Psychological Twists

My baby is due in two weeks. Hand on my bump, I swear to my little girl, I won’t be anything like my mother. I’m walking home after the perfect baby shower, enjoying the cool summer evening breeze. I can’t wait to rest my aching feet. I’m almost at my door when the world goes black.

Dr. John Sanders is about to begin his career as a clinical psychologist. Full of optimism, he believes he can make a difference and is eager to provide hope to a group the world has deemed hopeless. Yet in John's quest to offer those in his care a second chance, he embarks on his own journey of self-discovery. In his search, clear answers become scrambled confusion while the unimaginable truth is trapped in a complex web.

I used to have it all. My ex-boyfriend and I were madly in love and dreamed of starting a family. When I found out I couldn’t have children, it broke me. Now, at my job at the fertility clinic, I give other couples what I could never have. The day my ex and his new wife walk into my clinic, my heart shatters all over again. He’s back. Now, I stand here with a syringe trembling in my hand and an impossible decision to make: Do I help them conceive a child—even though I know he’s keeping a dangerous secret? Or do I protect his wife—my patient, now—and take what’s rightfully mine?

As the car pulls up to my husband Dominic’s family home the night before Christmas, I suppress a shudder. I’ve never felt welcome here. His parents make it clear I’m a poor comparison to his perfect first wife, Carla. But I’m determined to lean into the festive cheer. Until Dominic’s mother bustles into our bedroom and blindsides me: ‘You won’t mind, will you. Carla is coming for the holidays. She’s still one of the family, and she can’t get home because of the storm.’ My eyes widen–did she and Carla plan this on purpose?

Seventeen-year-old Lies wakes up to find that her mother’s bed hasn’t been slept in. Her car is parked outside. And her purse and cell phone are still by the front door. After twenty-four hours, when every possible explanation is exhausted, the reality is all too frightening for Lies. Her mother is missing.

Ein Herrenhaus mitten im Wald. Ein unerwarteter Gast. Ein Wochenende, das zum Albtraum wird. Nach sechs Monaten Abwesenheit lernt Lizzie endlich George, den neuen Ehemann ihrer Mutter, kennen. Um die Hochzeit nachzufeiern, fährt die Familie für ein Wochenende nach Westirland in Georges Haus. Statt des erwarteten kleinen Cottages stellt sich dieses als riesiges, etwas verfallenes Herrenhaus heraus. Es liegt mitten in einem dunklen Wald, und selbst die Zufahrt ist so zugewachsen, dass es nur mit einem längeren Fußmarsch erreicht werden kann.

When Congressional staffer Ben Walsh receives this cryptic text from his wife he initially doesn’t think much of it. But while waiting to hear from her again, Ben discovers that the text came an hour before a shooting that occurred along her daily running route. Veronica won’t pick up her phone, and when she doesn’t return home, he knows she is somehow involved. If she isn’t one of the victims, then where is she, and what did she know? While Ben searches for his wife, he stumbles upon another violent death, with clear connections to the shooting.

It’s as if my heart is bursting out of my chest. Nine-year-old Jubilee, our new adopted daughter, is beaming. She’s the little girl I always wanted and we’re finally taking her home. Three months later. ‘This can’t be happening,’ I say. ‘She can’t be gone. She’s just a little girl, our little girl. She was here in her bed last night. I remember. I . . .’ I feel the panic rising, my worst fear surfacing. What if I brought her home—only to be taken?

The colour drains from my husband’s face as she releases him. When Ted says her name–Alice–my blood runs cold. Because I’ve heard her name before. Alice is the woman who broke my kind husband’s heart. Ted told me she vanished from his life after their breakup, but has he been lying this whole time? I stare at him in disbelief, but he swears he never invited her. Can I believe him? Whatever actually happened, I want her out of my house… but as thunder cracks and the sky turns dark, a huge storm sets in. We’re stuck here: is this my chance to discover the truth?

Twelve-year-old Maddie Thompson and her friend Lana share a love of horror stories and wild imaginings. But Lana insists they are too old for pretending. It’s time for a different game: serving Him, a figure she sees lurking in the dark, mysterious and demanding. According to Lana, she and Maddie must obey Him or else suffer the consequences. Maddie doesn’t want to lose her most important friendship, even if it means luring an innocent girl into the woods—as a sacrifice for Him.

Twin sisters May and June couldn’t be more different. May is quiet, self-conscious, withdrawn; June is boisterous, beautiful, magnetic…and missing. It’s been a year since June disappeared, a year of May waiting for her to turn up with an explanation of where she’s been and why she left. But with the discovery of an old newspaper article comes a secret: their mother once vanished, too, on the same date when she was nineteen years old. Just like June.

Eingesperrt mit den gefährlichsten Männern der Welt. In der geschlossenen Station eines Hochsicherheitsgefängnisses für psychisch kranke Verbrecher erschüttert ein Schrei die Nacht. Am nächsten Morgen wird die Leiche einer Krankenschwester gefunden und ihre Tochter wurde entführt. Die Uhr tickt, denn das kleine Mädchen kann ohne medizinische Versorgung nur wenige Tage überleben. Die forensische Profilerin Dr. Connie Woolwine ist bekannt für ihre Fähigkeit, sich in die Psyche der Mörder hineinversetzen zu können.

From the outside, my life appears normal, boring even—but in that way you treasure when you once had nothing. These days, I have a loving new husband, a polite and intelligent teenage son. Everything seems perfect, but beneath the surface, I feel afraid. My son, the child I’ve sacrificed everything for, is scaring me. When he looks at me, his gaze is dark and calculating. In public he’s as sweet as always, but the things he says to me at home make my neck prickle with fear. I'm a mother—I've learned to trust my instincts, and right now, they're screaming that something is very wrong.

It is an ordinary September morning when I nearly lose my little girl. My mouth is dry, my hands shake when I see that she has darted unexpectedly into the playground.... The place where my own childhood ended. Where I can’t set foot inside. As she wobbles on top of the climbing frame about to fall, a silent scream freezes in my throat. So when a stranger hears her cries and rushes to help, I feel weak with relief. I thank him as my daughter presses her tear-stained face into my skirt. Looking into his warm brown eyes and gentle smile, I feel an instant connection.

Every parent knows the world can be scary. Lawyer Jen Sutton knows it better than most. And she’ll go to any length to protect her son from what – and who – lies outside their front door. Some might say she’s being overprotective. But isn’t it a mother’s duty to protect her child from harm? Jen has kept her secrets safe. Until the postcard arrives, signed by the one person she hoped would never catch up with her…and her new case begins to feel a little too close to home. One thing is clear: Jen has been found.

Sisters Anna and Jennie live in a historic bungalow on the Chicago River. They’re tethered to a disquieting past, and with nowhere else to go, nothing can part them from their family home. Not the maddening creaks and disembodied voices that rattle the old walls. Not the inexplicable drownings in the area, or the increasing number of bodies that float by Anna’s window. To stave off loneliness, Anna has a podcast, spinning ghostly tales of Chicago’s tragic history. But when Anna captures the attention of an ardent male listener, she awakens to the possibilities of a world outside.

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.

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.

Giving away my child is the hardest decision I have ever had to make. But when I move into the Thorpes’ stunning home so they can support me through the pregnancy, it seems like they are everything I could have hoped for. They cook me delicious, healthy meals and make sure I’m getting the best medical care. They never question my background, or why I am giving them my child.

When, during a brewing storm, a woman appears on her doorstep looking for shelter, Annie is relieved to have the company and feels an unexplainable bond with her visitor. As the night progresses, Annie realizes the woman is no stranger. Their lives are inextricably intertwined—and Annie might just lose everything.