|
Thrillers and Suspense March 2020
|
|
|
|
|
All Things Cease to Appear
by Elizabeth Brundage
What it's about: the brutal murder of young mother Catherine Clare, the creepy farmhouse she had just moved into with her toddler daughter and professor husband, and the insular upstate New York town that mistrusts both the newcomers and the house itself.
Read it for: the parallel narrative structure, which moves between past and present; the 1970s atmosphere, which is skillfully evoked in the flashback scenes.
For fans of: Jennifer McMahon's The Winter People, which also features a mix of mystery, Gothic horror, and a farmhouse with dark secrets.
|
|
| No Bad Deed by Heather ChavezThe setup: California veterinarian Cassie Larkin is driving home when she witnesses a man assaulting a woman on the road. Despite a 911 dispatcher's warning, Cassie confronts the man, who then threatens her before driving off in her car.
The payback: Although Cassie is glad to have saved the woman's life, the threat haunts her even as the police assure her that she's safe. Then Cassie's husband disappears, seemingly having abandoned their young daughter while he took her trick-or-treating.
Reviewers say: "a paranoia-fueled thrill ride" (Kirkus Reviews). |
|
| The Holdout by Graham MooreWhat it's about: the long-simmering consequences of a highly charged trial, in which Maya Seale convinced her fellow jurors to acquit an African American teacher accused of murdering a white 15-year-old.
Ten years later: A true crime documentary about the case gathers the former jury together again, and revisiting the trial dredges up secrets and resentments that everyone is hiding, with fatal consequences and another person wrongly accused of murder.
You might also like: other fast-paced legal thrillers like Confessions of an Innocent Man by David R. Dow and Invisible by Andrew Grant, which also deal with revenge. |
|
|
Beijing Payback
by Daniel Nieh
Starring: Victor Li, a college basketball player and son of Vincent Li, an L.A.-based restauranteur who left China in the 1970s.
What happens: Vincent is killed in an apparent burglary, only for Victor to discover his father's decades-old ties to organized crime and government corruption back in China.
About the author: Before publishing Beijing Payback (his debut novel), Daniel Nieh worked as a model and translator based in Beijing.
|
|
| The Girlfriend by Michelle FrancesWhat it's about: Successful TV producer Laura Cavendish shares a strong bond with her medical student son Daniel. Any girl Daniel brings home would struggle to meet Laura's high expectations, and his new girlfriend Cherry doesn't come close.
The other woman: Cherry is beautiful and ambitious, but also from the wrong side of the tracks. Even worse, she isn't fazed by Laura's elitism and manipulation, and she's determined to hang onto Daniel, who she wants to marry for his family's wealth.
Why you might like it: The narrative alternates between Cherry and Laura's points of view, which keeps their intensifying conflict from feeling over-the-top. |
|
| The Hand That Feeds You by A.J. RichWhat goes down: Criminology grad student Morgan Prager arrives home to discover the mutilated body of her fiancé Bennett, seemingly killed by her beloved rescue dogs. Morgan starts looking for evidence that could exonerate her dogs after the courts order them seized, only to discover that her life with Bennett was all a dangerous lie.
Reviewers say: "this slim, nasty thriller is hard to put down" (Kirkus Reviews).
About the author: A.J. Rich is the shared pseudonym of authors Amy Hempel (Reasons to Live) and Jill Ciment (Heroic Measures). |
|
| The Good Liar by Nicholas SearleWhat it is: a compelling and intricately plotted psychological thriller that's part character study and part cat-and-mouse game.
Starring: veteran con man Roy Courtnay, who's out to make one last big score; well-off widow Betty McLeish, who Roy sees as an easy target but who is cannier than she seems; and Betty's protective grandson Stephen, who isn't shy about his distrust of his grandmother's new boyfriend.
Media buzz: The Good Liar was adapted into a film of the same name in 2019, starring Dame Helen Mirren and Sir Ian McKellen. |
|
|
Beyond all reasonable doubt : a novel
by Malin Persson Giolito
"From the award-winning author of Quicksand, a gripping legal thriller that follows one woman's conflicted efforts to overturn what may be a wrongful conviction. I'm giving you a chance to achieve every lawyer's dream, said Sophia Weber's old professor. Freeing an innocent man. Thirteen years ago, a fifteen-year-old girl was murdered. Doctor Stig Ahlin was sentenced to life in prison. But no one has forgotten the brutal crime. Ahlin is known as one of the most ruthless criminals. When Sophia Weber discovers critical flaws in the murder investigation, she decides to help Ahlin. But Sophia's doing her utmost to get her client exonerated arouses many people's disgust. And the more she learns, the more difficult her job becomes. What kind of man is her client really? What has he done? And will she ever know the truth?"
|
|
| The Night the Lights Went Out by Karen WhiteWhat it is: the suspenseful and atmospheric story of long-buried secrets (and crimes) hiding behind the veneer of gentility in Atlanta suburb Sweet Apple, where newly divorced Merilee Dunlap moves with her children.
Read it for: the unlikely and dynamic bond Merilee forms with her 93-year-old neighbor Sugar Prescott, whose family once owned the land that Sweet Apple was built on and who is much more than the gossipy curmudgeon she appears to be.
Who it's for: fans of Kate Morton and Liane Moriarty who don't mind a little Mary Kay Andrews now and then. |
|
Contact your librarian for more great books!
|
|
|
|
|
|