For this month’s reading list I thought it’d be fun to get a little spooky. Whether you’re looking for a good mystery or murder novel or a crime-solving thriller this is the list for you! Two of my favorites are on this list too!
Reading List: Murder, Mystery and Horror
Altar of Bones by Philip Carter – This is one of my favorite reads – A deathbed confession ignites a globe-spanning race for answers in this page-turning thriller. Cryptic dying words from a murdered homeless woman in present-day San Francisco unlock a long-buried secret that alters history. Now, a pair of ruthless assassins are sent to cut the few living “loose ends.” And a young, resourceful woman on the run encounters a determined man with his own connected past and vengeful agenda. Forced to partner for survival and answers, a fast-paced and deadly game of cat and mouse ensues, whisking the duo from the winding streets of Paris to the faded palaces of Budapest to the frozen lakes of Mongolia…where destiny, passion, and further betrayal await them. Jam-packed with pulse-pounding action and featuring a high-profile assassination, a doomed Hollywood legend, and guardians of an ancient religious icon housing a secret others will kill to possess, this novel is certain to leave readers stunned and breathless.
It by Stephen King – With all the hype around with the remake of the movie coming out this book has made its way back on many reading lists this year – Welcome to Derry, Maine. It’s a small city, a place as hauntingly familiar as your own hometown. Only in Derry the haunting is real. They were seven teenagers when they first stumbled upon the horror. Now they are grown-up men and women who have gone out into the big world to gain success and happiness. But the promise they made twenty-eight years ago calls them reunite in the same place where, as teenagers, they battled an evil creature that preyed on the city’s children. Now, children are being murdered again and their repressed memories of that terrifying summer return as they prepare to once again battle the monster lurking in Derry’s sewers.
Brimstone by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child – It’s been awhile since I’ve read this novel but the memory of it still sneaks into my mind. This is one that sticks with you – A body is found in the attic of a fabulous Long Island estate. There is a claw print scorched into the wall, and the stench of sulfur chokes the air. When FBI Special Agent Pendergast investigates the gruesome crime, he discovers that thirty years ago four men conjured something unspeakable. Has the devil come to claim his due? Some things can’t be undone.
T
he Fisherman by John Langan – I haven’t read this one yet but it’s definitely made it onto my list after reading the reviews – In upstate New York, in the woods around Woodstock, Dutchman’s Creek flows out of the Ashokan Reservoir. Steep-banked, fast-moving, it offers the promise of fine fishing, and of something more, a possibility too fantastic to be true. When Abe and Dan, two widowers who have found solace in each other’s company and a shared passion for fishing, hear rumors of the Creek, and what might be found there, the remedy to both their losses, they dismiss it as just another fish story. Soon, though, the men find themselves drawn into a tale as deep and old as the Reservoir. It’s a tale of dark pacts, of long-buried secrets, and of a mysterious figure known as Der Fisher: the Fisherman. It will bring Abe and Dan face to face with all that they have lost, and with the price they must pay to regain it.
Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice – This is one of my favorite authors and series – #1 New York Times Bestselling author – The spellbinding classic that started it all – Book I of the Vampire Chronicles
Here are the confessions of a vampire. Hypnotic, shocking, and chillingly erotic, this is a novel of mesmerizing beauty and astonishing force—a story of danger and flight, of love and loss, of suspense and resolution, and of the extraordinary power of the senses. It is a novel only Anne Rice could write.
The Girl in the Ice by Robert Bryndza – I always love a good detective thriller so this one of course made it to my list with all the twists and turns it is claiming to have – When a young boy discovers the body of a woman beneath a thick sheet of ice in a South London park, Detective Erika Foster is called in to lead the murder investigation. The victim, a beautiful young socialite, appeared to have the perfect life. Yet when Erika begins to dig deeper, she starts to connect the dots between the murder and the killings of three prostitutes, all found strangled, hands bound and dumped in water around London. What dark secrets is the girl in the ice hiding? As Erika inches closer to uncovering the truth, the killer is closing in on Erika.The last investigation Erika led went badly wrong… resulting in the death of her husband. With her career hanging by a thread, Erika must now battle her own personal demons as well as a killer more deadly than any she’s faced before. But will she get to him before he strikes again?
Sweet Treats by Jeremy Magargee – Not for the weak-hearted, this twisted horror will take you down a dark path – There’s a human monster stalking the streets in the little town of Greyfield. He has a taste for lollipops and he keeps a collection of terrible secrets locked away in glass jars. His addiction is the suffering of others and he’ll go to any lengths to get that fix. The police don’t suspect him. He hides in plain sight, the wolf among sheep. The only one that can stop him is a young boy named Jack, his latest victim. Jack is hopeless and dying when an unlikely savior comes to him, offering a deal that will aide him in exacting his vengeance against his kidnapper. All Jack has to do is invite the wicked visitor inside…and sacrifice a piece of himself in the process. Will Jack have his vengeance and put an end to Greyfield’s gruesome killer once and for all? Or will the pact Jack made with the visitor come back to haunt him?
Right Behind You by Lisa Gardner – Another great best-selling thriller to add to the list – Eight years ago, Sharlah May Nash’s older brother beat their drunken father to death with a baseball bat in order to save both of their lives. Now thirteen years old, Sharlah has finally moved on. About to be adopted by retired FBI profiler Pierce Quincy and his partner, Rainie Conner, Sharlah loves one thing best about her new family: They are all experts on monsters. Then the call comes in. A double murder at a local gas station, followed by reports of an armed suspect shooting his way through the wilds of Oregon. As Quincy and Rainie race to assist, they are forced to confront mounting evidence: The shooter may very well be Sharlah’s older brother, Telly Ray Nash, and it appears his killing spree has only just begun.
