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Reviews

Reviews

by Dane Huckelbridge - History, Nature, Nonfiction

One part pulse-pounding thriller, one part soulful natural history of the endangered Royal Bengal tiger, NO BEAST SO FIERCE is the gripping, true account of the Champawat Tiger, which terrified northern India and Nepal from 1900 to 1907, and Jim Corbett, the legendary hunter who pursued it. Dane Huckelbridge’s masterful telling also reveals that the tiger, Corbett and the forces that brought them together are far more complex and fascinating than a simple man-versus-beast tale. Drawing upon on-the-ground research in the Indian Himalayan region where he retraced Corbett’s footsteps, Huckelbridge brings to life one of the great adventure stories of the 20th century.

by Andrew Pyper - Fiction, Mystery, Psychological Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Thriller

After the death of their absentee father, Aaron and Bridge Quinlan travel to a vast rainforest property in the Pacific Northwest to hear the reading of his will. There, they meet up with their mother and troubled sister, Franny, and are shocked to discover the will’s terms: in order to claim their inheritance, they all must remain at the estate for 30 days without any contact with the outside world. Despite their concerns, they agree. The Quinlans soon come to learn their family has more secrets than they ever imagined. Why does Bridge have faint memories of the estate? Why did their father want them to be sequestered there together? And what is out there they feel pulling them into the dark heart of the woods?

by Josh Malerman - Fiction, Psychological Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Thriller

J is a student at a school deep in a forest far away from the rest of the world. He is one of only 26 students, all of whom think of the school’s enigmatic founder as their father. The students are being trained to be prodigies of art, science and athletics, and their life at the school is all they know --- and all they are allowed to know. But J is beginning to ask questions. What is the real purpose of this place? Why can the students never leave? And what secrets is their father hiding from them? Meanwhile, on the other side of the forest, in a school very much like J’s, a girl named K is asking the same questions. As K and J work to investigate the secrets of their two strange schools, they come to discover something even more mysterious: each other.

by Carol Goodman - Fiction, Psychological Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Thriller

Alice gets off a bus in the middle of a snowstorm in Delphi, NY. She is fleeing an abusive relationship and desperate to protect 10-year-old Oren, a major Star Wars fan who is wise beyond his years. Though Alice is wary, Oren bonds nearly instantly with Mattie, a social worker who brings them home for the night. She has plenty of room, she says. What she doesn't say is that Oren reminds her of her little brother, who died 30 years ago at the age of 10. But Mattie isn't the only one withholding elements of the truth. Alice is keeping her own secrets. And as the snowstorm worsens around them, each woman's past will prove itself unburied, stirring up threats both within and without.

by Joy Fielding - Fiction, Mystery, Suspense, Thriller

The man calling himself “Mr. Right Now” in his online profile knows that his perfect hair, winning smile and charming banter put women at ease, silencing any doubts they might have about going back to his apartment. There, he has a special evening all planned out: steaks, wine, candlelight…and, by the end of the night, pain and a slow, agonizing death. Driven to desperation, a young woman, her cousin, her best friend and her mother all decide to try their hand at online dating. They each download an app, hoping to right-swipe their way to love and happiness. But one of them unwittingly makes a date with the killer, starting the clock on a race to save her life.

by Brad Parks - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Tommy Jump is an out-of-work stage actor approached by the FBI with the role of a lifetime: Go undercover at a federal prison, impersonate a convicted felon, and befriend a fellow inmate --- a disgraced banker named Mitchell Dupree, who knows the location of documents that can be used to bring down a ruthless drug cartel…if only he’d tell the FBI where they are. Using a false name and backstory, Tommy enters the low-security prison and begins the process of befriending Dupree. But he soon realizes he’s underestimated the enormity of his task and the terrifying reach of the cartel. The FBI isn’t the only one looking for the documents, and if Tommy doesn’t play his role to perfection, it just may be his last act.

by Steve Berry - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Former Justice Department operative Cotton Malone is at Lake Como, Italy, on the trail of legendary letters between Winston Churchill and Benito Mussolini that disappeared in 1945 and could rewrite history. But someone else seems to be after the same letters, and when Malone obtains then loses them, he’s plunged into a hunt that draws the attention of the legendary Knights of Malta. They are now a global humanitarian organization, but within their ranks lurks trouble --- the Secreti --- an ancient sect intent on affecting the coming papal conclave. With the help of Magellan Billet agent Luke Daniels, Malone races the rogue cardinal, the knights, the Secreti and the clock to find what has been lost for centuries.

by Greg Iles - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Marshall McEwan is one of the most successful journalists in Washington, D.C. But when he discovers that his father is terminally ill, he must return home to face the unfinished business of his past. On arrival, he finds Bienville, Mississippi, very much changed. His family’s 150-year-old newspaper is failing; and Jet Talal, the love of his youth, has married into the family of Max Matheson, one of a dozen powerful patriarchs who rule the town through the exclusive Bienville Poker Club. To Marshall’s surprise, the Poker Club has taken a town on the brink of extinction and offered it salvation, in the form of a billion-dollar Chinese paper mill. But on the verge of the deal being consummated, two murders rock Bienville to its core, threatening far more than the city’s economic future.

by Sara Blaedel - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

After suddenly inheriting a funeral home from her father --- who she hadn't heard from in decades --- Ilka Jensen has impulsively abandoned her quiet life in Denmark to visit the small town in rural Wisconsin where her father lived. There, she's devastated to discover her father's second family: a stepmother and two half-sisters she never knew existed and who aren't the least bit welcoming, despite Ilka's efforts to reach out. Then a local woman is killed, seemingly the unfortunate victim of a home invasion turned violent. But when Ilka learns that the woman knew her father, it becomes increasingly clear that she may not have been a completely random victim after all.

by Charles A. Gardner - Nonfiction, True Crime

In June 2015, two convicted murderers broke out of the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, in New York’s North Country --- launching the most extensive manhunt in state history and dominating the news cycle. Double murderer Richard Matt and cop-killer David Sweat slipped out of their cells, followed a network of tunnels and pipes under the 30-foot prison wall, and climbed out of a manhole to freedom. For three weeks, residents of local communities were prisoners in their own homes as law enforcement swept the wilderness near the Canadian border. DANNEMORA is a gripping account of the bold breakout and the search that ended with one man dead, one man back in custody --- and lingering questions about those who set the deadly drama in motion.