Book picks similar to
The Girlfriend Experience by Charles O'Donnell


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The Unspoken


Ian K. Smith - 2020
    After refusing to participate in a police department cover-up involving the death of a young black man, Cayne is pushed out of the force. But he won’t sit quietly on the sidelines: he’s compelled to fight for justice as a private investigator…even if it means putting himself in jeopardy.When a young woman, Tinsley Gerrigan, goes missing, her wealthy parents from the North Shore hire Cayne to find her. As Cayne looks into her life and past, he uncovers secrets Tinsley’s been hiding from her family. Cayne fears he may never find Tinsley alive.His worries spike when Tinsley’s boyfriend is found dead—another black man murdered on the tough Chicago streets. Cayne must navigate his complicated relationships within the Chicago PD, leveraging his contacts and police skills to find the missing young woman, see justice done, and earn his redemption.

K-Town Confidential


Brad Chisholm - 2021
    The crime takes place in a gritty Koreatown ‘room salon' with Naomi holding the murder weapon. The case is tried in the L.A. media and everyone takes sides. The deeper Holly digs, the darker the secrets become. Holly risks everything to find the truth, only to learn that if she reveals it, Naomi goes to prison for life. If Holly keeps the secret, then Naomi may walk, but Holly will have betrayed her lover. No one will guess the plot twists in K-Town Confidential.

The Last Thing I Told You


Emily Arsenault - 2018
    Not again. Not again. Why did I ever come back here? Surely because of you. Because I thought of something I'd always meant to tell you. Because you were the only one I ever really wanted to tell it to.Therapist Dr. Mark Fabian is dead, bludgeoned in his office. But that doesn't stop former patient Nadine Raines from talking to him -- in her head. Why did she come back to her hometown after so many years away? Everyone here thinks she's crazy. And she has to admit, they might have good reason to think so. She committed a shockingly violent act when she was sixteen and has never really been able to explain that dark impulse, even to Fabian. Now that Fabian's dead, why is she still trying? Meanwhile, as Detective Henry Peacher investigates Fabian's death, he discovers that shortly before he died Fabian pulled the files of two former patients. One was of Nadine Raines, one of Henry's former high school classmates. Henry still remembers the disturbing attack on a teacher that marked Nadine as a deeply troubled teen. More shockingly, the other file was of Johnny Streeter who is now serving a life sentence for a mass shooting five years ago. The shooting devastated the town and everyone -- including Henry who is uncomfortable with the "hero" status the tragedy afforded him -- is ready to move on. But the appearance of his file brings up new questions. Maybe there is a decades-old connection between Nadine and Streeter. And maybe that somehow explains what Nadine is doing in Fabian's office nearly twenty years after being his patient. Or how Fabian ended up dead two days after her return. Or why Nadine has fled town once again. But as Nadine and Henry head toward a confrontation, both will discover that the secrets of people's hearts are rarely simple and even in the hidden depths of a psychologist's files, rarely as they appear.

Among Wolves


Jordan Vezina - 2015
    Growing up in 1960’s San Francisco as a young artist, Will finds himself at odds with his Nazi war criminal Grandfather and radical Jihadist mother. When Will’s mother spearheads a terrorist attack in San Francisco, the boy must decide if he is going to turn a blind eye or take part in an operation that can only result in the destruction of his own family. As the conflict within the family unit comes to a boil, Nazi hunter and Mossad spymaster Saul Greenbaum steps out of the shadows to recruit Will Hessler, and forge him into the agent that Mossad needs to defend the homeland. Can Will grow up fast enough to survive a clash with a PLO splinter group that has already buried several seasoned operatives from both the CIA and Mossad?

The Abomination


Jonathan Holt - 2013
    The victim is a woman, dressed in the sacred robes of a Catholic priest--a desecration that becomes known as the Abomination.Working her first murder case, Captain Kat Tapo embarks on a trail that proves as elusive and complicated as the city's labyrinthine backstreets. What Kat discovers will test her loyalties and remind her of a simple truth: Unless old crimes are punished, corrupt forces will continue to repeat their mortal sins.The Abomination is book one of Jonathan Holt's Carnivia Trilogy.

The Geneva Connection


Martin Bodenham - 2011
    The success of his private equity firm has propelled him into the ranks of the world's super-rich, allowing him to give his family the security and advantages he didn’t have in his own childhood.But John's dream is shattered with the discovery that his largest investor is bankrolled by the most vicious drug cartel in Mexico. Then one of his partners is murdered to guarantee his silence, and John realizes he cannot cooperate with the authorities.When the ambitious head of the DEA threatens John with incarceration, his nightmare is complete. If he resists the DEA, what will happen to his family while he's imprisoned? But the alternative is worse. For if John chooses to betray the cartel, he and his family will pay the ultimate price.Praise for THE GENEVA CONNECTION:“The Geneva Connection has a menacing opening with a hook and a barb to make the hook stick. Thriller readers are hooked, barbed and immediately reeled in. The narrative mesmerizes from the outset. The pace is swift and the action enough to make any reader’s toes curl in frightening expectation.” —Art Cockerill, writer and journalist“I couldn’t put The Geneva Connection down once I started it. The intricate plot, laced with just enough background information to make it realistic and understandable, takes twist after turn until you reach the final destination, white-knuckling it all the way. An intense thrill ride through the world of investment banking, drug cartels, and money laundering.” —Long and Short Reviews“Novelist Martin Bodenham has penned The Geneva Connection, a thriller straddling the City, the English countryside, Mexican back roads and the US Drug Enforcement Administration. With this page-turner, Bodenham aspires to do for fund managers what John Grisham has done for lawyers.” —Corporate Financier Magazine“Bodenham, a dealmaker who made his name in the cut and thrust world of turnarounds, is a fine writer of thriller fiction.” —Real Deals Magazine

All Eyes on Me


Linsey Lanier - 2014
    If she can't solve this case, not only will she fail her destiny, another psycho killer might get away with murder.Meanwhile, Parker harbors secret reservations about their new venture together.Especially when he suspects there might be more to this murder than meets the...eye.You’ll love this intriguing mystery full of twists and turns, because it’s the start of many more adventures.Get it now.

Scattered Leaves: The Legend of Ghostkiller


Lynny Prince - 2008
    More than a century later, Kyle Ghostkiller is given the chance to go back and save them.Kyle has just returned to his hometown to accept a medicine bundle that gives him the power to time travel and reverse a curse on an old government document. But when four teenagers are found brutally murdered, newcomer Kyle becomes a prime suspect. With the FBI hot on his trail, and a jilted childhood sweetheart learning to love him all over again, Kyle escapes into the past where he must confront dark forces to save the "38" or risk losing them to the hangman's noose forever. It's a fierce battle between good and evil that Kyle must win. Only the sacred ceremonies of his ancestors and Kyle's sheer determination can save the "38", but can he successfully change history for the Great Sioux Nation?

Peter in Flight


Paul Michael Peters - 2013
    He can tell you everything there is to know about successful trade show programs. He can tell you stories about the thousands of people he has met, miles he has flown, hotel rooms he has stayed in, and ways to work the system to your advantage when you travel. But he can't tell the woman he loves how he feels. Think "Up in the Air meets Planes, Trains and Automobiles..". Based on his own extensive business trips, Paul Michael Peters brings us this funny, bittersweet story of a traveling software salesman. Filled with wry observations and entertaining vignettes, life moves fast in this quick read about a "trade show guy" and a love he thinks he can never have.

Days of Night


Jonathan Stone - 2017
    But a difficult investigation turns much tougher when all communication with the outside world is suddenly cut off.While Heller works diligently to reconstruct the scene of the crime, evidence mounts that a pathogenic event could be ravaging the rest of the planet. As night descends, fear mounts, and confusion reigns, the killer strikes again. If this is a global cataclysm, is someone now picking off the human race’s few remaining survivors? Is this the end of the world—or just the end of Joe Heller’s?

Think of a Number


John Verdon - 2010
    Yet, even as he matches wits with his seemingly clairvoyant opponent, Gurney’s tragedy-marred past rises up to haunt him, his marriage approaches a dangerous precipice, and finally, a dark, cold fear builds that he’s met an adversary who can’t be stopped.In the end, fighting to keep his bearings amid a whirlwind of menace and destruction, Gurney sees the truth of what he’s become – what we all become when guilty memories fester – and how his wife Madeleine’s clear-eyed advice may be the only answer that makes sense.A work that defies easy labels -- at once a propulsive masterpiece of suspense and an absorbing immersion in the lives of characters so real we seem to hear their heartbeats – Think of a Number is a novel you’ll not soon forget.

Shadow Man


Alan Drew - 2017
    Suddenly the town, with its peaceful streets and excellent public schools, finds itself at the mercy of a serial killer who slips through windows and screen doors, shattering illusions of safety. As Ben and forensic specialist Natasha Betencourt struggle to stay one step ahead of the killer, Ben’s own world is rocked again by a teen’s suicide. Ben must decide how far he is willing to go, and how much he will risk, to rescue the town from a long-buried secret, as well as from a psychotic murderer. With eerie, chilling, fine prose, Alan Drew brings us into the treacherous underbelly of a suburban California town in this brilliant novel of suspense about a man, and a community, confronted with the heart of human darkness.

The Names of the Dead


Kevin Wignall - 2020
    Now he's out - for revenge.Former CIA officer James 'Wes' Wesley paid the ultimate price for his patriotism when he was locked up in a French jail for an anti-terror operation gone wrong - abandoned by the Agency he served, shunned by his colleagues and friends, cut off from his family.Now he is shattered by the news that his ex-wife, Rachel, a State Department analyst, has been killed in a terrorist attack in Spain. He also discovers that his young son, Ethan, is missing. But Wes didn't know he had a son - until now.Why was Rachel in Spain? And why did she keep his son secret from him?Granted early release, Wes takes flight across Europe to search for the truth and exact his revenge. But can he catch the spies who betrayed him before they track him down? In order to find the answers and save his son, Wes realises he must confront the dark secrets in his own past - before it's too late.

Fifth Column


Christopher Remy - 2011
    A divided America is debating whether or not to go to war. The FBI and police, scrambling to thwart any attacks, round up the plotters. Experts declare that our intelligence capabilities are insufficient and that a new agency must be created. The year is 1941. Fifth Column is the story of Johanna Falck, a German immigrant who joins the new American central intelligence service. As Americans focus on the war in Europe and whether the United States should intervene, the FBI is rounding up scores of German spies. The German-American Bund, a pro-Nazi group of Americans suspected of being saboteurs and subversives, is at the center of the FBI's investigations. Johanna is recruited to infiltrate the Bund and discover what they and the Nazis have planned. Soon she is caught up in a far-reaching conspiracy, one that stretches from the top of the Nazi state to the streets of New York. What she finds shatters her most basic assumption about the Third Reich.

The Search


William Casey Moreton - 2011
    His world suddenly upside-down, he embarks on a desperate search for answers as the official rescue effort begins. As he races to find his wife, John is pursued by a cold-blooded killer when he becomes entangled in a scheme to steal millions of dollars from a New York Mafia boss. In the rush of action as the search intensifies, John’s life becomes a high-stakes guessing game of learning who to trust and who to fear.