Book picks similar to
Fire Point by John Smolens


fiction
michigan
mystery-thriller
thriller

The Forgetting Time


Sharon Guskin - 2016
    Noah has never been ordinary. He loves to make up stories, and he is constantly surprising her with random trivia someone his age has no right knowing. She always chalked it up to the fact that Noah was precocious―mature beyond his years. But Noah’s eccentricities are starting to become worrisome. One afternoon, Noah’s preschool teacher calls Janie: Noah has been talking about shooting guns and being held under water until he can’t breathe. Suddenly, Janie can’t pretend anymore. The school orders him to get a psychiatric evaluation. And life as she knows it stops for herself and her darling boy.For Jerome Anderson, life as he knows it has already stopped. Diagnosed with aphasia, his first thought as he approaches the end of his life is, I’m not finished yet. Once an academic star, a graduate of Yale and Harvard, a professor of psychology, he threw everything away to pursue an obsession: the stories of children who remembered past lives. Anderson became the laughing stock of his peers, but he never stopped believing that there was something beyond what anyone could see or comprehend. He spent his life searching for a case that would finally prove it. And with Noah, he thinks he may have found it.Soon, Noah, Janie, and Anderson will find themselves knocking on the door of a mother whose son has been missing for eight years. When that door opens, all of their questions will be answered.Gorgeously written and fearlessly provocative, Sharon Guskin’s debut explores the lengths we will go for our children. It examines what we regret in the end of our lives and hope for in the beginning, and everything in between.

Big Little Lies


Liane Moriarty - 2014
    She’s funny, biting, and passionate; she remembers everything and forgives no one. Celeste is the kind of beautiful woman who makes the world stop and stare but she is paying a price for the illusion of perfection. New to town, single mom Jane is so young that another mother mistakes her for a nanny. She comes with a mysterious past and a sadness beyond her years. These three women are at different crossroads, but they will all wind up in the same shocking place. Big Little Lies is a brilliant take on ex-husbands and second wives, mothers and daughters, schoolyard scandal, and the little lies that can turn lethal.

And Still, She Wept


T.C. Barnes - 2011
    After having lost his wife to cancer, he is drawn back from the brink of an emotional abyss by the murder of a young girl who looks just like her. With nothing else to assuage his grief, he throws himself into the case with every ounce of passion still left inside him. But with little evidence to go on, his case quickly grows cold. When another victim is killed in exactly the same manner over five hundred miles away, Reilly realizes that there may be a serial killer at work. Going against the advice of his superiors, he flies to North Carolina to continue his hunt for the sadistic murderer. Reilly knows that his only hope of success is to convince the Sheriff of Camden County that both crimes are connected. To his relief, Claire Stiles immediately recognizes the undeniable similarities between both cases. Fueled by the furious and unrelenting desire to find the killer, they work together day and night. Unexpectedly however, they find themselves growing closer in the process. In order to understand what tenuous link binds the victims together, Claire and Reilly leave no stone unturned in their desperate search for the killer. But when yet another girl is abducted, Claire and Reilly must put their own lives on the line in order to stop the madman, before it's too late.

Do Her No Harm


Naomi Joy - 2020
    A best friend determined to right the wrongs of the past.On the 21st August Tabitha Rice disappeared without a trace. All the signs point to murder, but no signs point to a murderer. The easiest answer is her husband, Rick. But he protests his innocence and there is little proof he is the murderer.Annabella knows there is more to the story than what the police are telling. Tabitha was her best friend and she vows to uncover the truth.As Annabella delves further into the past, she uncovers sides to Tabitha that she never saw coming, and she finds herself asking the question... Was this murder? Or is there more to Tabitha Rice's story than meets the eye?

The Last Trade


James Conway - 2012
    For Havens, it’s always been about the numbers. He sees things others can’t, from the collapse of the American real estate market to the multibillion-dollar rise of his ruthless and charismatic boss. Havens is now rich beyond his dreams, but his work at the Rising Fund has cost him his marriage. And now it may cost him his life. It starts with the brutal murder of his young protégé and, over the course of six explosive days, six other brokers around the world, each killed after executing a trade linked to the Rising Fund. As the violence escalates from South Africa to São Paulo, Hong Kong to Berlin, Havens frantically tries to construct a model that will reveal the catastrophic event that only he can see coming—and confirm that his boss and the Rising Fund are at the center of it. The Last Trade is a relentlessly entertaining, adrenaline-fueled thriller about the forces that shape our culture–and a lone man desperate to achieve redemption— while averting a global economic catastrophe.

Identity


Ted Dekker - 2012
    Who am I? My name is Christy Snow. I'm seventeen and I'm about to die. I'm buried in a coffin under tons of concrete. No one knows where I am. My heart sounds like a monster with clobber feet, running straight toward me. I'm lying on my back, soaked with sweat from the hair on my head to the soles of my feet. My hands and feet won't stop shaking.Some will say that I m not really here. Some will say I'm delusional. Some will say that I don t even exist. But who are they? I'm the one buried in a grave. My name is Christy Snow. I'm seventeen. I'm about to die.So who are you?In a return to the kind of storytelling that made Black, Showdown and Three unforgettable, New York Times bestselling author Ted Dekker drags that question into the light with this modern day parable about how we see ourselves. Humming with intensity and blindsided twists, Eyes Wide Open is raw adrenaline from the first page to the last pure escapism packed with inescapable truth. Not all is as it seems. Or is it? Strap yourself in for the ride of your life. Literally.

Rapid Falls


Amber Cowie - 2018
    The tragedy has become a local legend, but Cara has moved past her grief to have a successful career and a happy family. Pity about Anna. Recently released from incarceration, she’s struggling with addiction, guilt, and shame—a shattered life. Cara’s forgiveness seems to be the only thing that helps her pick up the pieces.But as Anna pulls herself together, her memories of that night on the bridge start to come into focus. And few of them match her sister’s.As past secrets unfold and nothing is what it seems anymore, Anna desperately searches for the truth. But what if Cara doesn’t want her to find it?

The Cross


Steve Cavanagh - 2015
    An exclusive race against time ebook short thriller. **Contains an extract from Steve Cavanagh's brilliant debut novel, THE DEFENCE** Eddie Flynn, con-man turned criminal lawyer, has an impossible choice.He has damning evidence against a corrupt NYPD detective who stands accused of killing a suspect.But if he uses this evidence in court, both he and his client - the dead man's widow - will be in mortal danger.Should he risk their lives to win the case? Or keep quiet and let a murderer go free.

A New Life


David J. Antocci - 2013
    She has no idea how she got there, and notices changes in herself that she cannot explain. Haunted by unsettling dreams of her past, she sets out to escape, joined by Eric, who finds himself in the same predicament. Standing in their way is a madman, and his band of willing followers, with a mind set on murdering their unwelcome visitors. An eccentric hermit who has been living there for years offers them refuge, but they must deny his generosity. Escape is their only option. Yet, they discover this deceptive paradise is harder to leave than they had ever imagined. One mystery leads to another, until their escape throws them into even greater danger as Abby’s frightening past finally catches up with her. Her escape is only the beginning.

The Shadow Box


John R. Maxim - 1996
    But a series of inexplicable and violent events begin to rob him of everything he loves. First the man who raised him is brutally murdered. A few days later, Michael's fiancee is gunned down during a convenience store hold-up. Finally he is fired from his job with no explanation. And now it seems strangers are trying to kill him. Fleeing to the island of Martha's Vineyard, Michael hopes for a new beginning--and possibly even a new love with the enigmatic Megan Cole. But little does he know that his entire life has been built on lies--and a vast conspiracy of corruption. And his pursuers are about to strike again. . .

The Sasha McCandless Series: Volume 2


Melissa F. Miller - 2013
    Miller's Sasha McCandless series is perfect for Sasha lovers! Volume 2 bundles four titles in this series--two full-length legal thrillers and two shorter novellas that focus on Sasha and Leo's relationship (with a dose of danger and intrigue). This volume includes the following titles: Indispensable Party (Book 4): Can Sasha and Leo stop a doomsday prepper from releasing a deadly virus and causing a global pandemic? Lovers and Madmen: A Sasha McCandless Novella (Book 4.5): Sasha's plans for a romantic Valentine's Day with Leo are threatened by her cooking skills, a homeless kitten, and a former client with a violent streak. Improper Influence (Book 5): Healthy young women are dying, and Forensic Pathologist Bodhi King turns to Sasha and Leo for help. They'll discover a long and dirty trail, leading to political influence peddlers, backroom deals, and the biggest law firm in town. A Marriage of True Minds: A Sasha McCandless Novella (Book 5.5) Sasha and Connelly are finally getting married! They’ve gathered their closest friends and family at a remote eco-resort in Nicaragua to attend their New Year’s Eve wedding on the beach. It’s romantic. It’s breathtaking. It’s perfect. Until a murderous enemy from their past arranges for armed banditos to storm the resort and take the bride and groom hostage. Till death do us part may come all too soon, unless Sasha, Connelly, and their guests can outwit the mercenaries and reclaim control of the festivities.

You Should Have Known


Jean Hanff Korelitz - 2014
    Grace is also the author of You Should Have Known, a book in which she castigates women for not valuing their intuition and calls upon them to examine their first impressions of men for signs of serious trouble later on. But weeks before the book is published, a chasm opens in her own life: a violent death, a missing husband, and, in the place of a man Grace thought she knew, only a chain of terrible revelations. Left behind in the wake of a spreading and very public disaster and horrified by the ways in which she has failed to heed her own advice, Grace must dismantle one life and create another for her child and herself.

Sins of the Child


Shannon Heuston - 2019
    Now an ordinary wife and mother, she hides a terrible secret someone is determined to expose to the world. Who is Polly's mystery stalker? And what do they know about the events that occurred in the woods that long ago July day?

The Case of the Not-So-Fair Trader


Jim Stevens - 2010
    He must prove murder and stop payment of the twelve-million-dollar Richmond Insurance policy. Nothing makes sense. Crime scene is a mess. There is no money trail. There are too many motives from too many suspects who have too many alibis. Worst of all Sherlock's bad back is acting up, his ex-wife wants more money and the murder investigation is putting a serious dent in his parenting schedule of his two daughters. Richard Sherlock hates his job, and may be a reluctant dick, but he is better at finding the WHO in WHODUNIT than anyone else.

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.