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Thrillers and Suspense August 2018
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| Snap by Belinda BauerWhat it's about: Three years after the unsolved murder of their mother, 14-year-old Jack and his younger sisters are abandoned by their father. To keep the family afloat, Jack takes to robbing nearby homes -- where he comes across what he believes is the weapon used to kill his mother.
Why you might like it: Because several characters share narrative duties, it's only slowly that the connections between them become clear.
For fans of: bleak and twisted tales that combine character study with gripping plots. |
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| Three Days Missing by Kimberly BelleStarring: Kat, the recently divorced mother of eight-year-old Ethan, who can't really afford his private school tuition and is terrified of her vindictive ex; and wealthy Stef, mother of Ethan's classmate Sammy, who seems to have it all.
What brings them together: the kidnapping of one of the boys, and a ransom demand delivered for the other.
Reviewers say: "Satisfying twists and turns abound, and the resolution is sharp and unexpected" (Booklist). |
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| Something in the Water by Catherine SteadmanWhat it's about: On a Tahitian honeymoon they can ill afford, Erin and Mark find the ruins of a plane -- and a canvas bag full of diamonds and cash. Smuggling it back into England, they face increasingly lethal consequences for their rash decision.
Read it for: The opening scene, in which Erin digs a grave.
For fans of: tales of ordinary folks finding untold riches (and making poor choices), like Marcus Sakey's Good People or Andrew Gross' Everything to Lose. |
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Widows
by Lynda La Plante
When a security van heist goes disastrously wrong, three armed robbers are burnt to death - and three women are left widows. Dolly has three options: she could hand over Harry's ledgers to Detective Inspector Resnick; she could pass them to the thugs who want to take over Harry's turf; or she and the other widows could finish the job their husbands started . . .
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The Hellfire Club
by Jake Tapper
Charlie Marder, a World War II veteran and popular academic, is an unlikely congressman. Thrust into office by his power-broker father's connections, Charlie is determined to use his new position for good. He quickly learns, however, that in 1950s Washington, little is as it seems. Struggling to navigate the treacherous waters alongside real-life figures such as President Dwight Eisenhower, Senator John F. Kennedy, and Roy Cohn, Charlie is confronted by a world in the throes of McCarthyism, where no one trusts anyone.
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| Dead Woman Walking by S.J. BoltonWhat it's about: An exhilarating hot air balloon ride over England's Northumberland Park turns deadly when the vacationers aboard witness a cold-blooded murder and the killer shoots down their balloon -- and then comes after the survivors.
Why you might like it: The only one to walk away from the crash, Jessica Lane is a resourceful young woman who sets a trap to catch the killer. Meanwhile, flashbacks explore her complex personal history -- and explain just how she became so resourceful. |
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| Twisted River by Siobhán MacDonaldThe setup: On page one of this atmospheric debut, a man closes the trunk of his car, obstructing his children's view of the dead woman enclosed there. But who's the woman?
What happened: It all started when two families (one Irish, one American) agreed to swap homes to get away from their troubles. But they only manage to exacerbate them -- and then create new ones.
Read it for: the richly detailed character motivations; the economic pressures in both New York and Ireland; the locations themselves. |
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| Haunted by James Patterson and James O. BornWhat it's about: New York detective Michael Bennett needs a vacation, so off he and his family go. But their idyllic Maine holiday ends abruptly when the bodies of several small children are found in the woods.
Why you might like it: Bennett runs up against the narcotic addiction taking over their corner of rural Maine at work...and at home.
Series alert: Haunted is 10th in the Michael Bennett series; the 11th, Ambush, will be available in October. |
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| Cold Barrel Zero by Matthew QuirkWhat it's about: Former Marine Thomas Byrne is on vacation when he's arrested and "encouraged" to help find highly skilled Black Ops soldier John Hayes, who's accused of massacring civilians. But when Hayes kidnaps Byrne, the story he tells is very different.
Read it for: hair-raising battle scenes, a high-stakes plot, military tech, and conspiracies within conspiracies.
Series alert: This 1st in the series to star John Hayes is followed by Dead Man Switch. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books! |
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