Book picks similar to
The Lazarus Succession by Ken Fry


thriller
historical-novel
audible
stand-alone

Hour of Need


Melinda Leigh - 2014
    Emotionally scarred from war, the career soldier returns home on emergency leave to temporarily care for his orphaned nephew and niece. But when someone tries to kidnap the kids and their teenage babysitter, Grant knows it’s not a random act…and neither were the murders.Already devastated by her neighbors’ violent deaths, Ellie Ross is shattered by the attempted abduction of her teenage daughter so she desperately turns to Grant for help. As they navigate a deadly search for the truth, they struggle with growing feelings for each other and Grant’s impending return to deployment.But time is running out. The killer is growing bolder by the hour, and Ellie and Grant must find him before the children become his next victims.

The Hiding House


Malcolm Richards - 2011
    Until their abusive mother mysteriously vanished. Now they have found happiness living with their grandmother. But when a tragic accident leaves her dead, the children find themselves suddenly alone.Elise knows she must act quickly to protect her younger brother. So why does she insist they stay hidden from the outside world?But as the siblings try to survive in their woodland home, it’s soon clear they’re not as alone as they think. Lurking in the shadows is a terrifying secret. One that holds the key to their mother’s disappearance.And now that secret wants to come inside.An unsettling blend of psychological horror and dark family drama, The Hiding House is the gripping debut from Malcolm Richards.

Her Last Wish


Blake Pierce - 2021
    She wants to go down fighting, and to take as many serial killers with her as she can.A serial killer strikes in the Virginia area, targeting women who seek fertility treatments. As Rachel enters his sick and twisted mind, she struggles to understand his motive, or the connection between the victims.Worse, the case strikes too close to home, bringing up memories of her own fertility treatments, and her failed mission to have a second child. As she seeks insight from a diabolical, jailed serial killer, she immediately realizes it’s a mistake. Can he see right through her?Can Rachel keep her secret and keep her deteriorating health at bay long enough to finish the job? Can she fulfill her own bucket list before she dies? And can she keep herself from descending down the dark hole of her own traumatic past? A riveting and chilling crime thriller featuring a brilliant and flailing FBI agent, the RACHEL GIFT series is an unputdownable mystery, packed with suspense, twists and shocking secrets, propelled by a page-turning pace that will keep you bleary-eyed late into the night.

The Recipient


Audrey J. Cole - 2021
    Problem is, he watched her killer die a year ago.​A year after serial killer Michael Rhodes is executed and allowed to donate part of his brain as an organ transplant, Wade gets called to a murder scene that shares uncanny similarities to those of the late Michael Rhodes. Other similar killings happen around Seattle, and Wade seems to be the only person still alive who knows enough about Michael Rhodes’s murders to be able to replicate them. When evidence found at one of the crime scenes points to Wade as the killer, he races to find the real culprit before it’s too late to clear his own name. Elle is overjoyed when her husband, Brian, gets a second chance at life when he receives a partial brain transplant after suffering a debilitating stroke at the age of thirty-seven. Their lives seem to return to normal, but Elle notices a disturbing change in Brian’s behavior. When Elle learns that her husband’s brain cell transplant came from Michael Rhodes, she fears that Brian now has the mind of a serial killer.Praise for The Recipient:"A chilling debut suspense thriller that blends a clinical murder know-how with riveting characters against a brooding Seattle backdrop. Audrey J. Cole squirrels deep into a serial killer's mind and the at-times fractured minds of those who seek justice for the killer's crimes. A perfect read for fans of Rachel Abbott or The Couple Next Door." Lizzie Harwood, Amazon bestselling author

Don't Ever Forget


Matthew Farrell - 2020
    Together they must untangle the threads of this ever-more-complicated case—and stay ahead of whoever’s trying to slash their progress. The old man’s failing memory adds urgency: wherever he is, he’s no doubt lost, confused, and in extreme danger.What started as a traffic stop gone wrong quickly unfolds into one of the darkest cases of Susan’s career, and it all leads to a sick, desperate killer. Susan and Liam must work fast to save the old man’s life and keep future victims from the killer’s grasp.

The Siren


Katherine St. John - 2021
    John, author of The Lion's Den, comes another sublimely escapist thriller: When dangerously handsome megastar Cole Power hires his ex-wife, Stella Rivers, to act in his son's film, he sparks a firestorm on an isolated island that will unearth long-buried secrets -- and unravel years of lies.In the midst of a sizzling hot summer, some of Hollywood's most notorious faces are assembled on the idyllic Caribbean island of St. Genesius to film The Siren, starring dangerously handsome megastar Cole Power playing opposite his ex-wife, Stella Rivers. The surefire blockbuster promises to entice audiences with its sultry storyline and intimately connected cast.Three very different women arrive on set, each with her own motive. Stella, an infamously unstable actress, is struggling to reclaim the career she lost in the wake of multiple, very public breakdowns. Taylor, a fledgling producer, is anxious to work on a film she hopes will turn her career around after her last job ended in scandal. And Felicity, Stella's mysterious new assistant, harbors designs of her own that threaten to upend everyone's plans. With a hurricane brewing offshore, each woman finds herself trapped on the island, united against a common enemy. But as deceptions come to light, misplaced trust may prove more perilous than the storm itself..

Yesterday's News


Sam Cheever - 2017
    A discovery. A deadly outcome.How do you survive when a hidden crime from the past carries a murderer to your doorstep?Anna Yesterday owns Yesterday's Antiques in small town USA. When she finds an old newspaper clipping lining the drawer of an antique dresser, she realizes she's never heard the heart wrenching story of abuse and suicide detailed on the yellowed newsprint. So she starts to dig, and her sleuthing exposes an ugly cover-up that casts the residents of Crocker, Indiana into danger and intrigue, and leaves them with a corpse.

The Devil's Lieutenant


Shervin Jamali - 2016
    As his life spirals out of control with grief, he is presented with the possibility that the souls of his family might be trapped in Hell. Thus begins an unimaginable and nightmarish journey to rescue his family from the depths of Hell, with the Devil as the puppet master pulling his strings. Warning: Graphic violence and profanity included. "Fast paced, dark, cleverly plotted" - S.G. Redling, author of Flowertown. "An excellent first book from a promising new author" - Robert Cowan, author of The Search for Ethan."Jamali's work read like fishing with dynamite. And I mean that in a good way" - Bradley Ernst, author of the Law of Retaliation series.

Chasing Bullets


Suzanne Cass - 2022
    Then she ran away from him in the ultimate act of betrayal. Two years later, Tara Hunter’s easy life in Byron Bay is turned upside down when David Cooper, her ex-police partner, appears and their chequered past comes back to haunt her. Coop is in town on an undercover mission to prevent a possible terrorist plot. While he’s recovered physically from the bullet wound, mentally he’s still scarred by her act of deceit. Reluctantly, Tara is drawn into Coop’s operation to track down a group of extremists hiding in the jungle wilderness, where she soon finds the illicit desire they shared two years ago is back, stronger than ever. But will she be able to find the courage to tell him she loves him and save him from the brutal terrorist gang? Suzanne Cass writes a thrilling romantic suspense in this game of hide and seek, full of passionate romance and heart stopping choices. Pick up a copy of Chasing Bullets today and get lost in this world of romance and deception.

Time Heals No Wounds


Hendrik Falkenberg - 2013
    And his partner, unconventional veteran detective Fritz Janssen, isn’t the least bit thrilled to train a rookie.When a woman’s body washes up on the nearby shores of the Baltic Sea, Hannes gets his first taste of real crime—and a chance to prove himself. Quickly the investigation pulls him and Fritz into a whirlpool of dangerous, decades-old cover-ups. As the death count rises, the clues begin to lead them back to the Third Reich—and to harrowing crimes some people will do anything to keep hidden.With the dead woman’s beautiful assistant to protect and a missing girl to find, Hannes navigates an ever-twisting maze of concealed horrors and enduring vendettas. Will he be able to catch the murderer before another innocent life gets caught in the killer’s dark plan?

The Mailman


Bentley Little - 1991
    We meet a school teacher, his wife, and their young son, Billy. One thing, one seemingly minor thing, goes wrong. And all that was safe and ordinary slowly unravels into nightmare. This familiar premise for the contemporary horror novel has rarely, if ever, been developed so brilliantly as in Bentley Little's The Mailman. A tall, pale postal carrier with carrot-red hair may seem an unlikely candidate for the embodiment of evil, but Little reveals the personality behind the mailman's ever-present smile with such finesse, you'll be more than happy to fall under his spell. By the time the frightened town folk are chanting, "No mail! No mail! No mail! No mail!"--and Billy ends up half-naked in a dark room, next to a soiled wedding dress--you'll be jumping right out of your skin.