doesn't miss a trick, teasing and misleading, ratcheting up the tension as the heroine...loses traction on a slippery slope of deceptions."-- Glenn Kleier, New York Times bestselling author on White Lies"A horror story like none other...makes for a read that will delight horror fans who want their novels steeped in psychological suspense as well as action."-- Midwest Book Review on The Catacombs
The Good Life
Marian Thurm - 2016
Stacy and Roger seem to have it all: a wonderful marriage, a luxury Upper East Side apartment with all the accoutrements of the wealthy, and two endearing young children enrolled in private schools. But what appears to be the good life to their family and friends is not what it seems in this fast-paced, suspenseful novel that shows the sinister effects of a destructive marriage and the pursuit of the privileged life. Thurm, who according to the New York Times Book Review, writes brilliantly of the battle of the sexes, has done so again in The Good Life.
One, Two, What Did Daddy Do?
Susan Rogers Cooper - 1992
And everyone is stunned by the slaying of the well-liked Lester family, minus its youngest member, in their own home. Apparently loving husband and father Roy did the bloody deed -- before turning the murder weapon on himself.The Pughs were the Lesters' nearest neighbors and closest friends. In fact, sharp-tongued housewife/romance writer E.J. Pugh first discovered the bogies... and four-year-old Bessie Lester, who may have witnessed the carnage. But Bessie isn't speaking. And E.J. may be the only one in Black Cat Ridge who believes th is case is not closed... and that a murderer still walks among them all.
Driven to Death
Elleby Harper - 2017
Heading the investigation is NYPD homicide detective Bex Wynter. Abandoning her own train wreck of a life she becomes head of a new investigative team in a brand new country. But not everyone welcomes an American to the London Met. Quinn Standing has a hard time dealing with the failures piling up in his life, and an even harder time adjusting to his new boss.As her team peels back the layers to discover what really happened at Richmond Bridge, pressure builds from the media, the killer’s high profile father and Bex’s tragic past. Will she be able to shake off her demons to bring justice to light?Driven to Death is British crime with an American twist!
The Girl from Charnelle
K.L. Cook - 2006
Assuming responsibility for the Tate household, Laura cares for her father and three brothers and outwardly maintains a sense of calm. But her balance is upset and the repercussions of her family's struggles are revealed when a chance encounter with a married man leads Laura into a complicated relationship for which she is unprepared.As Kennedy battles Nixon for the White House, Laura must navigate complex emotional terrain and choose whether she, too, will flee Charnelle. Dramatizing the tension between desire and familial responsibility, The Girl from Charnelle delivers a heartfelt portrait of a young woman's reckoning with the paradoxes of love. Eloquent, tender, and heart-wrenching, K. L. Cook's unforgettable debut novel marks the arrival of a significant new voice in American fiction.
Lies We Tell Ourselves
Steena Holmes - 2020
They twist and taunt and tear apart every aspect of your life.Are you ready?Paige Fischer is not. She hates lies and how destructive they can be and yet, she's living the biggest lie of them all. In fact, she's barely hanging on...One missing sister...Twelve years ago, her identical twin, Jessica was kidnapped and Paige is to blame.One devoted fiancé...She has the perfect partner who is beyond patient but how long will he wait and how will he react when she tells him she can't move forward in their life together?One fateful lie...Someone close to Paige is playing a dangerous game and all it takes is one lie, one phone call, one twisted truth and her life is in danger.Lies and secrets collide in this page-turning suspense you won’t be able to put down, written by the NYT bestselling author who brought you Finding Emma and The Perfect Secret.
The Scandal
Nicola Marsh - 2019
Shiny and pretty on the outside, blurred beyond recognition when shaken.Ever since her twin girls left home, Marisa has felt there’s something missing from her life. Her sprawling mansion is no longer filled with laughter and chaos, and she’s desperate to feel needed... and to be distracted from the secret she’s been hiding from her husband for all these years.Coffee with her best friends might be the only thing holding Marisa together. But Claire and Elly have their own secrets. Like why Claire hasn’t been to work in weeks, or why Elly won’t tell anyone who’s buying her flowers.When Jodi, a pregnant young girl, turns up at Marisa’s doorstep, Marisa is quick to come to her aid. She sees herself in Jodi and she knows how devoting yourself to looking after others can take up all your time in the most marvellous way.But Jodi’s arrival quickly pushes everyone’s lies to the surface. The father of her unborn child is someone the women know very well, and Marisa starts to wonder if her obsession with helping Jodi might come at a devastating price… The Scandal has a twist that will take your breath away. An emotionally charged novel about secrets, affairs and perfect small towns that will be devoured by fans of Kerry Fisher, Big Little Lies and The Other Woman.
Itsy Bitsy Spider
Willow Rose - 2013
She decides to move there with her family, much to her teenage-daughter's regret. One morning a wealthy old woman in her street is found murdered and soon Emma finds herself wrapped in a mystery uncovering the island's dark secrets that not only runs deep within the history of the island but also within her own family. From the author of the International Bestselling books, the Rebekka Franck-series comes a new Scandinavian Mystery destined to keep you up all night. This is the first book in the Emma Frost-series and is followed by Miss Polly had a dolly.
Eddie & Sunny
Stacey Cochran - 2015
For months they've lived out of their car with their young son, and the stress of it all has driven pregnant Sunny to the point she wants to ditch Eddie and her kid and vanish from the life Eddie's tried so futilely to build for them in rural North Carolina. When they stop at an abandoned service station, the point is just to survive another night in their car. But inside they discover a marijuana grow operation, cash, and a stockpile of weapons. As they leave, the owners arrive and Sunny is forced to shoot the dealers to save her family. Eddie and Sunny become fugitives of the law and the drug dealers' kin and are separated with each believing the other has been killed in an act of retribution. Eddie & Sunny is the story of a family finding its soul, but to do so they have to lose one another first. It is a story of hope, love, and the American Dream. It is the great American novel set to a crime fiction soundtrack.
The Guilty One
Sophie Littlefield - 2015
Her marriage crumbling, her routine shattered, Maris walks away from her pampered life as a Bay Area mom the day she receives a call from Ron, father of her daughter’s killer. Wracked with guilt over his son’s actions (and his own possible contribution to them), he asks Maris a single question: should he jump?With a man’s life in her hands, Maris must decide, perhaps for the first time, what she truly wants. Retribution? Forgiveness? Or something more? Having lost everything, she’s finally free to recreate herself without the confining labels of “wife,” “mother,” or “mourner.” But will this shocking offer free her, or destroy her?
The Edge of Normal
Carla Norton - 2013
She’s finally landed her own apartment, she waitresses to pay the bills, and she wishes she wasn’t so nervous around new people. She thinks of herself as agile, not skittish. As serious, not grim. But Reeve is anything but normal. Ten years ago, she was kidnapped and held captive. After a lucky escape, she’s spent the last six years trying to rebuild her life, a recovery thanks in large part to her indispensable therapist Dr. Ezra Lerner. But when he asks her to help another girl rescued from a similar situation, Reeve realizes she may not simply need to mentor this young victim—she may be the only one who can protect her from a cunning predator who is still out there, watching every move.From the author of the #1 non-fiction bestseller Perfect Victim: The True Story of the Girl in the Box comes a novel that draws you into a chilling and engrossing world. With masterful plot twists and shifting points of view that make it as irresistible as Gone Girl, Carla Norton's The Edge of Normal is a stunning debut thriller.