Suspense/Thriller Author Spotlight

Each week we explore in depth the work of suspense/thriller authors. While many of you know authors like John Grisham, James Patterson and David Baldacci, the goal is to take readers behind the work of authors whose work you may be less familiar with. We'll explore their new books --- and their past ones, known in the industry as the backlist. The goal is that you, like us, will meet new authors and read books that you previously may have missed.

Jonathan Kellerman, author of The Murderer's Daughter

A brilliant, deeply dedicated psychologist, Grace Blades has a gift for treating troubled souls and tormented psyches. Only five years old when she witnessed her parents’ deaths in a bloody murder-suicide, Grace took refuge in her fierce intellect and found comfort in the loving couple who adopted her. But even as an adult with an accomplished professional life, Grace still has a dark, secret side. When her two worlds shockingly converge, Grace’s harrowing past returns with a vengeance.

Lorenzo Carcaterra, author of The Wolf

When the world's most powerful mob boss loses his wife and daughters in a terrorist attack funded by one of his rivals, he resolves to turn the tables. Rallying the heads of the globe's top criminal organizations, Vincent Marelli launches a war that may be his last. With the weight of the criminal world on his shoulders, he has only one desire in his heart: to know who ordered the hit that took out his girls.

Camilla Läckberg, author of The Hidden Child

Crime writer Erica Falck is shocked to discover a Nazi medal among her late mother’s possessions. To uncover her family's past, Erica must read her mother’s wartime diaries. Could what little knowledge she has be enough to endanger her husband and newborn baby? The dark past is coming to light, and no one will escape the truth of how they came to be.

Kevin O'Brien, author of Tell Me You're Sorry

Stephanie Coburn has barely recovered from her sister's mysterious suicide before her brother-in-law and his new wife are murdered, her face disfigured beyond recognition. Stephanie never met the bride, but she knew her sister and knows something is desperately wrong. Her only ally is another victim's son. Step by step, they're uncovering a trail of brutal vengeance and a killer who will never relent --- and whose forgiveness can only be earned in death.

J.T. Ellison, author of When Shadows Fall

Forensic pathologist Dr. Samantha Owens thought life was finally returning to normal after she suffered a terrible personal loss. Settling into her new job at Georgetown University, the illusion is shattered when she receives a disturbing letter from a dead man imploring her to solve his murder. There’s only one catch: Timothy Savage’s death was so obviously the suicide of a demented individual that the case has been closed.

Wendy Webb, author of The Vanishing

Just as Julia Bishop’s life is collapsing around her, a stranger appears on her doorstep with an intriguing job offer --- he asks Julia to be a companion for his elderly mother, the famous and rather eccentric horror novelist Amaris Sinclair, whom Julia has always admired...and who the whole world thinks is dead. But when she arrives at Havenwood, the Sinclairs’ magnificent, centuries-old estate, she begins to suspect her too-good-to-be-true job offer is exactly that.

John Lutz, author of Twist: A Frank Quinn Novel

Frank Quinn is a decorated ex-cop and a former homicide detective specializing in tracking serial killers. Someone is stalking Quinn's niece, Carlie Hobbs, and the NYPD can't stop him. A blonde, blue-eyed beauty, Carlie fits the victim type of the killer who's been terrorizing women --- leaving them bound, gagged, and tortured with surgical precision. To win against the most personal adversary of his career, Quinn will have to set the perfect trap...with the perfect bait.

Andrea Kane, author of The Stranger You Know: A Forensic Instincts Novel

A Forensic Instincts team must race to uncover the identity of a serial killer before his ever-tightening circle of death closes in on Casey Woods --- the ultimate target. As the stalker methodically moves in on his prey, his actions make one thing clear: he knows everything about Casey. The killer's blood trail of death shows that each victim has a unique connection to Casey, who realizes that this psychopath won't stop until he makes sure she's dead.

Raymond Khoury, author of Rasputin's Shadow

FBI Agent Sean Reilly finds himself teamed with Russian Federal Security Service agent Larisa Tchoumitcheva to discover why a Russian embassy attaché has apparently committed suicide and a retired Russian physics professor living in Queens has vanished, all of which leads to a small device that could change the world in a deadly way.

Gregg Hurwitz, author of Tell No Lies

Daniel Brasher finds an envelope in his department mailbox --- one intended for someone else that was placed in his slot by accident. Inside it is an unsigned piece of paper, a note that says only “admit what you’ve done or you will bleed for it. you have 'til november 15 at midnite.” The deadline has already passed, and the person to whom the envelope was addressed was brutally murdered. But this first warning is only the beginning.

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