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Reviews

Reviews

by Keigo Higashino - Fiction, Mystery

Homicide Detective Godai of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department is assigned to investigate the death of a lawyer, Kensuke Shiraishi, whose body was found on a Central Tokyo riverbank. His investigations lead him to one Tatsuro Kuraki, who claims to have had limited contact with Shiraishi. But, surprising the investigators, Kuraki confesses not only to the lawyer's murder, but to another one from 30 years ago --- for which another man was arrested and died in custody before trial. This brings unexpected resolution to two cases, but there is one problem: to Detective Godai, the confession rings false. As Godai investigates further, he discovers that the relation between the murder of 30 years ago and the recent one is complex, raising multifaceted questions of guilt and innocence.

by Matt Query and Harrison Query - Fiction, Horror, Supernatural Thriller, Suspense, Thriller

Clark Rickert was once the most prolific big game poacher throughout the Rocky Mountain west, but when he lost his wife and son, he turned away from hunting. Now a game warden working for the very law enforcement officers who once pursued him so aggressively, Clark is overwhelmingly successful at his job. So when there’s a string of disappearances in rural Montana, Clark is selected to join a task force on an operation targeting a mysterious, violent cult in the area. As he works to uncover the truth, Clark begins to be plagued by visions and starts to realize that there is a deeper purpose to his assignment. The cult might be up to something far more terrifying than anyone could have guessed.

by Erica Wright - Fiction, Mystery

Rational and cynical Aly Orlean’s life in her psychic hometown of Wyndale, Florida, couldn’t be more hectic. It’s all about running her business, raising a teenage sister, sending out holiday greetings --- and her new task: finding a killer. For her Museum of Unusual Occurrence not only houses odd curiosities but now has a brand-new display: the body of Rose Dempsey, a local 20-year-old, set up in one of the exhibits as if she has been ritually sacrificed. With the police clueless, Aly is worried that this is a vicious warning for her and her solitary way of life. Fearing for her sister Merope’s well-being, she’s determined to find out why the killer murdered Rose and how her body was placed in Aly’s museum. But might the killer be someone hiding in plain sight?

by Leila Siddiqui - Fiction, Gothic, Horror

Summer 1816: London is a hostile place for the newly disembarked Mehrunissa Begum, who’s come to deliver her brother’s letter of inheritance before returning to her comfortable life in Lucknow, India. But she can’t find her brother anywhere and has no money for the return trip. With nowhere else to go, Mehr finds refuge in a boardinghouse for Indian maids. She is soon hired at the English estate of Mary and Percy Shelley. Mary asks Mehr to accompany the Shelleys and her stepsister, Claire --- as well as the eccentric Lord Byron and his physician, John Polidori --- to Lake Geneva for the summer. Almost immediately, she notices strange, ghostly events at the villa. As Mary begins work on what will become her earth-shattering literary phenomenon, Mehr finds herself trapped in the villa as the rest of its inhabitants descend into madness.

by T. Kingfisher - Fiction, Gothic, Historical Fiction, Historical Thriller, Horror, Supernatural Thriller, Suspense, Thriller

Sonia Wilson is a talented scientific illustrator, but she is only able to follow her dream because of her father’s reputation as a renowned scientist. Such is the lot in life for a woman in science in 1899. And after his death, she is left without work, prospects or hope. So when the reclusive Dr. Halder offers her a position illustrating his vast collection of insects, Sonia jumps at the chance to move to his North Carolina manor house. Once there, though, she encounters dark happenings in the Carolina woods, and even darker questions come to light. What happened to her predecessor? Why are animals acting so strangely, and what is behind the peculiar local whispers about “blood thieves”? With the aid of the housekeeper and a local healer, Sonia discovers that Halder’s entomological studies have taken him down a twisted road.

by Steve Cavanagh - Fiction, Psychological Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Thriller

Social media influencer Elly Parker had the perfect life --- that is until she discovered her husband had been having an affair with her best friend. But as hurt, betrayed and unmoored as Elly is, she has made it her mission to help others in need. When Elly meets a man on the steps to the subway platform, crutches in one hand and a yellow suitcase by his feet, she can’t help but feel sorry for him. This small act of kindness sets off a chain of events more terrifying than anything she ever could imagine. To survive, Elly will need to convince the world that what happened to her was real. She needs a lawyer who can bend the rules to find the truth. Eddie Flynn and his team must find the stranger with the yellow suitcase. But little do they know this cunning killer is a master manipulator and is always one step ahead.

by Luke Dumas - Fiction, Horror, Psychological Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Thriller

At over 300 pounds, retail worker Emmett Truesdale carries the weight of his childhood trauma and millennial ennui around his waist and in his soul. Desperate for help, he enrolls in a clinical trial for a new weight loss product called Obexity. The treatment is as horrifying as the results are miraculous. As Emmett sheds pounds at superhuman speed, every part of his life improves overnight. Unfortunately, Obexity comes with some killer side effects, including lost stretches of time and overwhelming cravings. Worse, people who were cruel to him have started disappearing. When the police warn of a cannibalistic killer on the loose, he fears that Obexity is turning him into a monster. But how can he give it up now that people are finally starting to treat him like he’s human?

by Lauren Opper - Fiction, Mystery

Lieutenant Carl Sarabia, a newly retired homicide detective, moves with his wife, Greta, from Houston, Texas, to Glamis, Connecticut, to be closer to their daughter, Sarah, and her family. The idyllic river town is upended when Merlin Glenmore is found murdered on April Fools' Day, midway through his seance-themed birthday party at the place he despised the most, The Glenmore-Pace Castle, a gothic mansion built by his great-great grandfather, and now a museum run by his sister, Jade. Merlin is notorious in Glamis for his abrupt second marriage to a much younger woman only a month after his first wife's tragic death. There is no shortage of suspects present at the party who wanted Merlin dead. Only two of the guests do not have alibis --- and one of them is Carl's son-in-law.

by Alex Segura - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

When reports come in that the Kingpin and a police officer have been killed and that Frank Castle (aka the Punisher) has turned himself in for it, Matt Murdock senses holes in the narratives that the media and the streets are quick to run with. Both criminals have been Matt’s nemeses when he dons the cowl of the Daredevil, and there’s no denying that New York is better off without its Kingpin and with the Punisher behind bars. And yet, while the Punisher is a murderous vigilante, he doesn’t kill cops. And he doesn’t turn himself in. Castle certainly deserves prison for all of the other crimes he has committed in the past. However, Matt’s indomitable sense of justice insists that nobody should be locked away for crimes they didn’t actually commit. Representing the vigilante in court, Matt enters a contest of wills and guile with Castle to try and uncover the game beneath the game.

by Andrew Mayne - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

A train derails in Idaho, nearly causing a nuclear disaster. An inferno at a battery facility in Florida disrupts the electrical grid for days. A potentially devastating failure is discovered at Virginia’s Mud River Dam. To computational biologist Theo Cray, these aren’t mere infrastructure accidents. They are virtually undetectable acts of sabotage. Theo sees a mathematical pattern to the madness that few others can comprehend --- except for his associates: rogue FBI agent Jessica Blackwood, private security specialist Brad Trasker, and Florida underwater investigator Sloan McPherson. If Theo’s intuition and calculations are correct, the disasters are just a warm-up. The worst is yet to come --- a catastrophe that could trigger the deaths of millions across the country.