Book picks similar to
Playing Jenna by Kiersten Modglin
tbr
thriller
amazing-twisted-read
drama
The Gift
Louise Jensen - 2016
Eternally grateful to Callie and her family, Jenna gets closer to them, but she soon discovers that Callie’s perfect family is hiding some very dark secrets …Callie’s parents are grieving, yet Jenna knows they’re only telling her half the story. Where is Callie’s sister Sophie? She’s been ‘abroad’ since her sister’s death but something about her absence doesn’t add up. And when Jenna meets Callie’s boyfriend Nathan, she makes a shocking discovery.Jenna knows that Callie didn’t die in an accident. But how did she die? Jenna is determined to discover the truth but it could cost her everything; her loved ones, her sanity, even her life.A compelling, gripping psychological thriller with a killer twist from the author of the Number One bestseller The Sister.
Exposure
Aga Lesiewicz - 2017
Your life's on track and all is going well. And then something monumental occurs that turns everything on its head. It happens to everyone but, for Kristin Ryder, it was much, much worse . . . When up-and-coming photographer Kristin begins to receive anonymous emails, her life in a trendy loft in London's Hoxton with Anton, her ultra-cool, street-artist boyfriend, suddenly begins to feel unsafe. The emails come with sinister attachments that suggest the sender has an intimate knowledge of Kristin's past, and soon her life spirals out of control.Who can she trust? And will she be able to discover the sender's identity before it's too late? Breathtaking and shocking, Exposure by Aga Lesiewicz will grip you until the last snap of the camera shutter."
Trapped
Nick Louth - 2019
Something she never saw coming. A searing suspense thriller from bestselling author Nick Louth In Manchester, two hardened gang members on the run take Catherine Blake and her one-year-old son hostage at gunpoint. She is in the wrong place at the wrong time. Held in a Transit van, Catherine needs a plan fast. But it means diving into her captors’ risk-drenched world, and playing them at their own game. Catherine has been through cancer, miscarriages and five draining years of IVF in order to have her son Ethan. He is the most precious thing in the world. She may be terrified out of her wits, but she’d do anything to protect him. Anything, no matter the cost...
The Blood Banker
David Prever - 2012
And something about the tube death doesn’t add up… When a second banker takes his life, then a third, he’s certain of wrongdoing.In a race to reveal the truth, Lightfoot uncovers a laundered money trail that leads, via Hong Kong and the world’s largest online criminal cartel, to the heart of British government: Number Ten Downing Street – and a man who will stop at nothing to achieve the power he craves.But with a hired killer watching his every move, can Lightfoot banish his demons and face down the evil that threatens his life?
The Salem Witch Society
K.N. Shields - 2012
Salem, New England, many dark nights ago. It is a time of spells and shadows, of black magic and blood. And the most famous witch hunt in history is about to begin... Years later, a young woman is found savagely murdered, a pitchfork thrust through her neck, her body arranged in the shape of a star: the death pose of a witch. Someone - or something - is reviving the terror of the notorious Salem Witch hunts. And only one man - a brilliant, eccentric loner with a dazzling mind and a fascination with witchcraft - can keep the evils of the past at bay. Rich in history, mystery, and witchcraft, THE SALEM WITCH SOCIETY is a twisting, terrifying thriller - a dark fairy tale for readers who loved A Discovery of Witches and The Interpretation of Murder.
The Cold Kiss
John Rector - 2010
So when they are approached at a roadside diner by a shady hitchhiker offering $500 for a ride to Omaha, they wonder if their luck might be changing. At first it seems like so much easy money--but within a few hours the man is dead. Now, forced off the road by a blizzard and trapped in a run-down motel on the side of a deserted highway, Nate and Sara begin to uncover the man's secrets: who he was, how he died, and most importantly, why he was carrying two million dollars in his suitcase. Before they know it, Nate and Sara are fighting for their lives. In the end, each has to decide just how far they are willing to go to survive. The Cold Kiss is an everyman psychological thriller that pits a young couple against moral corruption, greed, betrayal, and love. For two characters who may have used up all their chances, it's the classic final trip down the dark tunnel that might lead to heaven but drags them through hell.
Thin Air
Lisa Gray - 2019
But after receiving a photo of a three-year-old kidnapped from Los Angeles twenty-five years ago, Jessica is stunned to recognize the little girl as herself.Eager for answers, Jessica heads to LA's dark underbelly. When she learns that her biological mother was killed the night she was abducted, Jessica's determined to solve a case the police have forgotten. Meanwhile, veteran LAPD detective Jason Pryce is in the midst of a gruesome investigation into a murdered college student moonlighting as a prostitute. A chance encounter leads to them crossing paths, but Jessica soon realizes that Pryce is hiding something about her father's checkered history and her mother's death.To solve her mother's murder and her own disappearance, Jessica must dig into the past and find the secrets buried there. But the air gets thinner as she crawls closer to the truth, and it's getting harder and harder to breathe.
Last One to Lie
J.M. Winchester - 2020
Now it’s a nightmare.
Her little girl was supposed to be at day care when Kelsey arrived to pick her up. But they have no record of her daughter ever being there. And to make matters worse, her husband is missing too—he won’t pick up his phone, and the school he supposedly works at says he never accepted their job offer.Detective Paul Ryan knows something’s up with Kelsey’s story. Kelsey’s husband might be involved in their daughter’s disappearance, but the deeper the detective digs, the more inconsistencies he finds.As Detective Ryan tries to uncover the truth, what he finds are more deeply buried secrets that someone clearly never wanted found.
Friend Request
Laura Marshall - 2017
But Maria Weston is dead. Isn't she?
1989. When Louise first notices the new girl who has mysteriously transferred late into their senior year, Maria seems to be everything the girls Louise hangs out with aren't. Authentic. Funny. Brash. Within just a few days, Maria and Louise are on their way to becoming fast friends.2016. Louise receives a heart-stopping email: Maria Weston wants to be friends on Facebook. Long-buried memories quickly rise to the surface: those first days of their budding friendship; cruel decisions made and dark secrets kept; the night that would change all their lives forever.Louise has always known that if the truth ever came out, she could stand to lose everything. Her job. Her son. Her freedom. Maria's sudden reappearance threatens it all, and forces Louise to reconnect with everyone she'd severed ties with to escape the past. But as she tries to piece together exactly what happened that night, Louise discovers there's more to the story than she ever knew. To keep her secret, Louise must first uncover the whole truth, before what's known to Maria - or whoever's pretending to be her - is known to all.
Someone Else's Daughter
Linsey Lanier - 2011
Independent. Skeptical.Thirteen years ago her abusive husband stole her baby and gave it up for adoption.She comes to Atlanta to find her daughter.THE PIWade Parker.Ace detective.Wealthy owner of the Parker Investigative Agency.The most eligible forty-four-year-old bachelor in Atlanta.Still mourning the death of his socialite wife, he must solve a disturbing murder case.Before the killer strikes again.THE MURDERERA serial killer strangling young girls in a bizarre ritual.Why?She doesn't need a man.He needs to find a killer.Together, can they save a thirteen year old girl?
Blackbird
Michael Fiegel - 2017
And so I believe in neither free will nor predetermination. I believe in condiments.”A cold-blooded killer-for-hire, Edison North drifts across America from city to city, crime scene to crime scene, leaving behind a world in flames. But during a random bloodbath at a fast food restaurant, Edison meets Christian, a young girl who mirrors his own vacant stare and stink of “other.” Though it’s been a long time since he felt anything resembling a human connection, something about this desperately lonely child calls to him. Edison feels certain she deserves better. And while he is not convinced that he can give her that, he can make her stronger. So begin the chronicles of Edison North―and his protégé.As Edison begins Christian’s strange apprenticeship, Christian looks back upon her fractured upbringing and the training that made her into the killer she’s become. What follows is a brilliant―and ultimately tender―character study of two outsiders whose improbably forged bond unleashes a new facet of the human experience between them―and a jagged slash of violence on the world around them.
Girl in the Reflection
Monica Arya - 2021
A handsome husband, a beautiful daughter, a gated home, and a rewarding career as a physician, specializing in obstetrics and gynecology. She’s helped hundreds of people complete their families, which means all that more to her considering the lengths she went through for her own child. She even has a private practice with her best friend, Parker Sully, who is easy on the eyes and kinder on the soul. Sure, she sets herself to extremely high standards and is obsessed with perfection—which triggers a darkness of her own—but she’s managed to keep it under control. She’s always in control.When suspicious things start to unravel, Serena begins to lose control over the perfection she thrives off of. Her husband breaks the vows he promised her, her neighbors aren’t the sweet family next door and her perfect life seems more like the perfect lie. Her world crumbles in front of her eyes as she tries to piece it all together, but what happens when we look into our reflection and the pain of our past haunts our present? After all, you can’t piece together a broken mirror and expect to see the same reflection…
The Ruined Wife
Marin Montgomery - 2018
Together they've built a successful life, had a beautiful child, and still behave like newlyweds long since the day he carried her over the threshold. But all of that changes in an instant thanks to a thoughtless deed that has lifelong repercussions. With secrets bubbling to the surface, the pair find their American dream life suddenly in jeopardy, and neither one of them are willing to let go at any cost.
Without You
Saskia Sarginson - 2014
When 17-year-old Eva goes missing at sea, everyone presumes that she drowned. Her parents' relationship is falling apart, undermined by guilt and grief. But her younger sister, Faith, refuses to consider a life without Eva; she's determined to find her sister and bring her home alive. Close to the shore looms the shape of an island -- out of bounds, mysterious, and dotted with windowless concrete huts. What nobody knows is that inside one of the huts Eva is being held captive. That she is fighting to survive -- and return home. . .
In the Absence of Miracles
Michael J. Malone - 2019
Malone‘A tense, immersive thriller that kept me guessing’ Ian Rankin‘Malone is the master of twists, turns and the unexpected, with the skill to keep things grounded. So much so, that the reader can picture themselves in the very circumstances described. Superb storytelling from a master of his craft’ Herald Scotland‘Beautiful, lyrical prose takes the reader through a perfectly constructed, often harrowing tale’ Denzil Meyrick_________________John Docherty’s mother has just been taken into a nursing home following a massive stroke and she’s unlikely to be able to live independently again.With no other option than to sell the family home, John sets about packing up everything in the house. In sifting through the detritus of his family’s past he’s forced to revisit, and revise his childhood.For in a box, in the attic, he finds undeniable truth that he had a brother who disappeared when he himself was only a toddler. A brother no one ever mentioned. A brother he knew absolutely nothing about. A discovery that sets John on a journey from which he may never recover.For sometimes in that space where memory should reside there is nothing but silence, smoke and ash. And in the absence of truth, in the absence of a miracle, we turn to prayer. And to violence._________________Shocking, chilling and heartbreakingly emotive, In the Absence of Miracles is domestic noir at its most powerful, and a sensitively wrought portrait of a family whose shameful lies hide the very darkest of secrets.‘With each turn of the page, a more shocking detail is revealed and some of the people John thought might help him are not who they seem … The domestic noir tale is one that many families will be able to relate to … There is barely enough time to catch your’ Scotsman‘Challenging and emotional, In the Absence of Miracles enthrals as it corkscrews to a shocking, yet ultimately rewarding end’ LoveReading‘Malone’s latest is an unsettling, multi-layered and expertly paced domestic noir drama that delves into one family’s dark secrets, shame and lies’ CultureFly‘Malone is a poet, there are wonderful lyrical passages here and very skilful storytelling. Some issues are not spoken about enough, Malone raises a couple of those issues and sensitively but realistically addresses them…’ New Books Magazine‘Engrossing, hard-hitting – even shocking – with a light poetic frosting. Another superb read!’ Douglas Skelton‘A chilling tale of secrets, lies and the ultimate betrayal’ Theresa Talbot‘Emotional. Brave. Dark. Raw. Utterly beautiful’ Louise Beech’A breathtakingly good book; powerful yet tender and an emotional master class in how to write about harrowing and difficult issues.