Michelle Rao

Crickets, a Stunning Debut Thriller by Lee Chappel

The Bottom Line: A small-town psychological thriller with a big-time payoff. This stunning debut novel is a must-read for Gillian Flynn fans. “Mine’s one of those stories that can’t be true,” says Kara Peterson in the first chapter of Crickets. Kara, the daughter of Paige, Ohio’s former Sheriff, accused Dalton Rolenfeld of rape a decade earlier. Her father’s sudden death has brought her back to […]

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Level Zero, a Chilling Horror Novel by Dan McDowell

The Bottom Line: The Shining meets Dante’s Inferno. Level Zero is brimming with sinister surprises sure to keep horror fans up at night. Hellish hospitality awaits two men at the infamous Oak Hollow Hotel. The opening chapters of Dan McDowell’s novel are a portrait of two broken relationships. In the first, radio station manager Chris Wilkerson attempts to console his wife at her mother’s funeral

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Stolen Truth, an Irresistable Psychological Thriller by Henya Drescher

The Bottom Line: A must-read psychological thriller for fans of Have You Seen Me? and The Girl on the Train. In a novel that brilliantly plays on the frailty of the human mind and sanity itself, new mother Bree Michaelson wakes feeling disoriented and drugged, similar to the way she felt when she was date raped in college. She soon realizes that her husband Todd,

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Where the Briars Sleep, a Terrifying Gothic Horror Novel by Emma Beavan

The Bottom Line: Jane Eyre meets The Haunting of Hill House. A terrifying gothic horror novel that readers won’t soon forget. Set in the early 1800s, author Emma Beavan delivers a deliciously twisted tale of three sisters and the family secrets that threaten to haunt them all. After the passing of their stepsister, Sarah, sisters Rose and Maggie are happy to be back at their estate and returning

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Divided States, a Must-Read Political Thriller by Rick Treon

The Bottom Line: A must-read political thriller with a bad-ass heroine at the helm. It’s New Year’s Eve in post-secession America, and former detective Lori Young is in New Orleans’ French Quarter. But instead of enjoying confetti and fireworks, she takes a bullet from an unknown assailant. Spotting the shooter in the crowd, Lori summons all her strength amid the pandemonium to help take him down. But that’s just

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The Devil and the Dark Water, an Unforgettable Historical Thriller by Stuart Turton

The Bottom Line: A highly visceral and engaging whodunnit set in the 1600s. Samuel Pipps, the world’s greatest detective, is being transported to Amsterdam to be executed. Traveling with him is his loyal bodyguard, Arent Hayes, who is determined to prove his friend innocent. En route to boarding the ship, Pipps is pelted with stones by a jeering crowd. The chaos is interrupted by the

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That Was Before, a Full-Throttle Crime Thriller by Dan Lawton

The Bottom Line: Buckle up for a full-throttle thriller drawn with full-bodied characters. That Was Before begins quite literally with a bang as Randolph Spiers, who had just gotten up the nerve to ask out a grocery store cashier, narrowly escapes a bomb blast. Spiers had just quit his job as a mechanical engineer, and is estranged from his wife. He’s facing midlife, empty-nest ennui with no clear

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Operation Caliph, a Gripping Terrorism Thriller

The Bottom Line: Operation Caliph breathes new life into the post-9/11 terrorism thriller genre. Gripping from beginning to end. The third book in G.J. Rayner & E.M. Rayner’s 9/11-era-themed series opens during a July 4th celebration in 2002, where a terror attack claims at least 25 lives and wounds over 100. Ibrahim Haddad, and his lover, Inga Doudin were responsible for the assault, and OMICRON,

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Sweet Amber, a Hard-Hitting Medical Thriller by William Lynes, MD

The Bottom Line: A hard-hitting medical thriller with a heart. On New Year’s Eve, forty-three-year-old surgeon Dr. Lee W. Hickock is awakened by an urgent call for medical assistance. He had been drinking Jim Beam in his office before falling asleep, and he has another swallow before he heads to the operating room. While the surgery seemingly goes off without a hitch, he learns afterward

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Chasing Shadows, an Irresistible Espionage Thriller by Matt Stokes

The Bottom Line: A smartly crafted espionage thriller featuring a compelling hero and an irresistible global conspiracy. In the novella’s bewitching opening chapter, a disoriented former soldier wakes in a D.C. hotel. Despite a nagging sensation that something is awry, he goes willingly to the British Ambassador’s residence while a so-called doctor gives him directions through a device embedded within his brain. Armed with a

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