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Thrillers and Suspense December 2017
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Little Broken Things
by Nicole Baart
I have something for you. When Quinn Cruz receives that cryptic text message from her older sister Nora, she doesn’t think much of it. They haven’t seen each other in nearly a year. When a haunted Nora shows up at the lake near Quinn's house just hours later, a chain reaction is set into motion that will change both of their lives forever. Nora’s “something” is more shocking than Quinn could have ever imagined: a little girl. Nora hands her over to Quinn with instructions to keep her safe, and not to utter a word about the child to anyone, especially not their buttoned-up mother. Before Quinn can ask even one of the million questions swirling around her head, Nora disappears, and Quinn finds herself the unlikely caretaker of a girl introduced simply as Lucy. While Quinn struggles to care for the lost, scared Lucy, she fears that Nora may have gotten involved in something way over her head—something that will threaten them all. But Quinn’s worries are nothing compared to the firestorm that Nora is facing.
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The Wife
by Alafair Burke
When Angela met Jason Powell while catering a dinner party in East Hampton, she assumed their romance would be a short-lived fling, like so many relationships between locals and summer visitors. To her surprise, Jason, a brilliant economics professor at NYU, had other plans, and they married the following summer. For Angela, the marriage turned out to be a chance to reboot her life. She and her son were finally able to move out of her mother’s home to Manhattan, where no one knew about her tragic past. Six years later, thanks to a bestselling book and a growing media career, Jason has become a cultural lightning rod, placing Angela near the spotlight she worked so carefully to avoid. When a college intern makes an accusation against Jason, and another woman, Kerry Lynch, comes forward with an even more troubling allegation, their perfect life begins to unravel. Jason insists he is innocent, and Angela believes him. But when Kerry disappears, Angela is forced to take a closer look at the man she married. And when she is asked to defend Jason in court, she realizes that her loyalty to her husband could unearth old secrets.
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| The Quantum Spy: A Thriller by David IgnatiusSpy Thriller. The U.S. and China are in a race to build the first super-powerful quantum computer -- and while the Americans are a step ahead, a mole somewhere in the CIA guarantees that the Chinese will catch up. Agent Harris Chang is tasked with exposing the leak -- but he seems to be as much played as player, uncertain where exactly he stands. Complex technology manages to be fun in this twisting, fast-moving thriller by bestselling author David Ignatius. |
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Lone Wolf
by Michael Gregorio
When a badly burned and mutilated body is discovered near Stansted airport, a single piece of evidence leads the police to Perugia, Italy. As he knows the region better than anyone, park ranger Sebastiano Cangio is assigned to assist British detective Desmond Harris in his efforts to uncover the dead man’s identity, and to find out what he was doing in Perugia. Meanwhile, it would appear that something monstrous is on the loose in the forests of Umbria. Livestock is found ripped apart; unearthly screams are heard at night. Could there be any truth to the rumours of werewolves? Sebastiano is more concerned at uncovering evidence of the return of the dreaded ‘ndrangheta, the most feared criminal organization in Italy. They’ve tried to kill him before. And Seb knows they will try to kill him again
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| Friends and Traitors by John LawtonHistorical Thriller. If you've got any interest at all in the Cambridge Five (real-life British university students recruited to spy for the Soviets during World War II), you won't want to miss this complex, engaging novel, which centers on charming traitor Guy Burgess. It's also the 8th in the series starring Scotland Yard's Fredrick Troy -- as Chief Superintendent, it is he whom Burgess approaches with the request to return to England seven years after defecting to the Soviet Union. For another fictional take on the Cambridge Five, try Robert Littell's Young Philby. |
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Smith
by Timothy J. Lockhart
Smith is a killer, a paid assassin. Hired by the Enterprise, an American shadow agency, and trained by folks who know how to take a talent for killing and turn it into an asset. The first kills settle an old score. The next job is to remove an unwanted Central American political figure. It’s not a mission. The mission is to stay alive. It’s not a calling. It’s a matter of life and death. Smith would love to retire. But there’s always one more job. If Smith can live that long.
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House Tree Person
by Catriona McPherson
The body found in a muddy grave across the street is just the latest horror threatening to tear Ali McGovern’s life apart seam by seam. She knows Angelo, her brooding teenage son, is keeping secrets. She fears he’s in danger, too. But her new job at the psychiatric hospital, the job her husband pushed her into, is using up everything she’s got every day. She can try to ignore the sounds that surely can’t really be there. And she can try to trust the doctors, who can’t be as dark as they seem. But can Ali hold herself, her life, and her family together without getting blood on her hands?
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Little Secrets
by Anna Snoekstra
An arsonist is on the loose in Colmstock, Australia, most recently burning down the town’s courthouse and killing a young boy who was trapped inside. The clock is ticking for Rose Blakey. With nothing but rejections from newspapers piling up, her job pulling beers for cops at the local tavern isn’t nearly enough to cover rent. Rose needs a story—a big one. In the weeks after the courthouse fire, precise porcelain replicas of Colmstock’s daughters begin turning up on doorsteps, terrifying parents and testing the limits of the town’s already fractured police force. Rose may have finally found her story. But as her articles gain traction and the boundaries of her investigation blur, Colmstock is seized by a seething paranoia. Soon, no one is safe from suspicion. And when Rose’s attention turns to the mysterious stranger living in the rooms behind the tavern, neighbor turns on neighbor and the darkest side of self-preservation is revealed.
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| Bonfire by Krysten RitterSuspense Fiction. In this debut from actress Krysten Ritter (star of TV's Jessica Jones), a young lawyer returns to her hometown as part of a legal team investigating corporate pollution. For Abby Williams, who left behind an abusive father and high school bullies who made her life miserable, returning opens old wounds. However, toxic links between the past and present are hard to ignore. Gritty and tightly wound, this dark tale is "pitch-perfect" (Publishers Weekly). |
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| Last Words by Michael KorytaSuspense Fiction. With a powerfully evoked setting, relatable characters, and a fast-moving plot, this series debut introduces investigator Mark Novak, still grieving the death of his wife. He's reluctantly accepted a job clearing the name of a suspected murderer -- the decade-old cold case involves the death of a teenager deep within a cave, and encounters with unfriendly townspeople don't do much to bolster Novak's already shaky confidence in his client. But despite the promise of violence, Novak is determined to get to the bottom of the case. (Fair warning: powerful scenes set in the cave system mean that claustrophobes might want to give this one a miss.) |
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| Every Last Lie by Mary KubicaPsychological Suspense. After Clara Solberg loses her husband Nick to a car accident, she is devastated -- but grateful that her young daughter Maisie survived unharmed. But when Maisie starts having nightmares about "the bad man," Clara's confidence in her late husband is shaken. As Clara learns of the irregularities in his actions, she becomes increasingly convinced that Nick was murdered -- and that the "bad man" could be someone very close to her. Told from multiple viewpoints (including Nick's, before the crash), Every Last Lie traces Clara's descent into paranoia. Or are her suspicions real, after all? |
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| The Last Good Girl by Allison LeottaSuspense Fiction. In this 5th (and most recent) novel to star sex crimes prosecutor Anna Curtis, she's back in Detroit when she's asked to investigate the disappearance of college freshman Emily Shapiro, who'd last been seen arguing with the fraternity brother she'd accused of rape. The more Anna learns, the more disturbed she is -- while Emily was the last one to speak out, she's far from the only victim. Teaming up with FBI agent Samantha Randazzo, Anna races to find Emily and force the issue of campus rape into the light. |
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