Book picks similar to
Dead on Arrival by Kiki Swinson


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The Cleansing


J.A. Baker - 2019
    Secrets buried deep... When Ray moves to a new house in the village of Whitchurch, he leaves behind a relationship and a luxury apartment in search of a better life in the countryside.However, he soon realises that sleepy Whitchurch also has its own fair share of problems. Last year, a woman’s body was discovered in the woods nearby. The killer was never caught.Soon suspicious things start to happen. Threatening letters are sent, cars are vandalised and headstones are desecrated. But who is responsible for these acts and why? As the tension in the village builds, Ray begins to feel the pressure. Someone is out to cause trouble and that someone might be closer to Ray than he ever imagined. J.A. Baker is the bestselling author of multiple thrillers, including Undercurrent, The Uninvited, Her Dark Retreat and The Other Mother. The Cleansing is a gripping psychological thriller which will appeal to fans of authors like Shalini Boland, K.L. Slater and Rachel Abbott.

Kindred: A Graphic Novel Adaptation


Damian Duffy - 2017
    Home is a new house with a loving husband in 1970s California that suddenly transformed in to the frightening world of the antebellum South. Dana, a young black writer, can't explain how she is transported across time and space to a plantation in Maryland. But she does quickly understand why: to deal with the troubles of Rufus, a conflicted white slaveholder--and her progenitor. Her survival, her very existence, depends on it. This searing graphic-novel adaptation of Octavia E. Butler's science fiction classic is a powerfully moving, unflinching look at the violent disturbing effects of slavery on the people it chained together, both black and white--and made kindred in the deepest sense of the word.

Smoke and Mirrors


Casey Daniels - 2017
     Evie Barnum is in charge of her brother's museum, a place teeming with scientific specimens and "human prodigies" including a bearded woman and the lizard man. In this weird and whacky workplace, Evie hopes she can bury her secrets.But when an old friend shows up and begs for her help, she does all she can to stay away. The next time she sees him, he is dead in front of the exhibit of the Feejee Mermaid. Suspicion for the murder falls on Jeffrey, known as the Lizard Man, but Evie knows it isn't possible.When Jeffrey also goes missing, Evie becomes determined to solve the mystery of her friend's murder, even if it brings her face to face with her past...

Necropolis PD


Nathan Sumsion - 2019
    But three months ago, he ran through the wrong door and found himself trapped in the city of Meridian – a literal necropolis, concealed from the modern world, made up of forgotten places and populated entirely by the dead. As the only living, breathing resident, Jake has struggled to scrape out an existence while waiting for the Necropolis Police Department to decide his fate, and it’s not looking good. But when an unusual string of crimes hits the city, Jake’s overseer and tormentor, NPD Detective Marsh offers him a deal: Jake’s life in exchange for helping them solve the worst series of crimes in the necropolis’ history. Someone, or some thing is killing the dead, and if Jake can’t figure out who’s responsible, he could be next. Necropolis PD is a hidden world fantasy that combines mystery, horror, magic, and more than a little humor. This book is perfect for the living and recently-departed alike.

The Auguries


F.G. Cottam - 2019
    A poisonous fog that cripples the capital. Statues that weep blood.As the catalogue of calamities mount, fear and paranoia provoke rumours of terrorist attacks. But from whom?History professor Juliet Harrington is an authority on sixteenth-century mysticism and a long-time believer in the existence of the Almanac of Forbidden Wisdom, a potent spell-book legend insists was compiled in that period by a cabal of powerful occultists. Its magic is summoned though only at disastrous cost, signalled by The Auguries. Juliet is convinced that the recent plague of disasters means someone reckless is using the book - and she has little time left to stop them.

Dear Drama


Braya Spice - 2012
    Right is leading her down a dark path and bringing her nothing but pain.

The Owls Have Come to Take Us Away


Ronald L. Smith - 2019
    The ones who take people and do experiments. When he's too worried about them to sleep, he listens to the owls hoot outside. Owls that have the same eyes as aliens—dark and foreboding.Then something strange happens on a camping trip, and Simon begins to suspect he’s been abducted. But is it real, or just the overactive imagination of a kid who loves fantasy and role-playing games and is the target of bullies and his father’s scorn?Even readers who don’t believe in UFOs will relate to the universal kid feeling of not being taken seriously by adults that deepens this deliciously scary tale.

Queen Lucia - Miss Mapp


E.F. Benson - 1922
    Bensons novels. They are full of wit, back biting, snobbery and a wonderful one-upmanship. They are the sort of stories that you will revisit, just in case you've missed something in a previous reading!This two book presentation will provide the reader with many hours of hilarity. Highly recommended.

The Time of the Fireflies


Kimberley Griffiths Little - 2014
    When Larissa Renaud starts receiving eerie phone calls on a disconnected old phone in her family's antique shop, she knows she's in for a strange summer. A series of clues leads her to the muddy river banks, where clouds of fireflies dance among the cypress knees and cattails each evening at twilight. The fireflies are beautiful and mysterious, and they take her on a magical journey through time, where Larissa learns secrets about her family's tragic past--deadly, curse-ridden secrets that could harm the future of her family as she knows it. It soon becomes clear that it is up to Larissa to prevent history from repeating itself and a fatal tragedy from striking the people she loves. With her signature lyricism, Kimberley Griffiths Little weaves a thrilling tale filled with family secrets, haunting mystery, and dangerous adventure.

Dead Broke


Trista Russell - 2008
    But her memory is ten months behind, and her life went from fabulous to scandalous in the time she forgot. She has no clue that "high class" prostitution was her way of making ends meet. Meanwhile, Sarai's new but forgotten love, Tremel "Mel" Colton, vows to stay by her side. Though she can't remember him, he patiently waits to remind her of the long, steamy nights she spent in his arms. He romances her all over again, but just as lust and love start to blossom, shocking secrets from Sarai's past are revealed and suddenly Mel is unsure of their future together. Also, because she doesn't remember them, some of Sarai's enemies mask themselves as her friends, and Sarai has no idea how much trouble she has gotten herself into. But one thing is certain -- she will never forget her enemies again. In this seductive sequel to her sizzling debut novel, Going Broke, Trista Russell turns down the sheets and turns up the heat in a story about one woman learning that money comes and goes, but good friends, love, and sex are hard to forget.

Blood Line


Paul Heatley - 2021
    But if you cross him – welcome to your worst nightmare.Tom Rollins has gone AWOL from his CIA black-ops unit and is living off-grid when he hears that the woman he loves, Alejandra, has been murdered by a person or persons unknown.Rollins is determined to punish her killers and sets out on his own personal search and destroy mission. Applying pressure as only he knows how, he quickly discovers who was behind the killing – a vicious gang of hardened criminals.Using his dizzying array of lethal skills, Rollins begins to take out the leaders of the gang, one by one. But then he discovers that Alejandra’s murder was part of a larger conspiracy, one that threatens death and destruction on a horrifying scale.The conspirators are clever and ruthless. They’ve thought of everything, covered every angle. Except one - Tom Rollins.

Angel Wings


Howard Kaminsky - 2013
    Yet when homicide detective Danny Martell arrives on the scene, he finds the victims have been elaborately made up, with fabric wings attached to their lifeless bodies. The papers have dubbed the killings �the Angel Murders� � but it isn�t long before the crime wave drags Danny into his own personal hell.Soon after the killings begin, Danny�s wife, Linda, abruptly disappears. And when his worst fears are realized, a grief-stricken Danny doubles down on his hunt for the deranged serial killer. But was Linda just a random �angel�? Or was she targeted by a copycat killer with a vendetta against Danny? He vows to uncover the truth, no matter the cost. After all, he has nothing left to lose.

The Girl at the Back of the Bus


Suzette D. Harrison - 2021
    What if I said no? What if I refused to follow the path these White folks wanted for us? What if I kept this precious baby?Montgomery, Alabama, 1955On a cold December evening, Mattie Banks packs a suitcase and leaves her family home. Sixteen years old and pregnant, she has already made the mistake that will ruin her life and disgrace her widowed mother. Boarding the 2857 bus, she sits with her case on her lap, hoping that the driver will take her away from disaster. Instead, Mattie witnesses an act of bravery by a woman named Rosa Parks that changes everything. But as Mattie strives to turn her life around, the dangers that first led her to run are never far away. Forging a new life in a harsh world at constant risk of exposure, Mattie will need to fight to keep her baby safe.Atlanta, Georgia, present dayAshlee Turner is going home. Her relationship in ruins, her career held back by prejudice, she is returning to the family who have always been her rock. But Ashlee’s home is not the safe haven she remembers. Her beloved grandmother is dying and is determined to share her story before she leaves…When Ashlee finds a stack of yellowing letters hidden in her nana’s closet, she can’t help the curiosity that compels her to read, and she uncovers an old secret that could wreak havoc on her already grieving family. As she tries to make sense of what she has learned, Ashlee faces a devastating choice: to protect her loved ones from the revelations, or honor her grandmother’s wishes and follow the path to the truth, no matter where it may lead.For readers of The Help, Orphan Train and Before We Were Yours comes a beautiful and heartbreaking novel about redemption, family secrets and the spirit of survival found at the hardest time.

The Anthrax Protocol


James M. Thompson - 2016
    One by one, the team falls violently ill, bleeding from their eyes and ears before succumbing to a slow, painful death. Whatever was buried with the Aztec chief is still active, infectious--and now airborne…It Spreads Quickly…In Austin, a young archeologist listens to the dying words of her mentor in Mexico--a warning to quarantine the site before all hell breaks loose. In Atlanta, the CDC's Dr. Mason Williams leads an emergency squad on a life-or-death mission--into the hot zone. At Fort Detrick, an army officer sends a trained team to secure the anthrax--as a biological weapon. But time is running out. The disease is spreading rapidly across the border, into the airports, and across the globe, killing thousands. With no cure, no vaccine, and no way to contain it, there will be no hope for humanity--to survive…

Unexpected


Kelly Rimmer - 2019
    What could go wrong? The next three decades of Abby Herbert's life are as carefully planned out as the last three were. Best career ever? Check. Great friends, one of whom she lives with in a stunning Tribeca apartment? Check. Perfect man to share her dream family? Surely just a matter of time. But then she gets devastating news from her doctor — if she wants to get pregnant, she needs to get started on that by... well, yesterday. On the bright side, she has the perfect person in mind to be the father.Tech entrepreneur Marcus Ross has been harboring decidedly not-friends feelings toward Abby. He doesn't want to lose her and, knowing his feelings are one-sided, he's been trying to move on. When he learns about the curveball Abby's just been hit with, he promises to be there for her however she wants him to be, even if the idea of fatherhood is a little complicated for him right now. But it isn't long until boundaries start to blur, and a deal struck between friends starts to turn into something perilously close to feelings that could change everything...