Book picks similar to
Paper Bag by Brian W. Smith


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Manic


Niki Jilvontae - 2020
    (Dissociative Identity Disorder) can hinder the value of life for all if affects. These disorders know no age, gender or race boundaries so anyone can be affected by them! Bianca Fulton found that out the hard way at a very young age. As she grew older her manic episodes and multiple personalities led to various obstacles in her life. This is her story... her misery, her turmoil, and her pain. This is the story of how what was supposed to be a tragic ending turned into a beautifully, devious beginning for Bianca Fulton. This is a complex story that shows how she felt like a captive in her own mind...trapped until she found the calming chaos she needed.... this is MANIC!

The Three Mrs. Greys


Shelly Ellis - 2021
    In this scandalous, twist-filled new series from award-winning author Shelly Ellis, will too many secrets and one devastating bond unite three women--or destroy them?Noelle. Diamond. Vanessa. Each woman believes she is Cyrus Grey's only wife--until he's nearly shot to death. Now, as he lies in a coma, the deceptions keep coming, unraveling everything they thought they knew...Gorgeous model Noelle's marriage to Cyrus anchored her--though she couldn't understand why he wouldn't have a baby with her. They certainly had the money. But she's learning fast just how Cyrus became so rich--thanks to his fatally attractive business partner...For Diamond, marrying Cyrus saved her from the streets--and being a pimp's punching bag. But her past makes her the police's prime suspect in Cyrus' shooting. She's determined to get to the truth--if she can she survive long enough to tell it...Even with her beautiful house, three kids, and elegant lifestyle, Vanessa sensed something was wrong in her marriage. But she never expected this--or that taking a lover for comfort would change the game completely.With danger closing in, Cyrus' life hanging in the balance, and collateral damage threatening to take them all down, how far will each woman go to be the real Mrs. Grey?

The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle


Stuart Turton - 2018
    again.It is meant to be a celebration but it ends in tragedy. As fireworks explode overhead, Evelyn Hardcastle, the young and beautiful daughter of the house, is killed.But Evelyn will not die just once. Until Aiden – one of the guests summoned to Blackheath for the party – can solve her murder, the day will repeat itself, over and over again. Every time ending with the fateful pistol shot. The only way to break this cycle is to identify the killer. But each time the day begins again, Aiden wakes in the body of a different guest. And someone is determined to prevent him ever escaping Blackheath...

One by One


Robert Enright - 2015
    Daily Muay Thai training sessions with his best friend, a progressive career as a mechanic and married to Helen, the love of his life. All of it comes to an end on a rainy saturday night in London. When Helen is ripped from the world by the notorious Drayton family on a visit to the capital and the police, including the prodigal Officer Starling, do little to bring them to justice, Lucas embarks on a rain soaked London to put things right himself. As the body count rises and the ripple effects of the escalating violence reaches further than he could have imagined, Lucas has to confront his dark past, his continuous grief, a nationwide police hunt and, of course, the Draytons.... One by One. A riveting story of revenge and redemption with hard-hitting action and heart-wrenching grief, One by One is a must for fans of Crime Thrillers.

Across the Broken Line


Zoë Sharp - 2011
    Never before published, it features her ex-Special Forces soldier turned self-defence expert and bodyguard, Charlotte ‘Charlie’ Fox.In Across The Broken Line, we follow Charlie through a fragmented timescale of cross and double-cross as she fights to keep her principal alive – whoever that might be.

Highway to Vengeance: A Thomas Highway Novel (Volume 1)


Brian Springer - 2011
    One is trying to stop him. One wants to help. But both have their own hidden agendas. Highway's search leads to a former drug lord turned terrorist who's looking to smuggle a WMD under the porous Mexico border. But that's not going to happen. Not if Highway can help it.From the sun-drenched beaches of San Diego to the crime-ridden streets of Tijuana, HIGHWAY TO VENGEANCE combines a hard-boiled, neo-noir, first-person POV with modern thriller elements and a highly accurate account of real-life SEAL training to create a twisting novel that explores the darkness within us all, the lengths one man will go to avenge his lost love, and the difference between vengeance and justice.Highway To Vengeance is a 60,000 word novel.For fans of Lee Child, Dennis Lehane, George Pelecanos, and Stephen Hunter.Includes a preview of THIRTEEN, a supernatural thriller.Also available from Brian Springer:Broken Highway (A Thomas Highway Short Story)Thirteen (A Supernatural Thriller)Blood Money (A Greg Kelton Novel)Wet Work (A Greg Kelton Short Story)Stain of Mind (The Serial Killer Journals Volume One)

The Butcher's Daughter


Jane E. James - 2019
    Not even yourself. When Natalie Powers returns home for the first time in thirteen years, she must convince everyone she has fully recovered from the mental illness, which has seen her institutionalised for most of her young life.But instead of being welcomed back, Natalie enters a baffling world of deception. She must fight her way through the lies in order to discover the truth about her mother’s sudden disappearance sixteen years earlier. To do this, Natalie must also try to make sense of the hazy memories from the past that continue to haunt her.In the village of Little Downey, everybody appears to harbour a mysterious secret, including her father, Frank, the village butcher, who refuses to discuss the circumstances surrounding Natalie’s mother's disappearance, but who can Natalie trust if not her own father? Especially when it becomes clear her protector and confidante, Dr Moses, is not all he appears.Meanwhile, a spate of unexplained clifftop suicides has seen the seaside resort go into decline. Are the villagers somehow involved or is something more sinister at work?Determined to find out what happened to her mother, Natalie must make sure her own frailty and self-doubt does not catapult her back to the mental institution before she can uncover the truth… Jane E. James is the author of the chilling thriller The Crying Boy. The Butcher's Daughter is a compelling and beautifully written psychological thriller which will appeal to fans of authors like Sheryl Browne, Nuala Ellwood and Teresa Driscoll.

Vanish


Lynn Shannon - 2018
    She gets out to render aid but is attacked and drugged. When she wakes, she's back inside her vehicle and the woman--along with the assailant--have vanished.Todd Duncan is shocked by the vicious assault and the haphazard investigation. Unlike the police, he believes Janet. She's driven to find the woman regardless of the risk and, although Todd's in town temporarily, he's not leaving his friend to do this alone.Yet the more they dig into the mysterious woman's identity, the deadlier the threats become. Someone is determined to keep what happened that night a secret, and if they have to kill to do it...So be it.

A VERY MODEL MURDER: An Inspector Rudolph Riley Mystery


Jack G. Hills - 2017
    But to add further angst to the growing list of gruesome killings is his boss’ decision to re-open the cold case involving the disappearance of a school boy in what has become an annual test of endurance… The Ten Tors Race. Unsure why a twenty year old case has suddenly come to the top of his in tray, his suspicions are aroused further when the murder victims all appear to have been school friends of the missing boy. Adamant that coincidences don’t exist in police work Riley sets about trying to find the link between Sam Haldane’s disappearance and the recent killings, other than the obvious connection of friendship. Added to his troubles, is the presence in the area of a fugitive, who has his own ideas about revenge and justice and an unscrupulous developer, who wants to buy the land surrounding his farm and turn it into a theme park, with scant regard for the history or the people who were thrown off their land prior to D Day. With the disappearance of the schoolboy and the final showdown all set around the infamous Fox Tor Mire, which was allegedly the inspiration for Arthur Conan Doyle’s Grimpen Mire in the Hound of the Baskervilles, the murderer is finally revealed but not without one final twist of the plot. But in all the blackness and soul searching there is one ray of brightness for Riley, and its one that will bring him a little closer to his brother and shows a different side to the curmudgeonly detective.

Murder in Disguise


Frances Lloyd - 2018
    His face is smashed to an unrecognizable pulp.Most of the guests on that fatal evening are in costume, making the detectives’ task even more difficult.But the most baffling aspect for Detectives Harry Montague and Gavin Jones is that only one person staying in the new wing had registered under a genuine name and address.HOW CAN YOU CATCH A KILLER IF YOU DON’T KNOW WHO THE SUSPECTS REALLY ARE?Then another corpse is discovered.It will take some inspired sleuthing to catch the killer...WHAT READERS ARE SAYING ABOUT FRANCES LLOYD“There are some unexpected twists in the plot and a few laughs along the way and the reader is kept guessing until all is revealed in the end.” Annie“A great book that you won't want to put down.” Alan“This murder mystery is a real page turner, I was hooked from start to finish. The descriptions of the Greek island were so vibrant I felt I was actually there.” AngelaALSO BY FRANCES LLOYDTHE DETECTIVE INSPECTOR JACK DAWES SERIESBook 1: THE GREEK ISLAND KILLERBook 2: THE BLUEBELL KILLERBook 3: THE SHETLAND KILLERBook 4: THE GALLOWS GREEN KILLER

Without Her Consent


McGarvey Black - 2020
    The child’s arrival triggers an investigation into serious sexual assault and the international media descends upon the small beach town of Oceanside, Florida.Detectives McQuillan and Blalock are handed the case, while the internal hospital team collects data to help with the investigation. When Dr. Angela Crawford, who delivered the baby, learns the child will be put in foster care, she and her husband agree to take the little boy in. Meanwhile, a young nurse, Jenny O’Hearn, helps compile data on the hospital rapist and discovers several strange things. When Jenny is attacked, it forces the detectives to look at the case from a different perspective. Could a staff doctor, male nurse or the chaplain be the rapist?Sometimes the truth isn’t always obvious.

Then She Was Gone


Lisa Jewell - 2017
    She had her whole life ahead of her. And then, in the blink of an eye, Ellie was gone. NOW It’s been ten years since Ellie disappeared, but Laurel has never given up hope of finding her daughter.And then one day a charming and charismatic stranger called Floyd walks into a café and sweeps Laurel off her feet. Before too long she’s staying the night at this house and being introduced to his nine year old daughter. Poppy is precocious and pretty - and meeting her completely takes Laurel's breath away. Because Poppy is the spitting image of Ellie when she was that age. And now all those unanswered questions that have haunted Laurel come flooding back. What happened to Ellie? Where did she go? Who still has secrets to hide?

The Last Flight


Julie ClarkJulie Clark - 2020
    But behind closed doors, nothing is quite as it seems. That perfect husband has a temper that burns as bright as his promising political career, and he's not above using his staff to track Claire's every move. But what he doesn't know is that Claire has worked for months on a plan to vanish.A chance meeting in an airport bar brings her together with a woman whose circumstances seem equally dire. Together they make a last-minute decision to switch tickets ― Claire taking Eva's flight to Oakland, and Eva traveling to Puerto Rico as Claire. But when the flight to Puerto Rico goes down, Claire realizes it's no longer a head start but a new life. Cut off, out of options, with the news of her death about to explode in the media, Claire will assume Eva's identity, and along with it, the secrets Eva fought so hard to keep hidden.

Lying Next to Me


Gregg Olsen - 2019
    It’s the perfect getaway to unplug—and to calm an uneasy marriage. But on Adam’s first day out on the water, he sees Sophie abducted by a stranger. A hundred yards from shore, Adam can’t save her. And Sophie disappears.In a nearby cabin is another couple, Kristen and Connor Moss. Unfortunately, beyond what they’ve heard in the news, they’re in the dark when it comes to Sophie’s disappearance. For Adam, at least there’s comfort in knowing that Mason County detective Lee Husemann is an old friend of his. She’ll do everything she can to help. She must.But as Adam’s paranoia about his missing wife escalates, Lee puts together the pieces of a puzzle. The lives of the two couples are converging in unpredictable ways, and the picture is unsettling. Lee suspects that not everyone is telling the truth about what they know—or they have yet to reveal all the lies they’ve hidden from the strangers they married.

Widows


Lynda La Plante - 1983
    The hijack of a security van would bring the gang thousands, but the job went wrong & Harry & his team were killed. Harry's widow, Dolly, had three options. She could hand over Harry's ledgers to the police. She could hand them over to a bunch of thugs. Or she could take the business over.