Suspense/Thrillers Recent Picks

December 2009

The underlined titles will take you directly to our catalogue.
Some featured items are linked via a book cover to enable you to read more reviews.

Await your reply : a novel, Dan Chaon. (c2009.)
"The lives of three strangers interconnect in unforeseen ways and with unexpected consequences. Eighteen-year-old Lucy Lattimore, her parents dead, flees her stifling hometown with charismatic high school teacher George Orson, soon to find herself enmeshed in a dangerous embezzling scheme. Meanwhile, Miles Chesire is searching for his unstable twin brother, Hayden, a man with many personas who's been missing for 10 years and is possibly responsible for the house fire that killed their mother. Ryan Schuyler is running identity-theft scams for his birth father, Jay Kozelek, after dropping out of college to reconnect with him, dazed and confused after learning he was raised thinking his father was his uncle." (Amazon)

Meanwhile Street by Miranda Glover. (2009)
"It's early morning and Meanwhile Street thinks it's waking to a regular Wednesday in May. Soon a disconcerting sound alerts Maggie and Gordon that something's not right. Throughout the day neighbours bear witness to a series of apparently unrelated incidents that, by midnight, leave a solitary fifteen-year-old running for his life and a Polish girl preparing to flee London for good. It is Thursday before anyone knows that events have culminated in a single, heart-wrenching tragedy. In the aftermath, children and adults from all backgrounds are forced across their thresholds to confront one another and the community they share." (Amazon)

Ravens by George Dawes Green. (2009)
"When grifters Shaw and Romeo pull up at a convenience store in Georgia, their only thought is to fix a faulty tyre and be on their way to Florida. But this happens to be the store from which a $318 million Jackpot ticket has just been sold and when the pretty clerk accidentally reveals to Shaw the identity of the winning family, he hatches a terrifyingly audacious plan. That night, he visits the Boatwright family's home and takes them hostage, while the sinister Romeo patrols the streets nearby, prepared to murder the Boatwrights' loved ones at the first sign of resistance. At first, the family offers none. But Shaw's plan depends on maintaining constant fear, merciless, unfaltering terror and soon, under the pressure, everyone's sanity begins to unravel." (Amazon)

The hidden by Tobias Hill. (2009)
"In Sparta, southern Greece, a close-knit group search for the buried traces of a formidable ancient power. A latecomer, Ben Mercer finds himself drawn to their brilliance and charisma: to the double-edged friendship of his countryman Jason, the unsettling beauty of the women, Natsuko and Eleschen, and the menace of Max and Eberhard, who idealise the extremes of the ancient Spartans. Thrilled by the possibility of acceptance and excited by the dangerous games they play, Ben gradually wins his way into the circle. But there is more to the group than he understands, and Ben finds out too late that some things should remain hidden." (Amazon)

The five greatest warriors by Matthew Reilly (2009)
"Captain West and his small team of elite misfits are on the trail of the six ancient pillars that can prevent the arrival of the 'dark star' a deadly celestial event that could bathe the globe in lethal radiation. But not only have the Ancients hidden their secrets well, but also the huge potential to whomever locates and uses the pillars has attracted the attentions of the powerful all around the world. Jack West must now fight off crack mercenaries and special force soldiers whilst preserving his entire team to figure out the secrets of the past." (Amazon)

The prophecy by Chris Kuzneski. (2009)
"When the prophetic writings of sixteenth-century visionary Nostradamus begin to ring alarmingly true, Payne and Jones find themselves in a life-or-death race across the world to stop those who would use the French seer’s predictions for their own dark purpose. A truly gripping adventure thriller novel, that moves at a breathless pace" (Amazon)

Abandoned : a thriller by Cody McFadyen. (2009)
"The woman had been missing for almost eight years. Someone watched her, stalked her, kidnapped her, and held her captive in the dark all that time. No ransom demand and no suspects. No answers, even now that the woman has been found, thrown from an unmarked car in front of a beachside wedding, alive but unbearably traumatised. The task of tracking a kidnapper who appears to have no motive, plunges FBI Special Agent Smoky Barrett and her team plunged into the most sinister and disturbing case of their careers. Then they start to find the other victims." (Book Cover)

I, Alex Cross by James Patterson. (2009)
"Detective Alex Cross is called out of a family celebration and given the awful news that his niece, Caroline, has been found brutally murdered. Cross vows to hunt down the killer, and soon learns that Caroline was mixed up in one of Washington's wildest scenes, and that she was not this killer's only victim. The hunt for her murderer leads Alex and his girlfriend, Detective Brianna Stone, to a place where every fantasy is possible, if you have the credentials to get in. Alex and Bree are soon facing down some very important, much protected, very dangerous people in levels of society where only one thing is certain, they will do anything to keep their secrets safe." (Amazon)

Bombproof by Michael Robotham. (2009)
"Sami Macbeth is not a master criminal. He's not even a minor one. He's not a jewel thief. He's not a safe-cracker. He's not an expert in explosives. Sami plays guitar and wants to be a rock a star but keeps getting side-tracked by unforeseen circumstances. Fifty-four hours ago Sami was released from prison. Thirty-six hours ago he slept with the woman of his dreams at the Savoy. An hour ago his train blew up. Now he's carrying a rucksack through London's West End and has turned himself into the most wanted terrorist in the country. Fast, funny, hip and violent, this is a non-stop adventure full of unforgettable characters and a heart-warming hero, a man with the uncanny ability to turn a desperate situation into a hopeless one." (Amazon)

Who dares wins by Chris Ryan. (2009)
"Sam and Jacob Redman are brothers, both loyal SAS soldiers. They fight alongside each other; they watch each other's backs. They are ruthlessly professional in the field of war, fiercely loyal wherever they are. But when Jacob is booted from the Regiment for a moment of madness, he disappears. Not even his family knows where he is, or even if he's still alive. On his return from a brutal mission in Afghanistan, Sam is ordered to conduct another dangerous operation into an inhospitable part of the world. He soon learns, though, that his unit are not being told everything by their government paymasters; he is forced to choose between his duty to the men around him and his loyalty to the brother that he loves." (Amazon)

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