Book picks similar to
Satan's Garden by Kit Lyman
mystery
fiction
thriller
ebook
The Island
C.L. Taylor - 2021
Taylor, the Sunday Times and million-copy bestselling author.Welcome to The Island.Where your worst fears are about to come true…It was supposed to be the perfect holiday: a week-long trip for six teenage friends on a remote tropical island.But when their guide dies of a stroke leaving them stranded, the trip of a lifetime quickly turns into a nightmare.Because someone on the island knows each of the group’s worst fears. And one by one, they’re coming true.Seven days in paradise. A deadly secret.Who will make it off the island alive?
Lie With Me
Sabine Durrant - 2016
The kind we've all told - to a former acquaintance we can't quite place but still, for some reason, feel the need to impress. The story of our life, embellished for the benefit of the happily married lawyer with the kids and the lovely home.And the next thing you know, you're having dinner at their house, and accepting an invitation to join them on holiday - swept up in their perfect life, the kind you always dreamed of...Which turns out to be less than perfect. But by the time you're trapped and sweating in the relentless Greek sun, burning to escape the tension all around you - by the time you start to realise that, however painful the truth might be, it's the lies that cause the real damage...... well, by then, it could just be too late.
Longlisted for the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year
Shortlisted for the British Book Awards Crime Novel of the Year
The Butterfly Tattoo
M.D. Thomas - 2020
Jon, guilt-ridden because he forgot to make sure his son had buckled up, will do anything to save his relationship with his wife. Bartender Elle doesn’t believe in guilt, even as it accelerates her descent into alcoholism. Narcotics officer Harvey has been stealing seized drug money for months to pay off his grandparent’s debt, unaware his superiors are onto him. Their struggles morph from difficult to life-threatening when Lee’s spirit finds each of them.They all think they know what Lee’s spirit is after. They’re all wrong. Drawn ever-closer together, their mistakes and misdeeds accumulate until Lee’s spirit latches onto one of them, and if they can’t figure out the truth in time, everybody they care about might die.
The Girl Who Lived
Christopher Greyson - 2017
One girl lived. No one believes her story. The police think she’s crazy. Her therapist thinks she’s suicidal. Everyone else thinks she’s a dangerous drunk. They’re all right—but did she see the killer? As the anniversary of the murders approaches, Faith Winters is released from the psychiatric hospital and yanked back to the last spot on earth she wants to be—her hometown where the slayings took place. Wracked by the lingering echoes of survivor’s guilt, Faith spirals into a black hole of alcoholism and wanton self-destruction. Finding no solace at the bottom of a bottle, Faith decides to track down her sister’s killer—and then discovers that she’s the one being hunted. How can one woman uncover the truth when everyone’s a suspect—including herself? From the mind of Wall Street Journal bestselling author Christopher Greyson comes a story with twists and turns that take the reader on a journey of light and dark, good and evil, to the edge of madness. The Girl Who Lived should come with a warning label: Once you start reading, you won’t be able to stop. Not since Girl on the Train and Gone Girl has a psychological thriller kept readers so addicted—and guessing right until the last page.
The Truth About You
Melissa Hill - 2010
But has an ill-advised fling with a handsome co-star resulted in a seriously unplanned consequence?Jess feels increasingly left out as the only non-mum amongst her friends. Terrified she might lose them altogether, she embarks on becoming a mother too. But is she really ready?Nina has come to Lakeview to live with her estranged father, Patrick after a bad break-up. But will she ever dare tell him about the secret she is concealing?One thing's for sure: someone knows more than they're telling. And the truth won't stay hidden forever...
Magic Hour
Kristin Hannah - 2006
Julia Cates was one of the country's preeminent child psychiatrists until a shocking tragedy ruined her career. Retreating to her small western Washington hometown, Julia meets an extraordinary six-year-old girl who has inexplicably emerged from the deep woods nearby—a child locked in a world of unimaginable fear and isolation. To Julia, nothing is more important than saving the girl she now calls Alice. But Julia will need help from others, including the sister she barely knows and a handsome doctor with secrets of his own. What follows will test the limits of Julia's faith and strength, as she struggles to find a home for Alice . . . and for herself.
Last Train to Helsingør
Heidi Amsinck - 2018
Menacing and at times darkly humorous there are echoes of Roald Dahl and Daphne du Maurier in these stories, many of which have been specially commissioned for Radio 4.From the commuter who bitterly regrets falling asleep on a late-night train in Last Train to Helsingør, to the mushroom hunter prepared to kill to guard her secret in The Chanterelles of Østvig.Here, the land of ‘hygge’ becomes one of twilight and shadows, as canny antique dealers and property sharks get their comeuppance at the handsof old ladies in Conning Mrs Vinterberg, and ghosts go off-script in TheWailing Girl.Scandi noir at its finest.
Lisey's Story
Stephen King - 2006
Scott was an award-winning, bestselling novelist and a very complicated man. Early in their relationship, before they married, Lisey had to learn from him about books and blood and bools. Later, she understood that there was a place Scott went--a place that both terrified and healed him, that could eat him alive or give him the ideas he needed in order to live. Now it's Lisey's turn to face Scott's demons, Lisey's turn to go to Boo'ya Moon. What begins as a widow's efforts to sort through the papers of her celebrated husband becomes a nearly fatal journey into the darkness he inhabited. Perhaps King's most personal and powerful novel, Lisey's Story is about the wellsprings of creativity, the temptations of madness, and the secret language of love. (front flap)
Daughters of the Lake
Wendy Webb - 2018
Tucked in the folds of the woman’s curiously vintage gown is an infant, as cold and at peace as its mother. No one can identify the woman. Except for Kate. She’s seen her before. In her dreams…One hundred years ago, a love story ended in tragedy, its mysteries left unsolved. It’s time for the lake to give up its secrets. As each mystery unravels, it pulls Kate deeper into the eddy of a haunting folktale that has been handed down in whispers over generations. Now, it’s Kate’s turn to listen.As the drowned woman reaches out from the grave, Kate reaches back. They must come together, if only in dreams, to right the sinister wrongs of the past.
The Cousins
Karen M. McManus - 2020
Rich and reclusive, she disinherited their parents before they were born. So when they each receive a letter inviting them to work at her island resort for the summer, they're surprised... and curious.Their parents are all clear on one point—not going is not an option. This could be the opportunity to get back into Grandmother's good graces. But when the cousins arrive on the island, it's immediately clear that she has different plans for them. And the longer they stay, the more they realize how mysterious—and dark—their family's past is.The entire Story family has secrets. Whatever pulled them apart years ago isn't over—and this summer, the cousins will learn everything.
The Merciless
Danielle Vega - 2014
No one outside of these dank basement walls knows she’s here. No one can hear her scream. Sofia Flores knows she shouldn’t have gotten involved. When she befriended Riley, Grace, and Alexis on her first day at school, she admired them, with their perfect hair and their good-girl ways. They said they wanted to save Brooklyn. They wanted to help her. Sofia didn’t realize they believed Brooklyn was possessed. Now, Riley and the girls are performing an exorcism on Brooklyn—but their idea of an exorcism is closer to torture than salvation. All Sofia wants is to get out of this house. But there is no way out. Sofia can’t go against the other girls . . . unless she wants to be next. . . . In this chilling debut, Danielle Vega delivers blood-curdling suspense and terror on every page. By the shockingly twisted end, readers will be faced with the most haunting question of all: Is there evil in all of us?
Beyond the Shadows
Christy Barritt - 2016
A decade later, when Charity receives a mysterious letter that promises answers, she returns to North Carolina in search of closure. With the help of her new neighbor, Police Officer Joshua Haven, Charity begins to track down mysterious clues concerning her friend’s abduction. They soon discover that they must work together or both of them will be swallowed by the looming darkness. The Unrelenting Tide by Lynnette Bonner: Widowed former-Hollywood-actress Devynne Lang has been living a quiet life in the San Juan Islands of the Pacific Northwest. For years, she's hoped her fabricated death would keep her identity safe from the public, and more to the point, from the stalker who forced her into hiding. But strange things have been happening around her place and this time, with a daughter to protect, she can’t afford one mistake – even if it means letting Carcen Lang get close enough to help. The End Came with a Kiss by John Michael Hileman: When the world died, my wife died with it. She became like the rest—a beautiful zombie, acting out a scene from our past, over and over again. But I know she is alive inside that dead body. She's been trying to tell me, trying to show me—and I won't stop until I save her. I won't stop until I save them all. Saving Grace by Lesley Ann McDaniel: When an obsessive fan forces opera singer Tracy Fontaine to change her name to Grace Addison and go into hiding in a small Montana town, the last thing she wants is to get to know the locals. Now, not one but two men have worked their way into her daily routine, much to the chagrin of a jealous local girl, who insists on prying into Grace’s past and stirring up deadly trouble. Will Grace find love in Madison Falls…or will her stalker find her? When Night Comes by Dan Walsh: Jack Turner comes back to his alma mater to give a series of lectures for his old history professor. Within days, he starts having bizarre experiences at night. Like he’s traveling back in time, experiencing the epic events in his lectures firsthand. Several college students suddenly start dying in their sleep. The Professor who’d invited Jack begins acting edgy and strange. And there’s this beautiful brunette in the back row. Every time he looks at her, she’s smiling at him. She looks vaguely familiar. Battered Justice by Linda Bradley White: FBI Special Agent Jake Tucker works hard to be an excellent investigator and a great dad. Having Cass McKenna as his partner helps. An investigation into a shooting leads them to a shadowy trail of crime connected with a casino--and the battered body of Jake's ex-wife. Jake is sure Tam's new husband, a powerful state senator, killed her. But Lady Justice can be battered, too. Soon Jake and Cass find themselves in the fight of their lives.
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."
Everything She Forgot
Lisa Ballantyne - 2015
Driving home, Margaret Holloway has her mind elsewhere—on a troubled student, her daughter’s acting class, the next day’s meeting—when she’s rear-ended and trapped in the wreckage. Just as she begins to panic, a disfigured stranger pulls her from the car just seconds before it’s engulfed in flames. Then he simply disappears.Though she escapes with minor injuries, Margaret feels that something’s wrong. She’s having trouble concentrating. Her emotions are running wild. More than that, flashbacks to the crash are also dredging up lost associations from her childhood, fragments of events that were wiped from her memory. Whatever happened, she didn’t merely forget—she chose to forget. And somehow, Margaret knows deep down that it’s got something to do with the man who saved her life.As Margaret uncovers a mystery with chilling implications for her family and her very identity, Everything She Forgot winds through a riveting dual narrative and asks the question: How far would you go to hide the truth—from yourself…?