The Bottom Line: An intelligent, textured and taut thriller about political corruption through the lens of a disgraced journalist. Levi Cole had enjoyed a remarkable career as a journalist, rising from a small-town sportswriter to regular cable news contributor and charming political pundit. But he owed much of his success to an anonymous source that […]
The Bottom Line: An outstanding, relentlessly paced whodunnit with sky-high stakes and a jaw-dropping twist. One of the year’s best thrillers. When a trio of high-level political assassinations leave investigators puzzled, Superior Court Judge Cyrus Brooks and Homicide Detective Frank Lotello team up to uncover a diabolical scheme. After the murders and post-mortem sexual assaults […]
Our 2018 fall list of the best mystery and thriller books so far is incredibly diverse, ranging the gamut from political thrillers to crime thrillers and everything in between. If there’s one thing that distinguishes this excellent batch of books, it’s character development. While losing sleep is practically guaranteed with any of our mid-year picks, […]
The Bottom Line: The best of J.K. Rowling’s Cormoran Strike series to date. For those not familiar with the series, Strike is a private investigator, ex–Royal Military Police Special Investigation Branch investigator and the illegitimate son of famous rock star Johnny Rokeby. Strike lost part of a leg in an attack in Afghanistan. He had […]
The Bottom Line: Fans of serial killer fiction will find plenty of diabolical suspense in this engrossing thriller. Tailor-made for fans of Jo Nesbo and John Sandford. Somewhere in a corrugated metal shed, Washington University grad student Dina Levins wakes up from a chemically induced sleep. She recalls the horror of being taken from her […]
The Bottom Line: The first entry in a dazzling new YA adventure series. What do you get when you cross Star Wars with Top Gun and The Hunger Games? The answer is Skyward, a sci-fi military thriller that even Tom Clancy fans may love. In the action-packed Skyward, a girl dreams of becoming a pilot […]
The Bottom Line: Magical, mysterious, sensual and utterly profound. One of the year’s best thrillers. When the dying star of a famous performance troupe goes missing right before show time, her standby, Miriam, prepares to take her place in the performance. As is their custom, Dune, the troupe’s leader, hypnotizes her before the curtain rises. […]
The Bottom Line: The resurrection of Ellsworth’s popular hero Thaddeus Murfee is a great entry point for new fans. The first book in the new Justice Series finds Flagstaff, Arizona attorney Thaddeus Murfee agreeing to help Special Agent Donnie Francisco as he faces down the Vittini mob. As you might imagine, Murfee soon finds himself […]
The Bottom Line: One of the year’s best thrillers. Simultaneously playful and edgy, Scissorman is a generous helping of dazzling contemporary detective fiction. In Henry Chancellor’s Scissorman, a wealthy American living in London kicks off what promises to be the most celebrated annual scavenger hunt in history: the search for King Arthur’s mythical sword, Excalibur. […]
The Bottom Line: Short, surprisingly sweet, and shockingly profound. In Castle Rock – the fictional Northeast setting for many of King’s stories – a web designer confides in a retired doctor friend that he is losing weight. He’s not on a diet, nor is he really exercising. The weight is just coming off at a […]
