Book picks similar to
No Greater Sacrifice by John C. Stipa
mystery
suspense
fiction
first-reads
Sinema: The Northumberland Massacre
Rod Glenn - 2007
There's a newcomer to the small Northumberland village of Haydon . a charming novelist and film buff, researching a crime thriller about a serial killer on a rampage in a remote Northumberland community. The only trouble is, it's a work in progress and it's going to be non-fiction. 392 innocent men, women and children stand in his way to achieving a sadistic dream. As the worst winter in more than a century approaches, can two investigating police officers trapped with the terrorised residents stop this monster?
The Girl in the Wall
Daphne Benedis-Grab - 2012
The only person who's dreading the party is Sera, Ariel's former best friend, whose father is forcing her to go. Sera has been the school pariah since she betrayed Ariel, and she now avoids Ariel and their former friends. Thrown together, Ariel and Sera can agree on one thing: this could be one very long night.They have no idea just how right they are.Only moments after the concert begins and the lights go down, thugs open fire on parents and schoolmates alike, in a plot against Ariel's father that quickly spins out of control. As the entire party is taken hostage, the girls are forced apart. Ariel escapes into the hidden tunnels in the family mansion, where she and Sera played as children. Only Sera, who forges an unlikely alliance with Hudson Winters, knows where her friend could be. As the industrial terrorist plot unravels and the death toll climbs, Ariel and Sera must recall the sisterhood that once sustained them as they try to save themselves and each other on the longest night of their lives.
Signature Wounds
Kirk Russell - 2017
In an unfolding nightmare, Grale discovers his sister, brother-in-law, and many friends were caught up in the explosion. Grief stricken, he is pulled from the main bomb investigation to sift orphan leads. Quietly he begins a relentless search for the bomb maker.When the FBI suspects his friend and disgruntled former drone pilot for the blast, Grale thinks they’re getting it all wrong. Propelled by deep personal loss and an intense need to do the right thing, he picks his way through the smallest of leads and into a maze of twists, turns, and sudden dead ends. When he uncovers another threat, time is already quickly running out. With the lives of so many at stake, Grale won’t let himself fail—and he won’t rest until there’s justice for his family.Adrenalized, gripping, and all too timely, Signature Wounds brings terror to Vegas and introduces FBI special agent and bomb tech Paul Grale, a man whose specialized skill and fierce determination are a lethal combination.
City of Saints & Thieves
Natalie C. Anderson - 2017
After fleeing the Congo as refugees, Tina and her mother arrived in Kenya looking for the chance to build a new life and home. Her mother quickly found work as a maid for a prominent family, headed by Roland Greyhill, one of the city’s most respected business leaders. But Tina soon learns that the Greyhill fortune was made from a life of corruption and crime. So when her mother is found shot to death in Mr. Greyhill's personal study, she knows exactly who’s behind it.With revenge always on her mind, Tina spends the next four years surviving on the streets alone, working as a master thief for the Goondas, Sangui City’s local gang. It’s a job for the Goondas that finally brings Tina back to the Greyhill estate, giving her the chance for vengeance she’s been waiting for. But as soon as she steps inside the lavish home, she’s overtaken by the pain of old wounds and the pull of past friendships, setting into motion a dangerous cascade of events that could, at any moment, cost Tina her life. But finally uncovering the incredible truth about who killed her mother—and why—keeps her holding on in this fast-paced nail-biting thriller.
Take the Monkeys and Run
Karen Cantwell - 2010
Typical, that is until she sets out to find the missing link between a bizarre monkey sighting in her yard and the bone chilling middle-of-the-night fright fest at the strangely vacant house next door. When Barb talks her two friends into some seemingly innocent Charlie’s Angels-like sleuthing, they stumble upon way more than they bargained for and uncover a piece of neighborhood history that certain people would kill to keep on the cutting room floor.Enter sexy PI Colt Baron, Barb’s ex-boyfriend who would love to be cast as new leading man, filling the role just vacated by her recently estranged husband, Howard. When Colt flies in from out of town to help Barb, events careen out of control and suddenly this mini-van driving mother of three becomes a major player in a treacherous and potentially deadly FBI undercover operation. It’s up to her now. With little time to spare, she and she alone, must summon the inner strength necessary to become a true action heroine and save the lives of those she loves. The question is can she get them out alive before the credits roll?
When I Was You
Minka Kent - 2020
Suffering from debilitating headaches and memory loss, she can rely only on her compassionate new tenant, Dr. Niall Emberlin, a welcome distraction from the discomfiting bubble that has become her existence.But Brienne’s growing confidence in her new routine is shaken when she stumbles across unsettling evidence that someone else is living as…her. Same name. Same car. Same hair. Same clothes. She’s even friended her family on social media. To find out why, Brienne must leave the safety of her home to hunt a familiar stranger.What she discovers is more disturbing than she could have ever imagined. With her fragile mind close to shattering, Brienne is prepared to do anything to reclaim her life. If it’s even hers to reclaim.
Walk Into Silence
Susan McBride - 2016
Did she simply run off, or is something darker at play?When Patrick Dielman shows up at Detective Jo Larsen’s desk insisting that his wife, Jenny, is missing, Jo wonders if it’s a case of a bored housewife running away.But as she digs deeper into Jenny’s life, Jo learns that Dielman keeps a stranglehold on the family finances, down to the last nickel, and that Jenny’s first marriage dissolved following the death of her young son. By all accounts—including her doctor’s—she never recovered from the loss. Between a controlling husband, a tragic past, and a callous ex-husband, Jo can’t be sure if she should suspect foul play or accept that the woman may have wanted to disappear.For Jo, whose own demons are shadowing her every step, finding Jenny becomes more than the typical protect-and-serve.
The One You Love
Paul Pilkington - 2011
Her fiancé vanishes, leaving the battered and bloodied body of his brother in their London apartment. Someone is stalking her, watching her every move. And her family are hiding a horrifying secret; a secret that threatens all those she loves. In a desperate race against time, Emma must uncover the truth if she ever wants to see her fiancé alive again. The One You Love is a fast-paced suspense mystery, full of twists and turns, following in the tradition of writers such as Nicci French and Sophie Hannah.
Rushed
Brian Harmon - 2013
With no idea how to cure himself of this odd new compulsion, he decides to let it take its course and go for a drive, hoping that once he proves to himself that there is nowhere to go, he can return to his normal life. Instead, he finds himself hurled headlong into a nightmare adventure across a fractured Wisconsin as the dream reveals itself one heart-pounding detail at a time. <br><br>Horror, science fiction, dark fantasy. From the author of The Temple of the Blind. 84,000 words.
Kill Me If You Can
James Patterson - 2011
Plans for a worry-free life with his stunning girlfriend Katherine fill his thoughts--until he realizes that he is being hunted, and that whoever is after him won't stop until they have reclaimed the diamonds and exacted their revenge. Trailing him is the Ghost, the world's greatest assassin, who has just pulled off his most high-profile hit: killing Walter Zelvas, a top member of the international Diamond Syndicate. There's only one small problem: the diamonds he was supposed to retrieve from Zelvas are missing. Now, the Ghost is on Bannon's trail--but so is a rival assassin who would like nothing more than to make the Ghost disappear forever. From "America's #1 storyteller" (Forbes) comes a high-speed, high-stakes, winner-take-all thrill ride of adrenaline-fueled suspense.
Home Truths
Tina Seskis - 2019
But can it survive the unimaginable?
American nanny Eleanor was never meant to meet Alex. But when she walks into his London police station to report a stalker, everything changes for them both. He’s convinced he can protect her from anything and anyone. She hopes her darkest days are behind her.As they settle into their life together, two hundred miles away another young couple faces an uncertain future. Christie knows Paul is a decent man, but she can’t shake a clairvoyant’s warning: ‘Never trust your husband . . .’ When a work trip tests their bond, will she overcome her fears for the sake of her family?Ten years later, both couples are still together, for better or worse. But as doubts and resentments begin bubbling steadily to the surface, all four of them start to question the choices they’ve made.At least the secrets they all brought into their marriages are still well hidden.For now.
Out of Time Series Box Set
Monique Martin - 2013
When a mysterious accident transports Simon and his assistant, Elizabeth West, back in time, Simon finally finds both the proof that he's been looking for, and the romance that he hasn't.Simon and Elizabeth's developing relationship is tested by demons real and imagined. In 1920s Manhattan, there are more than mobsters vying for power in the city's speakeasies. When the local kingpin with a dark secret sets his sights on Elizabeth, day to day struggles become a fight for their very lives.When the Walls Fell (Book #2)Professor Simon Cross and his assistant Elizabeth West have returned from their accidental journey into the past and are adjusting to their new life together as a couple. But an unwanted visit from the Council for Temporal Studies could change everything.A murder in the past is changing the future, and if the killing isn't stopped, Simon Cross might never be born.When they arrive in 1906 San Francisco, Elizabeth and Simon have no idea who wants Victor Graham dead or how it will happen. With the earthquake that leveled most of the city just days away, the race to save Graham thrusts them into a complex mystery of jealousy and revenge where murder might be the least of their worries.Fragments (Book #3)Simon & Elizabeth are back in book #3 of the Out of Time Series! Professor Simon Cross and his assistant, Elizabeth West, thought their time traveling days were over. That's before they stumble across a World War II photograph -- with missing time traveler, Evan Eldridge, injured and in desperate need of help.They find Evan in 1942 London, ill and not quite sure what's happened. He remembers only one thing with crystal clarity -- the whereabouts of an artifact Hitler believes can win the war. That's information every Nazi spy in the country would kill to know.As if saving Evan and surviving war-torn England weren't enough, the outcome of the war hinges on Simon and Elizabeth finding Evan's artifact before the Nazis do. But time is running out: for them, for London, for the world.Be sure not to miss the rest of the Out of Time Series!
The Bookmaker
Chris Fraser - 2011
It wasn’t Sirhan Sirhan in the Ambassador kitchen. It wasn’t a massive conspiracy or government cover-up. It was one man with one agenda. For small-time Huntington Beach bookmaker and wanna-be writer Trent Oster, it all started with a chance to collect a debt. Instead he’s offered an opportunity of a lifetime. Days later he finds himself on a sprawling southern estate in Oxford Mississippi, balancing the roles of houseguest and biographer for town legend Preston Walker—the man responsible for the most controversial murders in American history; and he’s finally ready to talk.
Tick Tock Run
H.C. Elliston - 2011
Someone's coming for Chelsea – the DEATHCLOCK killer who will stop at nothing until she’s dead. But BEST FRIENDS stick together! WARN THE PREY... Instead of enjoying her best friend’s hen evening, receptionist Chelsea Denham is wondering why Lee, a handsome stranger in the bar, is questioning people about phrases she received by email that morning: ‘Tick Tock. Your number’s up. People have to pay for what they’ve done.’ The email contains a ticking countdown timer. A TENSE GAME OF REVENGE. While police investigate, Chelsea teams up with Lee. She is about to encounter the worst week of her life, face guilt head-on and have her loyalty tested while frightened out of her home, menaced and used as bait. COUNTDOWN TO DEATH... Her troubled best friend is forced to reveal a dark secret and her deepest fears. It puts a new slant on the problem but, according to Lee, the stakes haven’t altered; when the countdown timer in the email reaches zero... you die. ~~ Suspense MURDER MYSTERY with some ROMANCE. 91,000 words. 346 pages. ### Also by H.C.Elliston: Think Fast Die Last, Shiver Sweet, PLAYED BY YOU & PLAYED BY THEM (latest release)
Girls of Brackenhill
Kate Moretti - 2020
It’s been seventeen years, and though desperate to start a new life with her fiancé, Hannah is compelled to question the events of her last summer at Brackenhill.When a human bone is found near the estate, Hannah is convinced it belongs to her long-lost sister. She launches her own investigation into that magical summer that ended in a nightmare. As strange happenings plague the castle, Hannah uncovers disturbing details about the past and startling realizations about her own repressed childhood memories.Fueled by guilt over her sister’s vanishing, Hannah becomes obsessed with discovering what happened all those years ago, but by the time Hannah realizes some mysteries are best left buried, it’s too late to stop digging. Overwhelmed by what she has exposed, Hannah isn’t sure her new life can survive her old ghosts.