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Thrillers and Suspense February 2018
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| The Woman in the Window by A.J. FinnWhat it's about: Anna Fox, agoraphobic and alcoholic (which doesn't mix well with her medications), likes to sit by the window and spy on her neighbors. When she sees what looks like a murder, no one will take her seriously. In fact, they claim the victim doesn't even exist.
Why you might like it: With plenty of references to thriller novels and films, this is a pop culture paradise for fans of Paula Hawkins' The Girl on the Train or Hitchcock's Rear Window.
Book buzz: Interest has been swirling around this debut since it was announced; there's already a film in development. |
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| The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sarah PekkanenWhat it's about: Told from the perspective of three adults -- wealthy, charming Richard, his shattered ex-wife, and his sweet young fiancée -- this novel calls everything into question.
Why you might like it: After a leisurely start, the fast-paced plot, complex relationships, and hair-raising twists make for addictive reading along the lines of Clare Mackintosh's I Let You Go.
Book buzz: The Wife Between Us is slated for big-screen treatment, and the coauthors are already at work on their next collaboration. |
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Need to Know
by Karen Cleveland
In pursuit of a Russian sleeper cell on American soil, CIA analyst Vivian Miller uncovers a dangerous secret that will threaten her job, her family—and her life. On track for a much-needed promotion, she’s developed a system for identifying Russian agents, seemingly normal people living in plain sight.
After accessing the computer of a potential Russian operative, Vivian stumbles on a secret dossier of deep-cover agents within America’s borders. A few clicks later, everything that matters to her—her job, her husband, even her four children—is threatened.
Vivian has vowed to defend her country against all enemies, foreign and domestic. But now she’s facing impossible choices. Torn between loyalty and betrayal, allegiance and treason, love and suspicion, who can she trust?
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Hellbent
by Gregg Andrew Hurwitz
When the man who raised and trained him warns him that secret government forces are trying to eliminate all surviving members of the Orphan Program, Evan Smoak is challenged to track down and protect his teacher's last protégé from a brutal new Program leader. By the best-selling author of The Nowhere Man.
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Look for Me
by Lisa Gardner
The home of a family of five is now a crime scene: four of them savagely murdered, one—a sixteen-year-old girl—missing. Was she lucky to have escaped? Or is her absence evidence of something sinister? Detective D. D. Warren is on the case—but so is survivor-turned-avenger Flora Dane. Seeking different types of justice, they must make sense of the clues left behind by a young woman who, whether as victim or suspect, is silently pleading, Look for me.
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| Light It Up: A Peter Ash Novel by Nicholas PetrieSeries alert: This 3rd in the tense, action-packed series starring resourceful Peter Ash sends the PTSD-afflicted Marine vet to Colorado, where he's providing security for a medical marijuana operation when hijackers descend. Only Ash survives, vowing revenge.
Why you might like it: Nonstop action, chase scenes that include a runaway hospital gurney, complex characters, and plenty of mayhem -- what's not to like?
For fans of: Lee Child's Jack Reacher or Erik Storey's Clyde Barr. |
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The other side of everything : a novel
by Lauren Doyle Owens
"Laura Lippman meets Megan Abbott in this suspenseful literary debut about three generations of neighbors whose lives intersect in the aftermath of a crime. Bernard White is a curmudgeonly widower who has lived in Seven Springs, Florida for decades and has kept to himself since his wife passed. When his neighbor is murdered, he emerges from his solitude to reconnect with his fellow octogenarians. These connections become a literal lifeline as a second, and then a third, elderly woman is murdered, and "the originals" as they call themselves, realize that they are being targeted. Amy Unger is an artist and cancer survivor whose emotional recovery has not been as successful as her physical one. After the woman next door is murdered, she begins to paint imagined scenes from the murder in an effort to cope with her own loss. But when her paintings prove to be too realistic, her neighbors grow suspicious, and she soon finds herself in the crosshairs of the police. And then there's Maddie Lowe, a teenage waitress whose mother recently abandoned the family. As Maddie struggles to keep her family together and maintain the appearance of normal teenage life, she finds herself drawn to the man the police say is the killer. As they navigate their increasingly dangerous and tumultuous worlds, Bernard, Amy, and Maddie begin to uncover the connections between them, and the past and present, in a novel that ultimately proves the power of tragedy to spark renewal"
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| Grist Mill Road by Christopher J. YatesWhat it's about: In this dark, chilling literary tale, a terrible crime in the woods links Patrick, Hannah, and Matthew together -- and 26 years later, when all three come together once more, the results are devastating.
Is it for you? After a brutally savage opening scene, each of the players provides their version of what happened, providing layers of complexity and plenty of psychological insight into all three damaged characters. |
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The bomb maker
by Thomas Perry
"A bomb is more than a weapon. A bomb is an expression of the bomber's thoughts about you, his predictions of your behavior--a performance designed to fool you into making one fatally wrong move. In The Bomb Maker, Edgar Award-winning author Thomas Perryintroduces us to the dark corners of a mind intent on transforming a simple machine into an act of murder--and to those committed to preventing that outcome at any cost. A threat is called into the LAPD Bomb Squad, a team dispatched to a house whose owner is away, and a bomb disguised inside photography equipment exploded in the kitchen. But it is a second bomb hidden in the basement that has devastating consequences--half of the entire Bomb Squad is obliterated within seconds. The fragmented unit turns to Dick Stahl, a former Bomb Squad commander who now operates his own private security company. Having just returned from a grueling job in Mexico, Stahl is reluctant to accept the offer, but senior technicians he had trained were among those killed. On his first day back at the head of the squad, Stahl's team is dispatched to a suspected car bomb outside a gas station. It quickly becomes clear to him that they are dealing with the same mastermind behind the weapon that killed fourteen highly trained men and women barely twenty-four hours before--and that the intended target may be the Bomb Squad itself. As the shadowy organization sponsoring this campaign of terror puts increasing pressure on the bomb maker, and Stahl becomes dangerously entangled with amember of his own team, the fuse on this high-stakes plot only burns faster. The Bomb Maker is Thomas Perry's biggest, most unstoppable thriller yet"
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If You Knew Her
by Emily Elgar
Frank, a hospital patient who cannot speak or communicate comes to understand that Cassie, a woman in intensive care after being involved in a hit-and-run accident, is still in grave danger. Original. 100,000 first printing.
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| She Rides Shotgun by Jordan HarperFeaturing: shy, smart 11-year-old Polly, who carries her beloved one-eyed teddy bear everywhere, and her newly released ex-con father, Nate.
What it's about: The Aryan Steel prison gang has put a hit out on both Nate and young Polly. Determined to save her, Nate goes on the offensive with Polly in tow.
Why you might like it: it's a gritty, fast-paced debut crime novel, and Polly turns out to be well-suited to life on the road, violent as it is. |
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| Undertow by Elizabeth HeathcoteWhat it's about: Second wife Carmen becomes suspicious about the death of her husband's mistress, who was responsible for the end of his first marriage and in whose house they now spend their weekends. Soon, she is obsessed with learning more about the woman -- and what happened to her.
Why you might like it: This psychological suspense novel, set in the English countryside, may remind readers of the classic Gothic novel Rebecca. |
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| Three Envelopes by Nir HezroniWhat it's about: A decade after Agent #10483's supposed death, another operative in the Israeli intelligence outfit known only as the Organization receives his personal notebook, which reveals the truth behind 10483's actions. 10483 was clearly paranoid and possibly psychopathic -- but was he responsible for his own actions, or was someone higher up orchestrating them?
Series alert: This fast-paced, skillful page-turner is a series debut, with the 2nd in the series, Last Instructions, publishing in May. |
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| The Lost Ones by Sheena KamalStarring: Nora Watts, a First Nations Vancouver resident and recovering alcoholic who keeps people at arm's length.
What it's about: Asked to investigate a teen's disappearance, Nora learns that the missing girl is the daughter she gave up for adoption 15 years ago. At first reluctant to get involved, Nora throws herself into the case, reviving painful memories of the darkest time in her life and putting her life now, such as it is, at risk.
Why you might like it: Though Nora's not a warm character, you'll admire her tenacity and dry humor, and while The Lost Ones is a violent read, winter in Vancouver is beautifully evoked. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Prince George's County Memorial Library System 9601 Capital Lane Largo, Maryland 20774 301-699-3500www.pgcmls.info/ |
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