more thrillers!

I’ve been reading thrillers again. I’m sure a psychologist could have a field day with my reading patterns because it seems like I turn to thrillers when I’m feeling overwhelmed and need to read books that neatly solve all mysteries and tie up loose ends. I do feel a sense of closure and satisfaction when I finish a really good one, so here are some of the really good ones I’ve zipped through recently in case you’re in the same mindset these days. (And if you missed my original Thrillers post, you can find it here.)

THE ART FORGER by B.A. Shapiro

I couldn’t decide whether to include this novel here or in a general book post because it’s a literary thriller which will keep you totally engrossed. And it is so good! Claire Roth is a young artist making a living doing mass-market, high-quality reproductions of famous paintings. When a prominent gallery owner offers her big money and her own show if she’ll forge a classic Degas, she ends up making a deal with the devil. I was so intrigued by this book – which I read while I was in Boston, where it takes place – that I dragged my daughter to the scene of the crime: the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, from which thirteen pieces of art, including four by Degas, were actually stolen in 1990. This remains the largest unsolved art heist in history, and B.A. Shapiro creates an exciting, thought-provoking story which will keep you thinking about what constitutes a valuable painting long after you’ve finished the book.

HELL OR HIGH WATER by Joy Castro

I love when a book transports me someplace I’ve never been, and makes me feel like I’m actually there. This fantastic thriller is set in post-Katrina New Orleans, and it’s so hot and gritty, I could almost smell the beignets and hear the Zydeco. Nola, a reporter at the Times-Picuyane, is assigned to her first big investigative piece — about sex offenders who have fallen off the grid since the hurricane. She finds herself in a dark world in which she’s forced to confront her own past. Nola is a complex, highly original character who I hope to see more of in future books, and the powerful story is, ultimately, an ode to survival and healing.

BROKEN HARBOR by Tana French

Tana French writes novels about the Dublin Murder Squad, which transport readers to Ireland through rich settings and deeply-layered characters. Part police procedural/part psychological thriller, the story revolves around a triple murder in a half-built housing development by the sea. A father and two children have been killed, and the mother is barely alive. The book is narrated by veteran detective Mick “Scorcher” Kennedy – who is leading the case and who has his own childhood connection to the area – making it even more personal and showing how our own history influences the way we look at everything around us. I enjoyed this book so much, I then read Tana French’s debut, In the Woods, also narrated by the detective leading the case. As a reader, you work right along with these detectives to pick up clues and follow leads – which lead you astray more often than not! Her characters are so multi-dimensional and real — a.k.a. flawed – you’ll be glad they reappear throughout her books.

THE SURVIVOR by Gregg Hurwitz

I read Gregg Hurwitz’s thrillers as fast as he can write them so I’m glad he’s so prolific! This one features his most compelling premise yet and will suck you in from the first couple of pages, where we meet veteran Nate Overbay on the eleventh story ledge of a bank, about to commit suicide. At the last minute, he hears gunshots in the bank, climbs through the window, and becomes a hero – as well as the victim of a kidnapping by a vicious Russian mobster. What gives the story Hurwitz’s signature OMG kind of twist is that, although Nate obviously doesn’t care if he dies, he’s warned that if he doesn’t do the job requested of him, it will be his daughter who’s killed instead. I held my breath throughout the whole book, and am now ready for the next one!

SHUNNING SARAH by Julie Kramer

As the popularity of the reality TV series, Breaking Amish, proves, we can’t get enough of the Amish. Last year, I read Linda Castillo’s Breaking Silence and Gone Missing, both about murder in Amish country, and I was fascinated to learn more about the culture. So I devoured this latest offering about a TV reporter who uncovers a story about a homicide victim who turns out to be a young Amish woman. Newswoman Riley Spartz is a smart and sassy heroine, and the dichotomy between the plainness of the Amish and the glitziness of the media is startling. This is a quick read – because you can’t wait to see what happens!

HEARTBROKEN by Lisa Unger

If you’ve read Fragile (which you should), you know what a good writer Lisa Unger is. Her stories are compelling, emotional and full of mystery. This one is about three women whose lives intersect with twists and turns, and it’s laden with family drama, secrets and ghosts. I was horrified by some of their decisions, and felt like warning them – out loud! – about the likely consequences of their choices. I was definitely invested! The story is centered around an isolated island with its own demons, and it will keep you reading long into the night.

BLOOD LINE by Lynda La Plante

I enjoyed following detective Anna Travis in Blind Fury so much that I was eager to jump right back into her life in this latest chapter of her stellar career. This time around, Anna is involved in a missing persons case – and not happy about it. Reading these thrillers gives you an inside look into police procedure and a sense of the frustration, false leads and dogged determination that make up a detective’s daily life. There’s a formality to the tone that reminds you you’re in British territory, yet the emotion is universal and just plain human.

THE OTHER WOMAN’S HOUSE by Sophie Hannah

I can never figure out “who done it” in Sophie Hannah’s books, and that’s what makes them so much fun to read! Her latest psychological thriller is creepy right from the beginning, starting out with a floor plan and the line, “I’m going to be killed because of a family called the Gilpatricks.” Just like I did while reading The Cradle in the Grave, I changed my mind so many times over the course of the book about what I was convinced had happened and which characters were good or bad that I was happily exhausted by the end.

And here are four must-read books of the year that aren’t thrillers!