Book picks similar to
The American Pearl by Peter Gilboy
book-club
historical-biographies
military-wars
mystery-thriller
In a Dark Time
Larry Watson - 1980
In this, his debut novel, Watson explores the themes that established him as a master protrayer of small-town America. Another female student has been found strangled—the body count is up to three, and everyone suspects there will be more. But for Peter, a reticent teacher at Minnesota's Wanekia High School, his own morbid fascination with the murders haunts him more than the morning headlines. Keeping a detailed journal of his community's action—and his own—Peter discovers a disturbing ambivalence toward violence in the midst of uncommonly savage acts. A taut suspense novel that is at once compelling and thought-provoking, In a Dark Time ingeniously explores our culture's complex relationship with violence—and paints a vivid portrait of America too often color-blind to the bloody hues that tinge its landscape.
The Last Good Night
Emily Listfield - 1997
But it is all about to end. One night, a man approaches her outside the network studio and calls her "Marta." And in that instant, Laura knows that her last good night is over and what she's feared for so long has finally arrived. Marta. A precocious teenager who did something terrible one night in a run-down Florida motel. It is an act that will haunt her no matter how far she runs, how different she looks, or how successful she becomes. For twenty-one years, Laura has been trying to erase Marta from her memory. Now a man from her past is confronting her, demanding answers. At first, Laura believes she can control the situation, despite the mounting threats. But suddenly, she's facing every mother's nightmare. Laura will have to risk her marriage, her career, her life, to save her baby. And finally face what happened that night so long ago...
The Hand of Strange Children: A nerve-shredding mystery thriller
Robert Richardson - 1993
Details trickle in: the house belongs to wealthy merchant banker Charles Stansfield; present are well-known news editor Richard Barlow and members of his family. But the victims identities are withheld. Who are they? Why has a family gathering exploded into violence and death? Through their individual voices the lives of Richard, Tim and Naomi Barlow and their mother, Florence, unfold and a shocking crime comes to light - one that has gone undetected and unpunished, culminating in a double-killing a quarter of a century later. The Hand of Strange ChildrenPraise for Robert Richardson ''With this, his first novel, Robert Richardson makes a most impressive debut as a writer of the classical English detective story… He knows how to create suspense and an atmosphere of incipient evil; he provides us with a genuine puzzle, his characters are believable people, and the motive of his murderer is psycho-logically credible.” P D James “Skilful rerouting and the taste of real tears” The Sunday Times “Eccentrics, suspects and witty writing abound” The Times “Here is a book to be missed only at your own peril” Armchair Detective “Elegantly written, beautifully characterised, suspenseful and oddly moving” Mystery Reader’s Journal “Grand entertainment, deft handling and suave wit” Publishers Weekly Robert Richardson is a journalist and editor who lives in England.
Jessamine
Shani Struthers - 2014
As a way of coping with her grief, she keeps him 'alive' in her imagination - talking to him every day, laughing with him, remembering the good times they had together. She thinks she will 'hear' him better if she goes somewhere quieter, away from the hustle and bustle of her hometown, Brighton. Her destination is Glenelk in the Highlands of Scotland, a region her grandfather hailed from and the subject of a much-loved painting from her childhood. Arriving in the village late at night, it is a bleak and forbidding place. However, the house she is renting - Skye Croft - is warm and welcoming. Quickly she meets the locals. Her landlord, Fionnlagh Maccaillin, is an ex-army man with obvious and not so obvious injuries. Maggie, who runs the village shop, is also an enigma, startling her with her strange 'insights'. But it is Stan she instantly connects with. Maccaillin's grandfather and a frail, old man, he is grief-stricken from the recent loss of his beloved Beth. All four are caught in the past. All four are unable to let go. Their lives entwining in mysterious ways, can they help each other to move on or will they always belong to the ghosts that haunt them? From the author of the bestselling The Haunting of Highdown Hall.
The Quiet Streets of Winslow
Judy Troy - 2014
Nate Aspenall, with whom the young woman had been involved, is forced to confront the facts of her life and his own, and what he may have become with her. Sam Rush confronts the degree to which he is hindered by his assumptions about the Aspenall family, and by the knowledge of his own isolation. And Travis Aspenall, Nate’s fourteen-year-old stepbrother, must come to grips with what love and sex do to people, what choices they make when threatened with loss, and how to figure out what you’re left with when what you thought you knew and trusted has been thrown into question. As the investigation takes Sam north to Winslow and Holbrook and brings Nate home, temporarily, to Black Canyon City, solving the mystery becomes more complicated. Additional suspects emerge. Nobody tells the truth. The victim’s haphazard life was dangerous, and her relationship with Nate anything but straight-forward. As for Nate, his time in Black Canyon City is running out. His family is no longer certain of his innocence. In the midst of this, Travis struggles to grow up.Set in the gorgeous setting of Winslow, Arizona – where the place becomes a fully realized character in this beautiful story – Judy Troy offers a murder mystery infused with inter-woven love stories and unforgettable voices, a masterful return for this wonderful writer.
The Game You Played
Anni Taylor - 2016
International visitors surge into Sydney's Darling Harbour. Two-year-old Tommy is sailing his toy boat in the park when he vanishes. Six months later, taunting notes written as nursery rhymes begin arriving at his parents' home.Little Boy Blue, where did you go? Who led you away? Only I know . . . . The police believe the messages are just a cruel prank. But Tommy's mother Phoebe becomes obsessed with tracking down the writer of the rhymes. Her life and marriage shatters.When the shocking identity of the message-writer is discovered, Phoebe's desperate race for the truth has only just begun."I love love love this author! This is the sort of book I love but never find very often!" - reviewer
Knife Fight
Joel Goldman - 2012
Find out how far she goes in Knife Fight!“Joel Goldman highlights the ethical challenges of criminal defense work.”Publisher’s WeeklyAnd don’t miss, Stone Cold, the first novel in Joel Goldman’s new Alex Stone Thriller series! Coming in December 2012!Then grab Motion To Kill. When two of his partners are killed, corruption, sex and murder fill trial lawyer Lou Mason’s docket as he tracks the killer. Will Lou be the next victim? Found out in Motion To Kill, the action-packed, can’t-put-it-down first book in the Lou Mason thriller series!And stay up all night with Shakedown, the first book in Joel Goldman’s Jack Davis Thriller series. When FBI Agent Jack Davis investigates a mass murder, a leak of crucial information and his imploding personal life throw him into the ultimate danger zone – where truth lies at the heart of betrayal.
No Kiss Goodbye
Janelle Harris - 2015
Things will never be the same again, they said. Isn't it wonderful, they said. But no one knows what to say now. My husband wants to take the kids. My husband thinks the accident was my fault. My husband thinks I need help. But I think he wants rid of me.
When life gives you lulu lemons
Lauren Weisburger
Emily, now in her 30s, is living in Los Angeles with a husband and a career as an image consultant—a career that is suddenly floundering—when she gets a desperate summons to Greenwich, Connecticut, from her old friend Miriam. Miriam’s pal Karolina is all over the media with a bogus drunk driving change, and this senator’s wife and former Victoria’s Secret model needs an image makeover, fast. The narrative is split between the three women as they uncover a major betrayal and in doing so form an enviable bond. The doings of the Greenwich housewives who are now shunning Karolina is uproariously funny, and even jaded Emily is shocked by the scandalous behavior going on behind oversized doors. It feels like Weisberger wrote her novel yesterday, peppering the story with real-life celebrity misconduct. When Life Gives You Lululemons is a laugh-out-loud funny look at rich people behaving badly and the steel bonds of true female friendship. —Seira Wilson, Amazon Book Review
I Will Never Leave You
S.M. Thayer - 2018
Banking heiress Trish and her husband, James, seem to have it all, from a lavish lifestyle to a historic mansion in the nation’s capital. All that’s missing from their privileged life is a baby.So when Trish sees Anne Elise for the first time, it’s no surprise that she falls deeply in love. There’s just one problem: Trish isn’t the mother. The baby belongs to Laurel, James’s young mistress. And James and Laurel want the wife out of the picture.When Trish becomes perversely obsessed with making Laurel’s baby her own, the lovers come up with a wicked plan to end James’s marriage that quickly goes awry. As the love triangle becomes more and more dangerous, how far is each of them willing to go to get what they want?
The Ranger
Brooke Sivendra - 2017
. . Seven years ago, Deacon Thomas's girlfriend was brutally murdered. Every single day, he lives with the crushing truth—they killed her to get to him. Time hasn't healed his wounds. Not even a little. But he's found one way to survive: to suppress the memories of her—the good and the bad. Until now. One image changes everything, and whether he wants to or not, life is going to force him to face his past. But life is also going to give him something else: a second chance at happiness—if he can find the strength to forgive himself. If you like stories packed with intrigue, romance and suspense, then you'll love the first instalment in Brooke Sivendra's Deacon Thomas Duet. Buy The Ranger to begin this thrilling story today! NOTE: Brooke recommends reading the James Thomas series before the Deacon Thomas Duet.
Retribution: Deep Throat Diva 2
Cairo - 2014
To uncover the names of her attackers who played a brutal role in her abduction and vicious assault over a year ago, then lure them—one by one, to their demise. As fate would have it, there’s someone else who has also been scheming for information about the events leading up to her kidnapping. And in one night, Pasha’s life is suddenly turned upside, refueling her desire for revenge. As a result, unsuspected alliances are formed, new friendships are forged, and Pasha finds herself entangled with someone who may be as ruthless as she is fabulous. Suddenly, as lies unfold and truths are told, Pasha’s thirst for payback takes on a dramatic new twist, causing her to weave a dangerous web of seduction—using her greatest assets: her mesmerizing beauty and sexual prowess—to get what she wants, by whatever means necessary. But before she can take down the cold-blooded man she once loved and his goons, she must first confront the one person who deceived and hurt her the most. And those around her will soon learn that betrayal can cost you everything, including your life.
Glimmer of Gold (Jack Ferrell Adventures Book 1)
William Nikkel - 2014
Most men would consider him one of the luckiest guys alive.But is he?Free diving on a reef off the south coast of Maui, Jack spies something small and round—like a golden eye gleaming at him from the coral—and makes a grab for it. Back aboard his Zodiac, he discovers he’s found a 1941 West Point class ring with the initials C. W. M. inscribed on inside of the band.While struggling with his failing relationship and his new job working for his fiancée’s father, an unscrupulous developer, Jack sets out to find the soldier who lost the ring—a quest that leads him to Charles William McIntyre. But it’s not until he gets a phone call from McIntyre’s twenty-seven-year-old granddaughter Katie that he learns the ring’s secret.“This proves my dad was telling the truth,” she says. “He didn’t kill my mother.”The ring is evidence needed to support her father’s alibi, and Jack’s statement is crucial. To help secure her father’s release from prison, he joins Katie in Henderson, Nevada where she lives. But it’s not that easy. Someone is willing to kill to keep her father behind bars. As Jack and Katie race to stay a step ahead of the killer, they put their lives on the line to discover the identity of the man responsible for her mother’s murder and the truth behind her death.
This is a new release of a previously published edition.
Splinter the Bone (DI Haskell & Quinn #3)
Bilinda P. Sheehan - 2020
He knows you’re alone… and he wants to be with you.A new elite team is formed in the North Yorkshire police force to tackle the most heinous crimes.When a young girl is found washed up at the base of the cliffs in Whitby, the police suspect human trafficking.Coming off the high of catching a vicious murderer, Drew and Harriet are called on to investigate a series of seemingly unconnected, and random, crimes.One of which Harriet fears bears all the hallmarks of a fledgling serial killer.With Drew fighting the lasting effects of the Star Killer, and Harriet trying to help him reintegrate, this may turn out to be their most challenging case yet.