The Other Girl by Erica Spindler

The Other Girl: A Novel by [Spindler, Erica]

Title: The Other Girl

Author: Erica Spindler

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Date of publication: August 22, 2017

Genre: General Fiction, Suspense, Mystery, Thriller

Number of pages: 256

POV: 3rd person

Where you can find The Other Girl: Barnes and Noble | Amazon

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

From the NYT bestselling author comes a chilling new thriller about a ritualistic murder of a college professor that sends a small town cop back into the trauma she thought she’d put behind her.

Officer Miranda Rader of the Hammond PD in Louisiana is known for her honesty, integrity, and steady hand in a crisis—but that wasn’t always so. Miranda comes from Jasper, just south of Hammond, a place about the size of a good spit on a hot day, and her side of the tracks was the wrong one. She’s worked hard to leave the girl she used to be behind and earn respect in her position as an officer.

However, when Miranda and her partner are called to investigate the murder of one of the town’s most beloved college professors, they’re unprepared for the gruesomeness of the scene. This murder is unlike any they’ve ever investigated, and just when Miranda thinks she’s seen the worst of it, she finds a piece of evidence that chills her to the core: a faded newspaper clipping about a terrible night from her long-buried past. Then another man turns up dead, this one a retired cop, and not just any cop—Clint Wheeler, the cop who took her statement that night. Two murders, two very different men, two killings that on the surface had nothing in common—except Miranda. 15 years ago.

And when her fingerprints turn up at the scene of the first murder, Miranda once again finds herself under the microscope, her honesty and integrity doubted, her motivations questioned. Alone again, the trust of her colleagues shattered, Miranda must try to trust the instincts she’s pushed down for so long, and decide what’s right—before it’s too late.

Trigger Warning: Rape, Date Rape Drug Use

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A Life of Death (A Life of Death: Book 1) by Weston Kincade

A Life of Death: (A Thrilling Supernatural Detective Series full of Suspense, Book 1) (A Life of Death Trilogy)

Title: A Life of Death

Author: Weston Kincade

Publisher: Unknown

Date of publication: May 31st, 2017 (Originally published May 15th, 2011)

Genre: Fantasy, Paranormal, Young Adult, Mystery

Number of pages: 333

POV: 1st and 3rd person

Series: A Life of Death

A Life of Death – Book 1

The Golden Bulls – Book 2

Where you can find A Life of Death: Barnes and Noble | Amazon

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

Alex Drummond is a troubled high school senior with a checkered past, a broken home, and a surprising ability. When he touches items that murder victims held in their final moments, Alex relives the events in gruesome detail, seeing what they saw, thinking their thoughts, and even feeling what they felt. But who will believe a troubled teen, especially when the murders are so close to home and might reveal skeletons hidden for hundreds of years? Join Alex as he struggles to find his destiny, understand love, solve the mysterious murders within his small hometown, and speak for victims who can no longer speak for themselves.

Trigger Warning: Child Abuse

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Holding by Graham Norton

Holding

Title: Holding

Author: Graham Norton

Publisher: Atria Books

Date of publication: August 1st, 2017

Genre: General Fiction

Number of pages: 272

POV: 3rd person

Where you can find Holding: Barnes and Noble | Amazon

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

Graham Norton’s masterful début is an intelligently crafted story of love, secrets, and loss.

The remote Irish village of Duneen has known little drama, and yet its inhabitants are troubled. Sergeant PJ Collins hasn’t always been this overweight; mother of­ two Brid Riordan hasn’t always been an alcoholic, and elegant Evelyn Ross hasn’t always felt that her life was a total waste.

So when human remains are discovered on an old farm, suspected to be that of Tommy Burke – a former­ love of both Brid and Evelyn – the village’s dark past begins to unravel. As the frustrated PJ struggles to solve a genuine case for the first time in his life, he unearths a community’s worth of anger and resentments, secrets and regret.

Darkly comic, touching and at times profoundly sad. Graham Norton employs his acerbic wit to breathe life into a host of loveable characters, and explore – with searing honesty – the complexities and contradictions that make us human.

Trigger Warning: Child Death, Alcoholism, Cheating

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Emma in the Night by Wendy Walker

Title: Emma In The Night

Author: Wendy Walker

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Date of publication: August 8th, 2017

Genre: General Fiction, Mystery, Thriller

POV: Alternating 1st person and 3rd person

Where you can find Emma In The Night: Barnes and Noble | Amazon

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

From the bestselling author of All Is Not Forgotten comes a thriller about two missing sisters, a twisted family, and what happens when one girl comes back…

One night three years ago, the Tanner sisters disappeared: fifteen-year-old Cass and seventeen-year-old Emma. Three years later, Cass returns, without her sister Emma. Her story is one of kidnapping and betrayal, of a mysterious island where the two were held. But to forensic psychiatrist Dr. Abby Winter, something doesn’t add up. Looking deep within this dysfunctional family Dr. Winter uncovers a life where boundaries were violated and a narcissistic parent held sway. And where one sister’s return might just be the beginning of the crime.

Trigger Warning: Child Abuse, Mental Illness

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Dark Horse (White Horse, Montana: The McGraw Kidnapping: Book 1) by B.J. Daniels

Dark Horse (Whitehorse, Montana: The McGraw Kidnapping, #1)

Title: Dark Horse

Author: B.J. Daniels

Publisher: Harlequin Intrigue, Harlequin

Date of publication: July 18th, 2017

Genre: Romance, Suspense, Mystery

Number of pages: 256

POV: 3rd person

Series: Whitehorse, Montana: The McGraw Kidnapping

Dark Horse – Book 1

Dead Ringer – Book 2 (expected publication date: September 1st, 2017)

Where you can find Dark Horse: Barnes and Noble | Amazon

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

Burdened by family secrets, this cowboy rides alone 

For twenty-five years, the case of the McGraw twins kidnapping has remained unsolved. As the eldest son, Cull oversees the McGraw horse ranch, wary of prying eyes. So when true-crime writer Nikki St. James comes forward with new information, Cull can’t believe his father invites her onto the compound. His family has suffered enough—he’s not about to let St. James snoop and ruin them completely. But Nikki finds the eldest McGraw’s protectiveness as endearing as it is aggravating. After all, this case is personal to her, too… And her secrets can set the truth free—if they don’t destroy the McGraws first. 

Trigger Warning: Kidnapping

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Persons Unknown (DS Manon: Book 2) by Susie Steiner

Persons Unknown: A Richard and Judy Book Club Pick 2018 (A Manon Bradshaw Thriller) by [Steiner, Susie]

Title:  Persons Unknown

Author: Susie Steiner

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group – Random House

Date of publication: July 4th, 2017

Genre: Mystery, Thriller

Number of pages: 400

POV: Alternating 1st and 3rd person

Series: DS Manon

Missing, Presumed – Book 1

Persons Unknown – Book 2

Where you can find Persons Unknown: Barnes and Noble | Amazon

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

Manon has settled back into life in Cambridgeshire with her adopted son Fly. She’s perfectly happy working on cold cases until a man is stabbed to death just yards from the police station, and both the victim and the prime suspect turn out to be much closer to home than she would like. How well does Manon know her loved ones, and are they capable of murder

Trigger Warning: None

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The Breakdown by B.A. Paris

The Breakdown: A Novel by [Paris, B. A.]

Title: The Breakdown

Author: B.A. Paris

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Date of publication: July 18th, 2017

Genre: Mystery, Thriller

Number of pages: 336

POV: 1st person

Where you can find The Breakdown: Amazon

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

If you can’t trust yourself, who can you trust?

Cass is having a hard time since the night she saw the car in the woods, on the winding rural road, in the middle of a downpour, with the woman sitting inside―the woman who was killed. She’s been trying to put the crime out of her mind; what could she have done, really? It’s a dangerous road to be on in the middle of a storm. Her husband would be furious if he knew she’d broken her promise not to take that shortcut home. And she probably would only have been hurt herself if she’d stopped.

But since then, she’s been forgetting every little thing: where she left the car, if she took her pills, the alarm code, why she ordered a pram when she doesn’t have a baby.

The only thing she can’t forget is that woman, the woman she might have saved, and the terrible nagging guilt.

Or the silent calls she’s receiving, or the feeling that someone’s watching her…

My review:

The Breakdown is a nail-biting, psychological thriller that will take you through the wringer as you read it. There is a fine line when writing books like these. The author can give too much away in the buildup and it ruins the rest of the book. It didn’t happen with The Breakdown.

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Two Nights by Kathy Reichs

Two Nights

Title: Two Nights

Author: Kathy Reichs

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine

Date of publication: July 11th, 2017

Genre: General Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Suspense

Number of pages: 336

POV: 1st person

Where you can find Two Nights: Barnes and Noble | Amazon

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

#1 New York Times bestselling author Kathy Reichs steps beyond her classic Temperance Brennan series in a new standalone thriller featuring a smart, tough, talented heroine whose thirst for justice stems from her own dark past.

Meet Sunday Night, a woman with physical and psychological scars, and a killer instinct. . . . 

Sunnie has spent years running from her past, burying secrets and building a life in which she needs no one and feels nothing. But a girl has gone missing, lost in the chaos of a bomb explosion, and the family needs Sunnie’s help. 

Is the girl dead? Did someone take her? If she is out there, why doesn’t she want to be found? It’s time for Sunnie to face her own demons because they just might lead her to the truth about what really happened all those years ago. 

Trigger Warning: Terrorism, Child Abuse, Terrorist Acts

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Watch Me Disappear by Janelle Brown

Watch Me Disappear: A Novel by [Brown, Janelle]

Title: Watch Me Disappear

Author: Janelle Brown

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group – Random House

Date of publication: July 11, 2017

Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Women’s Fiction

Number of pages: 368

POV: 3rd person

Where you can find Watch Me Disappear: Amazon

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

It’s been a year since Billie Flanagan—a beautiful, charismatic Berkeley mom with an enviable life—went on a solo hike in Desolation Wilderness and vanished from the trail. Nobody—only a hiking boot—has ever been found. Billie’s husband and teenage daughter cope with her death the best they can: Jonathan drinks, Olive grows remote.

But then Olive starts having waking dreams—or are they hallucinations?—that her mother is still alive. Jonathan worries about Olive’s emotional stability until he starts unearthing secrets from Billie’s past that bring into question everything he thought he knew about his wife. Together, Olive and Jonathan embark on a quest for the truth—about Billie, their family, and the stories we tell ourselves about the people we love.

My review:

How well do we actually know the ones we love? If they had secrets that came out after their death, would they totally change the way that we looked at that person or would we just shrug and say “That was just like so and so“. Watch Me Disappear explores those questions in-depth.

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The Fourth Monkey by J.D. Barker

The Fourth Monkey by [Barker, J. D.]

Title: The Fourth Monkey

Author: J.D. Barker

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Date of publication: June 27th, 2017

Genre: Horror, Mystery, Thriller

Number of pages: 416

POV: Alternating 3rd person and 1st person

Where you can find The Fourth Monkey: Barnes and Noble | Amazon

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

The most anticipated thriller of the year – Optioned for both film and television

Se7en meets The Silence of the Lambs in this dark and twisting novel from the author Jeffery Deaver called, “A talented writer with a delightfully devious mind.”

For over five years, the Four Monkey Killer has terrorized the residents of Chicago. When his body is found, the police quickly realize he was on his way to deliver one final message, one which proves he has taken another victim who may still be alive. 

As the lead investigator on the 4MK task force, Detective Sam Porter knows even in death, the killer is far from finished. When he discovers a personal diary in the jacket pocket of the body, Porter finds himself caught up in the mind of a psychopath, unraveling a twisted history in hopes of finding one last girl, all while struggling with personal demons of his own.

With only a handful of clues, the elusive killer’s identity remains a mystery. Time is running out and the Four Monkey Killer taunts from beyond the grave in this masterfully written fast-paced thriller.

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