Book picks similar to
Stratagem by Christina Hagmann


young-adult
dont-have
thinking-about-reading
suspense

Murder in the One Percent


Saralyn Richard - 2018
    Set on a gentleman’s farm in Pennsylvania and in the tony areas of New York, the book shows what happens when someone comes to a party with murder in his heart and poison in his pocket.

Killing the Dead


Marcus Sedgwick - 2015
    1963. Foxgrove School near Stockbridge, Massachusetts. One of the oldest and finest academies in the country - but what really goes on behind closed doors? Nathaniel Drake, the new young English teacher, Isobel Milewski, the quiet girl who loved to draw spirals, her fingers stained with green ink, Jack Lewis, who lent Isobel books - just words, just ink on paper, Margot Leya, the girl with those eyes - who are they, what part have they played in killing the dead? Follow the dark, dark path Into the dark, dark woods To the dark, dark bridge By the dark, dark water. Linger. Let the ghosts of heaven tell their story. A stylish and creepy story for World Book Day from prize-winning author Marcus Sedgwick.

Vendetta


Catherine Doyle - 2015
    An epic debut set outside modern-day Chicago.When five brothers move into the abandoned mansion in her neighbourhood, Sophie Gracewell's life changes forever. Irresistibly drawn to bad boy Nicoli, Sophie finds herself falling into a criminal underworld governed by powerful families. As the boys' dark secrets begin to come to light, Sophie is confronted with stinging truths about her own family, too. She must choose between two warring dynasties - the one she was born into, and the one she is falling in love with. When she does, blood will spill and hearts will break.

Kiss of Night


Debbie Viguié - 2011
    She dismisses him as a figment of her imagination, only to meet him again shortly after her cousin disappears with a stranger. His name is Raphael and he claims her cousin is in mortal danger. By accepting his help, Susan finds herself thrust into a world of the supernatural. Raphael, once a brutal knight who fought during the Crusades, was cursed for his sins to roam the earth as a vampire. Now he claims to need Susan's help in a secret war against a sinister evil. Unsure of a world she could never have believed existed and entangled with forces beyond her control, Susan must trust the mesmerising Raphael to lead her through to the other side safely. Both Susan and Raphael will be called upon to exercise courage and faith, and in the process, the question What would happen if a vampire truly accepted God? is answered.

Amber Smoke


Kristin Cast - 2015
    He is young and handsome, headstrong and impulsive, and he won’t be able to do it alone. Eva has grown up, beautiful and beloved, but surrounded by secrets. First, she will be hunted in an ancient feud that will threaten her life. Then, she will become the hunter.With the police closing in and two worlds on the verge of crumbling around them, Alek and Eva must find each other, discover the limits of their powers, and work together to save everything they hold dear, including one another. Blending elements of mythology with the dazzling storytelling that her fans have devoured through the House of Night series, Kristin Cast weaves a spellbinding and passionate tale that starts a thrilling new series with an explosive charge.

A Sibling in Always


Ernest Gordon Taulbee - 2016
     This stylized novel uses mythology as a base for a narrative that examines the nature of life by exploring the ways we die.

The Death Of Her


Debbie Howells - 2017
    Airlifted to hospital, her life hanging in the balance, no one’s sure who she is. Three days later she comes round, but her memory is damaged. She knows her name – Evie – but no more, until she remembers another name. Angel – her three-year-old daughter.As the police circulate Evie’s photo, someone recognizes her. Charlotte knew her years ago, at school, when another child went missing. Leah Danning, who vanished whilst in Evie’s care.When the police search Evie’s home, there’s no sign of Angel. More disturbingly, there’s no evidence that she ever lived there, forcing the police to question whether Evie’s having some kind of breakdown.But even from the darkest place she’s ever known, Evie believes her daughter is alive. The police remain unconvinced – unaware that on the fringes of Evie’s life, there’s someone else. Someone hidden, watching her every move, with their own agenda and their own twisted version of reality.

Tell Me Everything


Cambria Brockman - 2019
    There's Gemma, an insecure theater major from London; John, a tall, handsome, and wealthy New Englander; Max, John's cousin and a shy pre-med major; Khaled, a wise-cracking prince from Abu Dhabi; and Ruby, a beautiful art history major. But Malin isn't quite like the rest of her friends. She's an expert at hiding her troubling past. She acts as if she is concerned with the preoccupations of those around her - boys, partying - all while using her extraordinary insight to detect their deepest vulnerabilities and weaknesses.By Senior Day, on the cusp of graduation, Malin's secrets - and those of her friends - are revealed. While she scrambles to maintain her artfully curated image, her missteps set in motion a devastating chain of events that ends in a murder. And as their fragile relationships hang in the balance and close alliances start shifting, Malin will test the limits of what she's capable of to stop the truth from coming out.In a mesmerising novel that peels back the innumerable layers of a seductive protagonist, debut author Cambria Brockman brings to life an entrancing setting through a story of friendship, heartbreak, and betrayal.

The Safe Place


L.A. Larkin - 2021
    The snap of a twig tells her someone is close by. As she treads lightly towards the back door, she says a silent prayer—don’t let him find me…Everyone in Eagle Falls knows Jessie Lewis. Ever since she reported her boyfriend, fire chief and local hero, for beating her, she’s been an outcast from the small town. But when someone sets fire to a house in the woods, killing the entire Troyer family in their beds, the locals turn on her once again. And when rumors circulate about her very public argument with Paul Troyer, they take it as proof that she killed them.Devastated that anyone could think her capable of such an atrocity, Jessie knows that if people don’t believe she’s innocent, more lives will be in danger. She turns to Ruth: new in town, and an ex-FBI agent, Ruth could be the exact person Jessie needs to smoke out the killer. But can she trust her with her life?Days later, another house linked to Jessie is set ablaze. Falling to her knees in the scorched remains, Jessie finds something buried in the ash which she immediately recognizes. The murders must be linked to the death of someone very close to her, and, terrified, she realizes the killer is coming for her…As local wildfires take hold of Eagle Falls and the town is evacuated, Jessie drives at high speed toward the fires, knowing she must put herself in unthinkable danger in order to catch the killer. When she finally faces the person who wants her dead, will she have the strength to take them down first?

The Perfect Daughter


Joseph Souza - 2020
    In this riveting new novel, a mother is unwittingly drawn into the dark underbelly of her picture-perfect Maine town . . .   Shepherd’s Bay has been home to generations of lobstermen and their families. Lately, affluent newcomers have been buying up waterfront property and mingling uneasily with the locals. Tensions are high, especially since Dakota James, a teenage boy from the wealthier side of town, disappeared weeks ago. But another disturbing incident soon follows.   When high school junior Katie Eaves and her friend, Willow Briggs, fail to come home after a night out, Katie’s mother, Isla, is frantic. Two agonizing days go by before Katie is found, bruised and bloodied, yet alive. Isla is grateful. But Willow, a wealthy newcomer from Los Angeles, is still missing. And Katie can’t remember anything about the night of their disappearance.   Isla tries to help her daughter sort through her hazy recollections, and to recall the truth of her tangled friendship with privileged, beautiful Willow. At the hair salon she owns, Isla hears dark whispers about wild parties, drug deals, and love triangles gone wrong. How much truth is in the gossip? Is Dakota’s disappearance linked to the others? And what other shocking secrets lie at the heart of Shepherd’s Bay—and of the family Isla is struggling to hold together?

The Hummingbird Dagger


Cindy Anstey - 2019
    After young Lord James Ellerby witnesses a near-fatal carriage accident on the outskirts of his estate, he doesn't think twice about bringing the young woman injured in the wreck to his family's manor to recuperate. But then she finally regains consciousness only to find that she has no memory of who she is or where she belongs.Beth, as she takes to calling herself, is an enigma even to herself. She has the rough hands of a servant, but the bearing and apparent education of a lady. Her only clue to her identity is a gruesome recurring nightmare about a hummingbird dripping blood from its steel beak.With the help of James and his sister, Caroline, Beth slowly begins to unravel the mystery behind her identity and the sinister circumstances that brought her to their door. But the dangerous secrets they discover in doing so could have deadly ramifications reaching the highest tiers of London society.

Captive


A.J. Grainger - 2015
    The cell is flooded with sunlight; the window is a slice of pale blue. Dust particles dance in the sparkling light, pirouetting in a golden line from the window to the opposite wall of the cell, where they seem to converge into shapes. It is like looking into a kaleidoscope. Dad isn't here. No one is, but me.Robyn Knollys-Green is an A-list celebrity, famous for being the daughter of one of the world's most powerful men. But not even the paparazzi can find her now.Robyn begins to realise that she is trapped in a complicated web of global corruption and deceit - and that the strange, melancholy boy who has been tasked with guarding her might not be an enemy after all . . .A thrilling, well-crafted, ever-relevant story from a talented new voice in YA fiction.

Breaker


Kat Ellis - 2016
    A year has passed since his serial killer father’s execution, and it finally looks like he has a chance to escape the stigma and fear that haunts him. Until he recognizes the girl sitting in the back row in homeroom.Naomi Steadman is immediately intrigued by Kyle, but she doesn’t know he is the son of the man who murdered her mother. What she does know is she and Kyle have a connection—and a spark that Kyle continues to back away from.Pretty soon, the death count on campus starts to rise. Someone is set on finishing what the Bonebreaker started, and reliving the horrors of their past may be the only thing that can stop the spree.Told in alternating viewpoints, Kat Ellis’s tale of mystery and horror is full of broken bonds and new beginnings.

The Sleepover


Samantha King - 2019
    . . Was it his last?Izzy is thrilled when her shy, 12-year-old son is invited for his first sleepover. Nick has spent years being isolated and picked on; he deserves a night of fun and friendship.But Izzy is also nervous: it's a year to the day since bullies put Nick in hospital. She drops him off at his new best friend's house with mixed feelings. Arriving to collect him the following morning, her worst fears come true . . .Nick isn't there.Who has taken her son?And will she ever get him back?A gripping and emotional psychological thriller perfect for fans of Karen Cole's Deliver Me, Lesley Kara's The Rumour and Nuala Ellwood's Day of the Accident. From the Top Ten ebook bestselling author of The Choice.

The Forgetting


Nicole Maggi - 2015
    Why does she have a sudden urge for strawberries when she's been allergic for years? Why can't she remember last Christmas?Driven to find her donor, Georgie discovers her heart belonged to a girl her own age who fell out of the foster care system and into a rough life on the streets. Everyone thinks she committed suicide, but Georgie is compelled to find the truth - before she loses herself completely.