Gripping Thriller

‘Just rest, Frankie. I’ll take care of you.’ I feel my baby kick as my nanny fluffs my pillows and lays me down. She gives me a soothing smile, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. She knows I’m afraid of her… When I shake our nanny Jasmine’s hand for the first time and catch her perfect smile, I can’t ignore the feeling that we’ve met before. But I tell myself it’s nothing. I desperately need help around the house. Since I got pregnant, I burst into tears over the smallest things and my mind is a haze. I can barely look after my toddler Olivia. Jasmine is a godsend–isn’t she?

Vietnam veteran Max Donovan is in Bangkok, and very hungover, when his friend “Fat” Freddie Fields is arrested in San Francisco for the murder of an Australian diplomat. He knows his old buddy would never hurt a fly, so he rushes back to the Bay Area to help. There he locks horns with the District Attorney who seems intent on pursuing the case. Suspecting Freddie is being framed, Donovan tries to rustle up some cash to bail him out, but only succeeds in getting into trouble with the local mob. He’ll have to solve the case on his own.

Maggie Blanchard, a dedicated Nurse Practitioner, is in the OR working when her husband, Kerrington Blanchard—a billionaire Wall Street financial wizard—enters Saint Vincent’s Hospital and collapses, infected with a rare, highly contagious virus. As the hospital fights to contain the spread, everyone who has had contact with Kerrington faces the terrifying possibility that they might be next. Where did he get the virus?

Beatrice “Bea” Ku is sure this is it. The moment she finally receives her hard-earned promotion at the Seattle law firm where the young Filipina American attorney has toiled for five years. She can’t wait to tell her parents—and Allegra, her annoyingly perfect childhood friend. So when her boss betrays her, again, promoting a male colleague instead, she’s so angry she could kill. Bea tries to suppress that anger, just like her anxiety. But she’s branded “too emotional,” dredging up old memories from high school and her unhealthy coping mechanisms.

Anna thought coming to the UK would be the start of a new life for her and her daughter. But what greets her is a nightmare far beyond anything she could have imagined ... DI Harry Powell is investigating a shooting, but the victim is too terrified to talk. With no leads, and mounting pressure, Harry stumbles upon a deadly operation that threatens to put countless lives at risk. As Anna's world becomes more treacherous by the day, Harry is forced to push his team to their very limit to find the answers. But as time runs out, one of them may already be paying the ultimate price ...

When Stacey’s ex-husband turns up on her doorstep begging her to help save his kidnapped thirteen-year-old daughter, Lyra, the terror is all too familiar. Stacey’s own violent kidnapping thirty years ago was never solved, and while a severe case of amnesia spares her from recalling the specific horrors, she remembers enough… Stacey knows her father never paid the ransom—she has the missing pinkie finger to prove it. She knows she was only saved because of an anonymous tip-off to the police. And she knows her captor was never apprehended.

It’s every writer’s dream. The chance to get away for a while, to carve out time and space to focus on your craft in a small group of like-minded creatives. And where better to do it than in a sprawling luxury estate in the Catskills? Surrounded by nothing but rugged mountains and wilderness, where not a soul will hear you scream… When Liv Montgomery is invited on an exclusive, week-long writing retreat, she can’t believe her luck. But some of her fellow novice writers are better at spinning a yarn than they seem.

When an old friend from Sheriff Elven Hallie’s past returns, it should be a cheerful reunion. But when the bodies start turning up, Elven has more than a few questions. Hunter Wallace is everything that Elven tries to be, but greater. Better looking, a faster draw, and most of all, isn’t hated for being a Hallie. Being called out on his conflict of interest, Elven needs the help of his deputy, Madds, to help him wade through this one. But Madds hasn’t been acting herself. Lack of sleep, excessive use of force, and more than a little paranoid. Madds has her own demons to deal with.

Audrey Singer revels in her position as the admissions director of an exclusive Manhattan private school. Parents cater to her whims and desires, desperate to give their children an edge. Audrey’s power is undeniable; privilege comes with the territory. Her perfect marriage completes the glossy picture of her life. Until the arrival of the neurotic, vulnerable Sarah Price. Determined to get her son into the city’s most coveted kindergarten class, Sarah inserts herself into Audrey’s world, testing boundaries at every turn.

Two days ago, FBI Agent Val Costa came face to face with a serial killer known as the Bear. One of only two women ever to survive, she's forever branded with his signature: a curling “S” carved into her skin. Val knows it’s only a matter of time before he takes another victim. Forced home to recover, Val returns to Red Rose County, California, to be with her son. But the very next day she finds the close-knit community panic-stricken over the disappearance of blonde-haired, freckled-faced local teen, Scarlett Douglas.

Fifteen-year-old Kayla is the apple of her parents’ eyes, their beautiful only daughter. They tried for so long to have her that she was even more precious when she arrived. But deep down, her mother Sherrie has always been terrified that their worst fear would come true: that Kayla would be taken from them. Then one day—just as Sherrie had dreaded—Kayla fails to return home after a sleepover. In desperation, Sherrie and her husband Richard call Kayla’s friends. They scour the streets, their search becoming more frantic. Until the police arrive and deliver the shocking news.

When Ruby hears from her best friend Elizabeth that two of their old classmates have been murdered, Ruby is more certain than ever that leaving her hometown was the right decision. But after Elizabeth suddenly stops responding to texts, and Ruby hears a third classmate has been killed, she knows in her heart what has happened. Elizabeth is dead too. Missbrook Bay is a place haunted by memories Ruby wanted to forget, and people she never wanted to see again, but Ruby has no choice but to go back to investigate.

Pulling a batch of my husband’s favorite golden oatmeal cookies from the oven, I smile to hear my daughter Phoebe playing in the treehouse outside. I was once so close to losing everything, but since I married handsome Jackson, I have a perfect life. Jackson might tell me what to wear, but he just likes to buy me nice things. He says I don’t need a job, and why would I want one? I can spend all day taking care of Phoebe and running errands in the fancy car Jackson gave me—he knows everywhere I go. But my whole world shatters when I find out Jackson is a liar.

I wake on the sofa, my head throbbing. Why did I fall asleep here? In the darkness, I make my way to my bedroom. I know immediately something is wrong. The sheets I tucked in so carefully this morning are rumpled, disturbed. I turn on the lights. And then I scream. There’s a body in my bed. And I know this man: We went on two dates together. Who could have killed him? And how did he get into this house? Only two people have a key: me and my ex-husband, Matthew. I cast my mind desperately back to last night, to the last few painful months.

Tony Hooper stands in shadow across the street, one amongst many in the crowd of curiosity-hounds gathered to watch a monster's release. Seventeen years after Mitchell Norton, "the devil", terrorized Algonquin, Illinois on a spree of kidnapping, torture and murder, the authorities release the butcher from psychiatric prison.

When Detective Inspector Nikki Gill discovers a young Oxford student dead at the base of New College's ancient walls, she assumes it's a tragic accident. But everything changes when a note is found in the victim's pocket–mentioning Nikki by name. As she investigates the death of Chloe Pierson, Nikki uncovers the student's secret quest to find out what happened to her mother who vanished years ago. When another student dies in eerily similar circumstances, Nikki realises she's hunting a calculating killer who is somehow connected to her own past.

As the smoke from the bonfire spirals into the night sky and the cool drinks slip down our throats, none of us can take our eyes off Lacey. Everyone who is close to Lacey sits by the smoky fire. Her adoring boyfriend, who holds onto her, perhaps a little too tightly. Her little sister, always in Lacey’s shadow, sifting fine soft sand through her fingers, never taking her eyes off Lacey. And me. When the fire burns out, we stumble away from the beach, along the cliff path—faces burned by the wind, hearts full of secrets. But Lacey never makes it home.

Casey Derry has a gambling habit, and he knows he’ll get lucky one day if he just keeps trying. If only he can win big, he and his wife, Jen, can live happily ever after with no more worries, no more money problems, and no wondering whether they’re going to lose their house and live on the streets. With the last roll of the dice, he loses once again—his money and his dignity. It’s time to go home with his tail between his legs and endure Jen’s wrath and verbal abuse.

When Detective Casey White is called to a murder scene on an empty stretch of coastal road, her whole team is in a panic. Could the body be their missing colleague Samantha? The promising investigator was last seen two days ago, going home after an evening of dancing with friends. Her family are beside themselves with worry. Casey’s relief is short-lived when she sees the short dark hair of another woman. Pauline Rydel has been missing for a week. Devastated that anyone would take this innocent life, the tear-shaped cuts on the victim’s face make Casey’s heart stop.

I have the perfect life: a loving marriage and an adorable little daughter, Mia, who is always full of smiles. But when my husband, Keith, is hit by a car, my whole world is turned upside down. With my heart breaking in his cold, white hospital room, I hold his hand and tell him how much I love him. Then just as Keith slips into a coma, I hear him say four words that change everything: I took a life.