Book picks similar to
Trespassers by Jon Athan


horror
splatterpunk
page-turner
dark-af

Primeval Valley


Edward J. McFadden III - 2019
    The town’s peace is shattered when a young boy is taken by a strange creature, and a distraught father goes on a desperate hunt only to uncover a valley that shouldn’t exist. A world where dinosaurs roam hunting prey. A world better left hidden.

Serial


Jack Kilborn - 2009
    #2: Don't pick up hitchhikers, because the traveler you pick up could be raving nutcase.So what if, on some dark, isolated road, Crazy #1 offered a ride to Crazy #2...

To Be Devoured


Sara Tantlinger - 2019
    The vultures circling outside her home taunt and invite her to come understand the secrets hiding in their banquet of decay. Fascination morphs into an obsessive need to know what the vultures know. Andi turns to Dr. Fawning, but even the therapist cannot help her comprehend the secrets she’s buried beneath anger-induced blackouts.Her girlfriend, Luna, tries to help Andi battle her inner darkness and infatuation with the vultures. However, the desire to taste dead flesh, to stitch together wings of her own and become one with the flock sends Andi down a twisted, unforgivable path. Once she understands the secrets the vultures conceal, she must decide between abandoning the birds of prey or risk turning her loved ones into nothing more than meals to be devoured.

Into the Darkest Corner


Elizabeth Haynes - 2007
    Gorgeous, charismatic, and a bit mysterious, Lee seems almost too perfect to be true.But what begins as flattering attention and spontaneous, passionate sex transforms into raging jealousy, and Catherine soon discovers that Lee's dazzling blue eyes and blond good looks hide a dark, violent nature. Disturbed by his increasingly erratic, controlling behavior, she tries to break it off; turning to her friends for support, she's stunned to find they don't believe her. Increasingly isolated and driven into the darkest corner of her world, a desperate Catherine plans a meticulous escape.Four years later, Lee is behind bars and Catherine—now Cathy—is trying to build a new life in a new city. Though her body has healed, the trauma of the past still haunts her. Then Stuart Richardson, her attractive new neighbor, moves in. Encouraging her to confront her fears, he sparks unexpected hope and the possibility of love and a normal life.Until the day the phone rings . . .

The Optician's Wife


Betsy Reavley - 2014
    The trouble is Larry has a secret.Then a series of grisly murders cast a shadow over everything.As Deborah’s world starts to fall apart she begins to suspect the man she loves of a terrible betrayal. And to keep their marriage alive, sacrifices must be made.A compelling, psychological thriller that unpicks what goes on behind closed doors and reminds us that sometimes the worst crimes can take place closer to home than you think.The Optician's Wife is a powerful psychological thriller by the best-selling author of Carrion, The Quiet Ones and Beneath The Watery Moon. If you are a fan of authors like Angela Marsons, Kathryn Croft, Helen Durrant, Barbara Vine or Rachel Abbott you will be gripped by this brilliant and bracing psychological thriller.

The Pendergast Files: (Relic, Reliquary)


Douglas Preston - 2017
    Hidden deep beneath Manhattan lies a warren of tunnels, sewers, and galleries, mostly forgotten by those who walk the streets above. There lies the ultimate secret of the Museum Beat.Relic — Just days before a massive exhibition opens at the popular New York Museum of Natural History, visitors are being savagely murdered in the museum's dark hallways and secret rooms. Autopsies indicate that the killer cannot be human...Reliquary —When two grotesquely deformed skeletons are found deep in the mud off the Manhattan shoreline, museum curator Margo Green is called in to aid the investigation. Margo must once again team up with police lieutenant D'Agosta and FBI agent Pendergast, as well as the brilliant Dr. Frock, to try and solve the puzzle. Books by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child The Pendergast Series Relic Reliquary Other books Mount Dragon Books by Douglas Preston The Kraken Project Impact Blasphemy The Monster of Florence The Codex Jennie At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

The Forlorned (The Forlorned #1)


Angela J. Townsend - 2018
    An advertisement lured him to the island, offering a job renovating the old lighthouse and ramshackle buildings. What he didn't know was that he was the only applicant. None of the locals wanted the job...no one dared. Isolated and alone, Tom soon discovers why. Messages from disembodied voices; ghostly visitations and escalating horrors draw Tom deeper into the island's evil past...a darkness that forces Tom to unbury the truth and bring demons of his own into the light.

Comfort Food


Kitty Thomas - 2010
    As part of his conditioning methods, her captor refuses to speak to her, knowing how much she craves human contact. He's far too beautiful to be a monster. Combined with his lack of violence toward her, this has her walking a fine line at the edge of sanity.Told in the first person from Emily's perspective, Comfort Food explores what happens when all expectations of pleasure and pain are turned upside down, as whips become comfort and chicken soup becomes punishment.DISCLAIMER: This is not a story about consensual BDSM. This is a story about “actual” slavery. If reading an erotic story without safewords makes you uncomfortable, this is not the book for you. This is a work of fiction, and the author does not endorse or condone any behavior done to another human being without their consent.

The Ghost Files


Apryl Baker - 2013
    She’s been able to see ghosts since her mother tried to murder her when she was five years old. No way does she want anyone to know she can talk to spooks. Being a foster kid is hard enough without being labeled a freak too. Normally, she just ignores the ghosts and they go away. That is until she see’s the ghost of her foster sister… Sally. Everyone thinks Sally’s just another runaway, but Mattie knows the truth—she’s dead. Murdered. Mattie feels like she has to help Sally, but she can’t do it alone. Against her better judgment, she teams up with a young policeman, Officer Dan, and together they set out to discover the real truth behind Sally’s disappearance. Only to find out she’s dealing with a much bigger problem, a serial killer, and she may be the next victim… Will Mattie be able to find out the truth before the killer finds her?

Houdini Heart


Ki Longfellow - 2011
    Once caught in its pages, there's no escaping Longfellow's terrible tale. Weeks ago, she was one of Hollywood's biggest writers, wed to one of its greatest stars. The doting mother of their golden child. But now? She's alone, tortured by a horrifying secret no woman could bear. Pursued by those she can't outrun, anguished by a guilt she can't endure, and driven close to madness, she flees to the one place she's ever called home: a small town in Vermont where River House still stands. To a child, the splendid hotel was mysterious and magical and all its glamorous guests knew delicious secrets. Cocooned in its walls, she will write one last book. Her atonement? Or her suicide note? But life is never as you dream it, and River House isn't what she'd always imagined it was. Intense, literary, and harrowing, Houdini Heart is a tale of bone-chilling horror, emotional torment, and psychological terror. Gripped by River House, trapped in an aging hotel of mirrors only Houdini could escape, how much can haunt a mind before it too is only a thing once imagined? "A haunting and disturbing journey through the psyche."-Erika Mailman, Author of "The Witch's Trinity"

Afraid of the Shadows


Victoria SelmanPhoebe Morgan - 2021
    Craven. A psychopath takes Trick or Treating a step too far. And a woman's dream of a quiet life is shattered by a knock on the door.Afraid Of The Shadows is a collection of gripping- sometimes funny, always spooky- short stories from some of the biggest names in crime fiction.From possessed sweaters to creepy wardrobes and disco shape shifters, there’s something for everyone in this Halloween bucket of short story goodies making it the perfect companion to snuggle up with as the nights draw in. Though be warned, you might want to leave the lights on...****************************************************************CONTRIBUTORSAfraid Of The Shadows is brought to you by twenty bestselling crime and thriller writers who between them have topped the Sunday Times and Amazon charts, won the Crime Writers’ Association Diamond Dagger Award, Gold Dagger Award and New Blood Dagger Award, the Bath Novel Award, the UK National Book Awards and the WHSmith Best Crime Author of All Time Award.Special guests:M.W. CravenPeter JamesT.M. LoganMatt WesolowskiTrevor WoodRachael BlokElle Croft (Shortlisted for the 2021 CWA Short Story Dagger Award)Heather CritchlowJames Delargy (Shortlisted for the 2021 CWA Short Story Dagger Award)Clare EmpsonJo FurnissT.E. KinseyN.J. MackayS.R. MastersPhoebe MorganDominic Nolan (Shortlisted for the 2021 CWA Short Story Dagger Award)Robert Scragg (Shortlisted for the 2021 CWA Short Story Dagger Award)Victoria Selman (Shortlisted for the 2021 CWA Short Story Dagger Award)Kate SimantsAdam Southward (Longlisted for the 2021 CWA Short Story Dagger Award)****************************************************************Profits from the sale of Afraid Of The Shadows will be donated to the Barnardo's Children in Crisis Covid AppealThis delivers practical and emotional support to vulnerable children caught in a downward spiral of deprivation as a result of the coronavirus crisis.Children and families across the UK are increasingly in or on the brink of poverty as a result of coronavirus.The impact of the second wave is pushing a generation of the most vulnerable children into a downward spiral of deprivation. With your support Barnardo’s can deliver the practical and emotional support families in crisis need.

Mind of a Killer


Dan Padavona - 2018
     A teenage girl is brutally murdered in an idyllic lake community. In over his head, the local sheriff calls upon the Behavior Analysis Unit’s best profiler, Scarlett Bell, to find the murderer. Is a serial killer stalking Coral Lake? Now Scarlett faces a killer unlike any she’s encountered. Bloodthirsty. Cunning. Insane. Another girl goes missing, and the special agent must stop the killer before time runs out. But the killer is a ghost, a phantom hiding in plain sight, and Scarlett must untangle a confusing web of evidence if she hopes to track him down. If she fails, the girl dies. The body count will grow. Scarlett should beware. The killer is coming for her now.

Twisted


Andrew E. Kaufman - 2015
    Christopher Kellan spends his days at Loveland Psychiatric Hospital, overseeing a unit known as Alpha Twelve, home to the most deranged and psychotic killers imaginable. His newest patient, Donny Ray Smith, is accused of murdering ten young girls and making their bodies disappear. But during his first encounter with Donny, Christopher finds something else unsettling: the man looks familiar.The killer with a secret…Donny Ray knows things about Christopher—things he couldn’t have possibly learned at Loveland. As the psychologist delves deeper into the mysterious patient’s case, Christopher’s life whirls out of control. The contours of his mind are rapidly losing shape, and his grasp on reality is slipping even faster. Is he going mad, or is that what Donny Ray wants him to think?The terror that binds them…In this taut psychological thriller from Andrew E. Kaufman, bestselling author of The Lion, the Lamb, the Hunted, a tormented man must face his fear and enter the mind of a killer to find the truth…even if it costs him his sanity.

Our Wicked Lies


Glede Browne Kabongo - 2021
    With a gorgeous, successful husband who whisks her away on romantic trips, a beautiful home in one of the country's richest zip codes, and two wonderful daughters, life couldn't be better. However, she'll soon discover that an enviable marriage comes at a deadly cost. Who is Faith, and why are dozens of emails between her and Alicia's husband hidden in his draft folder? Why were the messages never sent? As Alicia embarks on a desperate quest to uncover Faith's identity, a shocking death hits close to home and sends her reeling. Was it a tragic accident or cold-blooded murder? In this beautiful town of wealth and privilege, nothing is as it seems, and everyone has something to hide. As Alicia struggles under the weight of dark secrets from her own past, someone knows more than they're saying--someone who knows the truth will come at a devastating price. Emotionally gripping and expertly plotted, this heart-pounding, compulsive read is the perfect domestic thriller for fans of The Wife Between Us, The Husband's Secret and The Couple Next Door.

Wild


Adrienne Wilder - 2017
    A modeling career, a man he loved, and the extended family he’d acquired in the business. Then the world he knew was torn away when the plane he was on crashed en route to a photo shoot. Lost in the Alaskan wilderness, August doesn’t stand a chance. No sane man would choose to live in the Alaskan bush unless he had something to hide. And Keegan Brooks has secrets darker than night, more dangerous than wolves, more brutal than an Alaskan winter. Every day was a fight for his life until he stumbled upon a downed plane with a lone survivor. Now it’s no longer just Keegan’s life teetering on the edge of survival. It’s his heart.