Book picks similar to
The Lethal Helix by D.J. Donaldson


medical-thriller
thriller
mystery
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The Fallen


Dale Bailey - 2002
    Life is good, folks live to a ripe old age, and there hasn't been a violent crime in nearly a generation. It's almost as if some force were protecting the God-fearing folk of the Run from harm... Henry left the quiet town almost a decade ago-after his mother's tragic death and a terrible falling-out with his father. Ever since, he has shut out his memories of the Run. He has tried to not think about the day his mother died. But now-after the startling news of his father's suicide-Henry is coming home... Home, where his former girlfriend is waiting on her dying mother and her living dreams. Home, where his boyhood friend is mysteriously drawn to something inside an abandoned mine.

Pendle Fire


Paul Southern - 2018
    That’s on a good day: things are about to get a whole lot worse. Two fourteen-year-old girls are found wandering Aitken Wood on the slopes of Pendle Hill, claiming to have been raped by a gang of men. With no female social workers available, Johnny is assigned to their case. But what, at first, looks like yet another incident of child exploitation takes a sinister turn when the girls start speaking of a forthcoming apocalypse.When Johnny interviews one of the girls, Jenna Dunham, her story starts to unravel. His investigation draws him into a tight-knit village community in the shadow of Pendle Hill, where whispers of witchcraft and child abuse go back to the Middle Ages.One name recurs, The Hobbledy Man. Is he responsible for the outbreaks of violence sweeping across the country? Is he more than just myth? Pendle Fie is a dark and absorbing thriller, it does contain scenes which some readers may some find disturbing.

The Bitch


Les Edgerton - 2011
    He’s married, expecting a child, and preparing to open his own hair salon. But then an old cellmate re-enters his life begging for a favor: to help him with a burglary. Forced by his code of ethics to perform the crime, Jake’s once idyllic life quickly plunges into an abyss. Jake soon realizes that there is only one way out of this purgatory . . . and it may rupture his soul beyond repair.

Supercell


H.W. "Buzz" Bernard - 2013
    He knows the risks all too well, but he never imagined just how dangerous the perfect storm could get. Chuck Rittenburg was one of the most intrepid storm chasers in the country until a bad decision resulted in the death of a young couple who’d paid to ride along. A decade later— broke, divorced, and estranged from his college-age children—he’s got nothing left to lose. When a film producer offers Chuck one-million dollars to help find and photograph a deadly tornado in Oklahoma, Chuck sees a chance to earn his kids’ respect again—and maybe his own. The situation quickly becomes about more than tracking a monster tornado for Hollywood. FBI Agent Gabi Medeiros insists on riding along. A burglary ring is targeting tornado-ravaged neighborhoods, and their tactics now include murder.With the stage set for a major heist, a deadly supercell, and a confrontation between Man and Nature on an epic scale, Chuck and his crew will be lucky to escape in one piece. H.W. "Buzz" Bernard is a retired meteorologist who worked for thirteen years at the Atlanta-based Weather Channel. Now he writes bestselling thriller novels, including PLAGUE and the Number One bestseller in ebook, EYEWALL. Visit him at www.buzzbernard.com

Black Creek White Lies


Murray Bailey - 2017
    SECRETS AND LIES Eighteen months after being wrongly accused of her murder, Dan Searle returns to rebuild his life and forget. A MYSTERIOUS PAST But others won't let him forget. He is quickly drawn back into the case and a dark and violent mystery; one that involved another girl years before. OPEN YOUR EYES As the lies begin to unravel, Dan uncovers startling truths about the farm and its past. With dangerous people trying to keep their secrets safe, he must save those he loves - before time runs out…

Rockfall


Diane Winger - 2014
    Searchers find no signs of life. Three missing, all presumed dead. Three families begin the difficult process of grieving. But one of the missing is alive. Alone, injured, and terrified, she struggles to survive, hoping against all odds that someone will find her … before time runs out. Emotionally charged and engrossing, Rockfall is a novel that plumbs the depths of tragedy and celebrates the resiliency of the human spirit.

The Grave Tender


Eliza Maxwell - 2015
    People said her mother, Winnie, was never quite right, but with one single, irreparable act, life as Hadley knew it was shattered. The aftershocks of that moonlit night left her reeling, but the secrets and lies had started long before.When a widowed and pregnant Hadley returns years later, it’s not the safe harbor she expects. The mysteries surrounding a local boy’s disappearance remain, and the townspeople still whisper about Hadley’s strange and reclusive Uncle Eli—whispers about a monster in their midst.But Hadley’s father and grandmother, the cornerstones of everything safe in her world, avoid her questions. If Hadley stays here, will she be giving her children the family they need or putting their lives in danger?The hunt for answers takes a determined Hadley deep into the pine forests, in search of sunlight that will break through the canopy of lies long enough to reveal the truth.

No Looking Back


Alex Kane - 2017
     Kat Denton is a woman running away from her past. For the past sixteen years, her life has been a living hell as Jimmy, the man she fell in love with as a teenager, becomes ever more cruel and abusive. Following the fire that killed her parents, leaving her an orphan when she was just a teenager, Kat is utterly alone and can’t see a way out. Until the day she finds out that she’s pregnant. Vowing to protect her child from Jimmy’s violence, Kat decides to fight for survival – for her and her unborn baby. Fleeing the traveller camp that has been her lifelong home isn’t easy. But along with her sister in law, Kat escapes with just the clothes on her back and the one photograph she has of her parents. Kat, along with her baby girl Lucia, starts to build a better life. But when she looks into what really happened in her parents’ death Kat uncovers dark secrets - including a revelation that will lead Kat back to the place she had been so desperate to run away from. Is she strong enough to uncover the truth and save everything that she loves most, or will Jimmy Denton have his revenge? Previously published as Chasing the Traveller A fast-paced, totally unputdownable crime thriller that fans of Mel Sherratt, Mandasue Heller and Kimberley Chambers will absolutely love. Praise for No Looking Back: ‘definitely going on my favourites list, it was a compulsive, gritty, unputdownable domestic thriller which I highly recommend!’ (5 stars) Dash Fan Book Reviews ‘The start of the book already sent chills down my spine… I loved this book and the writing style and the author has gained a fan. (5 stars) B for Book Review ‘a fabulous thriller packed with tension and emotion… If you like a tense thriller with strong characters, you can’t go wrong’ A Knight’s Reads ‘dramatic, gritty, suspenseful and oh so addictive!... I am SO looking forward to reading more from this author’ The Writing Garnet ‘A brilliantly written story, fast paced and a page turner of a read.’ Between the Pages Book Club ‘Jam-packed with emotion and suspense… If you are looking for something to get your teeth into, then this is the book for you.’ Baker’s Not So Secret Blog ‘a corker of a read that held me captive throughout. I loved that danger could be on every page, which has you racing through to see how it will all end.’ (5 stars) By The Letter Book Reviews ‘I finished it in one night!...Jealousy, trauma, power and control are all explored in this taut and nail-biting read… kept me hooked all the way through’ (5 stars) Chapter In My Life ‘had me gripped from the early chapters and I read it in two straight sittings…an amazing book w

White is the Coldest Colour


John Nicholl - 2015
    Be careful who you trust…The Mailer family is oblivious to the terrible danger that enters their lives when seven-year-old Anthony is referred to the child guidance service by the family GP, following the breakdown of his parents’ marriage.Fifty-eight-year-old Dr David Galbraith, a sadistic, predatory paedophile, employed as a consultant child psychiatrist, has already murdered one child in the soundproofed cellar below the South Wales Georgian town-house he shares with his wife and two young daughters.When Anthony becomes Galbraith’s latest obsession he will stop at nothing to make his grotesque fantasies reality.But can Anthony be saved before it’s too late? Brilliantly gripping, White is the Coldest Colour will have you hooked from the very first page and holding your breath to the heart-pounding and shocking conclusion.Please be aware that this book includes content that some readers may find disturbing from the start.

Dark Homecoming


William Patterson - 2016
    Their honeymoon was idyllic and Liz is blissfully happy—at first. But she feels increasingly uneasy in her lavish new home. Huntington House and its staff still seem to be in the thrall of David’s first wife. In fact, the housekeeper, Mrs. Hoffman, has made it clear that Liz can never measure up to the stunning, sophisticated, deceased, Dominique. Though Dominique drowned in a yachting accident, Liz still senses her spirit in the house. She hears unexplained noises…sees shadowy figures vanishing down the long corridors. The scent of Dominique’s favorite flowers fills the air. But Liz’s fears are more than insecurity. Two young women connected to Huntington House have already met terrible deaths. More will die—and soon. Because behind the house’s polished façade is an unimaginable secret and a love turned to twisted, unnatural obsession…Praise for William Patterson’s The Inn "The Conjuring meets The Shining in William Patterson's deliciously creepy thriller.  Fast-paced, horror-filled, clever and impossible-to-predict, this heart-pounding tale will leave you breathless." --Kevin O’Brien, New York Times bestselling author

Frozen Charlotte


Alex Bell - 2014
    Dunvegan School for Girls has been closed for many years. Converted into a family home, the teachers and students are long gone. But they left something behind...Sophie arrives at the old schoolhouse to spend the summer with her cousins. Brooding Cameron with his scarred hand, strange Lilias with a fear of bones and Piper, who seems just a bit too good to be true. And then there's her other cousin. The girl with a room full of antique dolls. The girl that shouldn't be there. The girl that died.

The Butterfly Garden


Dot Hutchison - 2016
    Overseeing it all is the Gardener, a brutal, twisted man obsessed with capturing and preserving his lovely specimens.When the garden is discovered, a survivor is brought in for questioning. FBI agents Victor Hanoverian and Brandon Eddison are tasked with piecing together one of the most stomach-churning cases of their careers. But the girl, known only as Maya, proves to be a puzzle herself.As her story twists and turns, slowly shedding light on life in the Butterfly Garden, Maya reveals old grudges, new saviors, and horrific tales of a man who’d go to any length to hold beauty captive. But the more she shares, the more the agents have to wonder what she’s still hiding...

The Hiding Place


C.J. Tudor - 2019
     Joe never wanted to come back to Arnhill. After the way things ended with his old gang—the betrayal, the suicide—and what happened when his sister went missing, the last thing he wanted to do was return to his hometown. But Joe doesn’t have a choice, not after a chilling email surfaces in his inbox: I know what happened to your sister. It’s happening again . . . Lying his way into a teaching job at his former high school is the easy part. Facing off with onetime friends who aren’t too happy to have him back in town—while avoiding the enemies he’s made in the years since—is tougher. But the hardest part of all will be returning to the abandoned mine where his life changed forever, and finally confronting the horrifying truth about Arnhill, his sister, and himself. Because for Joe, the worst moment of his life wasn’t the day his sister went missing. It was the day she came back.

Two for the Show


Jonathan Stone - 2016
    Instead of pounding the pavement, he taps a computer keyboard. He can get the goods on anyone, and it’s all to make sure superstar Las Vegas mind reader Wallace the Amazing stays amazing. Thanks to Chas’s steady stream of stealthy intel, Wallace’s mental “magic” packs houses every night.But when someone threatens to call the psychic showman’s bluff, the sweet gig takes a sour—and sinister—turn. Who’s the clean-cut couple gunning for Wallace with an arsenal of dirty tricks? Why does Wallace keep upping the ante instead of backing down? And just how much does Chas really know about his mysterious boss’s life…or his own? The tangled truth—of blackmail, kidnapping, and false identities—quickly becomes the biggest case of his strange, secret career.

Brother


Ania Ahlborn - 2015
    The Morrows keep to themselves, and it’s served them well so far. When girls go missing off the side of the highway, the cops don’t knock on their door. Which is a good thing, seeing as to what’s buried in the Morrows’ backyard. But nineteen-year-old Michael Morrow isn’t like the rest of his family. He doesn’t take pleasure in the screams that echo through the trees. Michael pines for normalcy, and he’s sure that someday he’ll see the world beyond West Virginia. When he meets Alice, a pretty girl working at a record shop in the small nearby town of Dahlia, he’s immediately smitten. For a moment, he nearly forgets about the monster he’s become. But his brother, Rebel, is all too eager to remind Michael of his place…