Book picks similar to
Sandman by Sean Costello


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They Disappeared


Rick Mofina - 2012
    He knows now that the love he and Sarah have is worth saving. But he could lose the chance to tell her amid growing fears that they have become entangled in an unfolding plot that could have global consequences.

The Chateau Hauntings: A Riveting Haunted House Mystery Boxset


James Hunt - 2021
    The estate is in disrepair, but one couple is determined to restore the estate to its former glory. But when strange accidents begin to become more dangerous, putting their crew’s lives at risk, the fixer-upper couple realize they might have bitten off more than they could chew.The Haunting of Calhoun MansionThree murders. One night. No convictions.Nicole Harper, a hospice nurse with a floundering marriage, is assigned a new patient in the remote Northwestern wilderness. But when Nic meets her new patient, she discovers the old woman's family history is as troubling as her medical condition.The Haunting of the Holloway FamilyA job opportunity has brought the Holloway family to a small desert town on the Arizona/California border in the middle of nowhere. But what is thought as a godsend soon devolves into a parent’s worst nightmare.

Slithers


W.W. Mortensen - 2017
     On a remote country road, heading out to a weekend party, Tobe West and his friends pick up two hitchhikers. It seems like the right thing to do. No-one could have predicted the freak car accident that is about to change their lives. Stranded in the middle of nowhere, Tobe and the others are faced with a landscape suddenly unfamiliar, in a universe that has come loose from its moorings. Strange things slither in the woods, and spectral lights hover just off the road. A petrol station, shining brightly in a world otherwise dark and frightening, promises safe haven, but Tobe learns the biggest threat lies within the very people he’s trying to protect. As reality breaks down and dangers multiply, Tobe must uncover the hidden agenda of one of the survivors... and keep the others safe from something lurking in the darkness. Something that is hunting them all. If they are to survive the night, Tobe must face the horrifying truth—that nothing is as it seems, and that they are all part of a larger plan, part of someone else's unfinished business...

Death Comes to Cornwall


Kate Johnson - 2020
    The perfect place for murder... Molly Higgins never expected to be caught up in a murder investigation. All she'd hoped for this year was to work hard, save enough money to open her very own café on the Cornish coast and avoid her ex, Conor Blackstone, who has just arrived back in the village. But when she and Conor discover a body on the cliffside in Port Trevan they are thrown once more together. Molly is keen to leave the mystery to the police, but when she finds herself their top suspect, Molly has no choice but to catch the killer herself - before it is too late.

Ties That Bind


Carolyn Arnold - 2011
    The rest of the world thought she was going crazy—until it was too late.When Laura Saunders is found strangled in her home with a man’s necktie, Detective Madison Knight is assigned the case. Her sergeant at the Stiles Police Department wants her to conclude it was an isolated incident and move on with the investigation, but Madison’s not the type to cave under pressure. She’s haunted by certain unexplainable clues at the crime scene, including the presence of a mysterious photograph. Madison believes the picture may somehow tie into the murder, but before she can dig into it, another woman’s body is discovered in a local park. Heather Nguyen was also murdered with the same brand of necktie that had been used on Laura.On the surface, there doesn’t seem to be anything beyond the way they were killed that connects the women. But as Madison delves into the lives of the victims, she unravels a web of deceit and betrayal and lays bare decades of deadly family secrets. Edging closer to the truth, Madison’s quite sure at least one more woman is slated to die. But can Madison piece together all the clues in time to save her?A gripping crime thriller full of heart-pounding twists. Perfect for fans of Robert Dugoni, J.D. Robb, and Lisa Regan.Readers love Ties That Bind:“Arnold has written one of the best female cops that I’ve ever read… Madison is just one of those characters that will stay with you.” –Harlie’s Books, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐“A good detective story with lots of twists and turns and an unexpected ending.” ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐“This is one heck of a mystery!” ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐“Brace yourself for the ending! I didn't see that one coming.” ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐“I loved Madison Knight and her sassy dialogue.” ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐“I found myself unable to stop reading this book.” ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐“A must-read for the mystery fan.” ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐“So many twists and turns I never saw the ending coming!” ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐“A solid police procedure mystery.” ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐“If you like true suspense, this is a book to read.” ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐“Like watching an award-winning police drama in my mind.” ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐“Intriguing, suspenseful, and full of surprises!” ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐“Well-written and researched on police procedures.” ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐“It was very difficult to set this book aside to do something else.” ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐“From the moment I began reading this book, I was hooked.” ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Azrael


M.T. Ellis - 2017
    She’s wrong. He’s coming for her again.The body Detective Rose is looking at bears a striking resemblance to Emily, a woman who survived a horrific, sexually motivated abduction five years ago. Her fear is confirmed when Emily goes missing again.When another woman, Grace, is abducted, Detective Rose finds herself doubting the instincts that tell her the disappearance is the result of intimate partner violence. She connects the cases and recruits Grace’s partner, Ethan, to help in the search. Together they must find Grace and Emily before it’s too late.

Wrath


E.H. Reinhard - 2017
    Blood and bodies are nothing to lose sleep over. Yet what seems to be a run-of-the-mill murder stemming from infidelity turns into a full-blown killing spree. For this killer, taking the lives of his wife and her lover is merely the beginning. He’ll take the deceit no more. His decision has been made. All the women who've wronged him in the past will die. Harrington quickly finds the case turning personal when the killer's focus inches closer and closer to home. Unknown to the lieutenant, one of his loved ones has a history with the killer. And that history is etched in the killer’s mind.

A Child for the Devil


Conrad Jones - 2013
    There's an odd shift of perspective that somewhat breaks the fourth wall and this may upset the suspension of disbelief for some readers. It's a unique plot mechanic though and although it wasn't entirely necessary it didn't disrupt the actual story. After the initial and shocking chapter, the story settles down and slowly unfolds as secrets spill. There is potential to create a larger story, yet Jones keeps it tightly focused and grounded because of it. It also keeps its cards very close to its chest in regards to exactly which genre it falls in to, so read with an open mind and enjoy the misdirection. A great read which thrills, captivates and shocks in equal measure. When an author is asked to help the police with the investigation into a double murder by identifying occult symbols, which had been carved into the victims, he is plunged into nightmare and forced to go on the run. Hunted by law and a powerful cult, he has to stay one step ahead to survive.

Darkness Under the Sun


Dean Koontz - 2010
    There once was a killer who knew the night, its secrets and rhythms. How to hide within its shadows. When to hunt. He roamed from town to town, city to city, choosing his prey for their beauty and innocence. His cruelties were infinite, his humanity long since forfeit. But still . . . he had not yet discovered how to make his special mark among monsters, how to come fully alive as Death. This is the story of how he learned those things, and of what we might do to ensure that he does not visit us.

Parting Shot


Jonathan Stone - 2006
    As Sam covers a once-in-a-lifetime story---one that has turned Webster County into bedlam but is at last providing Sam with an opportunity for media stardom---he suddenly sees an even better chance: to solve his personal problems forever. But there’s another player thrust into the national spotlight along with Sam: It’s Sheriff Billy Wyatt, who’s in way over his head. The FBI is breathing down his neck, and the national press highlights his every bungle. He’s confronting a madman---and his own limits. Can he outsmart either? Out of elements that thriller readers have come to expect, Jonathan Stone has woven a story they assuredly will not expect. In whirlwind action and hurricane prose that echo the best of James Patterson and Harlan Coben, Stone is in top form here, delivering a tale about the unchecked power of the media and the unreasonable passions of fatherhood---with a payoff that will stun and startle, yet make perfect sense.

The DCI Jack Logan Collection Books 1-3: A Scottish Crime Fiction Series


J.D. Kirk - 2020
    

When You're Gone


Marguerite O'Callaghan - 2017
     Eighteen-year-old Lydia Stone wakes up one morning in the north London gothic mansion she shares with her family, to find that her twin sister Kate has disappeared off the face of the earth. CCTV footage shows Kate entering a night club in south London on the night she went missing, but there is no evidence that she ever came out of the club, and police are considering the idea that she was sex-trafficked. In the days and weeks that follow, Lydia takes a closer look at her twin sister's life; her modelling career, penchant for fetish clubs, and interesting array of older friends. It seems like Kate was definitely hiding something. But she isn't the only one...

Death Served Cold


Sourabh Mukherjee - 2021
    A teenager poisons her family for the love of her tutor. A woman driven by greed ruthlessly bludgeons eight members of her family.A beautician gangs up with her lover to rob a house, killing innocent women from three generations of a family. A practising lawyer strangles her lawyer husband with the cord of a mobile charger. A friendly and jovial teacher commits at least six murders over fourteen years in a sleepy town down south.DEATH SERVED COLD is a painstakingly researched collection of true, blood-curdling accounts of gruesome murders committed by India’s most dangerous women over the last three decades.These stories explore the dark recesses of the female psyche and challenge popular stereotypes by revealing shocking excesses of sadism and aggression rarely associated with women.

The Lost Coast: A Homecoming Serial


Eli Horowitz - 2017
    The Lost Coast is a six-part novella, written to accompany the six episodes of the second season of Homecoming, an audio series starring Catherine Keener, David Schwimmer, and Oscar Isaac.The two works are designed to be read in alternating installments - Episode One of the podcast, then Chapter One of the book, then Episode Two, and so on - but other sequences are probably fine too.

The Road to Hell


Peter Cawdron - 2011
    Democracy has been suspended while the reconstruction effort lifts the country out of the ruins of conflict. America's fate lies in the hands of a genetically-engineered soldier with the ability to move through time.The Road to Hell deals with a futuristic world and the advent of limited time travel. It explores social issues such as the nature of trust and the conflict between loyalty and honesty.