thriller

‘The Secrets We Hide’ by Karin Slaughter is the second in her thrilling new ‘North Falls’ series

/ Pamela Kramer

While “The Secrets We Hide” might be the second thriller in Karin Slaughter’s new series, “North Falls,” you’d really never know from her careful plotting and reveal of information. Of course, with an extremely experienced writer of successful series like the “Will Trent” series, you’d expect nothing less, and Slaughter delivers. The first novel, “We Are All Guilty Here,” introduces the main characters and explains just some of the many secrets surrounding those in Clifton County, Georgia.

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‘The Shadow Friends’ is the third book in ‘The Martini Club’ series by Tess Gerritsen — retired spies of a certain age can’t stay idle for long

/ Pamela Kramer

It makes sense that authors are creating novels in which the main character(s) are “of a certain age,” and in Tess Gerritsen’s series “The Martini Club,” she has not only embraced that concept, she has flown with it. In “The Shadow Friends,” the third novel in the series, the usual crew are assembled for a conference on global catastrophes in their small town in Maine, when a catastrophe actually occurs. It’s not of a global nature, and it appears, at first glance, to be a simple case of food poisoning. But with this group, we know there’s more.

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‘Mother Daughter Sister Stranger’ by Hank Phillippi Ryan keeps the twists coming

/ Pamela Kramer

At first, Hank Phillippi Ryan’s “Mother Daughter Sister Stranger” seems pretty straightforward. In fact, after the first few chapters, I was wondering how she would make this really suspenseful when it’s about a woman who is taking care of her 11-year-old niece for a week while her sister is on vacation. And her sister doesn’t show up on the day she was supposed to.

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“My Inner Child Wants To Kill” is not a horror story: it’s a mystery and a comedy, and it’s successful in both genres.

/ Pamela Kramer

Author Karsten Dusse’s new novel, “My Inner Child Wants to Kill,” is a worthy successor — and sequel — to his previous, extremely successful work, “Murder Mindfully.” Both novels in the “Mindful Murder” series feature protagonist Bjorn Diemel, lawyer to several men of questionable honesty and character; his wise and clever therapist, Joschka Breitner; several of Bjorns gangster clients; and Bjorn’s estranged wife Katharina and their beloved child, Emily. Bjorn had committed two murders in the first novel, both victims murdered mindfully, mind you, and both necessarily eliminated because if he hadn’t murdered them, they would certainly have killed him. He has also managed to capture another killer and to keep that one in a cell in his basement. Better than killing a third person, we suppose. In any case, he has promised himself never to kill again.

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‘Three Reasons for Revenge’ by Dervla McTiernan is a brilliantly plotted thriller

/ Pamela Kramer

For those looking for a brilliantly crafted thriller, “Three Reasons for Revenge,” by Dervla McTiernan will suit perfectly. The main character is deliciously imperfect as are all the other characters. Detective Sergeant Judith Lee is a single, forty-year-old woman with only one good friend. She’s not close with her mother, who married an abuser. When the abuser also beat Judith at the age of fifteen and then tried to kill her mother, Judith took a golf club and killed him.

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‘The Women in White’ by Sarah Pekkanen is compelling and gripping

/ Pamela Kramer

From almost the first page, Sarah Pekkanen’s “The Women in White” is both compelling and gripping. From the start we feel connected to the main character Riley. Her first person narrative in the present grounds us as we read some chapters narrated in third person about the four other women who are also at the center of this fascinating story about research into psychic abilities.

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‘Mist and Malice: A Haven Thriller’ by Rachel Howzell Hall is the second book in this California oceanside mystery series

/ Pamela Kramer

In “Mist and Malice,” the second book in Rachel Howzell Hall’s exciting “Haven Thriller” series, the action starts right up where the first book ends. For those who haven’t read the first book, it could be confusing. I would definitely suggest reading this novel after reading the first one because a lot of the backstory of the characters is delineated in “Fog and Fury,” the first novel.

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‘The Parisian Heist’ by Jo Piazza is a brilliant combination of tense thriller and historical fiction

/ Pamela Kramer

In Jo Piazza’s “The Parisian Heist,” we don’t meet the brilliant artist Vincent Van Gogh, but we learn a lot about him through the fictionalized character of his sister-in-law Jo Van Gogh and the completely fictional character of a friend, Claire Donadieu. Piazza alternates the narrative between Jo Van Gogh’s real battle to get Vincent Van Gogh’s paintings to be seen and admired and — ultimately — valued, and a modern day thriller about three art students who find they’ve been invited to participate in one of the strangest heists in history.

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“One Second Away” by Rick Mofina: it grabbed me tightly and refused to let go

/ Pamela Kramer

Rick Mofina’s thriller, “One Second Away,” is a classic mystery/suspense novel, a story of murders, kidnapping, power grabs, and the horror of looking directly into the face of evil and having the evil glare right back at you with menacing intent. The major plot concerns the kidnapping of a nine-year-old boy, his mother’s search for him, and the seemingly impossible task not only of finding him, but also finding the reasons for the kidnap, the persons or organization which planned it, and the reason that that particular boy was the target of the perpetrators.

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‘Off the Record’ by Sara Goodman Confino is a clever and engaging novel

/ Pamela Kramer

One of the joys of reading is starting a book and being hooked from the first page, and with “Off the Record,” author Sara Goodman Confino accomplishes that and more. This enchanting story features Judy Greenberg, who in 1962 has graduated from college with a degree in journalism. Unlike her college peers, Judy is not interested in an MRS. Instead, she is determined to have a career as a journalist — and not one who writes about “women’s issues” like getting stains out of tablecloths or child rearing.

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Rob Hart’s “Three Hitmen and a Baby” is a compelling action novel that is every bit as clever as its title

/ Pamela Kramer

“Three Hitmen and a Baby” is author Rob Hart’s third entry in his extremely popular, clever, and unique “Assassins Anonymous” series. And if it sounds like a novel you may want to read, don’t worry if you haven’t read the first two. This one is an effective stand-alone wherein the author explains in detail all the foundations of the organization of ex-criminals, killers all, who comprise the group AA: Assassins Anonymous.

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