Tense Thrillers to Make You Cling to Your Lounge Chair
It’s the height of summer and these heat waves are brutal. If you’re looking for a way to cool down, pick up one of these jaw-dropping, bone-chilling thrillers and head to the beach or to your favorite swimming pool. These gripping reads are sure to have you clinging to your lounge chair the entire time!
Dominant Demand by Linzi Basset Some say I am cold-blooded. They aren’t wrong To some, I am death They aren’t wrong… I am the grim reaper. Razor, aka Maxim Ivanov, the newly promoted Boss of the National Crime Syndicate, Kings Inc, was known in the crime world as a cold-blooded bastard, an assassin with no heart. Born to the world of violence and crime, Razor embraced his destiny. The path of his future had been set and over time, he became the embodiment of death… in all its forms. Love didn’t feature in his life… sex, well, that was an entirely different concept. Indulging in kink was his favorite pastime, and when the sassy socialite propositioned him at the Decadent Sins Club, he proved why she should rather have run in the opposite direction. Maia Wilson had been eyeing the brooding Russian from the first time she entered the club. That he was the friend of her bestie's fiancé, placed him right where she wanted him… within her grasp. Except he was so much more Dominant than she thought she could handle. Soon, she became the object of her own mystery… and his enjoyment. When Razor found out who was behind usurping the Mafia’s power in the U.S.; he was forced back to Moscow… to face off against a man he hated with passion… the one who had turned his heart completely black. Amazon Goodreads
Mail Order Bride by Britney King When Joel answers an ad in the back of the Farmers’ Almanac that promises to deliver the perfect wife, he isn’t sure what to expect. For sure, it isn’t Gina. Gina was aware she possessed secret powers—that’s what her father called them—from a very young age. He always told her she would make a perfect bride. So that’s exactly what she became. She knows she’s not supposed to use her “powers” for evil and destruction, but Pine Lake is a small place, and Gina has big dreams—plans, in fact. She also has charm, beauty, sex appeal, and intelligence. Only two things stand in her way: the social norms of 1953, and her new husband, Joel. The solution may call for desperate measures. But, then, if anyone can get away with murder, it’s Gina. However, there’s something Gina has yet to realize. That handsome groom of hers? He’s a serial loner for a reason. Amazon Goodreads
The Inmate by Freida McFadden There are three rules Brooke Sullivan must follow as a new nurse practitioner at a men’s maximum-security prison: 1) Treat all prisoners with respect. 2) Never reveal any personal information. 3) Never EVER become too friendly with the inmates. But none of the staff at the prison knows Brooke has already broken the rules. Nobody knows about her intimate connection to Shane Nelson, one of the penitentiary’s most notorious and dangerous inmates. And they certainly don’t know that Shane was Brooke’s high school sweetheart—the star quarterback who is now spending the rest of his life in prison for a series of grisly murders. Or that Brooke's testimony was what put him there. But Shane knows. And he will never forget. Amazon Goodreads
Listen To Me by Tess Gerritsen Mothers know best . . . But who will listen? Boston homicide detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles are plagued by what seems like a completely senseless murder. Sofia Suarez, a widow and nurse who was universally liked by all her neighbors, lies bludgeoned to death in her own home. But anything can happen behind closed doors, and Sofia seemed to have plenty of secrets in her last days, making covert phone calls to old contacts and traceless burner phones. When Jane finally makes a connection between Sofia and the victim of a hit-and-run months earlier, the case only grows more blurry. What exactly was Sofia involved in? One thing is clear: The killer will do anything it takes to keep their secret safe. Meanwhile, Angela Rizzoli hasn’t had a decent night’s sleep in all the years since her daughter became a homicide detective. Maybe the apple didn’t fall too far from the tree. Nothing in her neighborhood gets by Angela - not the gossip about a runaway teenager down the block and definitely not the strange neighbors who have just moved in across the street. Angela’s sure there’s no such thing as coincidence in her sleepy suburb. If only Jane would listen; instead she writes off Angela’s concerns as the result of an overactive imagination. But Angela’s convinced there’s a real wolf in her vicinity, and her cries might now fall on deaf ears. With so much happening on the Sofia case, Jane and Maura already struggle to see the forest for the trees, but will they lose sight of something sinister happening much closer to home? Amazon Goodreads
Captor In The Attic by Felicity Brandon Those noises in the attic, The shadow you think you saw, They’re not your imagination. Amazon Goodreads