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Reviews

Reviews

by Dacre Stoker and J.D. Barker - Fiction, Gothic, Horror, Supernatural Thriller, Suspense, Thriller

It is 1868, and a 21-year-old Bram Stoker waits in a desolate tower to face an indescribable evil. Armed only with crucifixes, holy water and a rifle, he prays to survive a single night. A sickly child, Bram spent his early days bedridden in his parents' Dublin home, tended to by his caretaker, a young woman named Ellen Crone. When a string of strange deaths occur in a nearby town, Bram and his sister Matilda detect a pattern of bizarre behavior by Ellen --- a mystery that deepens chillingly until Ellen vanishes suddenly from their lives. Years later, Matilda returns from studying in Paris to tell Bram the news that she has seen Ellen --- and that the nightmare they've thought long ended is only beginning.

by Lisa Unger - Fiction, Psychological Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Thriller

It’s been a year since Poppy’s husband, Jack, was brutally murdered during his morning run through Manhattan’s Riverside Park. In the immediate aftermath, Poppy spiraled into an oblivion of grief, disappearing for several days only to turn up ragged and confused. Those lost days have never stopped haunting her. Poppy starts having nightmares and blackouts --- there are periods of time she can’t remember, and she’s unable to tell the difference between what is real and what she’s imagining. When she begins to sense that someone is following her, Poppy is plunged into a game of cat and mouse, determined to unravel the mystery around her husband’s death. But can she handle the truth about what really happened?

by Mike Omer - Fiction, Mystery, Psychological Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Thriller

Three Chicago women have been found strangled, embalmed and posed as if still alive. Doubting the findings of the local PD’s profiler, the FBI calls on forensic psychologist Zoe Bentley to investigate. Zoe quickly gets off on the wrong foot with her new partner, Special Agent Tatum Gray. Zoe is a hunter, intense and focused; Tatum is a smug maverick with little respect for the rules. Together, they must descend into a serial killer’s psyche and untangle his twisted fantasies, or more women will die. But when the contents of three inconspicuous envelopes reveal a chilling connection to gruesome murders from Zoe’s childhood, suddenly the hunter becomes the hunted.

by Anne Rice - Fantasy, Fiction, Paranormal, Suspense, Thriller

Lestat, rebel outlaw, addresses the tribe of vampires, telling the mesmerizing story of the formation of the Blood Communion and how he became Prince of the vampire world, the true ruler of this vast realm, and how his vision for all the Children of the Universe to thrive as one came to be. The tale spills from Lestat's heart, as he speaks first of his new existence as reigning monarch --- and then of his fierce battle of wits and words with the mysterious Rhoshamandes, a demon spirit who refuses to live in harmony at the Court of Prince Lestat and threatens all that Lestat has dreamt of.

by Jesse McKinnell - Fiction, Humor

Joel Peterson's rock bottom is deeper and darker than he ever imagined, but with the help of the ghost of Kurt Cobain, he hatches a plan to capture the attention of his estranged family and reclaim his life. DEAD CATS is a dark comedy that tracks the descent of Peterson, a once-successful dentist and proud member of the upper middle-class as he falls into a spiral of drugs and vanity. When a car crash leaves him battered and homeless, he finds comfort in the restless lost soul of Cobain. Together, the two cut a path across southern Maine, chasing the meaning in their lives, desperately trying to be the men they expected to become.

by Anne Perry - Fiction, Historical Fiction, Historical Mystery, Mystery

When kidnappers choose a broken-down waterside slum as the site of a ransom exchange for the wife of wealthy real estate developer Harry Exeter, the Thames River Police and Commander William Monk shadow Harry to the spot to ensure that no harm comes to him or his captive wife. But on arrival, Monk and five of his best men are attacked from all sides. Certain that one of his colleagues has betrayed him, Monk delves into each of their pasts, one of which hides a dreadful secret. Soon facing a series of deadly obstructions, Monk must choose between his own safety and the chance to solve the mystery --- and to figure out where his men’s loyalty really lies.

by John Verdon - Fiction, Mystery, Suspense, Thriller

Tensions have been running high in White River as it approaches the anniversary of a fatal shooting of a black motorist by a local police officer. In the midst of the turmoil, a White River police officer is shot dead by an unknown sniper, and local authorities approach Dave Gurney to conduct an independent investigation of the shooting. More killings occur in what appears to be an escalating sequence of retaliations. But when Gurney questions the true nature of all this bloodshed, his involvement is suddenly terminated. Despite intense opposition from the police, as well as from dangerous fanatics lurking in the shadows, he begins to uncover an astonishing structure of deception.

by Charles Todd - Fiction, Historical Fiction, Historical Mystery, Mystery

The Great War has ended, and battlefield nurse Bess Crawford has been assigned to a clinic for amputees. She does her best to help them, but it’s clear that they have nothing to go home to. Their officer, Captain Williams, writes to describe their despair, and his own at trying to save his men. Bess feels compelled to look into their situation, so she travels to Wales but is told Williams has left the valley. Fearing that he intends to kill himself, Bess follows Williams to an isolated, storm-battered peninsula. Deserted by her frightened driver, Bess is stranded among strangers suspicious of outsiders. She quickly discovers these villagers are hiding something, and she’s learned too much to be allowed to leave.

by Andrew Gross - Fiction, Historical Fiction, Historical Thriller, Suspense, Thriller

New York, 1930s. Morris, Sol and Harry Rabishevsky grew up poor and rough on the Lower East Side, until the death of their father forced them to fend for themselves and support the family. Morris apprentices himself to a garment manufacturer; bookish Sol drops out of accounting school; and Harry believes he can help out by learning the ways and means of a charismatic local crime figure. Later, when Morris and Sol find career success and decide to create their own business, Harry can’t be lured away from the glamour and prestige that comes from being a “button man” --- a gun man --- for Louis Buchalter, now the most ruthless mobster in the city. When Buchalter sets his sights on the unions that control the garment factories, a fatal showdown becomes inevitable, pitting brother against brother.

by Clive Cussler and Boyd Morrison - Adventure, Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Nearly 2,000 years ago, an Eastern emperor charged a small group with safeguarding secrets powerful enough to change the history of mankind. They went down in legend as the Nine Unknown Men --- and now two rival factions of their descendants are fighting a mighty battle. Both sides think they are saving the world, but their tactics could very well bring about the end of humankind. Soon, Juan Cabrillo and his team of expert operatives aboard the Oregon find themselves trapped between two power-hungry adversaries, both of whom are willing to use shocking means to accomplish their goals.