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Reviews

Reviews

written by J. R. R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien and illustrated by Alan Lee - Fantasy, Fiction

In the Tale of THE FALL OF GONDOLIN are two of the greatest powers in the world. There is Morgoth of the uttermost evil, unseen in this story but ruling over a vast military power from his fortress of Angband. Deeply opposed to Morgoth is Ulmo, second in might only to Manwë, chief of the Valar: he is called the Lord of Waters, of all seas, lakes and rivers under the sky. But he works in secret in Middle-earth to support the Noldor, the kindred of the Elves among whom were numbered Húrin and Túrin Turambar. Central to this enmity of the gods is the city of Gondolin, beautiful but undiscoverable.

by Sarah Pinborough - Fiction, Psychological Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Thriller

Lisa lives for her daughter Ava, her job and her best friend Marilyn. But when a handsome client shows an interest in her, Lisa starts daydreaming about sharing her life with him, too. Maybe she’s ready now. Maybe it's time to let her terrifying secret past go. However, when her daughter rescues a boy from drowning and their pictures are all over the news, Lisa's world explodes. As she finds everything she has built threatened, and not knowing who she can trust, it's up to Lisa to face her past in order to save what she holds dear. But someone has been pulling all their strings and is determined to see Lisa and Ava suffer. Because long ago Lisa broke a promise. And some promises aren't meant to be broken.

by Sophie Hannah - Fiction, Historical Fiction, Historical Mystery, Mystery

Hercule Poirot returns home to find an angry woman waiting to berate him outside his front door. Her name is Sylvia Rule, and she demands to know why Poirot has accused her of the murder of Barnabas Pandy. Poirot has no idea what she’s talking about and has never even heard of this man. Shaken, Poirot goes inside, only to find that he has a visitor waiting for him --- a man called John McCrodden, who also claims to have received a letter from Poirot that morning, accusing him of the murder of Barnabas Pandy. Poirot wonders how many more letters of this sort have been sent in his name. Who sent them, and why? More importantly, who is Barnabas Pandy, is he dead, and, if so, was he murdered?

by Wendy Corsi Staub - Fiction, Psychological Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Thriller

May 1968: In Harlem, a church janitor finds an innocent newborn in a basket. Meanwhile, in Brooklyn, an elusive serial killer prowls slumbering families, leaving a trail of blood and a twisted calling card. October 1987: Amelia Crenshaw embarks on a search to discover the truth about the birth mother who abandoned her, never suspecting she’s on a collision course with a killer. Detective Stockton Barnes, a brash young NYPD detective, trails a missing millionaire whose disappearance is rooted in a nightmare that began 20 years ago. The past returns with a brutal vengeance as a masked predator picks off victims whose fates intertwine with a notorious murder spree solved back in ’68. Or was it?

by Shari Lapena - Fiction, Psychological Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Thriller

It's winter in the Catskills, and Mitchell's Inn, nestled deep in the woods, is the perfect setting for a relaxing weekend away. So when the weather takes a turn for the worse, and a blizzard cuts off the electricity --- and all contact with the outside world --- the guests settle in for the long haul. Soon, though, one of the guests turns up dead --- it looks like an accident. But when a second guest dies, they start to panic. Within the snowed-in paradise, something --- or someone --- is picking off the guests one by one. And there's nothing they can do but hunker down and hope they can survive the storm --- and one another.

by Catherine Steadman - Fiction, Psychological Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Thriller

Erin is a documentary filmmaker on the brink of a professional breakthrough, and Mark is a handsome investment banker with big plans. Passionately in love, they embark on a dream honeymoon to the tropical island of Bora Bora, where they enjoy the sun, the sand and each other. Then, while scuba diving in the crystal blue sea, they find something in the water. Suddenly the newlyweds must make a dangerous choice: to speak out or to protect their secret. After all, if no one else knows, who would be hurt? Their decision will trigger a devastating chain of events.

by J.D. Barker - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Detective Porter and the team have been pulled from the hunt for Anson Bishop, the Four Monkey Killer, by the feds. When the body of a young girl is found beneath the frozen waters of Jackson Park Lagoon, she is identified as Ella Reynolds, missing three weeks. But how did she get there? The lagoon froze months earlier. More baffling? She’s found wearing the clothes of another girl, missing less than two days. Obsessed with catching Bishop, Porter follows a single grainy photograph from Chicago to the streets of New Orleans and stumbles into a world darker than he could have possibly imagined, where he quickly realizes that the only place more frightening than the mind of a serial killer is the mind of the mother from which he came.

by Fiona Sampson - Biography, History, Nonfiction

We know the facts of Mary Shelley’s life in some detail. But there has been no literary biography written this century, and previous books have ignored the real person, despite the fact that Mary and her group of second-generation Romantics were extremely interested in the psychological aspect of life. In this probing narrative, Fiona Sampson pursues Mary Shelley through her turbulent life, much as Victor Frankenstein tracked his monster across the arctic wastes. Sampson has written a book that finally answers the question of how it was that a 19-year-old came to write a novel so dark, mysterious, anguished and psychologically astute that it continues to resonate two centuries later.

by Jonathan F. Putnam - Fiction, Historical Fiction, Historical Mystery, Mystery

It is the summer of 1838, and Springfield is embroiled in a tumultuous, violent political season. All of Springfield’s elite have gathered at a grand party to celebrate the Fourth of July. Spirits are high --- until a prominent local politician is assassinated in the midst of fireworks. When his political rival is arrested, young lawyer Lincoln and his best friend Joshua Speed are back on the case to investigate. Lincoln’s ne’er-do-well father and stepbrother appear in town and threaten Lincoln’s good name and political future. And before long, anonymous letters start appearing in the local newspapers, with ominous threats that make Lincoln fear for himself and his loved ones.

by JP Delaney - Fiction, Psychological Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Thriller

Claire Wright is desperate. A British drama student in New York without a green card, she takes the only job she can get: working for a firm of divorce lawyers, posing as an easy pickup in hotel bars to entrap straying husbands. But then the game changes. When one of her targets becomes the suspect in a murder investigation, the police ask Claire to use her acting chops to lure him into a confession. From the start, she questions the part she’s being asked to play: Is Patrick Fogler a killer? Or is there more to this setup than she’s being told? Claire will soon realize she is playing the deadliest role of her life.