|
Thrillers and Suspense January 2021
|
|
|
|
| Take it Back by Kia AbdullahStarring: Londoner Zara Kaleel, who left behind her high-powered legal career to work as a rape counselor; disabled teen Jodie, who is referred to Zara after accusing a group of Muslim boys of assaulting her.
Read it for: the well-developed characters; Zara's compelling efforts to navigate her fraught position -- as a Muslim herself, she faces censure from all sides of the case as she tries to advocate for her client. |
|
|
Clean Hands
by Patrick Hoffman
The story: A junior attorney in a prestigious corporate law firm has his phone, which had important sensitive documents, stolen. Valencia Walker, a former CIA agent and current fixer, is called to help. She retrieves the phone but not before the documents are copied and sold to mafia members, the firm is blackmailed and a secretive group tries to eliminate everyone who has seen the information.
You'll like: crafty plot twists and the two sharp-witted female leads in this hard-boiled, cloak and dagger story.
|
|
| Fool Me Twice by Jeff LindsaySeries alert: Fool Me Twice is the 2nd entry in the series of thrillers starring likeable rogue Riley Wolfe, an ambitious master thief always up for a challenge.
The prize: This time, Riley is strong-armed into stealing a priceless Raphael painting from deep in the Vatican by "an arms dealer who scares the crap out of other arms dealers."
The problem: It's not just any Renaissance painting -- Riley's target is a fresco, meaning he has to find a way to steal an actual wall. |
|
| You Will Never Know by S.A. PrentissStarring: Jessica Thorton, a bank teller who has built a good life for herself despite a difficult past; Jessica's second husband, Ted Donovan; her daughter, Emma; and Craig, Ted's son from his first marriage.
What goes wrong: The murder of one of Emma and Craig's classmates on a night when neither teen has an alibi reveals the fault lines in the Thorton-Donovan family and threatens to destroy everything Jessica has worked so hard to build.
Try this next: The First Mistake by Sandie Jones, which also features an intensifying pace and flawed characters trying to keep their families from collapsing under the weight of suspicion and shifting loyalties. |
|
|
One by One
by Ruth Ware
What happens: When an offsite company retreat is upended by an avalanche that strands them in a remote mountain chalet, eight coworkers are forced to set aside their corporate rankings and mutual distrust in order to survive.
Reviewers say: "Ware is one of the hottest traditional-mystery writers at the moment" (Booklist) and call it a "claustrophobic, adrenaline-fueled cat-and-mouse game" (Publisher's Weekly).
|
|
|
The Nightwalker
by Sebastian Fitzek
What it is: German author Fitzek made his U.S. debut with this lurid thriller where it is impossible to tell what is a dream and what is reality.
What goes down: As a young man, Leon Nader suffered from insomnia. As a sleepwalker, he even turned to violence during his nocturnal excursions and had psychiatric treatment for his condition. Eventually, he was convinced he had been cured—but one day, years later, Leon's wife disappears from their apartment under mysterious circumstances. Could it be that his illness has broken out again?
|
|
| Seven Years of Darkness by Chŏng, Yu-jŏngWhat it's about: childhood trauma, murder, and not-so-buried secrets in a remote village in South Korea.
About the author: You-Jeong Jeong is a bestselling author of several novels in her native South Korea, but so far only Seven Years of Darkness and The Good Son have been translated into English.
For fans of: the creepy atmosphere and well-developed characters of Icelandic author Yrsa Sigurðardóttir. |
|
| Fever Dream by Samanta SchweblinWhat it is: the haunting, character-driven story of a young mother reflecting on her life and her fate as she dies slowly in a hospital bed.
Why you might like it: The unreliable narrator's tale is as compelling as it is disturbing, and features spare writing that serves to heighten its already menacing tone.
About the author: Fever Dream is the first novel by Man Booker Prize-nominated Argentine-Spanish author Samanta Schweblin, who has also published three collections of short stories. |
|
|
The Sound of Things Falling
by Juan Gabriel Vásquez
What happens: Bogotá resident Antonio Yammara gets to know ex-pilot Ricardo Laverde in a seedy billiard hall and is fascinated by his charisma and many secrets. Soon after Ricardo receives a mysterious, unmarked cassette, he is shot dead on a street corner. Yammara’s investigation into what happened leads back to the early 1960s, marijuana smuggling and a time before the cocaine trade trapped Colombia in a living nightmare.
About the author: Columbian author Juan Gabriel Vasquez has won several awards and was shortlisted for the Mann Booker Prize for his novel The Shape of the Ruins.
|
|
|
The Crow Girl
by Erik Axl Sund
The plot: Confronting bureaucracy and apathy while investigating the brutal murder of a young immigrant boy, Detective Superintendent Jeanette Kihlberg uncovers the work of a twisted serial killer and enlists the help of psychologist Sofia Zetterlund in unraveling an evil dynamic worn deep into Swedish society.
Is it for you?: Not for the faint of heart, but it is highly recommended for those that appreciate dark, psychological mysteries.
|
|
Contact your librarian for more great books!
|
|
|
|
|
|