Book picks similar to
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The Crucifix Killer


Chris Carter - 2009
    Naked, strung from two parallel wooden posts, the victim was sadistically tortured before meeting an excruciatingly painful death. All the skin has been ripped from her face - while she was still alive. On the nape of her neck has been carved a strange double-cross: the signature of a psychopath known as the Crucifix Killer. But that's impossible. Because two years ago, the Crucifix Killer was caught and executed. Could this therefore be a copycat killer? Or could the unthinkable be true? Is the real killer still out there, ready to embark once again on a vicious and violent killing spree, selecting his victims seemingly at random, taunting Robert Hunter with his inability to catch him? Hunter and his rookie partner are about to enter a nightmare beyond imagining.

The Perfect Place to Die


Bryce Moore - 2021
    In order to save her sister, Zuretta takes a job at a notorious house of horrors—but she might never escape. Zuretta never thought she’d encounter a monster—one of the world’s most notorious serial killers. She had resigned herself to a quiet life in Utah. But when her younger sister, Ruby, travels to Chicago during the World’s Fair, and disappears, Zuretta leaves home to find her.But 1890s Chicago is more dangerous and chaotic than she imagined. She doesn’t know where to start until she learns of her sister’s last place of employment…a mysterious hotel known as The Castle.Zuretta takes a job there hoping to learn more. And before long she realizes the hotel isn’t what it seems. Women disappear at an alarming rate, she hears crying from the walls, and terrifying whispers follow her at night. In the end, she finds herself up against one of the most infamous mass murderers in American history—and his custom-built death trap.

Madhouse


Miguel Estrada - 2017
     Faced with his parents’s divorce, eleven-year-old Lucas runs away from his house with the hope that his family will get back together to find him. On his way walking through the empty streets, he is picked up by a mysterious woman who offers to take care of him and provide him with a loving family. The boy then wakes up in shackles, confined to a bed in a decrepit house in the middle of nowhere and will have to face his deepest fears in order to survive in his new home. Join Lucas in a desperate attempt to get back to his family in Madhouse, the first published book from horror-thriller author Miguel Estrada.

Cut-Throat Defence


Olly Jarvis - 2016
    With the assistance of his equally inexperienced instructing solicitor, Lara Panassai, Jack argues a savage ‘cut-throat’ defence – a risky tactic where the defendants blame each other – and quickly embroils some of the most eminent QCs in the land.As the son of Polish immigrants, the sensitive Kowalski has always found it hard to fit in, with a sense of inferiority and constant nervousness in Court. Now he must face his demons and fight not only for his clients, but for his very future at the Bar.But when the defendant then unexpectedly absconds, Jack and Lara must fight on regardless, following a tip that leads them out of the courtroom and into Manchester’s seedy underworld – crime bosses, strip clubs, corrupt lawyers and all manner of hidden sins.As the case grows darker with each new discovery, who in this viper pit of deception can Jack and Lara trust?Ingeniously plotted and embellished with real-life insider expertise, Cut-Throat Defence is a story of rivalry, ruthlessness and – above all – survival.

The Girl in the Basement


Wayne Simmons - 2014
    Her captor is insane, his intentions unclear.Now, facing the demons from her past could be the only way to ensure a future…The Girl in the Basement is a fast-paced thriller from the bestselling author of Flu and Plastic Jesus.'Jaw-clenchingly brutal and bitterly unrelenting from start to finish.' —DLS Reviews'...shocking and brilliant...' —Bookbloke‘A stunning read, but not for the faint hearted.' —The Guardian on Plastic Jesus‘With The Girl in the Basement, Simmons gives classic pulp writers a taste of their own plaid.’ —Sion Smith, Skin Deep Tattoo Magazine‘Breathless and unrelenting, you cannot fail to turn the page and see what happens next.’ —JD Gillam, Starburst Magazine‘A short, sharp shock to the system. Simmons grabs you from the first line of the first page and doesn’t let go. You’ll be as trapped as the Girl in the Basement herself: unable to escape or even to stop reading. Highly recommended.’ —David Moody, author of Autumn, Hater and The Cost of Living

Project Cain


Geoffrey Girard - 2013
    But then Jeff discovers he was constructed in a laboratory only eight years ago, part of a top-secret government cloning experiment called Project CAIN. And scientists created him entirely from Jeffrey Dahmer's DNA.Jeff isn't the only teenage serial-killer clone. Others have been genetically engineered using the DNA of the Son of Sam, the Boston Strangler, and Ted Bundy. Some clones were raised, like Jeff, in caring family environments; others within homes that mimicked the horrific early lives of the serial killers they were created from.When the most dangerous of the boys are set free, the summer of killing begins. Worse, they hold a secret weapon even more deadly than the terrible evil they carry within.Can Jeff help catch the "monsters" before becoming one himself?

Scar Tissue


Marcus Sakey - 2010
    KONRATH: “Scar Tissue will make your heart race and your heart ache, often in the same sentence.” Not only that, but buying this collection helps battle real-life heartache—50% of every e-book sold is donated to fighting pediatric cancer. Marcus Sakey’s thrillers have won numerous awards and been translated into twenty languages. Celebrities like Ben Affleck and Tobey Maguire have snatched up his film rights. Now from the “modern master of suspense” (Chicago Sun-Times) comes seven stories of men and women pushed to—and beyond—the ragged edge: --* “The Desert Here and the Desert Far Away”Nick is back from Iraq, or so he keeps telling himself. But an old squad mate shows there are some battlefields you can’t leave behind. (Twice short-listed for Best Short Story of 2009)* “Gravity and Need”After having sex with a total stranger atop a $3000 television, you’re supposed to walk away. But for two lonely people, that’s just the beginning of a very complicated relationship.* “No One”The line between love and obsession is stretched razor-taut in this story where nothing is as it seems—and no one can be trusted.* “Cobalt”In this comic send-up the dotcom era, as the world panics over the last days of Y2K, one man searches for his soul. If he could only remember where last he saw it…* “The Time Before the Last”The shortest story I’ve ever written. It’s also inspired three paintings and made my wife cry.* “As Breathing”Billy Dexter has sworn off killing. But when he falls in love with the wrong woman, Dex discovers murder is a hard habit to break.* “The Days When You Were Anything Else”Frank has been many things: a conman, a hustler, a thief. But when his little girl finds herself in desperate trouble, he has one final shot at becoming something that matters.--These seven stories “contain some of the best writing in crime fiction today. You're in for quite a ride.” (J.A. Konrath). And it’s a ride you can feel good about, with 50% of every sale going to defeat pediatric cancer.---A PERSONAL NOTE FROM MARCUS---In 2010, two of the best people I know received unimaginable news: their four-year-old son had an incurable brain tumor. Julian Boivin was a superhero in training, and fought an epic battle. But in the end, cancer stole this beautiful boy. Nothing can make that right. But the Team Julian Foundation is trying to give other kids a fighting chance against this devastating disease. To help, I’m donating 50% of the proceeds from every single copy of SCAR TISSUE sold to pediatric cancer research. It’s a small way to work toward a big change. Want to get more involved? Visit TeamJulianFoundation.com.---MARCUS SAKEY IS:---“A brilliant writer.” -The Huffington Post “Brainy, twisty, twisted, and entirely ingenious.” -Gillian Flynn, bestselling author of GONE GIRL“One of our best storytellers.” -Michael Connelly, bestselling author of THE LINCOLN LAWYER“Exactly the electric jolt crime fiction needs.” -Dennis Lehane, bestselling author of MYSTIC RIVER“The new reigning prince of crime fiction.” -The Chicago Tribune

Short Shockers: Collection One


Peter James - 2013
    Funny, sad, but always shocking, each tale carries a twist that will haunt readers for days after they turn the final page . . .This 25,000 word collection, available exclusively in this ebook edition, includes:12 Bolingbroke Avenue (First published in 1998)Number Thirteen (First published in 2010)Just Two Clicks (First published in 2004)Dead on the Hour (First published in 2006)Virtually Alive (First published in 1997)Meet Me at the Crematorium (First published in 2009)Venice Aphrodisiac (First published in 2011)Time Rich (First published in 2013)Christmas is for the Kids (First published in 1993)

Across the Broken Line


Zoë Sharp - 2011
    Never before published, it features her ex-Special Forces soldier turned self-defence expert and bodyguard, Charlotte ‘Charlie’ Fox.In Across The Broken Line, we follow Charlie through a fragmented timescale of cross and double-cross as she fights to keep her principal alive – whoever that might be.

Dahmer's Not Dead


Edward Lee - 1999
    Jeffrey Dahmer is dead. Or is he?Two weeks after the madman's body is buried, another cannibalistic murder spree begins. Fingerprints, DNA, and modus operandi all link Dahmer to the hideous crimes.Homicide cop Helen Closs is certain it's all a hoax or a clever copycat...until the night her own phone rings, and Jeffrey Dahmer himself begins to speak...Dahmer's Not Dead is the latest collaborative effort by acclaimed horror novelist Edward Lee and serial-killer expert Elizabeth Steffen. Don't expect the same explicit hardcore horror that Edward Lee is so well-known for. Instead, Dahmer's Not Dead is a brilliant and technically accurate police-procedural thriller on par with the best crime novelists working today.The Cemetery Dance Publications edition of Dahmer's Not Dead includes a full-color dust jacket and illustrated endpapers by Erik Wilson.

Delta Force Vampire: Insurgency


Alex Shaw - 2012
    Tasked to recon a tunnel network in use by the Taliban it is just another day in the sandpit for the Delta Boys until something attacks them in the darkness.Presumed Killed in Action, Black is abducted by a shadowy figure before being forced to cross the inhospitable Afghan wilderness to be reunited with what is left of his team.Meanwhile a General from Russian Military Intelligence (GRU) arrives at Firebase Python brining news of a Cold War weapons experiment so shocking that its existence has until now remained top secret.Horrific secrets buried in the Afghan mountains for a quarter of a century are about to be unleashed.

The Watcher


Jo Robertson - 2011
    Working with a single-minded tenacity, she sets out to prove it.Deputy Sheriff Ben Slater hides his personal pain behind the job, but Kate's arrival in his county knocks his world on its axis. He wants to believe her wild theory, but the idea of a serial killer with the kind of pathology she proposes is too bizarre.Together they work to find a killer whose roots began in a small town in Bigler County, but whose violence spread across the nation. A Janus-like killer, more monster than man, he fixates on Kate. The killer wants nothing more than to kill the "purple-eyed girl again."

Jar of Hearts


Jennifer Hillier - 2018
    . .When she was sixteen years old, Angela Wong—one of the most popular girls in school—disappeared without a trace. Nobody ever suspected that her best friend, Georgina Shaw, now an executive and rising star at her Seattle pharmaceutical company, was involved in any way. Certainly not Kaiser Brody, who was close with both girls back in high school.But fourteen years later, Angela Wong's remains are discovered in the woods near Geo's childhood home. And Kaiser—now a detective with Seattle PD—finally learns the truth: Angela was a victim of Calvin James. The same Calvin James who murdered at least three other women.To the authorities, Calvin is a serial killer. But to Geo, he's something else entirely. Back in high school, Calvin was Geo's first love. Turbulent and often volatile, their relationship bordered on obsession from the moment they met right up until the night Angela was killed.For fourteen years, Geo knew what happened to Angela and told no one. For fourteen years, she carried the secret of Angela's death until Geo was arrested and sent to prison.While everyone thinks they finally know the truth, there are dark secrets buried deep. And what happened that fateful night is more complex and more chilling than anyone really knows. Now the obsessive past catches up with the deadly present when new bodies begin to turn up, killed in the exact same manner as Angela Wong.How far will someone go to bury her secrets and hide her grief? How long can you get away with a lie? How long can you live with it?

UNSUB


Meg Gardiner - 2017
    Caitlin Hendrix has been a Narcotics detective for six months when the killer at the heart of all her childhood nightmares reemerges: the Prophet. An UNSUB—what the FBI calls an unknown subject—the Prophet terrorized the Bay Area in the 1990s and nearly destroyed her father, the lead investigator on the case.The Prophet’s cryptic messages and mind games drove Detective Mack Hendrix to the brink of madness, and Mack’s failure to solve the series of ritualized murders—eleven seemingly unconnected victims left with the ancient sign for Mercury etched into their flesh—was the final nail in the coffin for a once promising career.Twenty years later, two bodies are found bearing the haunting signature of the Prophet. Caitlin Hendrix has never escaped the shadow of her father’s failure to protect their city. But now the ruthless madman is killing again and has set his sights on her, threatening to undermine the fragile barrier she rigidly maintains for her own protection, between relentless pursuit and dangerous obsession.Determined to decipher his twisted messages and stop the carnage, Caitlin ignores her father’s warnings as she draws closer to the killer with each new gruesome murder. Is it a copycat, or can this really be the same Prophet who haunted her childhood? Will Caitlin avoid repeating her father’s mistakes and redeem her family name, or will chasing the Prophet drag her and everyone she loves into the depths of the abyss?

Daddy's Home


A.K. Alexander - 2010
    Crime scene investigator Holly Jennings is on the trail of a twisted and sadistic serial killer who seeks out single mothers, marries them, then slaughters his new family when they fail to measure up to his "perfect family" fantasy.