Book picks similar to
The Lazarus Succession by Ken Fry


historical-novel
audible
stand-alone
thriller

No Kiss Goodbye


Janelle Harris - 2015
    Things will never be the same again, they said. Isn't it wonderful, they said. But no one knows what to say now. My husband wants to take the kids. My husband thinks the accident was my fault. My husband thinks I need help. But I think he wants rid of me.

A Cape May Diamond


Larry Enright - 2012
    I’ll never forget that day. The Vietnam War had ended with the fall of Saigon that April, and the world was mired in one of its worst recessions ever. Unemployment in the United States was nearly nine percent, inflation even higher, and leadership lacking. The Watergate scandal had cast a smear across American politics, resulting in Richard Nixon’s resignation in August 1974 to avoid impeachment, and his successor’s immediately pardoning him to close the book on an unhappy chapter in U.S. history.It was not a good time for anyone and a particularly hard time for the old Victorian town of Cape May. The crown jewel of the New Jersey shore had fallen into neglect and disrepair and was dying a slow death. Once the elegant summer home to presidents and kings, it had become the last refuge of the deposed.That’s where I met Tom Ryan. Tom was a king, or so he would have you believe, but unlike Richard Nixon, when Tom was dethroned, he wasn’t sent home with a slap on the wrist. He was sent to prison. He was a convicted draft dodger, but one of the lucky ones released early by President Ford as part of his mass clemency after Nixon’s pardon. The problem was, Tom had nowhere to go when he got out, so he took the money his dad mailed to him and spent it on a bus ticket to get as far away as possible to a place where nobody cared who he was or what he had done, a place where nobody cared about anything. That place was Cape May.As hard a time as it was for everyone, it was harder for me because that was the day I met Tom Ryan. I should have turned and walked away. I knew it when he first looked at me, but I didn’t, not my first mistake, but one that would make Monday, May 19th, 1975 the hardest day of my life. This is the story of how Tom Ryan and I met and how things never quite work out the way you think. You might find a love story in here somewhere. You might not. You might find a message hidden in one of the nickel pop bottles collected by the beachcombers from some of the most beautiful white sand beaches in the world. You might even find a little mystery, but life is a mystery, isn’t it?

The Lonely Mile


Allan Leverone - 2011
    But the kidnapper, a sociopath known as the “I-90 Killer,” escapes and vows revenge, targeting Ferguson’s own daughter as his next victim. Now one terrified father must unravel a plot that may go much deeper than he realizes, racing against time to save his only child from an unthinkable fate.

The Mall


Bryant Delafosse - 2012
    Boasting a 30 screen movie theater, a five star resort-style hotel and two five star restaurants, the Mall is everything you ever wanted in one place.You may never want to leave.”When single mother Lara Myers finds herself suddenly homeless with her two children, she takes refuge for the night in the Mall of the Nation, a completely automated retail complex that never closes. When a catastrophic event occurs, the Mall is locked down, causing Lara to be separated from her ten-year-old son Owen .Trapped and desperate, Lara enlists the aid of Simon whose job it is to maintain and repair the Mall’s army of Bots. Lara finds herself in a life and death struggle to save her family from homicidal and supernatural forces to which Simon may hold the key.For they discover that they are not alone and that something does not want them to escape from….The MallAbout the AuthorBryant Delafosse was born and raised in Southeast Texas. He holds a degree from the University of Texas at Austin and is a screenwriter. He currently lives in Southern California with his wife, son, and Miniature Schnauzer, Luna.

Untraceable


Shelli R. Johannes - 2011
    When her dad goes missing on a routine patrol, Grace refuses to believe he’s dead and fights the town authorities, tribal officials, and nature to find him.One day, while out tracking clues, Grace is rescued from danger by Mo, a hot guy with an intoxicating accent and a secret. As her feelings between him and her ex-boyfriend get muddled, Grace travels deep into the wilderness to escape and find her father. Along the way, Grace learns terrible secrets that sever relationships and lives. Soon she’s enmeshed in a web of conspiracy, deception, and murder. And it’s going to take a lot more than a compass and a motorcycle (named Lucifer) for this kick-butting heroine to save everything she loves.

The Prophet Motive


Eric Christopherson - 2010
    As a boy he'd lost his parents to cult-instigated mass suicide. The memories come flooding back when he investigates the bizarre suicide of a former member of Earthbound, a New Age cult--and suspects murder instead. To uncover the truth he infiltrates the group, along with police psychologist Marilyn Michaelsen.The new recruits find themselves pushed to their physical and mental limits by a series of sophisticated brainwashing techniques as well as by a cult leader, known only as The Wizard, who appears to possess psychic and paranormal powers. Even the psychologist's expert knowledge of cults can't explain The Wizard's feats, and it isn't long before John, like his parents before him, surrenders his independence to another . . .

America's Trust


Murray McDonald - 2013
    Not knowing who he can trust, Butler has to resort to extreme measures to reveal the true nature of America’s Trust. As he nears his goal, America is plunged into crisis. A war everyone thought would happen fifty years earlier, suddenly and inexplicably, raises its head. With the world's armies bracing themselves for a battle nobody could see coming and America on the brink of annihilation, Butler realizes the scale of the conspiracy was far beyond even his worst nightmare…

House of Bathory


Linda Lafferty - 2014
    During bizarre nightly rites, she tortured and killed the young women she had taken on as servants. A devil, a demon, the terror of Royal Hungary—she bathed in their blood to preserve her own youth.400 years later, echoes of the Countess’s legendary brutality reach Aspen, Colorado. Betsy Path, a psychoanalyst of uncommon intuition, has a breakthrough with sullen teenager Daisy Hart. Together, they are haunted by the past, as they struggle to understand its imprint upon the present. Betsy and her troubled but perceptive patient learn the truth: the curse of the House of Bathory lives still and has the power to do evil even now.The story, brimming with palace intrigue, memorable characters intimately realized, and a wealth of evocative detail, travels back and forth between the familiar, modern world and a seventeenth-century Eastern Europe brought startlingly to life.Inspired by the actual crimes of Elizabeth Báthory, The House of Bathory is another thrilling historical fiction from Linda Lafferty (The Bloodletter’s Daughter and The Drowning Guard). The novel carries readers along with suspense and the sweep of historical events both repellent and fascinating.

The Safe Man: A Ghost Story


Michael Connelly - 2012
    That is, his specialty is opening safes. Every job is a little mystery, and he has yet to encounter a lock he can't break or a box he can't crack. But the day Holloway gets called in to open a rare, antique safe in a famous author's library, his skills open a door that should have remained closed.In this haunting and singular story, previously published anonymously, Michael Connelly proves once again that he is "superb at building suspense.... the reader can never be sure what sudden turns the plot may take" (Wall Street Journal).

The Lost Girls


Heather Young - 2016
    Her disappearance destroys her mother, who spends the rest of her life at the lake house, hoping in vain that her favorite daughter will walk out of the woods. Emily’s two older sisters stay, too, each keeping her own private, decades-long vigil for the lost child. Sixty years later Lucy, the quiet and watchful middle sister, lives in the lake house alone. Before she dies, she writes the story of that devastating summer in a notebook that she leaves, along with the house, to the only person to whom it might matter: her grandniece, Justine. For Justine, the lake house offers a chance to escape her manipulative boyfriend and give her daughters the stable home she never had. But it’s not the sanctuary she hoped for. The long Minnesota winter has begun. The house is cold and dilapidated, the frozen lake is silent and forbidding, and her only neighbor is a strange old man who seems to know more than he’s telling about the summer of 1935.Soon Justine’s troubled oldest daughter becomes obsessed with Emily’s disappearance, her mother arrives with designs on her inheritance, and the man she left behind launches a dangerous plan to get her back. In a house steeped in the sorrows of the women who came before her, Justine must overcome their tragic legacy if she hopes to save herself and her children.

The Memory Box


Eva Lesko Natiello - 2014
    Caroline Thompson, devoted mother of two, sticks to the moral high ground and attempts to avoid these women. She’s relieved to hear her name appears only three times, citing her philanthropy. Despite being grateful that she has nothing to hide, a delayed pang of insecurity prods Caroline to Google her maiden name—which none of the others know.The hits cascade like a tsunami. Caroline’s terrified by what she reads. An obituary for her sister, JD? That’s absurd. With every click, the revelations grow more alarming. They can’t be right. She’d know. Caroline is hurled into a state of paranoia—upending her blissful family life—desperate to prove these allegations false before someone discovers they’re true.The disturbing underpinnings of THE MEMORY BOX expose a story of deceit, misconceptions, and an obsession for control. With its twists, taut pacing, and psychological tenor, Natiello's page turning suspense cautions: Be careful what you search for.HOUSTON WRITERS GUILD MANUSCRIPT AWARD WINNER

Mayflower Murders


Carolyn McCray - 2013
    **Warning: This is an alternate history version of the Pilgrims who came to the New World to form Plymouth. Historians beware, as this may well turn your view of the founding of America on its head. Early praise for Mayflower Murders... “It's a strong story with laughter, pain, grief, hate and love. The cast of characters are also strong and so perfect a match to the swift moving flow of the story. I could not lay this book down, it had me laughing till tears ran, filled with anger till I wanted to scream, then so surprised I could have never seen this coming! I highly recommend this wonderful story.” DD Gott Amazon Reviewer Overview: You think you know why the Pilgrims gave thanks on the first Thanksgiving. The harvest, right? Wrong. In this reimagining, we explore a much darker and more sinister reason. With over half the colonists dying, did America's first serial killer come over on the Mayflower? Praise for McCray and Hopkin’s other thrillers… “Very good book with enough twists and turns to make you attached to the book until the end. Nice characters and a goon and interesting story indeed. A real thriller for enthusiasts.” Pedro Amazon Reviewer “I loved this book (9th Circle)!!! First book I've ever read by these authors... and I thought it was totally amazing. Well written and def kept me on the edge of my seat! … Being a fan of detective novels, horror and some gore, I found this book right up my alley!! I bought it on a whim but now I def want to see what else they have written!!!” Andrea Severino Amazon Reviewer “I absolutely loved this series (Darc Murders Collection). I've recommended it to several people. If you visualize what you are reading, the author will walk you through the most unusual and gory murders. Very unique. I found a new favorite writer!” Alicia Dries Amazon Reviewer If you enjoy the tangled mystery The Name of the Rose or the intense action of Master and Commander, the new historical thriller Mayflower Murders is sure to keep you reading late into the night. **If you were searching for characters such as Alex Cross and Hannibal or movies like 7 and Saw, check out the Darc Murders Collection **If you were looking for McCray's #1 Hard Boiled/Police Procedural Patterson-style thrillers with dash of Hannibal, search under Harbinger Murder Mystery Collection **Want even more serial killers? Check out McCray/Hopkin's latest, The Nursery Rhyme Murders series starting with Humpty Dumpty, the killer wants us to put him back together again **Need your RDA allowance of thrills? Check out Got Thrills? **Love thrillers and police procedurals? Look for Down & Dirty.

What Follows After


Dan Walsh - 2014
    Life is simple. The world makes sense, and all families are happy. When they aren’t, everyone knows you’re supposed to pretend. With their family about to collapse, Colt Harrison and his little brother, Timmy, hatch a plan. They’ll run away from their Florida home, head for their aunt’s house in Savannah and refuse to come home until their parents get back together. But things go terribly, terribly wrong. Colt’s parents must come to grips with years of mistrust and fight for their son’s return…and to mend their broken marriage. In this emotional story, Dan Walsh takes readers on a suspense-filled journey to rediscover the things that matter most in life.

Back on Murder


J. Mark Bertrand - 2010
    Roland March is a homicide cop on his way out. But when he's the only one at a crime scene to find evidence of a missing female victim, he's given one last chance to prove himself. Before he can crack the case, he's transferred to a new one that has grabbed the spotlight--the disappearance of a famous Houston evangelist's teen daughter. With the help of a youth pastor with a guilty conscience who navigates the world of church and faith, March is determined to find the missing girls while proving he's still one of Houston's best detectives.

The Book of Q


Jonathan Rabb - 2001
    But when a fellow priest gives him an ancient prayer that seems to hint at unspeakable heresy, and then mysteriously disappears, Pearse is forced from contemplation into action. The prayer is a fuse that will ignite a centuries-old conspiracy to establish a radical new church on the ruins of Catholicism, leading back to the ancient sect of Manichaeism, which held that man is equal to God and questioned the validity of Catholicism's central tenet: the Divine Resurrection. The Manichaeans are alive and well, as Pearse discovers, and have a disturbing tendency to turn up in the most unexpected of places--including the papal throne. And they have much, much bigger plans. It's up to Pearse to decipher the scroll and to follow its trail to the fountainhead of Manichaean truth. His journey will take him from an ancient Greek monastery to the scarred and bloody landscape of Bosnia, where a secret from his own past threatens to undermine his quest and his struggle to stay one step ahead of the Manichaean conspirators. Unfortunately, so clumsily and pedantically does Rabb introduce the history behind the scroll, and so completely does he shortchange the reader when it comes to deciphering its secrets, that only the most patient and forgiving of fans will arrive at the novel's end without the sneaking sensation that this has all been a tempest in a teacup. Abstruseness is no crime, as any Umberto Eco fan will tell you. Dullness, however, is. If you're looking for a rollickingly clever thriller that combines ancient religious politics, a mysterious power that threatens the stability of the Catholic church, and a tour of a vibrantly detailed Rome, The Story of Q isn't it. If you're looking for a thoughtful exploration of the soul-searing paradox that arises when a priest is forced to doubt the authenticity of the Resurrection, The Story of Q isn't it, either. For the former, you can't go wrong with Dan Brown's gloriously over-the-top Angels & Demons; for the latter, check out The Gospel of Judas, Simon Mawer's quietly powerful take on ancient history and contemporary mores. --Kelly Flynn