Showing results for "Chapter One" in Thriller & Suspense

For years, Aidan Cullen has dreamed of becoming a successful crime writer. When his hard work finally pays off and his first book is published, what should have been a night of celebration unravels into an evening of horror. Left for dead after a brutal attack, trauma leaves him paranoid and reclusive, and he retreats to the remote countryside with only his dog Nanook for company. With the world kept at arm’s length, he begins to feel safe. That is, until a woman is murdered at the end of his road.

Dr Olivia Winter is a forensic psychologist whose job is to understand the minds of serial killers. There’s only one monster she can’t understand, her father.

My name is Amber Ryan. I’m in prison, but I’m innocent. And I’ve been jailed not just for a crime I didn’t commit, but for a crime that never even happened. Now, my friend is going to try to prove it. But to do that, she has to go back. Back to the dark.

Instead of leaving the Cerberus MC, I bide my time. When an opportunity plucks me from the desert of New Mexico and transplants me in East Tennessee, I feel a little better about life. The new job isn't as solitary as I expected it to be. Instead of doing working alone I'm stuck sitting at a bar, trying to determine if they're using the business as a human trafficking hub. Everything would be fine if the bartender could take a hint.

When newlyweds Jane and Alex Clarke move into an idyllic house on the quaint Bristol Lane, they are excited for a new beginning in what will be their ‘forever home’. And when an elderly neighbour welcomes them, she soon becomes a friend. But she grows a little too interested in the couple next door as she sits watching them, day in, day out, from the rocking chair in her window. Alex says it will be fine. After all, she’s a lonely widow who just wants some company. But when she invites Jane into her home, who knows what she’ll find there.

When single mum Ivy wakes up to a complete stranger lying next to her, she knows her one-night stand hook-ups have to stop. The encounters mean nothing to Ivy, but for just a short time, they make her forget her own terrible life. But then Ivy discovers the stranger in her bed has been stabbed to death, and she is covered in his blood…except Ivy has no recollection of bringing this man home. Could she have killed him? As she tries to piece together what happened last night, Ivy’s own past returns to haunt her. And secrets can’t stay hidden forever.

It’s every parent’s worst nightmare. Alex Granger only turned her back for a moment – but a moment was all it took for her world to be destroyed. Her two-year-old daughter Carol-Anne has vanished into thin air. Alex’s husband Ray is a detective, so he’s used to dealing with horrific cases. But nothing could have prepared him for this. Forbidden from aiding the inquiry, he is forced to confront the fact that he might never see his daughter again. With no suspects, no DNA evidence and no promising leads, the investigation stalls.

Adeline Evans has recently moved into a home for the elderly. A safe space, where she can be cared for. When she begins to receive cryptic and threatening notes, she is certain that someone is out to get her. But the residents are warned against listening to a woman who is losing her memory. It would seem Adeline is tormented by the secrets in her past, and that the menace is all in her mind. Until danger comes down the corridor and starts knocking in the night.

DCI Matilda Darke receives an anonymous email from someone claiming to have committed the perfect murder. Experience tells her this isn’t possible, but as she investigates, she discovers a killer questioning everything she’s ever known. Now, Matilda is on the trail of a murderer who targets the most vulnerable people in society. Apart from ‘With Sympathy…’ cards, hand delivered to the family of his victims, he leaves no trace of his crimes.

When Ella Leonard arrives at work one Monday morning, she's stunned. The place isn't just shut – it's gone. Boarded up, closed down. Days later, she gets home to find she's been evicted from her flat, her belongings piled on the doorstep. It's as if, bit by bit, someone is taking her entire life away from her. Who, and why? And how much worse can it get? The answer? A lot worse.

'Chilling, tragic, and utterly immersive.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'This book. Wow, Just, wow! A beautifully written and unforgettable story. I can't stop thinking about it' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Occupied France, 1944 In the shadow of the ravaged battlefields of Verdun, where the scars of the First World War...

Hannah Dawson has a big problem: she’s just become the unexpected owner of a snarky cat, a loveable but not-so-bright dog...and their $10 million fortune! Which would be awesome if it hadn’t made her the target of every wacko in the metro Atlanta area. Now Hannah and her famous pets need protecting, and there’s only one man who can help them. Enter Zachary Collins: ex-TV star of The Psychic Detective and street-wise private investigator—all six-foot blue-eyed gorgeousness!

High-flying lawyer Sara O’Neil had it all; the career, the money, the prestige. And then she jumped to her death. Cassandra Harlow never expected to see her friend fall from their office rooftop. Someone knows what really happened. But the only people who might know the truth are a secret women-only society, Inside, whose promise is to fast-track your career. But if Sara was part of it and they helped facilitate her rise to the top, could they also be the reason she came crashing down to earth?

DCI Matilda Darke has been kidnapped and her nemesis, Steve Harrison, appears to be behind it. He’s currently residing in the supermax of Wakefield Prison and spends twenty-three hours a day in his cell, so how could he possibly be responsible? As Matilda’s team race to find her, they’re alerted to a body found in an abandoned car on the outskirts of Sheffield. With forensics scouring the woodland for clues, the last thing they expect is for the body count to rise. Meanwhile the search intensifies for the DCI when a video of her kidnapping is leaked to the media.

PR guru Lola Lovett’s client has gone missing, but that’s not the problem. It’s the fact that he’s meant to be at home. Already dead. But Lola hasn’t come this far in life to let an inconvenience like an undead actor stop her from getting what she wants, so she immediately sets about getting close to the investigation into his disappearance…and DCI Sue Fisher.

Five years ago, Clare killed her family – her husband, her father, and one of her twin sons. She has no memory of the car accident, but there is no refuting the evidence of drugs in her system. She has accepted her guilt, and served her time. Now, released from prison, all she wants is to be reconciled with her remaining son, 13-year-old Tommy. To help him come to terms with her crime, and his own survivor guilt, Clare tries to find out the full truth of what happened on that fateful night.

Eva arrives at university ready to escape her past. She wants a new life, a new personality. But old habits creep in and she finds herself alone, online, watching the digital lives of others. One profile in particular captures Eva’s attention: that of her glamorous classmate, Marina. As Eva’s obsession builds, she becomes drawn into a web of lies, danger and suspicion. Because Marina’s perfectly filtered life isn’t what it seems. What is Marina hiding? And behind the screen, who is Eva really – her friend, a stranger, or an enemy?

Nobody in Barbara Marsden’s family knows about her past, least of all her daughter Helen. But someone wants the truth to come out. When Helen discovers a sinister note at Barbara’s house, she can’t understand who would want to threaten her mother. She’s determined to find out who sent it, but soon realises her search might hurt her own family and put Barbara at risk… What really happened all those years ago? And who is going to end up paying the price?

In remote Oyster Creek, a beautiful young mother and her little baby have gone missing. But it was no secret that Delilah Waters never wanted children. She wasn’t coping with the baby, and everyone believes she leapt to her death, taking her child with her. Everyone except Liz Dawson. Wrestling with her own demons, Liz risks everything to uncover a truth that becomes more complex with every twist. Of all people, Liz knows that just because someone is a reluctant mother, it doesn’t mean they don’t love their child. And it doesn’t mean they’re capable of murde…does it?

For Isabel Archer, dating is a way to pass the time in her otherwise comfortable life. She casts herself as the Perfect Girlfriend for every man she matches with, playing a different girl with a different back-story every night for months. It's innocent – one goodnight kiss before swiftly deleting each profile – until she goes too far. Mathew likes playing games too. Only the games he wants to play are the kind you don’t always walk away from.