Recommendations based on "One Last Prayer A totally addictive and absolutely unputdownable crime thriller"

Lee Child says it’s “stunning… certain to be a book of the year.”Kathy Reichs calls it “extraordinary… a major achievement.”Jeffery Deaver says that “fiction doesn't get any better than this.”Gillian Flynn says of Karin Slaughter: “I’d follow her anywhere.”See for yourself what these #1 New York Times-bestselling authors are talking about.Sisters. Strangers. Survivors.More than twenty years ago, Claire and Lydia’s teenaged sister Julia vanished without a trace. The two women have not spoken since, and now their lives could not be more different. Claire is the glamorous trophy wife of an Atlanta millionaire. Lydia, a single mother, dates an ex-con and struggles to make ends meet. But neither has recovered from the horror and heartbreak of their shared loss—a devastating wound that's cruelly ripped open when Claire's husband is killed.The disappearance of a teenage girl and the murder of a middle-aged man, almost a quarter-century apart: what could connect them? Forming a wary truce, the surviving sisters look to the past to find the truth, unearthing the secrets that destroyed their family all those years ago . . . and uncovering the possibility of redemption, and revenge, where they least expect it.Powerful, poignant, and utterly gripping, packed with indelible characters and unforgettable twists, Pretty Girls is a masterful novel from one of the finest writers working today.

“Tense, twisty, fraught with emotion and packed with secrets, The Couple at Number 9 is Claire’s best thriller yet.”—Gilly MacMillan, bestselling author of What She KnewThe internationally bestselling author of Do Not Disturb and Just Like the Other Girls delivers a heart-pounding psychological thriller about a couple who inherit what seems to be their dream home, until they make a horrifying discovery—and the danger begins.The Victims . . .When pregnant Saffron Cutler moves into 9 Skelton Place with boyfriend Tom and sets about renovations, the last thing she expects is builders uncovering human remains. The remains of two bodies, in fact.The Investigation . . .Forensics indicate the bodies have been buried at least thirty years. Saffy has nothing to worry about—until the police launch a murder inquiry and ask to speak to the cottage’s former owner. Her grandmother, Rose.The Witness . . .Rose is in a nursing home and Alzheimer’s means her memory is increasingly confused. She can’t help the police, but its’ clear she remembers something.The Killer . . .As Rose’s fragmented memories resurface, and the police dig ever deeper, Saffy fears she and the cottage are being watched.The Truth . . .What happened thirty years ago? Why did no one miss the victims? What part did her grandmother play? And is Saffy now in danger?

‘IT WAS SO GOOD’ NetGalley review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐‘Absolutely breath-taking’ NetGalley review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐‘Talk about a page-turner!’ NetGalley review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐‘You. DO. NOT want to miss!!!’ NetGalley review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐You’ll want to stay. Until you can’t leave…A group of strangers arrive on a beautiful but remote island, ready for the challenge of a lifetime: to live there for one year, without contact with the outside world.But twelve months later, on the day when the boat is due to return for them, no one arrives.Eight people stepped foot on the island. How many will make it off alive?A totally addictive psychological thriller with twists and turns you just won’t see coming. Fans of The Hunting Party, The Castaways and The Sanatorium will be totally gripped from the very first page until the final, breath-taking conclusion.Readers are gripped by Stranded:‘A five-star rating is just not enough… Incredible’ NetGalley review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐‘Suspense, twists, deceit… I had my heart in my mouth the whole time’ NetGalley review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐‘Utterly unputdownable… You’re going to love every single twisty page!!’ NetGalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐‘INTENSE… My heart was pounding’ NetGalley review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐‘I started this book today and finished it in one sitting. I literally could not put it down’ NetGalley review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐‘Definitely a five-star read. I couldn't put this one down. It kept me on the edge of my seat… Such a great ending too!!’ NetGalley review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐‘Wow! I read this way too quickly, I really didn't want it to end… Amazing… Loved it!’ NetGalley review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐‘You'll be on the edge of your seat, racing to finish this book… I read this book one afternoon. I simply could not put it down. I cannot wait until a friend reads this book because I want to discuss it… Get a copy now!!’ NetGalley review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

In a small seaside community, there’s always somebody watching…Twisty, pacy, and superbly plotted, Last Seen is the perfect psychological page-turner for fans of Clare Mackintosh and Sabine Durrant.Seven years ago, two boys went missing at sea – and only one was brought to shore. The Sandbank, a remote stretch of coast dotted with beach huts, was scarred forever.Sarah’s son survived, but on the anniversary of the accident, he disappears without trace. As new secrets begin to surface, The Sandbank hums with tension and unanswered questions. Sarah’s search grows more desperate and she starts to mistrust everyone she knows – and she’s right to.Someone saw everything on that fateful day seven years ago. And they’ll do anything to keep the truth buried.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Jane Hawk—who dazzled readers in The Silent Corner and The Whispering Room—faces the fight of her life, against the threat of a lifetime, in this electrifying thriller by #1 New York Times bestselling suspense master Dean Koontz.“I could be dead tomorrow. Or something worse than dead.”Jane Hawk knows she may be living on borrowed time. But as long as she’s breathing, she’ll never cease her one-woman war against the terrifying conspiracy that threatens the freedom—and free will—of millions. Battling the strange epidemic of murder-suicides that claimed Jane’s husband, and is escalating across the country, has made the rogue FBI agent a wanted fugitive, relentlessly hunted not only by the government but by the secret cabal behind the plot. Deploying every resource their malign nexus of power and technology commands, Jane’s enemies are determined to see her dead . . . or make her wish she was.Jane’s ruthless pursuers can’t stop her from drawing a bead on her prey: a cunning man with connections in high places, a twisted soul of unspeakable depths with an army of professional killers on call. Propelled by her righteous fury and implacable insistence on justice, Jane will make her way from southern Southern California to the snow-swept slopes of Lake Tahoe to confront head-on the lethal forces arrayed against her. But nothing can prepare her for the chilling truth that awaits when she descends the crooked staircase to the dark and dreadful place where her long nightmare was born.Don’t miss any of Dean Koontz’s gripping Jane Hawk thrillers:THE SILENT CORNER • THE WHISPERING ROOM • THE CROOKED STAIRCASE • THE FORBIDDEN DOOR • THE NIGHT WINDOWPraise for The Crooked Staircase“An absorbing thriller full of fresh touches . . . Writing his unusual heroine, Koontz keeps the pages alive with attitude as well as action. . . . For Hawk, who is as fearless as she is beautiful, no obstacle is too great, especially with the well-being of her hidden-away five-year-old son on her mind.”—Kirkus Reviews“Spellbinding . . . Beautifully plotted and written with notable care and flare . . . The Hawk series . . . is among [Koontz’s] best work.”—Booklist (starred review)“Unrelenting . . . [Jane] rivets readers’ attention. . . . Michael Crichton fans and thriller aficionados who appreciate a fierce female protagonist . . . should be urged to meet Jane Hawk.”—Library Journal

A missing woman. A husband suspected. The truth will . . .TAKE YOUR BREATH AWAYFrom the New York Times bestselling author of Find You First and Elevator Pitch comes a gripping psychological thriller about a formerly missing woman who has suddenly returned under mysterious circumstances.One weekend, while Andrew Mason was on a fishing trip, his wife, Brie, vanished without a trace. Most everyone assumed Andy had got away with murder—it’s always the husband, isn’t it?—but the police could never build a strong case against him. For a while, Andy hit rock bottom—he drank too much to numb the pain, was abandoned by all his friends save one, nearly lost his business, and became a pariah in the place he once called home.Now, six years later, Andy has finally put his life back together. He sold the house he once shared with Brie and moved away. To tell the truth, he wasn’t sad to hear that the old place was razed and a new house built on the site. He’s settled down with a new partner, Jayne, and life is good.But Andy’s peaceful world is about to shatter. One day, a woman shows up at his old address, screaming, “Where’s my house? What’s happened to my house?” And then, just as suddenly as she appeared, the woman—who bears a striking resemblance to Brie—is gone. The police are notified and old questions—and dark suspicions—resurface.Could Brie really be alive after all these years? If so, where has she been? It soon becomes clear that Andy’s future and the lives of those closest to him depend on discovering what the hell is going on. The trick will be whether he can stay alive long enough to unearth the answers.

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Surgeon and The Apprentice comes a chilling new novel of suspense featuring Boston medical examiner Dr. Maura Isles, on the deadly trail of an anonymous madman who’s committed an unholy crime. . . .THE SINNERNot even the icy temperatures of a typical New England winter can match the bone-chilling scene of carnage discovered in the early morning hours at the chapel of Our Lady of Divine Light. Within the sanctuary walls of the cloistered convent, now stained with blood, lie two nuns—one dead, one critically injured—victims of an unspeakably savage attacker.The brutal crime appears to be without motive, and the elderly nuns in residence can offer little help in the police investigation. But medical examiner Maura Isles’s autopsy of the dead woman yields a shocking surprise: Twenty-year-old Sister Camille, the order’s sole novice, gave birth before she was murdered. Then the disturbing case takes a stunning new turn when another woman is found murdered in an abandoned building, her body mutilated beyond recognition.Together, Isles and homicide detective Jane Rizzoli uncover an ancient horror that connects these terrible slaughters. As long-buried secrets come to light, Maura Isles finds herself drawn inexorably toward the heart of an investigation that strikes closer and closer to home—and toward a dawning revelation about the killer’s identity too shattering to consider.As spine-tingling as it is mind-jolting, The Sinner showcases Tess Gerritsen in peak form—bringing her intimate knowledge of the dark depths of criminal investigation brilliantly to bear. Beneath its layers of startling insight into the souls of its characters, and the richly wrought depiction of the everyday war between good and evil, beats the unstoppable heart of an irresistible thriller.Tess Gerritsen left a successful practice as an internist to raise her children and concentrate on her writing. She gained nationwide acclaim for her first novel of medical suspense, the New York Times bestseller Harvest. She is also the author of the bestsellers Life Support, Bloodstream, Gravity, and The Surgeon and The Apprentice. Tess Gerritsen lives in Maine.PRAISE FOR TESS GERRITSENThe Surgeon“A briskly paced, terrifically suspenseful work that steadily builds toward a tense and terrifying climax.”—People (Page-Turner of the week)“Creepy . . . [The Surgeon] will exert a powerful grip on readers.”—Chicago Tribune“Grabbed me by the throat and didn’t let go.”—TAMI HOAGThe Apprentice“Skillful and scary.”—The Washington Post Book World“An adrenaline rush from start to finish.”—IRIS JOHANSEN“Masterful . . . Gerritsen moves into the Thomas Harris class, though with a style all her own.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

'A thrilling new talent' PETER JAMES A KILLER SO CLEVER, NOBODY HEARS THE SCREAMS . . . When the mutilated body of a woman is discovered in her home, DCI Bishop from the Met murder squad is called in to oversee the case. The horrific killing bears a striking resemblance to three other murders years before, but the cases were never solved. Bishop knows they need the help of Holly Wakefield, a criminal psychologist who specialises in getting inside the minds of serial killers. The grisly murders occur every three years, but it is the stick-man drawing left at each crime scene that has the police baffled. A post-mortem also detects a cocktail of drugs that can leave a victim screaming in silence. No one would have heard their cries for help. Holly suspects that they are a missing a vital clue that links the victims. But can she discover the link before the killer comes knocking at her door? A twisty, heart-racing new serial killer thriller, perfect for fans of Robert Bryndza, Angela Marsons and Stuart MacBride. Praise for Mark Griffin . . . 'Creepy, twisted and gripping' SUN 'Dark, compelling' M. W. CRAVEN 'Mightily impressive . . . Deviously plotted' DAILY MAIL 'Utterly compelling' LESLEY KARA 'As many twists and turns as a rollercoaster!' AMY LLOYD

The Skimm Reads calls it "a thriller that's part True Detective, part The Girl On the Train. All parts gripping."Husbands and wives. Mothers and daughters. The past and the future. Secrets bind them. And secrets can destroy them. The author of Pretty Girls returns with an electrifying, emotionally complex thriller that plunges its fascinating protagonist into the darkest depths of a mystery that just might destroy him. With the discovery of a murder at an abandoned construction site, Will Trent of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation is brought in on a case that becomes much more dangerous when the dead man is identified as an ex-cop. Studying the body, Sara Linton—the GBI’s newest medical examiner and Will’s lover—realizes that the extensive blood loss didn't belong to the corpse. Sure enough, bloody footprints leading away from the scene indicate there is another victim—a woman—who has vanished . . . and who will die soon if she isn’t found. Will is already compromised, because the site belongs to the city’s most popular citizen: a wealthy, powerful, and politically connected athlete protected by the world’s most expensive lawyers—a man who’s already gotten away with rape, despite Will’s exhaustive efforts to put him away. But the worst is yet to come. Evidence soon links Will’s troubled past to the case . . . and the consequences will tear through his life with the force of a tornado, wreaking havoc for Will and everyone around him, including his colleagues, family, friends—and even the suspects he pursues. Relentlessly suspenseful and furiously paced, peopled with conflicted, fallible characters who leap from the page, The Kept Woman is a seamless blend of twisty police procedural and ingenious psychological thriller -- a searing, unforgettable novel of love, loss, and redemption.  

She's standing at the front door. Covered in blood. Is she the victim of a crime? Or the perpetrator? When Sienna Hegarty, a troubled friend of his daughter, comes to Joe O'Loughlin's door terrorized, incoherent, and covered in blood, he vows to unearth the dark secrets her mind has buried. The police find a major piece of the puzzle at Sienna's house: her father, a retired cop, murdered.Tests confirm that it's Mr. Herharty's blood on Sienna. She says she remembers nothing. Investigators take aim at Sienna. O'Loughlin senses something different is happening, something subterranean and terrifying to Sienna. It may be something in her mind. Or it may be something real. Someone real. Someone capable of the most grim and gruesome murder, and willing to kill again if anyone gets too close.