Family Thriller

In his three novellas, In Short Measures, Strong Conspirators, and Sally Forth, Michael Ruhlman delves deeply into the nuanced complexity of romantic and sexual love - and the inevitable evolution of the heart over the span of years and decades. Each novella asks questions about the nature of love in terms of loyalty and fidelity - what are one's obligations toward one's spouse, one's family, and one's heart?

It is 1929. At home, economic depression and dust storms ravage America, and abroad the goose step of Nazism is intensifying. Widespread fear of the "other" has reached a fever pitch. Against this tumultuous backdrop, two families share the spotlight in this sweeping saga: the Himelbaums of Poland and the Browns of Iowa. All Harry Himelbaum wants is to live somewhere happy and to send for the wife and child he must deny having.

When shy and reserved Maggie Ferringer is called for jury duty, she never expects to be kidnapped by an escaped convict. But when Cain Cannon, disguised as a prison guard, pulls a gun, she has no choice but to be taken hostage. Cain claims that he’s innocent of killing his girlfriend six years ago, and now he wants revenge on the people who put him behind bars. Soon Maggie becomes more than just a hostage to Cain. As they slowly begin to share the secrets of their respective pasts, Maggie discovers that she wants to fight for Cain’s freedom - because he just might be the kind of man she can love.

Aiden and Meg Falconer have been crossing the country as fugitives in order to prove their parents didn't commit a crime. They've been chased from state to state by the FBI . . . and by a killer they know only as Hairless Joe. Now Hairless Joe is getting closer than ever -- and the Falconers are getting even closer than that to the truth.

Special Agent Pendergast-one of the most original, compelling characters in all of contemporary fiction-returns in Preston and Child's new exhilarating novel BLUE LABYRINTH A long-buried family secret has come back to haunt Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast. It begins with murder. One of...

Having garnered both Young Readers’ Choice and Special Edgar Awards, Donald J. Sobol’s Encyclopedia Brown stories have been children’s classics for decades. In this installment, the 10-year-old detective uses his vast knowledge and probing questions to expose a muscle-bound scam, a crooked protection racket, a circus frame-up, and other baffling mysteries.

A Baltimore detective and a medical examiner must work together when the witnesses of a long-ago crime become the victims of a deranged killer in this gripping romantic suspense novel. Baltimore city Homicide Detective JD Fitzpatrick has seen a lot of horrific violence, both as a cop and during...

In this pulse-pounding thriller from #1 New York Timesbestselling author Iris Johansen, forensic sculptor Eve Duncan journeys to Africa to help families torn apart by a violent attack deep in the jungle -- but she may be putting herself in more danger than she knows. A journalist shows up on Eve...

INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER A brilliantly plotted psychological crime novel about a missing child and the scandal that erupts in the aftermath with a shocking twist They know who did it. Perhaps not consciously. Perhaps not yet. But they know. When eight-year-old Daisy Mason vanishes from her...

Ever since her husband’s death collided with the birth of her daughter, postpartum depression has taken hold of Veronica Shelton. She can’t sleep, can’t work, and can’t bear to touch her beautiful baby girl. Her emotional state is whispering lies in Veronica’s ear: You’re a bad mother. But not everything can be reasoned away by Veronica’s despair. Can it? After all, the break-in at her house happened. The disturbing sketches she found in her studio are real. So is the fear for her daughter’s safety — especially when Veronica comes home to a silent nursery and a missing baby.

A collection of three thrilling James Patterson stories: a criminal defense attorney investigating a bullying accusation, the NYPD's most brilliant detective facing her darkest fears to prevent a string of crimes, and a woman investigating the murder of her brother-in-law. The Family Lawyer with...

When estate agent Laura Bradley is asked to sell number 1 Aspen Hollow, it feels like a dream come true. The house is beautiful—five bedrooms and a perfect garden, surrounded by lush woodland. Laura loves finding a family their dream home, even as each night she returns to a cramped single room. Laura tries to ignore the red paint thrown at the walls of the house, the strange noises upstairs and the threatening messages she is receiving. Whatever its history, the beautiful house deserves a second chance.

In their home in southern Louisiana, Iris and her husband Joseph were both shot point-blank in the head by an unknown assailant. She wakes with her memory fractured. She doesn't remember her husband's family, eager as they are to take her into their world of marble, maids, and prim Southern manners.

Everyone has secrets… Iris and Will have been married for seven years, and life is as close to perfect as it can be. But on the morning Will flies out for a business trip to Florida, Iris’s happy world comes to an abrupt halt: another plane headed for Seattle has crashed into a field...

Filmmaker Tessa Shepherd helped free a man she believed was wrongly imprisoned for murder. When he kills again, Tessa’s life is upended. She’s reeling with guilt, her reputation destroyed. Worse, Tessa’s mother has unexpectedly passed away, and her sister, Margot, turns on her after tensions from their past escalate. Hounded by a bullying press, Tessa needs an escape. That’s when she learns of a strange inheritance bequeathed by her mother: a derelict and isolated estate known as Fallbrook. It seems like the perfect refuge.

It’s the worst possible time for Detective Kerri Devlin to be involved in an all-consuming double-homicide case. She’s locked in a bitter struggle with her ex-husband and teenage daughter, and her reckless new partner is anything but trustworthy. Still, she has a job to do: There’s a killer at large, and a pregnant woman has gone missing. Once Devlin and her partner get to work, they quickly unearth secrets involving Birmingham’s most esteemed citizens. Each new layer of the investigation brings Devlin closer to the killer and the missing woman.

Set against a ticking clock, this "haunting" and "atmospheric" thriller pits a ruthless cult against a mother's love, revealing that our darkest secrets are the hardest ones to leave behind (Sally Hepworth, New York Times bestselling author of The Good Sister). Four days to go Amy has only ever...

A seventeen-year-old struggles to remember the tragic night that changed her life forever in this twist-filled debut novel of psychological suspense for fans of Sharp Objects and The Last Time I Lied. Evie and her uncle Jim have just moved to an isolated cabin in a remote beach town--a far cry...

Here is the spellbinding story of Abby Mason - photographer, fiancée, soon-to-be stepmother - and the consequences of her greatest error. Heartbreaking, uplifting, and beautifully told, it is a riveting tale of how life can change in an instant, of the search for the truth behind a child's disappearance, and of one woman's unwavering faith in the redemptive power of love.

When Cassie Graves discovers her husband’s affair, it’s enough to chip away at the foundation of her life. But after researching her family’s Italian ancestry, it completely crumbles beneath her. Her grandmother Gia’s often-told stories about the past are a lie. Her much-romanticized great-grandfather Giovanni may not even have existed. Most alarming of all, it appears her mysterious great-grandmother Violetta died by stregoneria—witchcraft.