Night Sins


Tami Hoag - 1995
    But when a young boy disappears, it marks the beginning of a unspeakable nightmare. There are no witnesses, no clues, only a note, cleverly taunting, casually cruel. Has a cold-blooded kidnapper struck? Or is this the reawakening of a long-quiet serial killer? Now, a tough-minded investigator on her first, make-or-break case, and a local cop who fears that big city evils have invaded his small town, are hunting for a madman. Together, they must outsmart a killer who knows no bounds...and protect a town that may never feel safe again.

After Dark


Beverly Barton - 2000
    Lane Noble Graham stands accused of murdering her ex-husband. The one man who can help her, Johnny Mack Cahill, vowed never to return to the town that scorned him. But one secret could make Lane and Johnny Mack the target of a twisted killer.

The Intercept


Dick Wolf - 2012
    So when a passenger from the same plane disappears into the crowds of Manhattan, it’s up to Fisk and his partner Krina Gersten to find him before the celebrations begin... And time is running out.

Twisted


Andrea Kane - 2008
    Navigating expertly between the mind of a deranged serial killer and the FBI special agents racing to end his lethal spree, Kane delivers a complex, unforgettable story based on extensive research with the FBI and its Crisis Negotiation and Behavioral Analysis Units. Twisted is Kane's most accomplished novel yet.Who will be next?Former FBI Special Agent Sloane Burbank survived a life-threatening injury sustained in the line of duty, only to face leaving a job she loves in order to recuperate. As an independent consultant, she now uses her specialized skills to train law enforcement and private organizations in crisis resolution. But when one of her closest childhood friends mysteriously disappears, and the woman's devastated parents beg for her help, Sloane takes the case—even though her ex-lover Derek Parker is the FBI agent in charge.Special Agent Derek Parker, now assigned to the Asian Criminal Enterprise Task Force in the FBI's New York Field Office, has no time to spare for a year-old case he sees as a dead end—especially since it would mean working with a woman he never expected to see again. He's pursuing the leader of a Chinese gang and trying to solve a series of grisly murders in Chinatown, so he initially offers Sloane the case files and minimal cooperation.But as more women disappear and others turn up brutally murdered, Derek's priorities shift, and he and Sloane come to the sickening realization that these random crimes are linked to the same crazed killer. No one can anticipate when he will strike again, but when Sloane becomes the target of the killer's twisted obsession, it's clear that his ultimate fantasy is even more psychotic than either of them ever imagined.

Killing November


Adriana Mather - 2019
    There’s no electricity, no internet, and an eye-for-an-eye punishment system. Classes include everything from Knife-Throwing and Poisons to the Art of Deception and Historical Analysis. And all of the students are children of the world’s most elite strategists—training to become assassins, counselors, spies, and master impersonators. Into this world walks November Adley, who quickly discovers that friends are few in a school where personal revelations are discouraged and competition is everything. When another student is murdered, all eyes turn to November, who must figure out exactly how she fits into the school’s bizarre strategy games before she is found guilty of the crime…or becomes the killer’s next victim.

Blindsighted


Karin Slaughter - 2001
    But it's only when town pediatrician and coroner Sara Linton does the autopsy that the full extent of the killer's twisted work becomes clear. Sara's ex-husband, police chief Jeffrey Tolliver, leads the investigation -- a trail of terror that grows increasingly macabre when another local woman is found crucified a few days later. But he's got more than a sadistic serial killer on his hands, for the county's sole female detective, Lena Adams -- the first victim's sister -- wants to serve her own justice. But it is Sara who holds the key to finding the killer. A secret from her past could unmask the brilliantly malevolent psychopath .. or mean her death.

Lethal People


John Locke - 2009
    While pursuing a budding romance with the beautiful Kathleen Gray, Creed stumbles upon a plucky, but horribly burned, little girl named Addie Dawes. Creed's suspicion about the fire that killed Addie's family puts him on a collision course with crime boss Joe DeMeo, in what soon becomes an issue of kill or be killed. DeMeo, a relentless killer who will stop at nothing to protect his empire, targets Creed and his loved ones for death. But Creed has plans of his own. Employing a bizarre cast of characters including a giant, a rival crime lord, an angry midget bent on world conquest, and a team of circus clowns, Creed goes on the attack, with hilarious results.

Alone


Lisa Gardner - 2004
    . . Massachusetts State Trooper Bobby Dodge watches a tense hostage standoff unfold through the scope of his sniper rifle. Just across the street, in wealthy Back Bay, Boston, an armed man has barricaded himself with his wife and child. The man’s finger tightens on the trigger and Dodge has only a split second to react . . . and forever pay the consequences.Alone . . . that’s where the nightmare began for cool, beautiful, and dangerously sexy Catherine Rose Gagnon. Twenty-five years ago, she was buried underground during a month-long nightmare of abduction and abuse. Now her husband has just been killed. Her father-in-law, the powerful Judge Gagnon, blames Catherine for his son’s death . . . and for the series of unexplained illnesses that have sent her own young son repeatedly to the hospital. Alone . . . a madman survived solitary confinement in a maximum security prison where he’d done hard time for the most sadistic of crimes. Now he walks the streets a free man, invisible, anonymous . . . and filled with an unquenchable rage for vengeance. What brings them together is a moment of violence—but what connects them is a passion far deeper and much more dangerous. For a killer is loose who’s woven such an intricate web of evil that no one is above suspicion, no one is beyond harm, and no one will see death coming until it has them cornered, helpless, and alone.

The Night Manager


John le Carré - 1993
    Jonathan Pine is ready to stand up and be counted in the fight against this ultimate heart of darkness. His mission takes him from the cliffs of west Cornwall, via northern Quebec and the Caribbean, to the jungles of post-Noriega Panama. His quarry is the worst man in the world.

Dangerous Passage


Lisa Harris - 2013
    Suspecting a serial killer, Avery joins forces with medical examiner Jackson Bryant to solve the crimes and prevent another murder. But it doesn't take long for them to realize that there is much more to the case than meets the eye. As they venture deep into a sinister world of human trafficking, Avery and Jackson are taken to the very edge of their abilities--and their hearts.Dangerous Passage exposes a fully-realized and frightening world where every layer peeled back reveals more challenges ahead. Romantic suspense fans will be hooked from the start by Lisa Harris's first installment of the new Southern Crimes series.

The Quickie


James Patterson - 2007
    But while she's sneaking around, her husband is hatching a plan of his own. After a torrid quickie with a co-worker, Lauren hears a struggle outside her window and looks out just in time to see her husband loading her lover's limp body into the trunk of a car. When the body shows up in a pool of shallow water, she races to the scene of the crime. But Lauren Stillwell is no regular wronged woman. She's a NYC cop—and she's just been assigned to this case. Unable to tell anyone what she saw and unwilling to turn her husband in, Lauren is paralyzed by a secret that will tear her life apart. But as she attempts to point fingers away from her husband, she uncovers something shocking: her husband didn't have an affair—what he did was far worse than she could have ever imagined.A gripping story of secrets and infidelities that begins where Adrian Lyne's movie Unfaithful leaves off, The Quickie will have readers' hearts pounding to the very last page.

Sudden Death


Allison Brennan - 2009
    Her investigation gets complicated fast, for the victim, a former Delta Force soldier, is just one link in a nationwide spree of torture and murder.Straight off a job rescuing medical missionaries, soldier-for-hire Jack Kincaid returns to his home base in the Texas border town of Hidalgo only to receive the news that one of his closest colleagues–also ex-military–has been brutally murdered. Faced with an inept local police force, Jack takes matters into his own hands.Now, as part of a national task force to stop the sadistic killings, by-the-book Megan and burn-the-book Jack form a tense alliance, sparked with conflict and temptation. But they struggle against more than passion, for a vicious pair of killers has only just begun a rampage of evil . . . and the primary target is much closer than Megan suspects.

Shadow Woman


Linda Howard - 2012
    . . and memories that can kill. SHADOW WOMAN  Lizette Henry wakes up one morning and makes a terrifying discovery: She doesn’t recognize the face she sees in the mirror. She remembers what she looks like, but her reflection is someone else’s. To add to the shock, two years seem to have disappeared from her life. Someone has gone to great and inexplicable lengths to keep those missing years hidden forever. But the past always finds a way to return.   Strange memories soon begin to surface and, along with them, some unusual skills and talents that Lizette hasn’t a clue about acquiring. Sensing that she’s being monitored, Lizette suddenly knows how to search for bugs in her house and tracking devices in her car. What’s more, she can elude surveillance—like a trained agent.   Enter a mysterious and seductive stranger named Xavier, who claims he wants to help—but who triggers disturbing images of an unspeakable crime of which Lizette may or may not be the perpetrator. With memories returning, she suddenly becomes a target of anonymous assassins. On the run with nowhere to hide, Lizette has no choice but to rely on Xavier, a strong and magnetic man she doesn’t trust, with a powerful attraction she cannot resist. As murky waters become clear, Lizette confronts a conspiracy that is treacherous and far-reaching and a truth that, once revealed, may silence her and Xavier once and for all.BONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from Linda Howard's Running Wild.Praise for Shadow Woman  “Dazzling . . . From the opening line, [Shadow Woman] will grab readers and take them on an exhilarating and terrifying adventure!”—RT Book Reviews   “Fast-paced, intricately detailed romantic suspense . . . Readers won’t want to put it down until the extraordinary conclusion. . . . Highly recommended.”—Fresh Fiction   “An intriguing plot and captivating characters [with] lots of drama, tension, intrigue and suspense.”—The Star-Ledger

Exit Strategy


Kelley Armstrong - 2007
    A former cop, drummed out of the force because of a scandal, she is an expert at disguise and cool under pressure. But when fellow hitman Jack arrives on the scene, Nadia’s very private existence is seriously challenged.A series of victims are being murdered seemingly at random all over the US — different areas, different walks of life, different MOs. There is nothing to tie them together except a random page torn out of a single book, "Helter Skelter". Does the Helter Skelter killer — as the hysterical media now dub him — have a real connection to Charles Manson? Or is there something even more sinister at work?Is this, in fact — as Jack believes — the carefully planned exit strategy of a fellow professional killer, determined to leave the life, but equally determined to clear up an old mistake or two? And, if so, who is the real victim? Now, the highly suspicious and secretive hitman community will have to break their cover — at least, to each other — and help take down this killer before the cops and the Feds discover his true connection to their own secret, exclusive society.

Encrypted


Carolyn McCray - 2012
     Praise for Encrypted... "Imagine a roller coaster ride filled with historical twists and turns, fabulous action, and a great love story. You'll soar to the skies then grip your seat on the way down. Encrypted will leave you breathless in the end." Amber Scott Author Fierce Dawn "If you like Lara Croft you'll love the heroine, Ronnie. From one explosion to the next my heart raced with each turn of the page. And the plague making a come back? Written with such realism, after reading Encrypted, you may never want to leave your house again." Elena Gray Author Full Body Contact Overview: A code written in unbreakable Angelic script. The resurgence of the Black Death. Can an FBI Agent and the Robin Hood Hacker save the world from another Dark Ages? More praise for Encrypted... "Dan Brown blinked and Carolyn McCray took over. Encrypted is the best thing that I've read in the thriller genre, hands down. It's got history, mysticism, shadowy organizations manipulating world events. Oh, and did I mention the most incredible opposites attract relationship EVER? This novel knocked my socks off." Ben Hopkin Book Reviewer "Halting the spread of a weaponized redo of the Black Plague? Intending to plunge the world into a medieval hellish vision of the Hidden Hand? It's never good when the dead could turn out to be the lucky ones. That's a lot of responsibility resting on the shoulders of a brilliant cyber hacker and a sexy FBI agent. Makes you wonder who's calling the shots? God, the angels or a 13th century cult that would make Lucifer blush." Taylor Lee Author Grandmaster's Legacy "Action packed from the first sentence, 'Encrypted' kept me turning pages. From hackers, special agents, to the plague, you won't be able to put this one down until the end!" Kelli McCracken Author What the Heart Wants If you enjoy the intrigue of The Bourne Identity, the historical texture of Dan Brown, and the roller coaster action of Indian Jones, you are going to LOVE "Encrypted!" **If you were looking for Carolyn's extremely controversial historical thriller, simply search under 30 Pieces of Silver (#1 Kindle Bestseller in Men's Adventure and War categories, but be warned, it is WAY more controversial than Encrypted.) **If you were looking for near future action/adventure roller coaster, try Carolyn's MoonRush. It's 2049 and the rush is on! To the moon! **If you were looking for Carolyn's taut romantic suspense with an MMA kick, search for Full Body Contact under her pen name Cristyn West **If you were looking for Carolyn's #1 historical thriller set in ancient Rome, simply search under "Fated McCray." Beware though, there is a thread of paranormal romance that sneaks up on you like an asp in the night... **If you were looking for Carolyn's thriller short stories, An Engagement to Remember and Dark Lullaby check out Bullet, Brass, and Babes, the ultimate thriller anthology!