Book picks similar to
Dangerous Boys by Greg F. Gifune


action-adventure
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thriller
crime

What It Seems


Emily Bleeker - 2020
    Lonely, punished for the slightest offense, her only distraction comes from watching the Feely family’s online videos. They’re an affectionate vlogging quintet and an internet sensation. Most important, they are Tara’s mental refuge. Then the opportunity arises for them to be something more. When Tara accepts an internship with the close-knit clan, they’re her escape.Daring to run away, and defying Mother’s rules, Tara is welcomed into the loving fold. But the more Tara gets to know them, the more she realizes that not everything is as it seems. As secrets slowly surface, the image of the perfect family begins to crack. For Tara, it’s another trap.To claim a life of her own, she’ll need a new escape plan. Because as the show’s popularity explodes, reaching even more fascinated viewers, Tara can’t shake the feeling that Mother is among their ranks. She’s watching. She’s waiting. She’ll never let her go.

Under My Skin


Lisa Unger - 2018
    In the immediate aftermath, Poppy spiraled into an oblivion of grief, disappearing for several days only to turn up ragged and confused wearing a tight red dress she didn't recognize. What happened to Poppy during those lost days? And more importantly, what happened to Jack?The case was never solved, and Poppy has finally begun to move on. But those lost days have never stopped haunting her. Poppy starts having nightmares and blackouts--there are periods of time she can't remember, and she's unable to tell the difference between what is real and what she's imagining. When she begins to sense that someone is following her, Poppy is plunged into a game of cat and mouse, determined to unravel the mystery around her husband's death. But can she handle the truth about what really happened?

One of Us is Lying


Shalini Boland - 2020
    So why does someone want to destroy her?Tia is walking home with her children, along the lakeside of their quiet, safe town, when she realises something is wrong with her five-year-old daughter, Rosie. She seems troubled, not at all her usual happy self.But when Tia finally coaxes Rosie to open up, she wishes she hadn’t. Because her sweet daughter asks a question Tia never thought she’d hear.‘Mummy, why did you kill someone?’Tia knows how rumours spread around her small town. She just can’t understand who would have shared such a horrible story. Or why.It can’t have anything to do with what happened. Only her two best friends really remember that…Tia thought she could trust Fiona and Kelly with her life. They’ve been through so much together. But when she’s sent photos of herself that could tear her whole world apart, she starts to wonder. Someone is determined to punish her. But who? And will her friends stand by her, or will the past destroy all of their lives?From the million-copy-bestselling author of The Secret Mother and The Perfect Family, this absolutely addictive psychological thriller is guaranteed to make you gasp. If you loved Gone Girl, The Girl on the Train and Big Little Lies this book is for you.

The Family Tree


Steph Mullin - 2021
    And there’s a serial killer in her family tree…Liz Catalano is shocked when an ancestry kit reveals she’s adopted. But she could never have imagined connecting with her unknown family would plunge her into an FBI investigation of a notorious serial killer…The Tri-State Killer has been abducting pairs of women for forty years, leaving no clues behind – only bodies.Can Liz figure out who the killer in her new family is? And can she save his newest victims before it’s too late?A gripping, original thriller for fans of My Lovely Wife, Netflix’s Making a Murderer, and anyone who’s ever wondered what their family tree might be hiding…

I Will Make You Pay


Caroline Bale - 2019
     He is watching Connie Taylor in the café. He has befriended the waitress over the previous months and gained her confidence. Her coarseness disgusts him and he muses to himself about pouring acid on her face. He is going to torture Connie that evening to get the final information he needs and then he will kill her. Connie Taylor’s head is found on the doorstep of a house in upmarket Heworth Green in York. DI Ellen McClure finds herself embroiled in a complicated murder investigation that pits her against colleagues and family. Her boss thinks that ex-prostitute Connie was killed by one of her former clients, but Ellen thinks there is more to it. Vicky is on the run with her five-year-old daughter, Kallie. Her life is in danger. ELLEN MUST FIND HER BEFORE HE DOES. Desperate to save Vicky, Ellen drags her own young daughter, Zoe into the path of a deadly psychopath who will stop at nothing on his murderous rampage. A RACE AGAINST TIME TO STOP A PSYCHOPATH ON A MISSION

Before I Die


Jackie Morrissey - 2020
    Now she’s reinvented herself as a caregiver in an affluent Dublin suburb. She thought she’d hate it, but actually, she quite enjoys wielding power over the weak and vulnerable. She gets a perverse thrill from controlling them - their food, their medication, their exercise…. It gives her pleasure to strip them of their dignity and self-confidence, little by little. Then, when they are completely dependent, totally convinced they can’t do without her, that’s when the fun really starts. Now Dolores has been asked to look in on Maureen who has recently hurt her leg. Dolores is very pleased to find that Maureen is unusually intelligent and has a very strong character. She’s going to enjoy breaking this one…The stunning psychological thriller, perfect for fans of K. L. Slater, Teresa Driscoll, and Andrew Hart.

The Secrets We Keep


Nikki Lee Taylor - 2021
    Living and working in isolation with only the company of her dog Miss Molly, Sophie agrees to take on a job reviewing the manuscript of an up-and-coming writer. But this isn’t any story. It is one that unearths old secrets and to discover the truth, Sophie must find the courage to embark on a search that will change her life forever.​On the outside, Love Mommy blogging queen Madelyn-May has it all. To her online community she is the perfect mother. She has a successful husband, perfect twins, and an idyllic life. What they don’t know is Madelyn-May also has a secret. When her past collides with the present, Madelyn-May is forced to make a choice that could destroy everything she loves.​Would you risk destroying a family, if it meant healing your own heart? Would you tell the truth, if it meant losing everything you love?​The Secrets We Keep is a confronting look at the complexities of family and lengths a mother will go to for her child.

Friends Like These


Sarah Alderson - 2018
    And she flaunts her perfect life all over social media.It drove her colleague Lizzie mad, but she couldn't stop looking. They were never really friends - and yet Lizzie knew everything about her.Or did she?When chance, and a terrible mistake, pulls Lizzie back into Becca's orbit years after they lost touch, she'll realise that you can't always believe what you see online... and that finding out the truth might be the worst thing you can do.There's no such thing as a perfect life. Only a perfect lie.

Killing The Girl


Elizabeth Hill - 2019
    Medallion Honouree by IndieBRAG.A perfect life, a perfect love – and a perfect murder.Loving Frankie was easy. But Carol wasn’t the only woman Frankie charmed. When Carol’s obsession finally died, she killed and buried him. No other woman was to suffer from Frankie’s love.Now his grave will be found and the mistakes she made will come back to haunt her.As Carol revisits the past to justify his murder, she discovers that other friends lied. Will the truth free her, or will her revenge on those who betrayed her finally kill the innocent girl she was?If you love dark, domestic noir, full of secrets and lies, then this psychological thriller is for you.Read Killing The Girl and ask yourself what would you do if you had a Frankie in your life?

The Memory Thief


D.J. Donaldson - 2004
    Marti Segerson's appointment to the staff of the isolated and rural Tennessee Gibson State Mental Hospital was no accident. Years ago, Marti watched a mad man, serial killer Vernon Odessa, murder her sister. Marti never forgot the horror. Never gave up on revenge.Gibson State may finally hold the key to justice. Odessa is incarcerated within the gloomy, medieval-walled asylum. He's within her reach, but her carefully planned retribution may get her killed. Only days after her arrival, her memory is suddenly riddled with holes. Someone's carefully orchestrated mind games are blurring the line between illusion and reality.Soon, she's not certain whether she'll get justice for her sister or become the next victim.

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.

Give It Back


Danielle Esplin - 2017
    She thought that was the worst thing that could happen to her, but soon she realizes it’s just the beginning of an everlasting nightmare. Lexy:Lexy, an au pair from London, moves to Seattle to help Lorraine with her infant son. But she didn’t come for the child…she came for something else. Ella:When Ella receives a call from her sister, Lorraine, who begs her to leave San Diego to spend time with her, she decides to take a few days off from work to visit her. Frightened to see how much Lorraine has weakened since her diagnosis eight months ago, she packs a bag and heads to Seattle with a foreboding feeling that this might be the last time she sees Lorraine. But on her way to the airport, she learns that something shocking has happened since she last spoke with Lorraine and now. To make matters worse, once Ella arrives in Seattle, Lorraine’s story keeps changing, making Ella question how reliable her sister really is. Soon Ella is entangled in a mysterious investigation, and more so, in the lives of everyone involved. She realizes not only that she won’t go home anytime soon but also that she’ll never look at others the same way she did before.

The Holiday


T.M. Logan - 2019
    Three families. One killer.It was supposed to be the perfect holiday - a group of families enjoying a week together in the sun. Four women who have been best friends for as long as they can remember making the most of a luxurious villa in the south of France.But Kate has a secret: her husband is having an affair. And a week away might just be the perfect opportunity to get the proof she needs - to catch him in the act once and for all. Because she suspects the other woman is one of her two best friends.One of them is working against her, willing to sacrifice years of friendship to destroy her family. But which one? As Kate closes in on the truth in the stifling Mediterranean heat, she realises too late that the stakes are far higher than she ever imagined . . . Because someone in the villa may be prepared to kill to keep their secret hidden.

Black Canvas


Laura Rossi - 2021
    A must-read. A masterpiece. A thrill."Eleanor Lloyd-Jones“I dream of waking up and being someone else—my hair, my eyes, even my voice, completely different—and each time I go to the mirror to check my reflection, to see what I look like, I’m her. Every time. Her. It’s her reflection that stares back at me, but I’m the one who controls it. I’m in control, and that’s exactly why it feels so good. I control her and what happens to me; I control both lives—mine and hers—and I have what I want the most: her looks, her status, her marriage. There’s nothing left of me, and only I know the secret. Only I know it’s me inside, it’s me under that perfect porcelain skin, it’s me behind those sweet, smart deep brown eyes.And I have him. He’s mine—just mine now. I’m not the other woman anymore. I’m everything he needs."

Hunt Evil


Julia Derek - 2018
    Not only is his mother an escaped prisoner out to kill him, but he also suspects that his precocious half sister, four-year-old Neera, has inherited their mom's psychopathic tendencies. When Neera's father suddenly dies from a heart attack, Shane's even more convinced that Neera is a budding psychopath; after all, she triggered the deadly heart attack. The authorities reject the idea that Neera tried to hurt her father on purpose, but Shane sees increasing signs that something is wrong. He refuses to give up on her, though, believing he can fix her by raising her right. Before he can get far, Neera suddenly disappears and it turns out their mother has kidnapped the girl. Why, he can't be sure, but it's hardly for a good reason. Will Shane be able to find them before it's too late?NOTE: HUNT EVIL is the final book in the Evil Trilogy. While the books are stand-alones, they are best enjoyed in order. So start with BORN EVIL.