Book picks similar to
Deadly Illusions by Robert Brown
fiction
mystery
thriller
suspense
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."
Don't Tell Meg
Paul J. Teague - 2017
One night. So many deaths. When radio journalist Pete Bailey betrays his wife Meg on his fortieth birthday, he has no idea of the terrible consequences that will follow his infidelity. His passionate relationship with Meg is on the rocks and they're having no luck starting a family. It's only when he meets TV reporter Ellie Turner on a working weekend away from home that Pete succumbs to her charms in a moment of weakness. His treacherous actions set off a chain of events fueled by jealousy, revenge, violence and hatred. Five people will lose their lives as a result of Pete's deception and he will be compelled to confront the ugly truth about his wife and his best friend, Jem. He thought that nobody would ever discover what he'd done with Ellie ... but he didn't know who was listening in the room next door. Don't Tell Meg is the first part of trilogy of thrillers. Book 2, The Murder Place and Book 3, The Forgotten Children are also available. Paul J. Teague has also written the standalone thriller Dead of Night (Released May 2017) Please note that this book contains mild violence, bad language and sexual references.
With Wanton Disregard
Gwen Banta - 2018
Tim is at a crossroads in his life when he meets Lauren: the beautiful wife of a prominent Long Beach physician who has been brutally murdered. In spite of the mounting evidence against Lauren, Tim fights to prove that she is not involved. But when Lauren suddenly goes into hiding, more savage murders occur in the exclusive Long Beach enclave of Belmont Shore. As Mulrooney pieces together the evidence proving that the murders are connected to the Connolly case, he makes a startling discovery about the next intended victim, and must risk his reputation, his shield, and his life to solve the case - and stay alive.
The Night Bird
Brian Freeman - 2017
When a series of bizarre deaths rock San Francisco—as seemingly random women suffer violent psychotic breaks—Frost looks for a connection that leads him to psychiatrist Francesca Stein. Frankie’s controversial therapy helps people erase their most terrifying memories…and all the victims were her patients.As Frost and Frankie carry out their own investigations, the case becomes increasingly personal—and dangerous. Long-submerged secrets surface as someone called the Night Bird taunts the pair with cryptic messages pertaining to the deaths. Soon Frankie is forced to confront strange gaps in her own memory, and Frost faces a killer who knows the detective’s worst fears.As the body count rises and the Night Bird circles ever closer, a dedicated cop and a brilliant doctor race to solve the puzzle before a cunning killer claims another victim.
A Wicked Mercy (Harriet Quinn Crime Thriller, #1)
Bilinda P. Sheehan - 2019
Although the police are convinced that these are open and shut cases, Forensic psychologist Harriet Quinn is certain the deaths are due to foul play. Her suspicions deepen when her own friend becomes one of the victims.Fighting the police’s indifference, she sets out to prove that a murderer stalks the village. A murderer that her training tells her might be hiding in plain sight.
Book One of the Harriet Quinn series is an explosive crime fiction series debut where murder and mystery take centre stage in this dark thriller.
For fans of LJ Ross, Val McDermid, JD Kirk, Chris Carter, Joy Ellis, Angela Marsons, and Sally Rigby
Dig Two Graves
Keith Nixon - 2017
or murder? Detective Sergeant Solomon Gray is driven to discover the truth. Whatever the personal cost.When teenager Nick Buckingham tumbles from the fifth floor of an apartment block, Detective Sergeant Solomon Gray answers the call with a sick feeling in his stomach. The victim was just a kid, sixteen years old. And the exact age the detective's son was, the son Gray has not seen since he went missing at a funfair ten years ago. Each case involving children haunts Gray with the reminder that his son may still be out there – or worse, dead. The seemingly open and shut case of suicide twists into a darker discovery. Buckingham and Gray have never met, so why is Gray's number on the dead teenager's mobile phone?Gray begins to unravel a murky world of abuse, lies, and corruption. And when the body of Reverend David Hill is found shot to death in the vestry of Gray's old church, Gray wonders how far the depravity stretches and who might be next. Nothing seems connected, and yet there is one common thread: Detective Sergeant Solomon Gray, himself. As the bodies pile up, Gray must face his own demons and his son's abduction.Crippled by loss Gray takes the first step on the long road of redemption. But is the killer closer to home than he realised?Set in the once grand town of Margate in the south of England, the now broken and depressed seaside resort becomes its own character in this dark police suspense thriller, perfect for fans of Ian Rankin, Stuart MacBride, and Peter James. Dig Two Graves is the first in the Solomon Gray series.
Serenity
Craig A. Hart - 2016
A woman dies in his arms...a drug dealer offers him $10,000...a gunman is determined to kill him. And then everything goes to hell.
Shelby Alexander is an aging ex-boxer and retired fixer, whose activities often flirted with the wrong side of the law. Looking for a little peace and a slower pace of life, he moved to Serenity, the small Michigan town where he grew up. But trouble follows men like Shelby, and he finds himself embroiled in an underworld of drugs and violence that may prove to be his undoing. The first book in the new Shelby Alexander Thriller Series, Serenity is an action-packed read with a lovingly rendered cast, witty dialogue, and a main character who doesn't know when to quit.
Stormy Waters
Miron Ben Ari - 2016
Adam Bernstein wakes up on the beach at dead of night, next to a mutilated body, with a pounding, bloody headache and no memory. Terrified, he flees the crime scene, on a quest to discover his identity, his freedom and his life.
Will he find himself before THEY find him?
Adam quickly learns that his former life holds everything he could ask for: plenty of money, a stunning girlfriend and an enviable talent for drawing. For a moment, it even seems like things might go back to being normal again. But everything is shattered when an unknown man attempts at Adam's assassination.
He knows something dark lies in his past. But he can’t imagine just how dark it is.
A man on a desperate race for survival Adam is trying to piece together the remains of his past. A dark, urban thriller about love, crime and blood that will leave you sweating. Get your copy of Stormy Waters now!
The Good Neighbor
A.J. Banner - 2015
That’s what Sarah thinks as she settles into life with her new husband, Dr. Johnny McDonald. But all too soon she discovers an undercurrent of deception. And one October evening when Johnny is away, sudden tragedy destroys Sarah’s happiness.Dazed and stricken with grief, she and Johnny begin to rebuild their shattered lives. As she picks up the pieces of her broken home, Sarah discovers a shocking secret that forces her to doubt everything she thought was true—about her neighbors, her friends, and even her marriage. With each stunning revelation, Sarah must ask herself, Can we ever really know the ones we love?
Smolder
Desiree Douglas - 2017
She is preparing to begin her dream job when she's called home to help her estranged mother, a hoarder, clean out her mess or risk losing her house. Reluctantly returning home, nothing prepares her for the shock of coming face to face with her first love. Brody Finch may have been Greenshade's glorious football legend, but he is also the man who deserted her a decade ago, when she needed him the most. As Scarlett attempts to handle her combative mother, she's forced to come to terms with airing her family's dirty laundry on the reality TV show, Packrats. Community members with agendas of their own rally to help, harm, or just plain gawk. Unexpectedly, the cold case murder of her sister comes back into focus, and Scarlett finds her own life in danger as she struggles to discover the truth about what happened so long ago. In the midst of this chaos, a serial arsonist brings the small town to its knees. Where there's smoke, there's fire. Can Scarlett and Finch find the love they once shared and lost? And if they do, will she live through the process?
The American’s Cousin
Julie Highmore - 2017
THE AMERICAN’S COUSIN combines wit and suspense, in a dark and unsettling first case for investigator Edie Fox − one that blurs the professional and the personal with terrifying results.Edie Fox is a Private Investigator. Or at least that’s what she aspires to be. From her cramped office above a shop on the wrong side of town, she just about manages to stay afloat with the odd job spying on cheating spouses.This all changes when a wealthy young American, desperate to find his missing cousin, hires Edie to track her down.But things are not as they seem. People are telling lies, lots of them.Edie needs to work out why, but time is running short. As she gets swept up in the hunt for the American’s cousin, she realises that she’s out of her depth. And as personal and professional boundaries blur, she fears she could lose everything: her business, her family … her life.Combining a sharp and compelling investigator with an increasingly suspicious first client, THE AMERICAN’S COUSIN keeps readers gripped, as Edie finds herself drawn into a world of secrets, lies and, ultimately, great danger.
My Sister's Grave
Robert Dugoni - 2014
She doesn’t believe that Edmund House — a convicted rapist and the man condemned for Sarah’s murder — is the guilty party. Motivated by the opportunity to obtain real justice, Tracy became a homicide detective with the Seattle PD and dedicated her life to tracking down killers.When Sarah’s remains are finally discovered near their hometown in the northern Cascade mountains of Washington State, Tracy is determined to get the answers she’s been seeking. As she searches for the real killer, she unearths dark, long-kept secrets that will forever change her relationship to her past — and open the door to deadly danger.
Bleak Harbor
Bryan Gruley - 2018
Deep down, they think they’re to blame.
Summertime in Bleak Harbor means tourists, overpriced restaurants, and the Dragonfly Festival. One day before the much-awaited and equally chaotic celebration, Danny Peters, the youngest member of the family that founded the town five generations ago, disappears. When Danny’s mother, Carey, and stepfather, Pete, receive a photo of their brilliant, autistic, and socially withdrawn son tied to a chair, they fear the worst. But there’s also more to the story. Someone is sending them ominous texts and emails filled with information no one else should have. Could the secrets they’ve kept hidden—even from one another—have led to Danny’s abduction?As pressure from the kidnapper mounts, Carey and Pete must face their own ugly mistakes to find their son before he’s taken from them forever.
Bone Music
Christopher Rice - 2018
If only the nightmare had ended when she was rescued. Instead, her real father exploited her tabloid-ready story for fame and profit—until Charlotte finally broke free from her ghoulish past and fled. Just when she thinks she has buried her personal hell forever, Charlotte is swept into a frightening new ordeal. Secretly dosed with an experimental drug, she’s endowed with a shocking new power—but pursued by a treacherous corporation desperate to control her.Except from now on, if anybody is going to control Charlotte, it’s going to be Charlotte herself. She’s determined to use the extraordinary ability she now possesses to fight the kind of evil that shattered her life—by drawing a serial killer out from the shadows to face the righteous fury of a victim turned avenger.
Kate Benedict Series 1-3
Carrie Bedford - 2017
She’s competent, reasonable... and somehow able to see a death-predicting aura over the people around her—from the new prime minister to her oldest, closest friends—through the posh streets of London to the beautiful Tuscan countryside. And she can’t help but help others avoid the unthinkable at all costs.Fans of traditional British (but not too cozy) mystery, savvy female sleuths, and suspense with a metaphysical twist will love this paranormal trilogy —now available for a killer price!
THE AURALife spins out of control for London architect Kate Benedict when she sees a dancing aura above certain people’s heads that seems to signal death. Suddenly she’s psychic. But that can't be! Psychic’s not acceptable in her circle, where the supernatural is strictly for the superstitious. And yet…people are dying. People close to her.Kate's tentative attempts to talk about her new-found metaphysical gift are met with eye rolls, so much so that she can’t even tell the nice Scotland Yard detective who's investigating the death of a close friend, Rebecca Williams. And now Rebecca’s neighbor has an aura.So what's Kate to do but try to save him by turning detective herself? A break-in and attack on her boyfriend confirm that the murderer’s catching on that Kate knows too much. But he (or maybe she) has no idea that what Kate knows is a little on the paranormal side.
DOUBLE BLINDTwo politicians and her best friend have the death-predicting auras London architect Kate Benedict can see despite her most fervent wishes. She’s had the dubious gift for a year now, and suddenly there’s no longer any ignoring it.But the only way to get to the two pols is via her old friend, DCI Clarke; yet her warnings go unheeded. Her frustration builds when her best friend, Anita, refuses to believe in their existence as well — even when one appears over Anita’s boss in the hospital where she works. And then Anita develops her own aura.
THE FLORENTINE CYPHERLondon architect Kate Benedict’s weekend begins with “Follow that cab!” and takes us off and running on an international adventure, ticking off picturesque locales from London to a Venetian palace and the Tuscan countryside, pausing just long enough for a quick tour of Florence’s Duomo, with danger dogging every step.What began as a quiet Friday night dinner date with an old childhood friend turns into a manhunt when Kate arrives at the rendezvous just in time to find her friend Ethan leaving in a taxi. Kate is alarmed to see the distinctive swirling pattern above his head that only she can see, and that she has come to recognize as a portent of imminent and mortal danger. When Ethan’s disappearance is followed by a series of cryptic text messages, Kate goes looking for him at his sister’s house in Florence, Italy, but it’s immediately cl