Here it is. We’ve been teasing it for a couple of months, but the full 2023 Reading Guide is now live and features over nearly 200 soon-to-be-released thrillers from all of the biggest names the genre has to offer.
This is no easy task, assembling all of these titles into one giant list, but the goal is to help readers figure out which books they want to prioritize diving into this year. And since we’ll update this list in the coming weeks and months, expect it to grow as new titles will be added frequently. We’ll still be rolling out monthly reading guides, which in the future will better highlight and offer analysis and feedback on specific titles, but for now, browse this list and let us know which books you’re most excited to get your hands on.
A couple of notes . . .
Six or seven years ago, summer was, like, the season for must-read thrillers. Especially action thrillers. Now, there’s a really good balance throughout the year. In fact, I might even argue that spring is just as loaded. July looks especially strong this year, just as an FYI, but February is coming in hot too. And truthfully, there isn’t a down month in sight. That’s great news, so plan your book budget accordingly.
On a personal note, many of you know that 2022 was a special year for me. After nearly a decade working as The Real Book Spy, on top of working full-time as a freelance editor, I finally published my debut thriller, Fields of Fire. All the terrific feedback has been amazing, and I’m delighted that so many of you have enjoyed meeting my hero, Matthew Redd. I’m pleased to report that Redd will return this August in Lethal Range (available for pre-order everywhere books are sold). You can read all about it below, but I will say that I’m incredibly proud of this book. My goal was to write a fast-paced story with a lot of action. In fact, there was a specific scene I had always envisioned writing, one that I knew would be daring, but if I could pull it off, would be one of the biggest, most exciting action sequences in print today. I’ll let you decide if I hit my mark. Also, on top of that, I also signed a new two-book deal that includes a novella that’ll come out later this holiday season. So, with at least three more books on the horizon, I’m thrilled to say that Matthew Redd will be around for quite a while.
One more thing.
Sometimes it’s hard to put together a list like this with commentary because I can’t share everything I know. Some things aren’t ready to be announced. But just know that changes are coming. Some authors will be switching gears in 2024. Some series will end. Some characters won’t make it out alive. So, make it a point to read your favorite authors. Soak up the pages with your favorite protagonists. Don’t put off reading a book you’re excited about until next year because, frankly, things might end up being spoiled for you if you wait.
Happy reading!
Release Date: January 3
Harper Lee Prize winner and New York Times bestselling author James Grippando returns with a bold new thriller that asks at what price do we open our lives to Big Data.
Aspiring playwright, Kate Gamble, is struggling to launch a script she’s been secretly researching her entire life, mostly at the family dinner table. Her father is Christian Gamble, CEO of Buck Technologies, a private data integration company whose clients include the CIA and virtually every counter-terrorism organization in the Western World. Kate’s father adores her, and a play about the dark side of Big Data would be the ultimate betrayal in his eyes. But Kate is compelled to tell this story—not only as an artist exploring the personal information catastrophe that affects us all, but as a daughter trying to understand her mother’s apparent loss of purpose, made even more disturbing by the suicide note she left behind: I did it for Kate.
Then Patrick Battle comes back into her life, changing everything she has ever thought about her play, her father, and her mother’s tragic death. Patrick is a childhood friend, but he is now Buck’s golden boy with security clearance to the company’s most sensitive projects. When Buck comes under investigation by the Justice Department and Patrick suddenly goes missing, Kate doesn’t know who to trust. A phone call confirms her worst nightmare: Patrick has been kidnapped, and the ransom demand is “Code 6”—the most secret and potentially dangerous technology her father’s company has ever developed.
Kate’s fight to bring Patrick home safely reveals a conspiracy and cover up that may implicate one of the most powerful executives in the tech industry, while the development of Kate’s play unleashes family secrets and the demons behind her mother’s cryptic final note. The two paths converge in explosive fashion, leading to a shocking and terrifying discovery that puts Kate and Patrick in the crosshairs of forces who will stop at nothing to control Code 6.
From TRBS: James Grippando is always a solid bet to deliver a fun, page-turning adventure. I personally found this to be one of his better books to date.
The House of Wolves by James Patterson and Mike Lupica
Release Date: January 10th
Jenny Wolf’s murdered father has left her in charge of a multi-billion-dollar empire—a newspaper, a football team, a holding company . . . and a family that makes Succession’s Roys and Yellowstone’s Duttons seem tame.
The Wolfs, the most powerful family in California, have a new head–thirty-six-year-old former high school teacher Jenny Wolf. That means Jenny now runs the prestigious San Francisco Tribune. She also controls the legendary pro football team, the Wolves. And she hopes to solve her father’s murder. The most suspenseful family story since Succession or Yellowstone.
From TRBS: Mike Lupica is one of the most talented writers in the game today. When I think of Lupica, the word “range” comes to mind, as he’s demonstrated the ability to churn out everything from fast-paced thrillers to hard-boiled noir. I’m a huge fan of hits, and when you add in James Patterson to the mix, what more do you need?
Just the Nicest Couple by Mary Kubica
Release Date: January 10th
“Grabs you on the first page and doesn’t let go until you reach the end. A riveting tale about marriage, trust, and secrets.” —Laura Dave, New York Times bestselling author of The Last Thing He Told Me
A husband’s disappearance links two couples in this twisty thriller from New York Times bestselling author Mary Kubica
Jake Hayes is missing. This much is certain. At first, his wife, Nina, thinks he is blowing off steam at a friend’s house after their heated fight the night before. But then a day goes by. Two days. Five. And Jake is still nowhere to be found.
Lily Scott, Nina’s friend and coworker, thinks she may have been the last to see Jake before he went missing. After Lily confesses everything to her husband, Christian, the two decide that nobody can find out what happened leading up to Jake’s disappearance, especially not Nina. But Nina is out there looking for her husband, and she won’t stop until the truth is discovered.
“Rich with detail and a mounting, almost suffocating sense of dread, Just the Nicest Couple is a dark and twisted exploration of loyalty, family, and how far we’ll go to protect the ones we love.” —Andrea Bartz, New York Times bestselling author of We Were Never Here.
From TRBS: This is probably the first can’t-miss suspense thriller of the year, so if that’s what you’re searching for, look no further.
Everybody Knows by Jordan Harper
Release Date: January 10th
A fearless black-bag publicist exposes the belly of the L.A. beast in “one of the best LA noir novels I’ve ever read” (Attica Locke) from Edgar Award-winning author Jordan Harper.
Welcome to Mae Pruett’s Los Angeles, where “Nobody talks. But everybody whispers.” As a “black-bag” publicist tasked not with letting the good news out but keeping the bad news in, Mae works for one of LA’s most powerful and sought-after crisis PR firms, at the center of a sprawling web of lawyers, PR flaks, and private security firms she calls “The Beast.” They protect the rich and powerful and depraved by any means necessary.
After her boss is gunned down in front of the Beverly Hills Hotel in a random attack, Mae takes it upon herself to investigate and runs headfirst into The Beast’s lawless machinations and the twisted systems it exists to perpetuate. It takes her on a roving neon joyride through a Los Angeles full of influencers pumped full of pills and fillers; sprawling mansions footsteps away from sprawling homeless encampments; crooked cops and mysterious wrecking crews in the middle of the night.
Edgar Award-winner Jordan Harper’s EVERYBODY KNOWS is addicting and alarming, a “juggernaut of a novel” and “an absolute tour de force.” It is what the crime novel can achieve in the modern age: portray the human lives at the center of vast American landscapes, and make us thrill at their attempts to face impossible odds.
From TRBS: Michael Connelly says this is the “book everybody’s been waiting for,” while James Patterson says it’s the “best mystery novel I’ve read in years.” With endorsements like that, you can bet this one has the goods.
Hard to Break by Michael Ledwidge
Release Date: January 10th
THE NEXT INSTALLMENT IN THE PULSE-POUNDING GANNON SERIES FROM THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING COAUTHOR OF JAMES PATTERSON’S MICHAEL BENNETT SERIES
Mike Gannon always wanted to go to Alaska. That’s why when a bucket-list grizzly bear trip to the Klondike comes up, he’s on it with both feet. But as he arrives up in the northern wilds, he discovers other hunters are there. And they’re not looking for grizzly.
Soon Mike finds himself alone and captured on a corporate plane heading southbound for an incredibly lethal encounter that is about to blow his mind before it tries to blow him away.
Mike’s enemies are in the driver’s seat until they realize they overlooked one simple thing.
Some men are easy to handle, but there are other men who are…hard to break.
From TRBS: Ledwidge is best known for being one of James Patterson’s co-authors, but it’s about time he gets some recognition for Mike Gannon series, which is really good and a strong fit for those who enjoy his Patterson collabs.
Release Date: January 17th
An ex-cop takes on a widespread criminal organization targeting midwestern towns in this new thriller from the author of The Old Man
When a sudden crime wave hits several small midwestern towns, the U.S. Attorney for the region calls on Harry Duncan to investigate. An ex-cop known for his unorthodox methods, Duncan is reluctant to go up against a widespread criminal organization―but the attorney in question is Ellen Leicester, the wife who left him fifteen years earlier, and to her, he can’t say no.
Initially brought in as a consultant to determine if the racketeering is severe enough to require an all-out investigation by the FBI, Duncan quickly finds himself in conflict with a syndicate far more violent than first suspected. As the investigation develops, he begins compiling a “murder book,” the notebook in which a detective keeps records, interviews, photos―everything he needs to build his case. But his scrutiny of the gang soon makes Duncan a target. And Ellen, too.
A thrilling and suspenseful tour of crime-addled midwestern towns, Murder Book is signature Thomas Perry, with characters you won’t soon forget, crisply-described action sequences, and breathlessly-tense plotting that will keep you racing through the pages.
From TRBS: Perry’s The Old Man, adapted for TV on FX, is a classic. I’ve been dying to see how he’ll follow up such a hit, and without giving anything away . . . this one might be even better.
The Cabinet of Dr. Lengby Preston & Child
Release Date: January 17th
The tremendous new thriller in Preston & Child’s #1 bestselling series features FBI Special Agent Pendergast and Constance Greene in their most extraordinary circumstances yet.
AN INCREDIBLE JOURNEY
Astoundingly, Constance has found a way back to the place of her origins, New York City in the late 1800s, leaping at the chance, although it means leaving the present forever.
A DESPERATE OPPORTUNITY
Constance sets off on a quest to prevent the events that lead to the deaths of her sister and brother. But along the road to redemption, Manhattan’s most infamous serial killer, Dr. Enoch Leng, lies in wait, ready to strike at the slightest provocation.
UNIMAGINABLE ODDS
Meanwhile, in contemporary New York, Pendergast feverishly searches for a way to reunite with Constance—but will he discover a way back to her before it’s too late.
From TRBS: The thriller genre’s most prolific writing duo is back with another Pendergast and Greene thriller that’ll have you hooked early and up way past your bedtime. The last one wasn’t bad, but this one is definitely better.
The Devil You Know by P.J. Tracy
Release Date: January 17th
Darkness is nothing new to LAPD Detective Margaret Nolan, but in P.J. Tracy’s The Devil You Know, even she isn’t prepared for the scandalous deception of deadly proportions that shakes the very foundation of Hollywood and its untouchables…and leaves her entangled in its rotten core.
Los Angeles has many faces: the real LA where regular people live and work, the degenerate underbelly of any big city, and the rarefied world of wealth, power, and celebrity. LAPD Detective Margaret Nolan’s latest case plunges her into this insular realm of privilege, and gives her a glimpse of the decay behind the glitter.
Beloved actor Evan Hobbes is found in the rubble of a Malibu rockslide, a day after a fake video ruins his career. It’s not clear to Nolan if it’s an accident, a suicide, or a murder, and things get murkier as the investigation expands to his luminary friends and colleagues. Meanwhile, Hobbes’s agent is dealing with damage control, his psychotic boss, and a woman he’s scorned.
From TRBS: P.J. Tracy knows how to dial up the suspense, and this one will have you chewing your nails off while flipping pages with your free hand.
The Shards by Bret Easton Elli
Release Date: January 17th
A sensational new novel from the best-selling author of Less Than Zero and American Psycho that tracks a group of privileged Los Angeles high school friends as a serial killer strikes across the city.
Bret Easton Ellis’s masterful new novel is a story about the end of innocence, and the perilous passage from adolescence into adulthood, set in a vibrantly fictionalized Los Angeles in 1981 as a serial killer begins targeting teenagers throughout the city.
Seventeen-year-old Bret is a senior at the exclusive Buckley prep school when a new student arrives with a mysterious past. Robert Mallory is bright, handsome, charismatic, and shielding a secret from Bret and his friends even as he becomes a part of their tightly knit circle. Bret’s obsession with Mallory is equaled only by his increasingly unsettling preoccupation with the Trawler, a serial killer on the loose who seems to be drawing ever closer to Bret and his friends, taunting them—and Bret in particular—with grotesque threats and horrific, sharply local acts of violence. The coincidences are uncanny, but they are also filtered through the imagination of a teenager whose gifts for constructing narrative from the filaments of his own life are about to make him one of the most explosive literary sensations of his generation. Can he trust his friends—or his own mind—to make sense of the danger they appear to be in? Thwarted by the world and by his own innate desires, buffeted by unhealthy fixations, he spirals into paranoia and isolation as the relationship between the Trawler and Robert Mallory hurtles inexorably toward a collision.
Set against the intensely vivid and nostalgic backdrop of pre-Less Than Zero L.A., The Shards is a mesmerizing fusing of fact and fiction, the real and the imagined, that brilliantly explores the emotional fabric of Bret’s life at seventeen—sex and jealousy, obsession and murderous rage. Gripping, sly, suspenseful, deeply haunting, and often darkly funny, The Shards is Ellis at his inimitable best.
From TRBS: I’ve heard some really good buzz about this book, and Town & Country noted that this novel “revisits the world that made him a literary star with a stylish scary new story that doesn’t disappoint.”
The Devil’s Ranson by Brad Taylor
Release Date: January 24th
In the latest explosive thriller from New York Times bestselling author and former special forces officer Brad Taylor, Pike Logan races to stop an insidious attack orchestrated by a man who knows America’s most treasured secrets.
Conducting a routine cover development trip to Tajikistan, Pike and Jennifer learn that Afghanistan has fallen, and there’s a man on the run. One that has done more for the United States in Afghanistan than anyone else. Pulled in to extract him, Pike collides headlong into a broader mystery: His covert company, along with every other entity in the Taskforce, has been hit with a ransomware attack, and there’s some connection between the Taliban and the hack. Given the order to track down the perpetrators, he has no idea that the problem set is much, much larger and more dangerous than a simple attack on his organization. That hack was just a test-run, and the real one is coming soon, engendered by a former NSA specialist in the U.S. government.
A man who wants to return to the bipolar world of the Cold War, the turncoat has cloaked his attack behind hackers from Serbia and Russia, and if successful, his target will alter the balance of power on the global stage. So far, the specialist has remained one step ahead of the Taskforce, but he has just made one massive mistake: hitting Pike Logan.
From TRBS: Taylor continues to dominate the military thriller genre. I’m not sure who’s in second place, but I can tell you the gap between them is wide. Here, expect tons of action paired with a ripped-from-the-headlines plot that’ll have you flipping pages well into the night.
The Bullet Garden by Stephen Hunter
Release Date: January 24th
The long-anticipated origin story of legendary Marine, fan favorite, and father of literary icon Bob Lee takes us to the battlefields of World War II as Earl Swagger embarks on a top secret and deadly mission—from Pulitzer Prize–winning and New York Times bestselling Stephen Hunter, “one of the best thriller novelists around” (The Washington Post).
July, 1944: The lush, rolling hills of Normandy are dotted with a new feature—German snipers. From their vantage points, they pick off hundreds of Allied soldiers every day, bringing the D-Day invasion to its knees. It’s clear that someone is tipping off these snipers with the locations of American GIs, but who? And how?
General Eisenhower demands his intelligence service to find the best shot in the Allied military to counter this deadly SS operation. Enter Pacific hero Earl Swagger, assigned this crucial and bloody mission. With crosshairs on his back, Swagger can’t trust anyone as he infiltrates the shadowy corners of London and France for answers.
From “a true master at the pinnacle of his craft” (Jack Carr, author of the Terminal List series), The Bullet Garden is an electrifying historical thriller that is sure to become a classic.
From TRBS: The long-awaited origin story of Earl Swagger doesn’t disappoint, and I’ll be honest . . . it was worth the wait. Fans of Hunter’s work are going to love this book.
All Hallows by Christopher Golden
Release Date: January 24th
With the 80’s nostalgia of Stranger Things, this horror drama from NYT bestselling author Christopher Golden follows neighborhood families and a mysterious, lurking evil on one Halloween day.
It’s Halloween night, 1984, in Coventry, Massachusetts, and two families are unraveling. Up and down the street, horrifying secrets are being revealed, and all the while, mixed in with the trick-or-treaters of all ages, four children who do not belong are walking door to door, merging with the kids of Parmenter Road. Children in vintage costumes with faded, eerie makeup. They seem terrified, and beg the neighborhood kids to hide them away, to keep them safe from The Cunning Man. There’s a small clearing in the woods now that was never there before, and a blackthorn tree that doesn’t belong at all. These odd children claim that The Cunning Man is coming for them…and they want the local kids to protect them. But with families falling apart and the neighborhood splintered by bitterness, who will save the children of Parmenter Road?
New York Times bestselling, Bram Stoker Award-winning author Christopher Golden is best known for his supernatural thrillers set in deadly, distant locales…but in this suburban Halloween drama, Golden brings the horror home.
All Hallows. The one night when everything is a mask . . .
From TRBS: Chuck Wendig calls Golden’s latest “Straight-up classic-feeling old-school horror.” If you like Stephen King, this one should be high on your list.
The House at the End of the World by Dean Koontz
Release Date: January 24th
Soon no one on Earth will have a place to hide in this novel about fears known and unknown by #1 New York Times bestselling master of suspense Dean Koontz.
In retreat from a devastating loss and crushing injustice, Katie lives alone in a fortresslike stone house on Jacob’s Ladder island. Once a rising star in the art world, she finds refuge in her painting.
The neighboring island of Ringrock houses a secret: a government research facility. And now two agents have arrived on Jacob’s Ladder in search of someone―or something―they refuse to identify. Although an air of menace hangs over these men, an infinitely greater threat has arrived, one so strange even the island animals are in a state of high alarm.
Katie soon finds herself in an epic and terrifying battle with a mysterious enemy. But Katie’s not alone after all: a brave young girl appears out of the violent squall. As Katie and her companion struggle across a dark and eerie landscape, against them is an omnipresent terror that could bring about the end of the world.
From TRBS: Koontz is one of the most celebrated authors of his generation for good reason—he never misses. You might not know how his stories will play out, but it’s a given that you’ll be on the edge of your seat the whole damn time.
Don’t Open the Door Allison Brennan
Release Date: January 24th
“Downright spectacular. A riveting page-turner as prescient as it is purposeful.” —Providence Journal on Tell No Lies
A family torn apart. A botched investigation. She’ll stop at nothing to get answers.
US Marshal Regan Merritt never bought the FBI’s theory that her ten-year-old son’s murder was tied to her job. Yet as leads went cold, she’d had to walk away from the marshals, the case and her now ex-husband, Grant, who blamed her for Chase’s death.
After Regan receives a chilling voice mail from her former boss, Tommy, claiming new information about Chase’s murder, she can no longer stay away from her pain-filled past. Especially when Tommy’s murdered before she can return his call.
Now more than ever, Regan’s determined to find the truth, but the more she digs, the more evidence points to Grant as the killer’s true target. But Grant isn’t talking. As she tries to pin down her ex, Regan discovers something much bigger and far more sinister is at play—and she’s running out of people she can trust.
From TRBS: An Editor’s Pick on Amazon, Brennan dazzles yet again with the kind of twisting, high-suspense adventure that her readers have come to expect.
Release Date: January 24th
It is the year 2051. Warnings of climate catastrophe have been ignored, and vast areas of the planet are under water, or uninhabitably hot. A quarter of the world’s population has been displaced by hunger and flooding, and immigration wars are breaking out around the globe as refugees pour into neighboring countries.
By contrast, melting ice sheets have brought the Gulf Stream to a halt and northern latitudes, including Scotland, are being hit by snow and ice storms. It is against this backdrop that Addie, a young meteorologist checking a mountain top weather station, discovers the body of a man entombed in ice.
The dead man is investigative reporter, George Younger, missing for three months after vanishing during what he claimed was a hill-walking holiday. But Younger was no hill walker, and his discovery on a mountain-top near the Highland village of Kinlochleven, is inexplicable.
Cameron Brodie, a veteran Glasgow detective, volunteers to be flown north to investigate Younger’s death, but he has more than a murder enquiry on his agenda. He has just been given a devastating medical prognosis by his doctor and knows the time has come to face his estranged daughter who has made her home in the remote Highland village.
Arriving during an ice storm, Brodie and pathologist Dr. Sita Roy, find themselves the sole guests at the inappropriately named International Hotel, where Younger’s body has been kept refrigerated in a cake cabinet. But evidence uncovered during his autopsy places the lives of both Brodie and Roy in extreme jeopardy.
As another storm closes off communications and the possibility of escape, Brodie must face up not only to the ghosts of his past, but to a killer determined to bury forever the chilling secret that George Younger’s investigations had threatened to expose.
A Winter Grave is Peter May at his page-turning, passionate and provocative best.
From TRBS: Peter May has flashed real talent before, but he puts it all together here with a chilling look into the future where the earth has been ravaged by climate catastrophes. Think along the lines of the hit movie 2012, but with a darker twist.
Exiles by Jane Harper
Release Date: January 31st
After nearly one million books sold in the US, New York Times bestselling author Jane Harper is back with a new mystery featuring Aaron Falk, the detective from our bestselling novel and major motion picture The Dry
At a busy festival site on a warm spring night, a baby lies alone in her pram, her mother vanishing into the crowds.
A year on, Kim Gillespie’s absence casts a long shadow as her friends and loved ones gather deep in the heart of South Australian wine country to welcome a new addition to the family.
Joining the celebrations is federal investigator Aaron Falk. But as he soaks up life in the lush valley, he begins to suspect this tight-knit group may be more fractured than it seems. Between Falk’s closest friend, a missing mother, and a woman he’s drawn to, dark questions linger as long-ago truths begin to emerge.
From TRBS: Jane Harper is such a talent, and she puts it all on display here, giving her fans an experience they won’t soon forget.
Release Date: January 31st
Three ordinary people risk everything for a chance at redemption in this audacious, utterly gripping novel of catastrophe and survival at the end of the world, from the acclaimed author of The Chalk Man.
Hannah awakens to carnage, all mangled metal and shattered glass. Evacuated from a secluded boarding school during a snowstorm, her coach careered off the road, trapping her with a handful of survivors. They’ll need to work together to escape – with their sanity and secrets intact.
Meg awakens to a gentle rocking. She’s in a cable car stranded high above snowy mountains, with five strangers and no memory of how they got on board. They are heading to a place known only as “The Retreat,” but as the temperature drops and tensions mount, Meg realizes they may not all make it there alive.
Carter is gazing out of the window of an isolated ski chalet that he and his companions call home. As their generator begins to waver in the storm, the threat of something lurking in the chalet’s depths looms larger, and their fragile bonds will be tested when the power finally fails—for good.
The imminent dangers faced by Hannah, Meg, and Carter are each one part of the puzzle. Lurking in their shadows is an even greater threat—one that threatens to consume all of humanity.
From TRBS: Linwood Barclay tells readers to “buckle up,” and I suggest you take his advice. Tudor takes readers for a joy ride here, offering up a reading experience few can match.
Unnatural History by Jonathan Kellerman
Release Date: February 7th
The most enduring detectives in American crime fiction are back in this electrifying thriller of art and brutality from the #1 New York Times bestselling master of suspense.
Los Angeles is a city of stark contrast, the palaces of the affluent coexisting uneasily with the hellholes of the mad and the needy. That shadow world and the violence it breeds draw brilliant psychologist Dr. Alex Delaware and Detective Milo Sturgis into an unsettling case of altruism gone wrong.
On a superficially lovely morning, a woman shows up for work with her usual enthusiasm. She’s the newly hired personal assistant to a handsome, wealthy photographer and is ready to greet her boss with coffee and good cheer. Instead, she finds him slumped in bed, shot to death.
The victim had recently received rave media attention for his latest project: images of homeless people in their personal “dream” situations, elaborately costumed and enacting unfulfilled fantasies. There are some, however, who view the whole thing as nothing more than crass exploitation, citing token payments and the victim’s avoidance of any long-term relationships with his subjects.
Has disgruntlement blossomed into homicidal rage? Or do the roots of violence reach down to the victim’s family—a clan, sired by an elusive billionaire, that is bizarre in its own right?
Then new murders arise, and Alex and Milo begin peeling back layer after layer of intrigue and complexity, culminating in one of the deadliest threats they’ve ever faced.
From TRBS: Still one of the most talented authors working today, Kellerman dials up yet another page-turning adventure starring Alex Deleware. Riveting and full of twists and turns that’ll keep you glued to the pages, I found this to be one of Kellerman’s best books to date . . . and that’s really saying something when you look at his extraordinary body of work.
The House Guest by Hank Phillippi Ryan
Release Date: February 7th
The House Guest is another diabolical cat-and-mouse thriller from USA Today bestselling author Hank Phillippi Ryan―but which character is the cat, and which character is the mouse?
After every divorce, one spouse gets all the friends. What does the other one get? If they’re smart, they get the benefits. Alyssa Macallan is terrified when she’s dumped by her wealthy and powerful husband. With a devastating divorce looming, she begins to suspect her toxic and manipulative soon-to-be-ex is scheming to ruin her―leaving her alone and penniless. And when the FBI shows up at her door, Alyssa knows she really needs a friend.
And then she gets one. A seductive new friend, one who’s running from a dangerous relationship of her own. Alyssa offers Bree Lorrance the safety of her guest house, and the two become confidantes. Then Bree makes a heart-stoppingly tempting offer. Maybe Alyssa and Bree can solve each others’ problems.
But no one is what they seem. And the fates and fortunes of these two women twist and turn until the shocking truth emerges: You can’t always get what you want. But sometimes you get what you deserve.
TRBS: One of my favorite writers working today (and one of my favorite people in the industry), Hank Phillip Ryan reached “must-read” status for me several years back. I was fortunate enough to catch up with her a few times this year, hearing a bit more about this book each time, and I personally cannot wait to get my hands on it. My advice here is to pre-order ASAP.
The Cradle of Ice by James Rollins
Release Date: February 7th
The second book in the New York Times bestselling Moonfall series from thriller master James Rollins, The Cradle of Ice is a page-turning tale of action, adventure, betrayal, ambition, and the struggle for survival in a harsh world that hangs by a thread.
To stop the coming apocalypse, a fellowship was formed.
A soldier, a thief, a lost prince, and a young girl bonded by fate and looming disaster.
Each step along this path has changed the party, forging deep alliances and greater
enmities. All the while, hostile forces have hunted them, fearing what they might
unleash. Armies wage war around them.
For each step has come with a cost—in blood, in loss, in heartbreak.
Now, they must split, traveling into a vast region of ice and to a sprawling capital of the world they’ve only known in stories. Time is running out and only the truth will save us all.
From TRBS: It’s a two-book year for Rollins, who also has another Sigma Force book on tap. This one, though, the second is his new fantasy series, is up first—and having just finished is, I can say with confidence that his legion of fans will absolutely love and devour this book.
A Killing of Innocents by Deborah Crombie
Release Date: February 7th
New York Times bestseller Deborah Crombie returns with a new novel featuring Scotland Yard detectives Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James as they race to solve the shocking murder of a young woman before panic spreads across London.
On a rainy November evening, trainee doctor Sasha Johnson hurries through the evening crowd in London’s historic Russell Square. Out of the darkness, someone jostles her as they brush past. A moment later, Sasha stumbles, then collapses. When Detective Superintendent Duncan Kincaid and his sergeant, Doug Cullen, are called to the scene, they discover that she’s been stabbed.
Kincaid immediately calls in his detective wife, Gemma James, who has recently been assigned to a task force on knife crimes which are on the rise. Along with her partner, detective sergeant Melody Talbot, Gemma aids the investigation. But Sasha Johnson doesn’t fit the profile of the task force’s typical knife crime victim. Single, successful, career-driven, she has no history of abusive relationships or any connection to gangs. Sasha had her secrets, though, and some of them lead the detectives uncomfortably close to home.
As the team unravels the victim’s tangled connections, another murder raises the stakes. Kincaid, Gemma, and their colleagues must put even friendships on the line to find the killer stalking the dark streets of Bloomsbury.
TRBS: Crombie is a truly phenomenal writer who rarely misses the mark. Whether you’re caught up on her series or just finding it for the first time with this one, readers should be able to jump in here with relative ease, and trust me, if you’re just meeting Duncan and Gemma for the first time, you’ll soon be hooked.
Encore in Death by J.D. Robb
Release Date: February 7, 2023
The homicide cop with a passion for justice returns in the captivating crime thriller series by the #1 New York Times bestselling author.
It was a glittering event full of A-listers, hosted by Eliza Lane and Brant Fitzhugh, a celebrity couple who’d conquered both Hollywood and Broadway. And now Eve Dallas has made her entrance—but not as a guest. After raising a toast, Fitzhugh fell to the floor and died, with physical symptoms pointing to cyanide, and the police have crashed the party.
From all accounts, he wasn’t the kind of star who made enemies. Everyone loved him—even his ex-wife. And since the champagne cocktail that killed him was originally intended for Eliza, it’s possible she was the real target, with a recently fired assistant, a bitter rival, and an obsessed fan in the picture. With so many attendees, staff, and servers, Eve has her work cut out determining who committed murder in the middle of the crowd—and what was their motivation. As one who’s not fond of the spotlight herself, she dreads the media circus surrounding a case like this. All she wants is to figure out who’s truly innocent, and who’s only acting that way . . .
From TRBS: J.D. Robb, aka Nora Roberts, is one of the most successful writers in the world for a reason—she knows what her readers want and delivers it time and time again.
More than Meets the Eye by Iris Johansen and Roy Johansen
Release Date: February 7, 2023
New York Times bestselling authors Iris Johansen and Roy Johansen team up for another electrifying thriller that pits a serial killer against Kendra Michaels’ heightened powers of deduction.
After scoring a plea deal in a high-profile murder trial, serial killer James Michael Barrett leads a grim parade of law enforcement officers to the body of his last victim. At the alleged burial site, the officers swing their shovels down and are met with a strange metallic sound they weren’t expecting. In a blink, a terrific explosion rocks the woods, killing Barrett and most of the officers instantly.
The detonation is only the beginning of a shocking case for FBI consultant Kendra Michaels—a string of heinous murders in the style of the very-dead Barrett mysteriously continue, and it becomes clear that he may not have been working alone. As the crimes accelerate, Kendra reluctantly accepts help from college student Tricia Walton, the only survivor of Barrett’s attacks. But the killer has a terrifying plan that Kendra and her team are only beginning to understand.
From TRBS: Publisher’s Weekly calls this one “Pulse-pounding,” while Kirkus claims it’s a “model nailbiter.” I haven’t read it, but I’m excited to check it out.
The Last Orphan by Gregg Hurwitz
Release Date: February 14th
Evan Smoak returns in The Last Orphan, the latest New York Times bestselling Orphan X thriller–when everything changes and everything is at risk.
As a child, Evan Smoak was plucked out of a group home, raised and trained as an off-the-books assassin for the government as part of the Orphan program. When he broke with the program and went deep underground, he left with a lot of secrets in his head that the government would do anything to make sure never got out.
When he remade himself as The Nowhere Man, dedicated to helping the most desperate in their times of trouble, Evan found himself slowly back on the government’s radar. Having eliminated most of the Orphans in the program, the government will stop at nothing to eliminate the threat they see in Evan. But Orphan X has always been several steps ahead of his pursuers.
Until he makes one little mistake…
Now the President has him in her control and offers Evan a deal – eliminate a rich, powerful man she says is too dangerous to live and, in turn, she’ll let Evan survive. But when Evan left the Program he swore to only use his skills against those who really deserve it. Now he has to decide what’s more important – his principles or his life.
From TRBS: Orphan X is back, and this time, he faces a moral conundrum like never before. A one-sit read that’ll have you flipping pages into the night, Hurwitz is on his A-game here, delivering another winner that his fans will devour in no time.
The Cliff’s Edge by Charles Todd
Release Date: February 14th
In the aftermath of World War I, nurse Bess Crawford is caught in a deadly feud between two families in this thirteenth book in the beloved mystery series from New York Times bestselling author Charles Todd.
Restless and uncertain of her future in the wake of World War I, former battlefield nurse Bess Crawford agrees to travel to Yorkshire to help a friend of her cousin Melinda through surgery. But circumstances change suddenly when news of a terrible accident reaches them. Bess agrees to go to isolated Scarfdale and the Neville family, where one man has been killed and another gravely injured. The police are asking questions, and Bess is quickly drawn into the fray as two once close families take sides, even as they are forced to remain in the same house until the inquest is completed.
When another tragedy strikes, the police are ready to make an arrest. Bess struggles to keep order as tensions rise and shots are fired. What dark truth is behind these deaths? And what about the tale of an older murder—one that doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the Nevilles? Bess is unaware that when she passes the story on to Cousin Melinda, she will set in motion a revelation with the potential to change the lives of those she loves most—her parents, and her dearest friend, Simon Brandon.
TRBS: It’s safe to say there isn’t another character quite like Bess Crawford in print today, and honestly, the same is true for this series in general. If you’re looking for powerful historical fiction that’ll suck you in and hold your attention, here it is.
Black Wolf by Kathleen Kent
Release Date: February 14th
A “masterful” and “riveting” thriller about a female CIA agent whose extraordinary facial recognition powers lead her into the dangerous heart of the Soviet Union—and the path of a killer who shouldn’t exist (Joseph Finder, New York Times bestselling author).
It is 1990 when Melvina Donleavy arrives in Soviet Belarus on her first undercover mission with the CIA, alongside three fellow agents—none of whom know she is playing two roles. To the prying eyes of the KGB, she is merely a secretary; to her CIA minders, she is the only one who can stop the flow of nuclear weapons from the crumbling Soviet Union into the Middle East.
For Mel has a secret; she is a “super recognizer,” someone who never forgets a face. But no training could prepare her for the reality of life undercover, and for the streets of Minsk, where women have been disappearing. Soviet law enforcement is firm: murder is a capitalist disease. But could a serial killer be at work? Especially if he knew no one was watching? As Mel searches for answers, she catches the eye of an entirely different kind of threat: the elusive and petrifying “Black Wolf,” head of the KGB.
Filled with insider details from the author’s own time working under the direction of the U.S. Department of Defense, Black Wolf is a riveting new spy thriller from an Edgar-nominated crime writer, and a biting exploration of the divide between two nations, two masterminds, and two roles played by a woman pushed to her breaking point, where she’ll learn that you can only ever trust one person: yourself.
From TRBS: One of my favorite authors, Joseph Finder, had this to say about Kent’s book: “Part spy novel, part serial-killer novel, Black Wolf is masterful, a riveting tale and a powerful depiction of the collapse of the Soviet Union as seen through the eyes of Melvina Donleavy, a uniquely talented CIA recruit who deserves a series of her own.” That’s good enough for me!
Release Date: February 21st
Court Gentry is caught between the Russian mafia and the CIA in this latest electrifying thriller in the #1 New York Times bestselling Gray Man series.
When you kick over a rock, you never know what’s going to crawl out.
Alex Velesky is about to discover that the hard way. He’s stolen records from the Swiss bank that employs him, thinking that he’ll uncover a criminal conspiracy. But he soon finds that he’s tapped into the mother lode of corruption. Before he knows it, he’s being hunted by everyone from the Russian mafia to the CIA.
Court Gentry and his erstwhile lover, Zoya Zakharova, find themselves on opposites poles when it comes to Velesky. They both want him but for different reasons.
That’s a problem for tomorrow. Today they need to keep him and themselves alive. Right now, it’s not looking good.
From TRBS: Having read this one, I can honestly say it’s Greaney’s best work to date. My favorite Gray Man book has always been Back Blast, which is one of my all-time favorite thrillers. This one might be better. Seriously.
The Last Kingdom by Steve Berry
Release Date: February 21st
From celebrated New York Times bestselling author, Steve Berry, comes the latest Cotton Malone adventure, in which the discovery of a lost historical document challenges the global might of the United States.
King Ludwig II of Bavaria was an enigmatic figure who was deposed in 1886, mysteriously drowning three days later. Eccentric to the point of madness, history tells us that in the years before he died Ludwig engaged in a worldwide search for a new kingdom, one separate, apart, and in lieu of Bavaria. A place he could retreat into and rule as he wished. But a question remains: did he succeed?
Enter Cotton Malone. After many months, Malone’s protégé, Luke Daniels, has managed to infiltrate a renegade group intent on winning Bavarian independence from Germany. Daniels has also managed to gain the trust of the prince of Bavaria, a frustrated second son intent on eliminating his brother, the duke, and restoring the Wittelsbach monarchy, only now with him as king. Everything hinges on a 19th century deed which proves that Ludwig’s long-rumored search bore fruit–legal title to lands that Germany, China, and the United States all now want, only for vastly different reasons.
In a race across Bavaria for clues hidden in Ludwig’s three fairytale castles–Neuschwanstein, Linderhof and Herrenchiemsee–Malone and Daniels battle an ever-growing list of deadly adversaries, all intent on finding the last kingdom.
From TRBS: It’s good to see Cotton Malone back, and with another wild adventure to boot. Berry is rock-solid, but his last Malone book wasn’t quite up to the high standard he’s set over his career. Expect him to rebound in a big way with this one.
Release Date: February 21st
THE STAND meets William R. Forstchen’s ONE SECOND AFTER in New York Times and USA Today bestselling author John Gilstrap’s third pulse-pounding thriller set in an America ravaged by global conflict. As a community of survivors strives to rebuild all they have lost, they look to one woman – single mother and former West Virginia congressional representative Victoria Emerson—to balance survival with justice…
“One of the most compelling heroines to come along in years.”
—Jeffery Deaver
One-time congressional representative Victoria Emerson has received a request from the deposed president of the United States—come to the bunker at Hilltop Manor, where the remnants of the U.S. government have been imprisoned. A ruthless band has seized power, leaving civilians to die of starvation and untreated injuries. The self-appointed leader, Roger Parsons, plans to punish the former rulers for thrusting the country into Hell Day, the devastating war that changed the world in just a few hours.
Victoria is reluctant to leave Ortho, the West Virginia town she has developed and defended. But as a born leader, she feels the call of duty. Forging her way through a landscape terrorized by local warlords and desperate scavengers, she arrives at Hilltop Manor to find a powder keg of battling factions.
The lofty ideals on which the Republic was founded and the values that once held society together have devolved into anarchy. Calling on her deepest personal resources and her unwavering convictions, Victoria must somehow return the rule of law to a society where many of the old rules and laws don’t matter anymore.
From TRBS: Gilstrap has really hit it out of the park with his last two books, introducing characters and fleshing them out. Fans of the genre are sure to like Victoria Emerson, who is strong, smart, and unflappable. But the real key to this series working is the world in which the characters operate, and Gilstrap has established that brilliantly, laying out a universe that . . .well . .. doesn’t seem all that far-fetched sometimes these days.
Release Date: February 21st
The world is more volatile, unpredictable, and dangerous than ever before. To stop the architect of this chaos, Dempsey is given the most dangerous tasking of his career … a mission only he can complete against an adversary he must face alone.
After Task Force Ember’s successful intervention in Ukraine, John Dempsey disappears without a trace — with no notice or explanation given to his teammates. Spotty intelligence eventually places him in Russia where he is rumored to have been captured by the Russian FSB and is now presumed dead. Mourning his loss, Ember is forced to pick up the pieces, restructure, and continue their mission of keeping America safe. As the president’s “go-to” black ops asset, Ember is directed to find and finish off the Russian spymaster Arkady Zhukov and any last remnants of Zeta cell.
Unbeknownst to his teammates, Dempsey is very much alive and on mission. At behest of Vice President Jarvis, he is deep undercover — in the heart of Russia’s nexus of organized crime and politics. For his mission to succeed, he will have to team up with a man who has been his adversary — the one man in all the world he most wants dead. The risks are higher than ever, as Dempsey pursues a high-stakes plot of Russian regime change. And if he fails, the Kremlin’s retribution will be swift and terrible and certain to drag the world into World War III.
From TRBS: The long-awaited next Demsey book is right around the corner, and Andrews & Wilson have dialed up one of their most explosive adventures yet. Fans of this series are going to absolutely flip for this one.
Arch-Conspirator by Veronica Roth
Release Date: February 21st
In this gripping and atmospheric reimagining of Antigone, #1 New York Times bestselling author Veronica Roth reaches back to the root of legend and delivers a world of tomorrow both timeless and unexpected.
“I’m cursed, haven’t you heard?”
Outside the last city on Earth, the planet is a wasteland. Without the Archive, where the genes of the dead are stored, humanity will end.
Antigone’s parents – Oedipus and Jocasta – are dead. Passing into the Archive should be cause for celebration, but with her militant uncle Kreon rising to claim her father’s vacant throne, all Antigone feels is rage.
When he welcomes her and her siblings into his mansion, Antigone sees it for what it really is: a gilded cage, where she is a captive as well as a guest.
But her uncle will soon learn that no cage is unbreakable. And neither is he.
From TRBS: Roth has been hit or miss since finding success and fame with her Divergent series. The premise here has real potential, so let’s hope she finds the mark this time around.
Paris Requiem by Chris Lloyd
Release Date: February 21st
A gripping World War II murder mystery—and a beautifully drawn portrait of Paris under Nazi occupation—with compelling and conflicted hero Detective Eddie Giral at its heart.
Paris, 1940.
As the city adjusts to life under Nazi occupation, Detective Eddie Giral struggles to reconcile his job as a policeman with his new role enforcing a regime he cannot believe in, but must work under.
He’s sacrificed so much in order to survive in this new world, but the past is not so easily forgotten. When an old friend—and an old flame—reappear, begging for his help, Eddie must decide how far he will go to help those he loves.
The notion of justice itself quickly becomes as dangerous, blurred, and confused as the war itself. And Eddie’s morale compass, ever on unreliable foundations, will be questioned again and again as the ravages of the German occupation steadily attempt to grind him—and the city he loves—into submission.
Negotiating a path between resistance and collaboration, he can remain a good man and do nothing—or risk everything he has achieved in a desperate act of resistance.
From TRBS: PW calls it a “stellar sequel to 2020’s The Unwanted Dead.” Let’s see if Lloyd’s books fair as well here in the states, where I suspect readers will enjoy his prose and acute attention to detail.
It’s One of Us by J.T. Ellison
Release Date: February 21st
“A heart-stoppingly tense thriller about the price of secrets and the layers behind every marriage.” —Ruth Ware, New York Times bestselling author of The It Girl and The Woman In Cabin 10
Everybody lies. Even the ones you think you know best of all . . .
Olivia Bender designs exquisite home interiors that satisfy the most demanding clients. But her own deepest desire can’t be fulfilled by marble counters or the perfect rug. She desperately wants to be a mother. Fertility treatments and IVF keep failing. And just when she feels she’s at her lowest point, the police deliver shocking news to Olivia and her husband, Park.
DNA results show that the prime suspect in a murder investigation is Park’s son. Olivia is relieved, knowing this is a mistake. Despite their desire, the Benders don’t have any children. Then comes the confession. Many years ago, Park donated sperm to a clinic. He has no idea how many times it was sold—or how many children he has sired.
As the murder investigation goes deeper, more terrible truths come to light. With every revelation, Olivia must face the unthinkable. The man she married has fathered a killer. But can she hold that against him when she keeps such dark secrets of her own?
This twisting, emotionally layered thriller explores the lies we tell to keep a marriage together–or break each other apart . . .
From TRBS: The queen of suspense is back with another nail-biter. One of my go-to authors whenever I need a book that’ll grab me and provide more than a few thills, Ellison is at the very top of her game here. It’s One of Us is one of the best books I’ve read so far this year.
Murder Your Employer by Rupert Holmes
Release Date: February 21st
From the diabolical imagination of Edgar Award–winning novelist, playwright, and story-songwriter Rupert Holmes comes a devilish thriller with a killer concept: The McMasters Conservatory for the Applied Arts, a luxurious, clandestine college dedicated to the fine art of murder where earnest students study how best to “delete” their most deserving victim.
Who hasn’t wondered for a split second what the world would be like if a person who is the object of your affliction ceased to exist? But then you’ve probably never heard of The McMasters Conservatory, dedicated to the consummate execution of the homicidal arts. To gain admission, a student must have an ethical reason for erasing someone who deeply deserves a fate no worse (nor better) than death. The campus of this “Poison Ivy League” college—its location unknown to even those who study there—is where you might find yourself the practice target of a classmate…and where one’s mandatory graduation thesis is getting away with the perfect murder of someone whose death will make the world a much better place to live.
Prepare for an education you’ll never forget. A delightful mix of witty wordplay, breathtaking twists and genuine intrigue, Murder Your Employer will gain you admission into a wholly original world, cocooned within the most entertaining book about well-intentioned would-be murderers you’ll ever read.
From TRBS: This one snuck up on me. I’ll be honest, I had no idea that the man who created Escape (The Piña Colada Song) had also penned Tony Award-winning whodunit musicals and Edgar Award–winning comedy-thrillers. Here he delivers a truly unique story concept that, once you start, is really hard to put down.
Release Date: February 28th
Wyoming Game Warden Joe Pickett investigates a mysterious death at a secret remote high-tech facility in this riveting new novel from #1 New York Times bestseller C.J. Box
When a prominent University of Wyoming professor goes missing, authorities are stumped. That is, until Joe Pickett makes two surprising discoveries while hunting down a wounded elk on his district as an epic spring storm descends upon him. First, he finds the professor’s vehicle parked on a remote mountainside. Then Joe finds the professor’s frozen and mutilated body. When he attempts to learn more, his investigation is obstructed by federal agents, extremists, and Governor Colter Allen.
Nate Romanowski is rebuilding his falconry company—and financing this through crypto mining with the assistance of Geronimo Jones. He’s then approached by a shadowy group of local militant activists that is gaining in power and influence, and demanding that Wyoming join other western states and secede from the union—by force, if necessary. They ask Nate to throw in with them, but he’s wary. Should he trust them, or is he being set up?
As a storm of peril gathers around them, Joe and Nate confront it in different ways—and maybe, for the first time, on opposite sides.
From TRBS: The best series in print today, regardless of genre, continues with Storm Watch, my early pick for book of the year. If you’re not reading Box’s work, you’re really missing out. Change that right away!
Device Free Weekend by Sean Doolittle
Release Date: February 28th
Seven friends, one eccentric billionaire, an all-expenses paid reunion on a private island with one catch: no phones, tablets or laptops allowed. It’ll be a weekend to remember–for those who make it out alive.
Ryan Cloverhill, founder and CEO of the world’s most popular social media platform, invites his six best friends from college to his home on his private island near Puget Sound. For Stephen, Emma, Perry, Will, Beau, and Lainie, day one is just what the doctor ordered: amazing food, many drinks, lots of laughter, and a sunset cruise around the island aboard their host’s custom Van Dutch 55.
Day Two, however, takes a bewildering turn when the six hungover guests wake up to find that their host has disappeared, along with all connection to the mainland. A touchscreen tablet of unknown make awaits them, blatantly defying the rules of the weekend with its on-screen challenge: Unlock Me! The passcode to the tablet is hidden somewhere in the group’s shared history. But what seems at first like just another silly game turns deadly serious when the group discovers what unlocking the tablet really means. Is it the key to their futures, a Pandora’s box none of them will ever be able to close, or both?
Only one thing is clear: their old friend Ryan has something unthinkable planned. Now it’s up to the six of them to stop him. And when this weekend is over, the world will never be the same.
From TRBS: PW calls it “Dramatic, deadly, and occasionally funny,” while bestselling author Alafair Burke says, “Device Free Weekend is aptly titled. Once I met this rich cast of characters—college friends mysteriously reunited on a rich tech mogul’s private island—I immediately wanted to avoid all distractions and lose myself in this smart, propulsive thriller. Sean Doolittle continues to be one of the most clever and creative crime writers working today.” That was enough to have me excited to check this one out.
What Have We Done by Alex Finlay
Release Date: March 7, 2023
From Alex Finlay, the author of Every Last Fear and The Night Shift, comes an action-packed new thriller about the lives we leave behind and the secrets we carry with us forever.
A stay-at-home yoga mom with a past.
A has-been rock star with a habit.
A reality TV showrunner with a crushing gambling debt.
Three disparate lives.
One big secret.
Twenty-five years ago, Jenna, Donnie, Nico, Arty, and Ben were the best of friends, a bond forged as residents of Savior House, an abusive group home for wayward teens. When the home was shut down—after the disappearance of several residents—the group was disbanded.
Though the trauma from Savior House has never left them, each went on to successful, if troubled, lives. They haven’t seen each other since they were teens, but now are reunited for a single haunting reason: someone is killing them one by one.
It’s a reunion none of them asked for or wanted. But one that may be the only way to save all their lives.
From TRBS: Finlay has now turned in three excellent novels in a row, with this one perhaps featuring some of his best plotting so far.
Release Date: March 14th
Absolute Power meets The Manchurian Candidate in this explosive political thriller from USA Today bestselling author Ward Larsen, Deep Fake.
The Cold War is back―but for some it never ended.
Sarah Ridgeway is living the life she’s always envisioned. She has a devoted husband, a loving daughter, and a comfortable home. The path to reach it, however, has not always been smooth. For twelve years her husband, Bryce, served in the Army, deployed to some of the world’s worst trouble spots. After his service ended with a combat injury, the future had seemed precarious, but with Sarah’s support and that of his wealthy family, combined with his exemplary service record, he is elected to congress.
Then, in a moment, everything changes: at a drab Washington fundraiser, the junior congressman intervenes in a terrorist attack, and narrowly escapes with his life. When videos of his bravery go viral, he quickly becomes a national hero. The timing could not be more fortuitous. The presidential primaries are heating up, and Bryce’s party is desperate for a fresh candidate to challenge the vulnerable incumbent.
Amid the whirlwind, Sarah senses something amiss. Since the attack, Bryce has been forgetful and acting strangely. Could it be the stress? she wonders. Might the recent explosion have aggravated his combat trauma? For the first time ever, she finds herself doubting a man she has always trusted. Confessing her fears to her closest friend, together they quietly search for answers. What they uncover is stunning: the man who might soon be president has a deeply held secret. A secret that will likely destroy Sarah’s life―and certainly lead the nation to ruin.
From TRBS: Larsen has flashed real talent before, but this might be his most timely book so far. There’s real excitement around this book too, and though it’s not part of his beloved series, expectations are high.
Collateral Damage by J.A. Jance
Release Date: March 14th
In the next thrilling installment in J.A. Jance’s New York Times bestselling series, Ali Reynolds and High Noon Enterprises faces the dangerous consequences of one man’s desperate search for revenge.
After spending twenty years behind bars, Frank Muñoz, a disgraced former cop, is out on parole and focused on just one thing: revenge. The wife who abandoned him after his arrest; the mistress who ratted him out for abetting a money-laundering scheme; the detectives who presided over his case all those years ago—Frank has bided his time and pulled many strings…placing targets on each of their backs.
For Ali Reynolds, the first Christmas without her father is riddled with grief and uncertainty. And with her husband and founding partner of High Noon Enterprises, B. Simpson, anxiously preoccupied by an upcoming New Year’s trip to London, she is ready for a break. But when Stu Ramey barges into her home with grave news about a serious—though suspicious—accident on the highway to Phoenix involving the car in which B. was riding, things take a turn for the worse.
At the hospital, a groggy, post-op B. insists that Ali take his place at a ransomware conference in London, as troubles brimming around High Noon come to light. But questions remain: Who would go to such lengths to remove the tech company from the picture? And how can Ali be sure she and the rest of the team aren’t also in danger?
In a race against time, Ali must assemble the pieces of a puzzle, woven with vendettas she never could have imagined, all before she and the people she loves become collateral damage.
From TRBS: Jance brings back Ali Reynolds for another go-around, and by the looks of it, she has her work cut out for her. As steady as they come, readers know exactly what they’re getting with Jance’s work, which means expect to be thrilled and walk away satisfied.
I Will Find You by Harlan Coben
Release Date: March 14th
An innocent father serving life for the murder of his own son receives evidence that his child may still be alive, and must break out of prison to find out the truth in #1 New York Times bestselling author Harlan Coben’s latest breathtaking thriller.
From TRBS: I know a lot of readers were hoping the news that Netflix re-upped Coben’s contract, with plans to adapt the Myron Bolitar series, meant another Myron or Win book was on the way, but that’s looking more likely in 2024, frankly. Still, the master of suspense never disappoints, so there’s every reason to think Coben crushes it yet again with this one.
Release Date: March 14th
The acclaimed author of Sleeping Bear, “one of those rare novels that keeps getting better and better and better” (James Patterson), returns with another action-packed thriller following a shadow operative in the midst of a conspiracy with worldwide implications.
Under the direction of the Special Activities Center in the Operations Directorate of the CIA, over three hundred highly trained agents operate in the darkest shadows of the country’s covert wars. Plucked from the highest echelons of America’s special mission units, these individuals go through rigorous training by the Agency to perfect the arts of assassination, sabotage, infiltration, and guerrilla warfare.
According to the United States government, this Ground Branch of the CIA does not exist. But when diplomacy and military intervention fails, the President of the United States calls upon it to solve America’s most dangerous crises.
Brian Rhome, a former Ground Branch paramilitary officer, thought his time within this elite group was over. But now, he’s on a desperate race against time around the globe as he confronts the traumas of his past and unravels a deadly conspiracy that threatens the highest levels of American democracy.
A shocking, unputdownable thrill ride, this novel proves that Connor Sullivan is the “new, must-read author in town” (Chris Hauty, author of Deep State).
From TRBS: Fresh off his Barry Award win in 2022, Sullivan brings the heat with this series starter, introducing readers to a hardened new hero who should anchor this young series for decades to come. One of the most talented writers to burst onto the thriller scene in years, Sullivan should be on everyone’s radar in 2023.
Countdown by James Patterson & Brendon DuBois
Release Date: March 21, 2023
5 days to save the world, 4 days to save her family. . . James Patterson’s most terrifying time-bomb of a thriller since The President Is Missing.
Agent Amy Cornwall excels at working from the shadows—until a botched field operation reveals dark dealings between her bosses and an informant. And a hidden plot by a terrorist genius that could kill thousands of Americans. Among them: her husband and daughter.
She has to go dark. The Division wants to erase her. And they know every detail about her identity, her history, and her family.
Agent Cornwall’s countdown has begun.
From TRBS: Let’s be honest, these books are bought because they have Patterson’s name on them, and rightfully so. As America’s favorite storyteller, he’s achieved a level of success that few before him have ever reached. But Don’t discredit DuBois, who is a fine writer and brings plenty to the table here.
Total Empire by A.J. Tata
Release Date: March 21, 2023
General Garrett Sinclair undertakes a rogue mission in the Sahara Desert to thwart an international nuclear threat in this explosive thriller.
When Sergeant Major Sylvester “Sly” Morgan is killed while on a mission, his daughter Zoey tells General Garrett Sinclair that her father’s death wasn’t random. Her father had recorded a high-level meeting between Chinese, American, and French diplomats as they spoke about a plan for a new global government.
The “Chinese-U.S. Partnership”, or CUSP, intends to combine the world’s two largest economies and militaries to usher in a new era of partnership and leadership. But China’s offer has a deadline and penalties for noncompliance. As a safeguard, China has five high-tech
hypersonic glide vehicles armed with nuclear weapons orbiting the Earth ready to strike. When Zoey disappears in the Eye of Africa, seemingly in pursuit of her father’s killer, Sinclair and Dagger Team are caught off-guard as they scramble to catch up.
Without authorization, Sinclair takes Dagger Team into Dakhla, Morocco as he attempts to save his goddaughter’s life. With too many missions to complete and not enough information, Sinclair and team discover that the Chinese plan is nearly complete. As one nuclear glide vehicle misses Washington, DC but hits Loudoun County, Virginia, Sinclair’s mission in the Sahara is to stop the Chinese from using its ground-based laser targeting system before they can more accurately launch the remaining four. Facing insurmountable odds and without support from his government, Sinclair takes his team into the maw of the Saharan death pit, the Eye of Africa . . .
From TRBS: Tata is back with another blockbuster that hits hard and features a hard-charging plot that’ll hook you fast and hold your attention from beginning to end. I flew through this one, and if you like action and strong heroes who aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty, you will too.
Her Deadly Game by Robert Dugoni
Release Date: March 28th
A defense attorney is prepared to play. But is she a pawn in a master’s deadly match? A twisting novel of suspense by New York Times bestselling author Robert Dugoni.
Keera Duggan was building a solid reputation as a Seattle prosecutor, until her romantic relationship with a senior colleague ended badly. For the competitive former chess prodigy, returning to her family’s failing criminal defense law firm to work for her father is the best shot she has. With the right moves, she hopes to restore the family’s reputation, her relationship with her father, and her career.
Keera’s chance to play in the big leagues comes when she’s retained by Vince LaRussa, an investment adviser accused of murdering his wealthy wife. There’s little hard evidence against him, but considering the couple’s impending and potentially nasty divorce, LaRussa faces life in prison. The prosecutor is equally challenging: Miller Ambrose, Keera’s former lover, who’s eager to destroy her in court on her first homicide defense.
As Keera and her team follow the evidence, they uncover a complicated and deadly game that’s more than Keera bargained for. When shocking information turns the case upside down, Keera must decide between her duty to her client, her family’s legacy, and her own future.
From TRBS: Another legal thriller from Robert Dugoni will certainly have his readers happy, but expect plenty of suspense and fireworks along the way.
Loyalty by Lisa Scottoline
Release Date: March 28th
#1 bestselling author Lisa Scottoline presents Loyalty, an emotional, action-packed epic of love and justice, set during the rise of the Mafia in Sicily.
Loyalty can save a soul—or destroy one.
Franco Fiorvanti is a handsome lemon grower toiling on the estate of a baron. He dreams of owning his own grove, but the rigid class system of Sicily thwarts his ambition. Determined to secure a better future, Franco will do anything to prove his loyalty to the baron. But when the baron asks him to kidnap a little boy named Dante, Franco makes a decision that will change his life—and even the history of Sicily—forever.
Gaetano Catalano is an idealistic young lawyer whose devotion to justice is tantamount to a calling. He’s a member of the Beati Paoli, a real-life secret society of aristocrats who investigate crime in Palermo, a city riddled with graft. Gaetano sets out to find the boy and punish the kidnapper, but his mission leads him to a darker place than he had ever imagined.
Meanwhile, Mafalda Pancari is a new mother rejoicing at the birth of her daughter, Lucia, when disaster strikes. And Alfredo D’Antonio is a reclusive goatherd under constant threat of being discovered as a Jew. How the lives of these unforgettable characters collide makes Loyalty an epic tale of good versus evil, as the story twists and turns to its monumental showdown.
Readers will be transported to the dramatic and ruggedly beautiful island of Sicily, the jewel of the Mediterranean, where lush lemon groves and mouth-watering cuisine contrast with a turbulent history of colonization and corruption. Scottoline brings her decades of thriller writing to historical fiction, creating in Loyalty a singular novel that no reader will be able to put down.
From TRBS: You’d be hard-pressed to find an author working today with more range than Scottoline, who continues to deliver in a big way with her latest release. I’ve read Loyalty and loved every page. It truly is remarkable how Scottoline can take on such different concepts, matching the tone of her story with unflinching prose that grabs and holds your attention from beginning to end. Loyalty will satisfy her readers, no doubt
Blind Spots by Thomas Mullen
Release Date: April 4th
A riveting crime novel with a speculative edge about the ways our perceptions of reality can be manipulated.
Seven years ago, everyone in the world went blind in a matter of months. Technology helped people adjust to the new normal, creating a device that approximates vision, downloading visual data directly to people’s brains. But what happens when someone finds a way to hack it and change what people see?
Homicide detective Mark Owens has been on the force since before The Blinding. When a scientist is murdered, and the only witness insists the killer was blacked out of her vision, Owens doesn’t believe her—until a similar murder happens in front of him. With suspects ranging from tech billionaires to anti-modernity cultists—and with the bodies piling up—Owens must conduct an investigation in which he can’t even trust his own eyes.
Thomas Mullen, the acclaimed author of Darktown and The Last Town on Earth, delivers an unputdownable crime novel about one man’s search for truth in a world of surveillance and disinformation that’s all too recognizable.
From TRBS: Admittingly, I haven’t read Mullen’s work since Darktown, but even back then, it was clear he had an overabundance of talent. I for one am excited to see what he’s come up with here.
Robert Ludlum’s The Treadstone Rendition by Joshua Hood
Release Date: April 4th
The final days of the American presence in Afghanistan bring Adam Hayes a summons he can’t ignore in the latest electrifying thriller from the world of Robert Ludlum.
Adam Hayes has stepped away from the field for the last time. He’s promised his wife that he won’t put his life on the line any more, and there’s nothing that will make him break a promise to his wife.
Well…almost nothing. With America withdrawing from Afghanistan and the Taliban closing in, Abdul Nassir reached out to his old friend. Ten years ago, he saved the American’s life, and the time has come for repayment. The Afghan is desperate to flee his homeland. Like most of his countrymen, he is petrified by the Taliban takeover, but he also can’t trust the Americans. He’s the only eyewitness to a massacre committed by a rogue team of CIA contractors. Not only can he identify the butcher who directed the bloodbath, he also has photographic proof. He’ll only be safe when those pictures are made public
Now, there’s just one man he can trust to get him to safety–Adam Hayes.
TRBS: Hood has done a really good job developing this series. The last book had new energy to it, and was (for my money), the best in the series so far. So, it’ll be interesting to see where Hood takes Hayes this time around.
Dark Angel by John SandfordRelease Date: April 11th
Letty Davenport, the tough-as-nails adopted daughter of Lucas Davenport, takes on an undercover assignment that brings her across the country and into the crosshairs of a dangerous group of hackers.
Letty Davenport’s days working a desk job at are behind her. Her previous actions at a gunfight in Texas—and her incredible skills with firearms—draw the attention of several branches of the US government, and make her a perfect fit for even more dangerous work. The Department of Homeland Security and the NSA have tasked her with infiltrating a hacker group, known only as Ordinary People, that is intent on wreaking havoc. Letty and her reluctant partner from the NSA pose as free-spirited programmers for hire and embark on a cross country road trip to the group’s California headquarters.
While the two work to make inroads with Ordinary People and uncover their plans, they begin to suspect that the hackers are not their only enemy. Someone within their own circle may have betrayed them, and has ulterior motives that place their mission—and their lives—in grave danger.
From TRBS: The Letty Davenport series is terrific. If you’re not reading it, start. Sandford has brought her along masterfully, fleshing out his latest lead character across these first couple of books in a way that’ll have readers hoping she stays around for a long, long time.
Standing in the Shadows by Peter Robinson
Release Date: April 11th
The 28th twisting installment in the DCI Alan Banks mystery series that Stephen King calls “the best now on the market.”
In November 1980, Nick Hartley returns home from a university lecture to find his house crawling with police. His ex-girlfriend, Alice Poole, has been found murdered, and her new boyfriend Mark Woodcroft is missing. Nick is the prime suspect. The case quickly goes cold, but Nick cannot let it go. He embarks on a career in investigative journalism, determined to find Alice’s murderer—but his obsession leads him down a dangerous path.
Decades later, in November 2019, an archaeologist unearths a skeleton that turns out to be far more contemporary than the Roman remains she is seeking. Detective Superintendent Alan Banks and his team are called in to investigate, but there is little to be gleaned from the remains themselves. Left with few clues, Banks and his team must rely on their wits to hunt down a killer.
As the two cases unfurl, the investigations twist and turn to an explosive conclusion.
TRBS: Another prolific writer who cranks out must-read historical fiction, Robinson continues to deliver in a big way with this DCI Banks mysteries. If you’re fan of Crombie and Todd, you’ve got to check out this series as well.
The Only Survivors by Megan Miranda
Release Date: April 11th
From the New York Times bestselling author of All the Missing Girls and “master of suspense, Megan Miranda” (Mary Kubica, New York Times bestselling author of The Good Girl), a thrilling mystery about a group of former classmates who reunite to mark the tenth anniversary of a tragic accident—only to have one of the survivors disappear, casting fear and suspicion on the original tragedy.
Seven hours in the past. Seven days in the present. Seven survivors remaining. Who would you save?
A decade ago, two vans filled with high school seniors on a school service trip crashed into a Tennessee ravine—a tragedy that claimed the lives of multiple classmates and teachers. The nine students who managed to escape the river that night were irrevocably changed. A year later, after one of the survivors dies by suicide on the anniversary of the crash, the rest of them make a pact: to come together each year to commemorate that terrible night.
To keep one another safe.
To hold one another accountable.
Or both.
Their annual meeting place, a house on the Outer Banks, has long been a refuge. But by the tenth anniversary, Cassidy Bent has worked to distance herself from the tragedy, and from the other survivors. She’s changed her mobile number. She’s blocked the others’ email addresses. This year, she is determined to finally break ties once and for all. But on the day of the reunion, she receives a text with an obituary attached: another survivor is gone. Now they are seven—and Cassidy finds herself hurling back toward the group, wild with grief—and suspicion.
Almost immediately, something feels off this year. Cassidy is the first to notice when Amaya, annual organizer, slips away, overwhelmed. This wouldn’t raise alarm except for the impending storm. Suddenly, they’re facing the threat of closed roads and surging waters…again. Then Amaya stops responding to her phone. After all they’ve been through, she wouldn’t willfully make them worry. Would she?
And—as they promised long ago—each survivor will do whatever he or she can do to save one another. Won’t they?
A propulsive and chilling locked-box mystery filled with the dazzling hairpin twists that are the author’s signature, The Only Survivors is New York Times-bestselling author Megan Miranda’s best novel yet.
TRBS: Booklist says Miranda is a “master of misdirection and sudden plot twists,” and I couldn’t agree more. Looking for something that’ll keep you guessing? Here it is.
Going Zero by Anthony McCarten
Release Date: April 11th
From four-time Academy Award-nominated screenwriter Anthony McCarten comes a breakneck, wickedly entertaining thriller for our times, a twisty, action-packed novel reminiscent of the best Michael Crichton technothrillers, in which a woman must find a way to elude the most powerful forces of government and high tech.
TWO HOURS TO VANISH
Ten Americans have been carefully selected to Beta test a ground-breaking piece of spyware. Pioneered by tech-wunderkind Cy Baxter in collaboration with the CIA, FUSION can track anyone on earth. But does it work?
ONE CHANCE TO ESCAPE
Each participant is given two hours to ‘Go Zero’ – to go off-grid and disappear – and then thirty days to elude the highly sophisticated Capture Teams sent to find them. Any Zero that beats FUSION will receive $3 million. If Cy’s system prevails, he wins a $90 billion-dollar government contract to revolutionize surveillance forever.
ZERO ALTERNATIVES
For one contestant, an unassuming Boston librarian named Kaitlyn Day, the stakes are far higher than money, and her reasons for entering the test more personal than anyone imagines. Kaitlyn needs to win as badly as Cy needs to realize his own ambitions. They have no choice but to finish the game and when the timer hits zero, there will only be one winner . . .
TRBS: I’ve yet to read this one, but after Douglas Preston called it “one of the best thrillers I’ve read in a long time, I added it to my list. We’ll have plenty more coverage of this one later, but for now, keep an eye on McCarten.
Release Date: April 18th
Hot on the heels of the “superb” (Stephen King) New York Times bestseller City on Fire comes the explosive second novel in an epic crime trilogy from #1 internationally bestselling author Don Winslow.
Danny Ryan, a young widower and mob underboss, has left the East Coast and settled in California with his young son in tow. The move has been good for Danny; in his new base of operations, his power, influence, and wealth have grown. Now he’s heading up to Hollywood to rein in two of his crew, who are shaking down a film being made about their involvement in the New England crime war.
At the film set, Danny finds himself in a replica of his old neighborhood, standing face-to-face with an actor who’s portraying him, and Diane Carson, the actress playing his late wife. Danny is immediately drawn to Diane, but soon learns of a crime in her past that Diane is desperate to cover up. As Danny tries to help Diane, he goes to war against new enemies who don’t want him moving in on their West Coast action, and their two worlds pull them in different, dangerous directions.
From TRBS: One of the most prolific writers alive today, Winslow follows up his hit 2022 novel, City on Fire, with yet another page-turner that, believe it or not . . . might just be his best work to date. I read this one a few weeks ago and am still stunned. Trust me, pre-order ASAP.
Release Date: April 18th
Simply Lies is an intense thriller featuring Mickey Gibson, a former New Jersey detective, from the number one bestselling author David Baldacci.
NO TRUTH
Former Jersey City detective and single mother of two, Mickey Gibson, now works for global investigation company, ProEye, to track down assets of the wealthy who have tried to avoid their creditors. One day she gets a call from a colleague, Arlene Robinson, asking her to visit the home of a notorious arms dealer who has cheated some of ProEye’s clients in the past. Mickey arrives at the mansion to discover the body of a man hidden in a secret room.
NO LIMITS
It turns out that nothing is at it seems. The arms dealer did not exist, and nobody at ProEye knew of Arlene Robinson. Mickey had been tricked and now the cops were involved. The body was that of Thomas Lancaster who’d been in Witness Protection having had links with the mob.
NO FEAR
Now begins a cat-and-mouse showdown between hardened ex-cop, Mickey, and a woman with sociopathic tendencies who has no name and a mysterious past. She intends to get what she wants and people who get in her way will die. For Mickey to stop her, she must first discover her true identity and what damaged her all those years ago. And the truth behind why she selected Micky to become her nemesis.
From TRBS: One of the most famous authors today, who has more household name characters than maybe anyone, can’t stop creating new heroes to build new series around. Baldacci continues to introduce readers to new protagonists in 2023, and by all accounts, Mickey Gibson sounds like a compelling lead. Fans might have been hoping for Decker, Puller, Robie, or one of his other big characters to return, and that still might be the case as Baldacci is expected to release at least one more book later this year, but until we know more—get ready to meet Gibson later this spring.
Shadow of Death by Heather Graham
Release Date: April 18th
You can cut off the head of the snake, but another will emerge.
When two hikers go missing within a series of daunting caves outside of Denver, Colorado, FDLE special agent Amy Larson and her partner, FBI special agent Hunter Forrest, have good reason to suspect foul play. The pair of hikers are only the latest to vanish after a rash of disappearances that’s left local law enforcement stumped. But in searching the dank caverns near the Arkansas River, the agents aren’t prepared for the horror they uncover: a muddy pit littered with corpses. Covered in bite marks. Made by human teeth.
When a tiny toy horse is found on the scene, Amy and Hunter recognize the calling card. They’ll have to move quickly before the already sizable body count grows. Their investigation soon draws them down the rabbit hole of a dangerous cult with a sinister mandate—one that involves human sacrifices. Anything to further their twisted cause. But when more people go missing, it becomes clear the cult’s reach extends beyond state lines, leading Amy and Hunter deep into the Florida Everglades to set a perilous trap, one that stands to risk everything they hold dear, including their lives.
From TRBS: Heather Graham has been around for a long time, and by now, her readers pretty much know what to expect. Smooth writing, smart plots, and characters who are super relatable. I anticipate another winner here.
Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane
Release Date: April 25th
The acclaimed New York Times bestselling writer returns with a masterpiece to rival Mystic River—an all-consuming tale of revenge, family love, festering hate, and insidious power, set against one of the most tumultuous episodes in Boston’s history.
In the summer of 1974 a heatwave blankets Boston and Mary Pat Fennessey is trying to stay one step ahead of the bill collectors. Mary Pat has lived her entire life in the housing projects of “Southie,” the Irish American enclave that stubbornly adheres to old tradition and stands proudly apart.
One night Mary Pat’s teenage daughter Jules stays out late and doesn’t come home. That same evening, a young Black man is found dead, struck by a subway train under mysterious circumstances.
The two events seem unconnected. But Mary Pat, propelled by a desperate search for her missing daughter, begins turning over stones best left untouched—asking questions that bother Marty Butler, chieftain of the Irish mob, and the men who work for him, men who don’t take kindly to any threat to their business.
Set against the hot, tumultuous months when the city’s desegregation of its public schools exploded in violence, Small Mercies is a superb thriller, a brutal depiction of criminality and power, and an unflinching portrait of the dark heart of American racism. It is a mesmerizing and wrenching work that only Dennis Lehane could write.
From TRBS: Nobody writes quite like Lehane, who’s always a solid bet to deliver an unmatched reading experience. I expect no different here.
Seven Girls Gone by Allison Brennan
Release Date: April 25th
For three years, women have been disappearing—and eventually turning up dead in the small bayou town of St. Augustine, Louisiana. Police detective Beau Hebert is the only one who seems to care, but with every witness quickly silenced and a corrupt police department set on keeping the cases unsolved, Beau’s investigation stalls at every turn.
With nobody else to trust, Beau calls in a favor from his friend on the FBI’s Mobile Response Team. While LAPD detective Kara Quinn works undercover to dig into the women’s murders and team leader Matt Costa officially investigates the in-custody death of a witness, Beau might finally have a chance at solving the case.
But in a town where everyone knows everyone, talking gets you killed and secrets stay buried, it’s going to take the entire team working around the clock to unravel the truth. Especially when they discover that the deep-seated corruption and the deadly drug-trafficking ring at the center of it all extends far beyond the small-town borders.
From TRBS: With more than 30 novels under her belt, Brennan has a long history of putting out page-turning thrillers. It’ll be interesting to see what she’s come up with for this one.
The Rescue by T. Jefferson Parker
Release Date: April 25th
A new and beguiling thriller from three-time Edgar Award-winner and New York Times bestselling author T. Jefferson Parker.
While reporting on a Tijuana animal shelter, journalist Bettina Blazak falls in love with one of her story’s subjects—an adorable Mexican street dog who is being treated for a mysterious gunshot wound. Bettina impulsively adopts the dog, who she names Felix after the veterinarian who saved him.
In investigating Felix’s past, Bettina discovers that his life is nothing like what she assumed. For one thing, he’s not a Mexican street dog at all. A former DEA drug-sniffing dog, Felix has led a very colorful, dangerous, and profitable life. With Bettina’s story going viral, some interesting people are looking for Felix, making him a target—again.
Bettina soon finds herself drawn into a deadly criminal underworld from which she and her beloved dog may not return.
The Rescue is a gripping thriller that explores the strength of the human-animal bond and how far we will go to protect what we love by three-time Edgar Award winner and New York Times bestselling author T. Jefferson Parker.
From TRBS: By now, readers know what they’re getting with Parker, one of the most talented crime writers alive today. If you aren’t reading his stuff already, this might be the perfect place to start—and trust me, once you do, you’ll be hooked on his flawless prose and page-turning style in no time.
Release Date: April 25th
Off the northeast coast of Russia, the captain and crew of a small crabbing vessel are brutally murdered by members of the Russian Mafia. After the Bratva thugs stuff the dead bodies into crab pots and throw them overboard, they scuttle the vessel off the coast of Alaska and slip ashore.
In Washington DC, Supreme Court Justice Charlotte Morehouse prepares for a trip to Alaska, unaware that a killer is waiting to take his revenge—by livestreaming her death to the world.
In Anchorage, Alaska, Deputy US Marshals Arliss Cutter and Lola Teariki are assigned to security detail at a judicial conference in Fairbanks. Lola is tasked with guarding Justice Townsend’s teenaged daughter while Cutter provides counter-surveillance. It’s a simple, routine assignment—until the mother and daughter decide to explore the Alaskan wilderness on the famous Glacier Discovery train. Hiding among the tourists, eccentric locals, and other passengers are the Russian terrorists, who launch a surprise attack when the train reaches a remote area. While they seize control of the engine, Cutter manages to escape with Justice Townsend by jumping off the moving train—and into the unforgiving wilderness.
The chase is on. With no supplies and no connection to the outside world, Cutter and the judge must cross a treacherous terrain and commandeer a raft through an icy river canyon to stay alive. Two of the terrorists are close behind. The others are on the train with the judge’s daughter—and they plan to execute her on camera. With so many lives at stake, Cutter knows there are only two options left: catch the train and kill them all . . . or all will be killed.
From TRBS: This series is a bit under the radar, but it shouldn’t be. Cameron is one of the busiest authors working today, juggling multiple hit franchises—including the Jack Ryan books in the Clancy universe—that just seem to get better and better.
The Way of the Bear by Anne Hillerman
Release Date: April 25th
Fossil harvesting, ancient lore, greed, rejected love and murder combine in this gripping new installment of New York Times bestselling author Anne Hillerman’s Leaphorn, Chee & Manuelito series.
An unexpected death on a lonely road outside of Utah’s Bears Ears National Park raises questions for Navajo Tribal Police officers Jim Chee and Bernadette Manuelito. Why would a seasoned outdoorsman and well-known paleontologist freeze to death within walking distance of his car? A second death brings more turmoil. Who is the unidentified man killed during a home invasion where nothing seems to have been taken? Why was he murdered?
The Bears Ears area, at the edge of the Navajo Nation, is celebrated for its abundance of early human habitation sites and the discovery of unique fossils which revolutionized the scientific view of how early animals dealt with their changing world. For Chee and Bernie, the area glows with geological interest and spiritual insight. But their visit to this achingly beautiful place is disrupted by a current of unprecedented violence that sweeps them both into danger.
An illicit business, a fossilized jaw bone, hints of witchcraft, and a mysterious disappearance during a blizzard and to the peril. It will take all of Manuelito’s and Chee’s experience, skill, and intuition to navigate the threats that arise beneath the twin buttes that give Bears Ears its name and to see justice served.
TRBS: I was hooked on this one just from the synopsis alone. Read it again, and be honest. You’re wondering how it all ties together, right? Me too. I can’t wait to find out late this year.
Release Date: May 2
A brotherhood born in battle is endangered by a deadly secret in the latest astonishing thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of Tom Clancy Zero Hour and Hostile Intent.
As a team, Matt Drake and his partner, Frodo, have watched each other’s backs through some very dark days. But one thing they’ve never doubted was their commitment to each other…until now.
Frodo has been accused of a war crime ten years after leaving Afghanistan. Matt is determined to prove his friend innocent, but what will he do when he finds that his closest friend has secrets he won’t share?
From TRBS: Bentley, like Marc Cameron, has held down the Jack Ryan Junior books for a couple of years now, but personally, I still prefer his own series—which is probably the most exciting young franchise next to Jack Carr’s James Reece books. Matt Drake is a phenomenal character, and Bentley knows just how to bring him along in a way that draws readers in before blowing them away with his high-flying action sequences.
The 23ed Midnight by James Patterson & Maxine Paetro
Release Date: May 1
A copycat is recreating murders by a famous killer from The Women’s Murder Club’s past—and the Murder Club’s destruction as his goal.
Detective Lindsay Boxer put serial killer Evan Burke in jail.
Reporter Cindy Thomas wrote a book that put him on the bestseller list.
An obsessed maniac has turned Burke’s true-crime story into a playbook. And is embellishing it with gruesome touches all his own.
Now Lindsay’s tracking an elusive suspect, and the entire Murder Club is facing destruction.
From TRBS: Entertainment Weekly wrote that “The reader never (and I mean never) knows from one page to the next what might happen. That continues to make this series successful and suspenseful.” That should generate even more buzz around a title that most are already chomping at the bit to get their hands on.
The Ferryman by Justin Cronin
Release Date: May 2
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Passage comes a riveting standalone novel about a group of survivors on a hidden island utopia—where the truth isn’t what it seems.
Founded by the mysterious genius known as the Designer, the archipelago of Prospera lies hidden from the horrors of a deteriorating outside world. In this island paradise, Prospera’s lucky citizens enjoy long, fulfilling lives until the monitors embedded in their forearms, meant to measure their physical health and psychological well-being, fall below 10 percent. Then they retire themselves, embarking on a ferry ride to the island known as the Nursery, where their failing bodies are renewed, their memories are wiped clean, and they are readied to restart life afresh.
Proctor Bennett, of the Department of Social Contracts, has a satisfying career as a ferryman, gently shepherding people through the retirement process—and, when necessary, enforcing it. But all is not well with Proctor. For one thing, he’s been dreaming—which is supposed to be impossible in Prospera. For another, his monitor percentage has begun to drop alarmingly fast. And then comes the day he is summoned to retire his own father, who gives him a disturbing and cryptic message before being wrestled onto the ferry.
Meanwhile, something is stirring. The Support Staff, ordinary men and women who provide the labor to keep Prospera running, have begun to question their place in the social order. Unrest is building, and there are rumors spreading of a resistance group—known as “Arrivalists”—who may be fomenting revolution.
Soon Proctor finds himself questioning everything he once believed, entangled with a much bigger cause than he realized—and on a desperate mission to uncover the truth.
From TRBS: This one has so Lost vibes to it, which should excite a lot of readers who, after his work on The Passage, know just what a phenomenal talent Cronin is. It’s a bold plot choice, but if anyone can pull it off, it’s him.
Release Date: May 16th
Navy SEAL James Reece faces a devastating global conspiracy in this high-adrenaline thriller that is ripped from the headlines—from the #1 New York Times bestselling author Jack Carr.
In 1980, a freshman congressman was gunned down in Rhode Island, sending shockwaves through Washington that are still reverberating over four decades later.
Now, with the world on the brink of war and a weakened United States facing rampant inflation, political division, and shocking assassinations, a secret cabal of global elites is ready to assume control. And with the world’s most dangerous man locked in solitary confinement, the conspirators believe the final obstacle to complete domination has been eliminated. They’re wrong.
From the firms of Wall Street to the corridors of power in Washington, DC, and Moscow, secrets from the past have the uncanny ability to rise to the surface in the present.
With the odds stacked against him, James Reece is on a mission generations in the making. Unfortunately for his enemies, the former SEAL is not concerned with odds. He is on the warpath. And when James Reece picks up his tomahawk and sniper rifle, no one is out of range.
From “a master novelist” (Ballistic Magazine), Jack Carr brings his signature authenticity to “create an incredibly vivid, emotional, action-packed tapestry of carnage and death” (Coffee or Die Magazine) in a plot that just might predict the headlines of tomorrow.
From TRBS: James Reece is back, and that’s really all you need to know about this book to pre-order it right this second. Need more? Okay. Carr is the closest thing to Vince Flynn or Tom Clancy that the genre has seen since their heydays, and in all seriousness, has a chance to pass both of them in his career—which is only six books long so far. It’s unbelievable how much he’s done in that short amount of time, and expectations are high for the former SEAL turned #1 New York Times bestselling author, but if anyone can surpass them, it’s Carr. If this book’s not on your radar, put it there.
The Lie Maker by Linwood Barclay
Release Date: May 16th
In this twisty, fast-paced thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of Find You First and Take Your Breath Away, a man desperately tries to track down his father—who was taken into witness protection years ago—before his enemies can get to him.
Your dad’s not a good person. Your dad killed people, son.
These are some of the last words Jack Givins’ father spoke to him before he was whisked away by witness protection, leaving Jack and his mother to pick up the shattered pieces of their lives as best they could.
Years later, Jack is a grown man with problems of his own. He’s a talented but struggling author, barely scraping by on the royalties from his moderately successful first book. So when the U.S. Marshals approach him with a lucrative opportunity, he’s in no position to turn them down. They’re recruiting writers like Jack to create false histories for people in witness protection—people like Jack’s father.
The coincidence is astonishing to Jack at first, but he soon realizes this may be a chance to find his dad. Only there’s one problem—Jack’s father hasn’t made contact with his handlers recently, and they have no idea where he is. He could be in serious danger, and Jack may be the only one who can find him.
But how will he find a man he’s never truly known? A man who has done terrible things in his lifetime and made some deadly enemies in the process—enemies who wouldn’t think twice about using his own son against him.
From TRBS: Barclay remains as solid as they come and a sure bet to get your money’s worth.
The Libyan Diversion by Joel C. Rosenberg
Release Date: May 16th
From New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestselling author Joel C. Rosenberg comes the fifth military and international political thriller in the Marcus Ryker series.
The world’s most wanted terrorist is dead. Marcus Ryker recommended the drone strike himself. The intelligence was rock-solid. But what if it was wrong?
Abu Nakba―the man responsible for lethal attacks in Washington, D.C., London, and Jerusalem―is finally dead. Marcus Ryker has been tasked with hunting down and destroying what’s left of the terror group Kairos.
But before Ryker can mobilize his team of CIA operatives with their new assignment, a disturbing report from Libya suggests all may not be as it seems. The U.S. bombing that should have taken out Nakba’s headquarters now appears to have been a disastrous mistake―and Ryker himself may be responsible.
With Kairos gearing up for a major retaliatory strike against the U.S., time is short, and terror cells may already be inside American borders. But Ryker won’t be able to stop this threat until he clears his own name, and his closest ally inside the White House can no longer help him.
The Libyan diversion threatens to leave Ryker on the sidelines just when his country needs him most.
Packed with action and intrigue, this thriller novel is everything Joel’s fans have come to expect.
From TRBS: The best headline-beater in the business is back with another can’t-miss thriller starring battle-tested operator Marcus Ryker, one of the thriller genre’s brightest new stars. Want to know what future headlines might look like a year or two down the road? Pick up one of Rosenberg’s novels. He’s so on the money with his fictional storylines that it sometimes feels as if media outlets wait to see what he’s writing about to know what to cover. And this one, well . . . trust me, it’ll blow you away.
The Devil You Know by Chris Hauty
Release Date: May 23
A Supreme Court justice is murdered and a conspiracy with potentially cataclysmic effects is uncovered in the latest of the nationally bestselling “edge-of-your-seat” (Book Riot) Hayley Chill series.
When a justice of the Supreme Court is killed by the police officer assigned to protect him, the country is shocked. Hayley Chill’s superiors suspect the assassination is part of a major conspiracy.
In Maui, where one member of the Supreme Court owns a vacation home, a busload of children is taken hostage with the justice’s death as ransom. Together with a deputy US marshal, Hayley embarks on the monumental task of rescuing the children while also protecting the justice. But with danger around every corner and no one to trust, has Hayley finally bitten off more than she can chew?
From TRBS: One of the most talented authors to come along in some time, Hauty brings back his beloved hero, Hayley Chill, for more action in this anticipated follow-up to Storm Rising. Trust me, do not miss this one.
Tom Clancy Flash Point by Don Bentley
Release Date: May 23
If there’s one thing Jack Ryan, Jr’s father taught him, it’s that freedom isn’t free, but nothing can prepare Jack for the price he must pay in the latest electrifying entry in the #1 New York Times bestselling series.
Jack Ryan Jr. is in a world of trouble. When a benign surveillance operation takes a deadly turn, Jack finds himself locked in a struggle with an unseen enemy bent on destroying the Campus. The chase leads Jack to the South China Sea where a midair collision between aircraft from rival nations threatens to serve as a flash point for the entire region. As Jack frantically tries to put the pieces of the conspiracy together, the Campus is hit with a crippling attack. When the dust settles, Jack is one of the few operators still standing and the Campus’s de facto leader. But the fight is just beginning.
As tensions escalate, Jack’s mysterious adversary executes a brilliant campaign to paralyze the American government even as China inches closer to invading Taiwan. With the odds stacked against him and no help in sight, Jack and his shattered team must stop the world’s two remaining super powers from stumbling into war even as the noose around the Campus grows ever tighter.
Every operation has a cost.
This time the bill might just be too much to pay.
From TRBS: Bentley is setting up for a massive year in 2023, and if rumors are true about what he might have in store for next year, this is just the appetizer.
Rogue Justice by Stacey Abrams
Release Date: May 23
The #1 New York Times bestselling author of While Justice Sleeps returns with another riveting and intricately plotted thriller, in which a blackmailed federal judge, a secret court and a brazen murder may lead to an unprecedented national crisis.
Supreme Court clerk Avery Keene is back, trying to get her feet on solid ground after unraveling an international conspiracy in While Justice Sleeps. But as the sparks of Congressional hearings and political skirmishes swirl around her, Avery is approached at a legal conference by Preston Davies, an unassuming young man and fellow law clerk to a federal judge in Idaho. Davies believes his boss, Judge Francesca Whitner, was being blackmailed in the days before she died. Desperate to understand what happened, he gives Avery a file, a burner phone, and a fearful warning that there are highly dangerous people involved.
Another shocking murder leads Avery to a list of names – all federal judges – and, alarmingly, all judges on the FISA Court (the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court), also known as America’s “secret court.” It is this body which grants permission to the government to wiretap Americans or spy on corporations suspected of terrorism. As Avery digs deeper, she begins to see a frightening pattern – and she worries that something far more sinister may be unfolding inside the nation’s third branch of government. With lives at stake, Avery must race the clock and an unexpected enemy to find the answer.
Drawn from today’s headlines and woven with her unique insider perspective, Stacey Abrams combines twisting plotlines, wry wit, and clever puzzles to create another immensely entertaining suspense novel.
From TRBS: Whether you agree with her politics or not, Abrams has proven to be a significant force on the thriller scene, and one thing is for sure: she brings terrific real-life experience to her work. Expect a little Brad Meltzer-like plotting here.
The Senator’s Wife by Liv Constantine
Release Date: May 23
A D.C. philanthropist suspects that her seemingly perfect employee is secretly plotting to steal her husband, her reputation—even her life—in this seductive novel of psychological suspense from the internationally bestselling author of The Last Mrs. Parrish.
In this town, anyone is replaceable. . . .
After a tragic chain of events led to the deaths of their spouses two years ago, DC philanthropist Sloane Chase and Senator Whit Montgomery are finally starting to move on. The horrifying ordeal drew them together, and now they’re ready to settle down again—with each other.
As Sloane returns to the world of White House dinners and political small talk, this time with her new husband, she’s also preparing for an upcoming hip replacement—the latest reminder of the lupus she’s managed since her twenties. With their hectic schedules, they decide that hiring a home health aide will give Sloane the support and independence she needs postsurgery. And they find the perfect fit in Athena Karras.
Seemingly a godsend, Athena tends to Sloane and even helps her run her charitable foundation. But Sloane slowly begins to deteriorate—a complication, Athena explains, of Sloane’s lupus. As weeks go by, Sloane becomes sicker, and her uncertainty quickly turns to paranoia as she begins to suspect the worst. Why is Athena asking her so many probing questions about her foundation—as well as about her past? And could Sloane be imagining the sultry looks between Athena and her new husband?
Riveting, fast-paced, and full of unbelievable twists, The Senator’s Wife is a psychological thriller that upends the private lives of those who walk the halls of power. Because when you have it all, you have everything to lose.
From TRBS: J.T. Ellison, of my favorite authors, called this “A thrilling new story” with “grit, grift, and tons of insider secrets.” That’s enough to push this one into the “must-read” category.
Drowning by T.J. Newman
Release Date: May 30th
Flight attendant turned New York Times bestselling author T. J. Newman—whose first book Falling was an instant #1 national bestseller, an international sensation translated into thirty languages, and the biggest thriller debut of 2021—returns for her second book, which “reads like Apollo 13 underwater” (Don Winslow).
Six minutes after Flight 1421 takes off, it crashes into the ocean.
The passengers who survive the crash think it’s a miracle.
They believe they’re the lucky ones.
Then the plane begins to sink to the ocean floor.
The survivors are trapped inside.
Against all odds, a massive rescue operation is launched to save them.
There is not much time.
There is even less air.
From TRBS: Falling (2021) was one of the biggest debuts I’ve ever covered. That book cemented Newman as a legitimate star in the making, but it’s Drowning that’ll prove she has the staying power to do this for a very, very long time. If you’ve not yet discovered her work, trust me, you need to.
The Overnights by Ian K. Smith
Release Date: May 30th
#1 New York Times bestselling author Ian K. Smith brings back former Chicago detective turned private eye Ashe Cayne in this eagerly anticipated mystery in which the investigator finds himself in a race against the clock to protect a high-profile Chicago news anchor and solve the racially charged murder of a Black teen by a white police officer.
“Chicago PI Ashe Cayne is the perfect hero for our times.”—Harlan Coben
Someone wants Morgan Shaw dead—or so the beautiful, brilliant, and hugely popular evening news anchor of top-rated Chicago TV station WLTV believes. Fearing for her safety, she turns to P. I. Ashe Cayne for protection. Though he sympathizes, Ashe turns her down—he’s not a bodyguard. But when Morgan’s car tires are slashed and she’s threatened again, Ashe agrees to help her.
Her mysterious assailant isn’t the only threat worrying Morgan. She’s nervous about the upcoming “sweeps”—the all-important overnight ratings period—which will determine Chicago’s highest-rated television newscast and the city’s number-one anchor. Morgan has long been Chicago’s news queen. Now, though her crown is in jeopardy. She refuses to lose to her crosstown rival, and will risk everything to stay on top—including an audacious investigation into the suspicious shooting of an unarmed African American man by a white cop. The explosive case and her discoveries boost her ratings—and create powerful enemies eager to protect their secrets.
To save his client and find the truth, Ashe must wade through the tangled layers of competitive local news and the deceptive schemes of its power players, and uncover the identities of those behind the murder of a seemingly innocent man.
From TRBS: Doctor Smith’s highly-anticipated third Ash Cayne thriller cannot come soon enough. One of the best guys in the whole industry, Smith’s bright smile and terrific energy shine through when he talks about his books. But don’t let his friendly, excited demeanor fool you. The guy can write crime with the best of them. Period.
The Body in the Web by Katherine Hall Page
Release Date: May 30th
In the 26th book in the award-winning Faith Fairchild Mysteries series, Katherine Hall Page’s beloved amateur detective is hunkered down with her family during the pandemic when a Zoom-bombing scandal sends the community into a tailspin … and a dead body is discovered.
Faith Fairchild joins the rest of the world in lockdown mode when reality flips in March 2020. As the pandemic spreads, Faith and her family readjust to life together in Aleford, Massachusetts. Her husband, Tom, continues his sermons from Zoom; their children, Ben, who’s in college, and Amy, a high school senior, are doing remote learning at home .
Faith is happy to have her family under the same roof and grateful for her resilient community, friends, and neighbors in Aleford. Town halls remain lively and well-attended, despite residents joining from their living rooms. It is at one of these town halls that scandal breaks out. In the midst of a Zoom meeting, damaging images suddenly flash upon everyone’s screens. Claudia, local art teacher and Faith’s dear friend, is immediately recognized as the woman who has been targeted.
When Claudia is later discovered dead, Faith, with the help of her friends, journeys deep into the dark web to unravel the threads of Claudia’s mysterious history and shocking passing.
From TRBS: Mega bestseller Harlan Coben said, “For those of us who are longtime fans, it’s a great time to rejoice and read. For those new to the series, you’re in for a treat.” Look, when one of the most prolific suspense authors to ever do it gives someone’s work such a resounding endorsement, that means you better check it out. Plain and simple.
Killing Moon by Joe Nesbo
Release Date: May 30th
This killer will get inside your head. • Brilliant rogue police investigator Harry Hole is back, this time as an outsider assembling his own team to help find a serial killer who is murdering young women in Oslo in the next novel in the New York Times best-selling series.
“One of today’s most interesting thriller writers.” —Lee Child, author of the #1 New York Times best-selling Jack Reacher series
THE HUNT IS ON AND THE POLICE ARE RUNNING OUT OF TIME. Two young women are missing, their only connection a party they both attended, hosted by a notorious real-estate magnate. When one of the women is found murdered, the police discover an unusual signature left by the killer, giving them reason to suspect he will strike again.
THEY’RE FACING A KILLER UNLIKE ANY OTHER. And exposing him calls for a detective like no other. But the legendary Harry Hole is gone—fired from the force, drinking himself to oblivion in Los Angeles. It seems that nothing can entice him back to Oslo. Until the woman who saved Harry’s life is put in grave danger, and he has no choice but to return to the city that haunts him and track down the murderer.
CATCHING HIM WILL PUSH HARRY TO THE LIMIT. He’ll need to bring together a misfit team of former operatives to accomplish what he can’t do alone: stop an unstoppable killer. But as the evidence mounts, it becomes clear that there is more to this case than meets the eye.
From TRBS: It’s still hard to believe that the character’s name is “Harry Hole,” but once you get past that unfortunate name combo, it’s not hard to see why Nesbo is considered one of the best crime writers alive today. And he shows why here.
Beware the Woman by Megan Abbott
Release Date: May 30th
From New York Times bestselling and award-winning author Megan Abbott, an eerie and prescient novel about a family outing that takes a terrifying turn.
Honey, I just want you to have everything you ever wanted. That’s what Jacy’s mom always told her.
And Jacy felt like she finally did. Newly married and with a baby on the way, Jacy and her new husband, Jed, embark on their first road trip together to visit his father, Dr. Ash, in Michigan’s far-flung Upper Peninsula. The moment they arrive in the cozy cottage in the lush woods, Jacy feels bathed in love by the warm and hospitable Dr. Ash, if less so by his house manager, the enigmatic Mrs. Brandt.
But their Edenic first days take a turn when Jacy has a health scare. Swiftly, vacation activities are scrapped, and all eyes are on Jacy’s condition. At the same time, whispers about Jed’s long-dead mother and complicated family history seem eerily to be impeding upon the present. As the days pass, Jacy begins to feel trapped in the cottage, her every move surveilled, her body under the looking glass. But are her fears founded or is it paranoia, or cabin fever, or—as is suggested to her—a stubborn refusal to take necessary precautions? The dense woods surrounding the cottage are full of dangers, but are the greater ones inside.
From TRBS: Author Ashley Audrain said, “Megan Abbott can do no wrong,” and I must agree. Her latest is of CrimeReads’ Most Anticipated Crime Fiction Books of 2023, and by year’s end, I predict it’ll be featured in many “best of” lists too.
Central Park West by James Comey
Release Date: May 30th
In the thrilling first crime novel from the former director of the FBI, a murder investigation reveals deadly connections between high-ranking politicians and the mafia
The gripping crime fiction debut from former FBI director James Comey takes readers deep inside the world of lawyers and investigators working to solve a murder while navigating the treacherous currents of modern politics and the mob.
When a years-long case against a powerful mobster finally cracks and an unimpeachable witness takes the stand, federal prosecutor Nora Carleton is looking forward to putting the defendant away for good. The mobster, though, has other plans. As the witness’s testimony concludes, a note is passed to the prosecution offering up information into the assassination of a disgraced former New York governor, murdered in his penthouse apartment just days before. It’s enough to blow the case wide open, and to send Nora into a high-stakes investigation of conspiracy, corruption, and danger.
Drawing from the author’s decades in federal law enforcement, including his years in Manhattan as a mob prosecutor and later the chief federal prosecutor, Central Park West is a fast-paced legal thriller with an intriguing plot enriched by real-life details and experiences. That unique perspective gives the novel much of its allure, but it’s the unforgettable characters, shocking twists, and courtroom scenes as authentic as they are dramatic that will leave readers looking forward to more from this bold new talent in the genre.
From TRBS: Whether you love or hate his politics and past decision-making as Director of the FBI, it’s undeniable that his experience brings a plethora of realism to his first attempt at writing fiction, and honestly, I suspect this one will surprise a good number of readers with how good it is.
A Killer’s Game by Isabella Maldonado
Release Date: June 1st
An FBI agent with a background in cryptography. A brilliant game maker bent on revenge. A deadly battle of wits and wills. An ingenious thriller from the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Cipher.
FBI agent and former military codebreaker Daniela “Dani” Vega witnesses a murder on a Manhattan sidewalk. The victim is chief of staff for a powerful New York senator. The assassin turned informant is Gustavo Toro. His code: hit the target and don’t ask questions. When Dani suspects a complex conspiracy, the only way to take down the mastermind is from the inside, forcing her to partner with Toro. Together they must infiltrate the inner circle at a remote facility.
Except it’s a trap. For all of them.
Locked in a subterranean labyrinth and held captive by an unseen host, Dani, Toro, and others must fight for their lives. Now Dani must stay undercover, unravel a bizarre conspiracy, and survive lethal puzzles. But will Toro be friend or foe? Because in this killer’s game, everything is real: the paranoia, the desperation, and the body count. And only one person can make it out alive.
From TRBS: Maldonado is one of the most underrated writers on the scene today. Everything she writes is solid-gold. If you’re not already reading her work, don’t want any longer.
Cross Down by James Patterson & Brendon DuBois
Release Date: June 5th
Alex Cross is gravely injured. Only his partner and friend John Sampson can keep him safe . . . and get justice.
For the first time, John Sampson is on his own.
The brilliant crime-solving duo of Washington, DC’s, Metro PD and the FBI has a proven MO: Detective Alex Cross makes his own rules. Detective John Sampson enforces them.
When military-style attacks erupt, brutally sidelining Cross, Sampson is sent reeling. The patterns are too random—Sampson’s friend, his partner, his brother—have told him. Don’t trust anyone.
As a shadow force advances on the nation’s capital, Sampson alone must protect the Cross family, his own young daughter, and every American, including the president.
TRBS: DuBois is doubling up his co-authored efforts in 2023. This one, though, will likely receive more attention because it featured Patteron’s most well-known and beloved character, Alex Cross.
The Couple’s Trip by Ulf Kvensler
Release Date: June 6th
**Swedish Academy of Crime Writers’ Award Best Debut of the Year**
**Shortlisted for the Crimetime Award 2022**
Two couples set out together on a hiking trip that goes terrifyingly wrong in this addictive psychological thriller for fans of Ruth Ware and Lucy Foley.
Anna, Henrik and Milena’s annual hiking trip is just around the corner. This year, however, Anna and Henrik have a hard time saying no when Milena asks if her boyfriend, Jacob, can tag along. The hike soon spirals into mayhem when the three friends come to realize that taking Jacob was a decision that could change their lives forever.
From the austere mountaintops of northern Sweden, this highly anticipated thriller traverses through the unexplored wilderness—here, there’s nowhere to run and nowhere to hide.
TRBS: Camilla Grebe, the award-winning author of the Hanne Lagerlind-Schon series, calls this “One of the best suspense novels I’ve read.” That’s enough reason to give it a look or two at launch.
Clive Cusller Fire Strike by Mike Maden
Release Date: June 6th
Juan Cabrillo and the crew of the Oregon are back in the next installment of the #1 New York Times bestselling series.
TRBS: Mike Maden is the author of Clive Cussler’s Hellburner, the critically acclaimed Drone series, and four novels in Tom Clancy’s #1 New York Times bestselling Jack Ryan Jr. series. He holds both a master’s and Ph.D. in political science from the University of California at Davis, specializing in international relations and comparative politics. He has lectured and consulted on the topics of war and the Middle East, among others. Maden has served as a political consultant and campaign manager in state and national elections, and hosted his own local weekly radio show for a year.
His bio aside, Maden was a brilliant choice to take over this series and has quickly—much like he did when taking over the Jack Ryan Junior series years back—quickly breathed new life into Juan Cabrillo and the crew of the Oregon. I can’t wait to see what he does with this book!
All the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby
Release Date: June 6th
The new novel from New York Times bestselling and Los Angeles Times Book Prize-winning author S. A. Cosby, “one of the most muscular, distinctive, grab-you-by-both-ears voices in American crime fiction.” ―Washington Post.
After years of working as an FBI agent, Titus Crown returns home to Charon County, land of moonshine and cornbread, fist fights and honeysuckle. Seeing his hometown struggling with a bigoted police force inspires him to run for sheriff. He wins, and becomes the first Black sheriff in the history of the county.
Then a year to the day after his election, a young Black man is fatally shot by Titus’s deputies.
Titus pledges to follow the truth wherever it leads. But no one expected he would unearth a serial killer who has been hiding in plain sight, haunting the dirt lanes and woodland clearings of Charon.
Now, Titus must pull off the impossible: stay true to his instincts, prevent outright panic, and investigate a shocking crime in a small town where everyone knows everyone yet secrets flourish. All while also breaking up backroads bar fights and being forced to protect racist Confederate pride marchers.
For a Black man wearing a police uniform in the American South, that’s no easy feat. But Charon is Titus’s home and his heart, and he won’t let the darkness overtake it. Even as it threatens to consume him.
TRBS: A true wordsmith, few writers can capture emotion like Cosby. His books are extraordinarily well written, with an acute attention to detail. But what really makes them hit home is the conviction Cosby writes with when developing his fearless, unflinching plotlines. One of the true masters working today, everything he writes is must-read material.
Near Miss by Stuart Woods and Brett Battles
Release Date: June 6th
Stone Barrington must cut and run in the newest novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Stuart Woods.
TRBS: It’s incredibly sad that Stuart Woods passed away in 2022, but his fans can rest assured that they’ve got the right guy to step in and take over the Stone Barrington books. I’ve been a fan of Brett Battles for years, and am really excited to see what he does here. (More on Battles below, as he has another Woods legacy book coming out in July.)
Robert B. Parker’s Bad Influence by Alison Gaylin
Release Date: June 13th
TRBS: It was Mike Lupica who first resurrected this beloved series, keeping yet another one of Robert B. Parker’s iconic characters alive and well. But after pulling double-duty the last couple of years, writing both the Jesse Stone books and the Sunny books, on top of multiple projects with James Patterson, Lupica is now passing the torch to Alison Gaylin, another talented author who will soon unveil her vision for this series moving forward. A capable writer who in a lot of ways remains underrated, I’m excited to see what Gaylin brings to the franchise and look forward to seeing her take on Sunny. I wouldn’t expect radical changes, as there seems to be an importance on keeping Parker’s characters true to who he created, but a new voice means new energy, and that’s not a bad thing.
The Spectacular by Fiona Davis
Release Date: June 13th
New York Times bestselling author Fiona Davis transports us back to 1950s Manhattan and glamorous Radio City Music Hall in her thrilling new novel about a talented young Rockette and a mysterious bomber terrorizing New York City.
New York City, 1956: Nineteen-year-old Marion Brooks knows she should be happy. Her college sweetheart is about to propose and sweep her off to the life everyone has always expected they’d have together: a quiet house in the suburbs, Marion staying home to raise their future children. But instead, Marion finds herself feeling trapped. So when she comes across an opportunity to audition for the famous Radio City Rockettes—the glamorous precision-dancing troupe—she jumps at the chance to exchange her predictable future for the dazzling life of a performer.
Meanwhile, the city is reeling from a string of bombings orchestrated by a person the press has nicknamed the “Big Apple Bomber,” who has been terrorizing the citizens of New York for sixteen years by planting bombs in popular, crowded spaces. With the public in an uproar over the lack of any real leads after a yearslong manhunt, the police turn in desperation to Peter Griggs, a young doctor at a local mental hospital who espouses a radical new technique: psychological profiling.
As both Marion and Peter find themselves unexpectedly pulled in to the police search for the bomber, Marion realizes that as much as she’s been training herself to blend in—performing in perfect unison with all the other identical Rockettes—if she hopes to catch the bomber, she’ll need to stand out and take a terrifying risk. In doing so, she may be forced to sacrifice everything she’s worked for, as well as the people she loves the most.
From TRBS: If you’ve read Fiona Davis before, then you know she seems to just get better and better with each new book. Expect that to be the case yet again in 2023.
Inside Threat by Matthew Quirk
Release Date: June 13th
In this electrifying thriller from the author of Red Warning and The Night Agent, an attack on the White House sends the President and his top aides to take shelter in a top-secret government facility buried deep underground—but they soon discover the threat is locked inside with them.
Assume the worst. Code Black.
The day that every secret service agent trains for has arrived. The White House has been breached; the President forced to flee to a massive doomsday bunker outside DC to defend against whatever comes next. Only the most trusted agents and officials are allowed in with him—those dedicated to keeping the government intact at all costs.
Among these is Erik Hill, who has given his life to the Secret Service. They are his purpose and his family, and his impressive record has made him a hero among them. Despite his growing disillusionment from seeing Washington corruption up close, Erik can’t ignore years of instincts honed on the job. The government is under attack, and no one is better equipped to face down the threat than he is.
The evidence leads him to a conspiracy at the highest levels of power, with the attack orchestrated by some of the very individuals now locked in with him. As the killers strike inside the bunker, it will take everything Erik Hill has to save his people, himself, and his country.
TRBS: Quirk’s career skyrocketed after moving to Harper several years back, where he started churning out adrenaline-fueled conspiracy thrillers that bring just as much heat as they to twists and turns. This one sounds more like The Night Agent than Red Warning, but both are great books, and this one is not to be missed.
The 9th Man by Steve Berry and Grand Blackwood
Release Date: June 13th
ONLY ONE AMERICAN PRESIDENTIAL ASSASSINATION REMAINS UNSOLVED. UNTIL NOW.
Luke Daniels is in London, between assignments with the Magellan Billet, when he receives a frantic call from an old friend. Jillian Stein is in trouble. She made a mistake and now her life may be in danger. She needs Luke’s help. Immediately. Racing to Belgium Luke quickly finds that she was right. A shadow team of highly-trained operatives are there on the hunt. Intervening, he finds himself embroiled in a war between two determined sides — one seeking the truth, the other trying to escape the past — a war that has already claimed one life and is about to claim more.
Thomas Rowland is a Washington insider, a kingmaker, problem-solver, but also a man with a past. For him everything turns with what happened on November 22, 1963 in Dallas, Texas. What history has recorded is wrong. There is more to the story, much more, and Thomas Rowland is at the center of that terrible reality. But forces are working against him, and Rowland will do anything to keep the world from learning what actually happened on that fateful day, including killing Luke, Jillian and anyone else who might be a threat.
In a race from Belgium, to Luxembourg, to the bayous of Louisiana and the Wyoming wilderness, to a final confrontation in the Bahamas, Luke Daniels confronts a series of shocking truths which not only rewrite history but will forever change his own life — as he comes face to face with the ninth man.
Berry, best known for his popular Cotton Malone series, had been with Minotaur Books, an imprint at Macmillian, until leaving in 2020 to sign a six-book deal with Grand Central Publishing (at Hachette). His series continues there, but additionally, Berry continues to push out non-Cotton books as well, including this year’s The Omega Factor. He’ll continue that trend next summer when The 9th Man—which features Luke Daniels working on behalf of the Magellan Billet, chasing down a lead that could solve the only remaining presidential assassination in United States history—hits bookstores.
TRBS: Berry, best known for his popular Cotton Malone series, had been with Minotaur Books, an imprint at Macmillian, until leaving in 2020 to sign a six-book deal with Grand Central Publishing (at Hachette). His series continues there, but additionally, Berry continues to push out non-Cotton books as well, including last year’s The Omega Factor. He’ll continue that trend this summer when The 9th Man—which features Luke Daniels working on behalf of the Magellan Billet, chasing down a lead that could solve the only remaining presidential assassination in United States history—hits bookstores.
The First Death by Kendra Elliot
Release Date: June 13th
For a search and rescue expert, the buried remains of her past are a dangerous obsession in a twisting novel of suspense by a Wall Street Journal and Amazon Charts bestselling author.
Rowan Wolff was five years old when she, her brother, and their babysitter were kidnapped by a serial killer in the Pacific Northwest. The babysitter was murdered. Rowan was saved. Her brother was killed and buried in the forest, his remains never found. The convicted killer refuses to say where he buried the boy. Twenty-five years later, Rowan is committed to search and rescue with her faithful canine and is obsessed with finding her brother’s grave―and closure.
Detective Evan Bolton thrives on unraveling tough cases, but his latest is disturbing. There’s another serial killer hunting in Deschutes County, Oregon, and the crimes are identical to those committed by the sociopath languishing in prison. Each victim is linked to Rowan. When skeletal remains of several bodies are exhumed in the forest, Rowan’s connection becomes more entwined and impossible to ignore.
Rowan and Evan are determined to solve the case before someone else dies. And someone else will, as the truth about the past is unearthed.
TRBS: I don’t know everything about this book, but I do know that few writers have ever kept me on the edge of my seat like Kendra Elliot. I’m exv
The Only One Left by Riley Sager
Release Date: June 20th
Bestselling author Riley Sager returns with a Gothic chiller about a young caregiver assigned to work for a woman accused of a Lizzie Borden-like massacre decades earlier.
At seventeen, Lenora Hope
Hung her sister with a rope
Now reduced to a schoolyard chant, the Hope family murders shocked the Maine coast one bloody night in 1929. While most people assume seventeen-year-old Lenora was responsible, the police were never able to prove it. Other than her denial after the killings, she has never spoken publicly about that night, nor has she set foot outside Hope’s End, the cliffside mansion where the massacre occurred.
Stabbed her father with a knife
Took her mother’s happy life
It’s now 1983, and home-health aide Kit McDeere arrives at a decaying Hope’s End to care for Lenora after her previous nurse fled in the middle of the night. In her seventies and confined to a wheelchair, Lenora was rendered mute by a series of strokes and can only communicate with Kit by tapping out sentences on an old typewriter. One night, Lenora uses it to make a tantalizing offer—I want to tell you everything.
“It wasn’t me,” Lenora said
But she’s the only one not dead
As Kit helps Lenora write about the events leading to the Hope family massacre, it becomes clear there’s more to the tale than people know. But when new details about her predecessor’s departure come to light, Kit starts to suspect Lenora might not be telling the complete truth—and that the seemingly harmless woman in her care could be far more dangerous than she first thought.
From TRBS: While I’ve yet to actually check this one out, I predict that will Sager continue his blazing hot streak here. The truth is, he’s been on his A-game for years now, seemingly getting stronger with each new book. Until he proves otherwise, I have every expectation that this one will be a twisting, can’t-stop adventure like all of his other stuff to date.
Zero Days by Ruth Ware
Release Date: June 20th
The New York Times bestselling “new Agatha Christie” (Air Mail) Ruth Ware returns with this adrenaline-fueled thriller that combines Mr. and Mrs. Smith with The Fugitive about a woman in a race against time to clear her name and find her husband’s murderer.
Hired by companies to break into buildings and hack security systems, Jack and her husband, Gabe, are the best penetration specialists in the business. But after a routine assignment goes horribly wrong, Jack arrives home to find her husband dead. To add to her horror, the police are closing in on their suspect—her.
Suddenly on the run and quickly running out of options, Jack must decide who she can trust as she circles closer to the real killer in this unputdownable and heart-pounding mystery from an author whose “propulsive prose keeps readers on the hook and refuses to let anyone off until all has been revealed” (Shelf Awareness).
From TRBS: Perhaps the best pure storyteller in the genre today, Ware is must-see entertainment each and every time she puts out a new book. If you’re not familiar with her work, this might be a good one to jump in and try—but expect to be twisted, shaken, stirred, and turned upside down. Oh, and kept up all night reading too. Once Ware grabs you, she doesn’t let go.
The Spare Room by Andrea Bartz
Release Date: June 20th
Staying with a friend and her husband is more intimate—and dangerous—than anyone could imagine in this provocative new thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of the Reese’s Book Club pick We Were Never Here.
Kelly Doyle’s new life in Philadelphia has turned into a nightmare: She’s friendless and jobless, and the lockdown has her trapped in a tiny apartment with the man she gave up everything for, who’s just called off their wedding. The only bright spot in her life is her newly rekindled friendship with her childhood friend, Sabrina—now a glamorous bestselling author with a handsome, high-powered husband.
When they offer Kelly an escape hatch, volunteering the spare room of their remote Virginia mansion, she jumps at the chance to run away from her old life. There, she finds she loves living with them . . . and, much to her surprise, that she’s falling for both her enchanting hosts. Even more shocking: They say they share Kelly’s feelings and want to open up their marriage for her.
At first, the arrangement is blissful. But as their relationship deepens, Kelly begins to notice the cracks. The stories about their romantic past keep changing, and the more details she uncovers, the more things don’t add up. It’s only a matter of time before Kelly discovers the terrifying truth: They’ve done all this before . . . and the last woman is missing.
Cut off from the world and in way over her head, Kelly must risk everything to uncover the couple’s secrets—before she becomes their next guest to disappear.
From TRBS: Nita Prose, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Maid, called this an “enticing, twisty, and seductive thriller about obsession, desire, and revenge.” That’s a pretty solid blurb that should interest a lot of readers.
Rich Waters by Robert Bailey
Release Date: June 20th
From Wall Street Journal bestselling author Robert Bailey comes a haunting legal thriller about the price of redemption for a billboard lawyer who takes a case he can’t win in a town he can’t forget.
Now that attorney Jason Rich has returned home to Guntersville, Alabama, the “In an accident? Get rich!” lawyer is anxious to leave his checkered past behind. Jason hopes this next chapter in his life will be a chance to confront his personal troubles while making amends with his family.
But when a former high school football star stands accused of killing a police officer, Jason is unwillingly thrust into the chaos. The local meth king blackmails Jason into defending the alleged murderer, and Jason knows he can’t refuse. With the lives of his family and closest friends on the line, he takes the obviously unwinnable case.
As Jason dives into the investigation, he vows to dismantle the meth empire gripping his hometown. But as he confronts alternative suspects and follows new leads, Jason realizes that everyone has secrets to hide and interests to protect―at any cost.
TRBS: If Bailey writes it, I’m reading it. It’s that simple.
Malibu Burning by Lee Goldberg
Release Date: June 20th
For a professional criminal and a relentless arson investigator, fear and revenge spread like wildfire in an incendiary thriller by #1 New York Times bestselling author Lee Goldberg.
Hell comes to Southern California every October. It rides in on searing Santa Ana winds that blast at near hurricane force, igniting voracious wildfires. Master thief Danny Cole longs for the flames. A tsunami of fire is exactly what he needs to pull off a daring crime and avenge a fallen friend.
As the most devastating firestorms in Los Angeles’ history scorch the hills of Malibu, relentless arson investigator Walter Sharpe and his wild card of a new partner, Andrew Walker, a former US marshal, suspect that someone set the massive blazes intentionally, a terrifying means to an unknown end.
While the flames rage out of control, Danny pursues his brilliant scheme, unaware that Sharpe and Walker are closing in. But when they all collide in a canyon of fire, everything changes, pitting them against an unexpected enemy within an inescapable inferno.
TRBS: Goldberg has incredible range, something he’s proven throughout his career. I’d follow him anywhere, and am really excited to check this book out.
Release Date: June 27th
War veteran Peter Ash must follow his friend Lewis into a criminal underworld when secrets from the past threaten everything they hold dear in this propulsive new thriller in this bestselling and award-winning series.
Peter Ash’s friend Lewis has helped him out of jam more times than he can count, and has saved his life more than once. So he doesn’t hesitate when Lewis asks a favor. Lewis has left his criminal past behind, but a former associate may be in trouble, and he and Peter must make a trip to check in on the man. But their visit immediately takes a dark turn when they arrive to find a smoldering cabin. They soon realize that someone has stolen a notebook full of incriminating secrets about Lewis’s long-ago crimes.
Lewis and Peter must find the notebooks: they are full of details that not only endanger the family and home that Lewis has built, but place his very life at risk. With June’s help, they begin to search. Soon they find themselves up against professional criminals, and the two men may have to tap into the dark sides that they have worked to keep hidden in order to take on particularly ruthless enemies.
From TRBS: Petrie’s Peter Ash is the heir apparent to the throne currently held by Jack Reacher, and perhaps the only character who truly deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Lee Child’s iconic protagionist. While the wait will be a little longer this year as Petrie moves towards a summer release, I expect it’ll be well worth it and then some.
The Last Sinner by Lisa Jackson
Release Date: June 27th
Lisa Jackson’s New York Times bestselling series featuring New Orleans homicide detectives Rick Bentz and Reuben Montoya began with a strangled prostitute in a seedy French Quarter hotel room and a demented killer disguised as a priest. Now evil comes full circle, as Father John returns to terrorize The Big Easy in this highly anticipated series finale!
There are killers so savage, so twisted, that they leave a mark not just on their victims, but on everyone who crosses their path. For Detectives Bentz and Montoya, Father John, a fake priest who used the sharpened beads of a rosary to strangle prostitutes, is one such monster.
Bentz thought he’d ended that horror years ago when he killed Father John deep in the swamp. But now there are chilling signs he may have been wrong. A new victim has surfaced, her ruined body staged in deliberate, unmistakable detail. Either it’s a terrifying copycat, or Father John, the detective’s own recurring nightmare, has come back to haunt New Orleans.
Another death, and another. Bentz is growing convinced that Father John isn’t just back. He’s circling closer, targeting those Bentz loves most.
And this time, he won’t be stopped until the last sinner has paid the ultimate price . . .
From TRBS: When it comes to quality, you know what you’re getting with one of Jackson’s thrillers. Aside from that, expect nonstop twists and turns.
Before She Finds Me by Heather Chavez
Release Date: June 27th
In this shocking thriller that is “both timely and emotional” (Julie Clark, New York Times bestselling author), two unlikely mothers race to uncover the truth behind a horrific attack—even after it becomes clear that the truth will destroy one of their families.
Julia Bennett has worked hard to create a stable life for her daughter, Cora, in Southern California. So when Cora leaves for college, the worst thing Julia expects on move-in day is an argument with her ex-husband and his new wife. But a sudden attack leaves the campus stunned—and only Julia’s quick actions save Cora’s life. Shaken in the aftermath, and haunted by a dark secret, Julia starts to wonder: What if the attack wasn’t as random as everyone believes?
Newly pregnant Ren Petrovic has an unusual career—she’s a trained assassin, operating under a strict moral code. Ren wasn’t on campus that day, but she knows who was: her husband, Nolan. What she doesn’t know is why Nolan has broken their rules by not telling her about the job in advance. The more Ren looks into the attack, the more she begins to question: Who really hired Nolan? And why did one woman in the crowd respond so differently from all the rest?
Julia and Ren each want answers, but their searches quickly pit them against each other. One woman is a hired killer, but the other is a determined survivor. And both mothers will defend their families to the bitter end.
From TRBS: Lisa Unger had this to say: “Slick, smart, layered and full of surprises, Before She Finds Me will have you hooked on page one and guessing as you breathlessly turn the pages. With her complex female characters and expert plotting, Chavez takes her readers on a wild, unpredictable ride. So grab this book and buckle up!”
Lay Your Body Down by Amy Suiter Clarke
Release Date: June 27th
A young woman returns to her rural Minnesota hometown, where a radical evangelical pastor has poisoned everyone’s minds—and may be covering up a murder.
After Del Walker fled her small hometown and its cult-like church, she vowed to never return. The man she loved, Lars, left her to marry the local golden girl Eve, and their romance is now the focus of Eve’s viral blog espousing the pastor’s conservative philosophy about women and marriage. But six years later, Lars is suddenly killed, and she’s convinced it couldn’t have been an accident.
When Del returns to her hometown for the funeral, she discovers the now mega-church—and the insidious, patriarchal teachings of Pastor Rick Franklin—has grown not only in size but in influence. Eve was clearly discontent in her marriage, despite the carefully constructed “Noble Wife” positivity of her blog posts, and Del knows better than anyone just how far she will go to get what she wants. Del is determined to cut through the church’s lies and corruption to find out who killed Lars—even if it means confronting the religious trauma she’s spent years trying to bury.
From TRBS: According to the bestselling author of Don’t Look for Me, Wendy Walker, Clarke “weaves together narratives from a true crime podcaster’s real life and her broadcasts as she tracks down a serial killer who may have returned after years of lying in wait.” I had serious Only Murderers in the Building vibes with this one, and can’t wait to check it out.
In a Hard Wind by David Housewright
Release Date: June 27th
When asked to investigate a murder in a seemingly idyllic Minnesota town, Rushmore McKenzie finds that all the evidence points directly at his client, in the next installment in David Housewright’s McKenzie novels, In a Hard Wind . . .
From TRBS: DAVID HOUSEWRIGHT has won the Edgar Award and is the three-time winner of the Minnesota Book Award for his crime fiction. So, the guy can really, really write.
The Guardian by Joshua Hood
Release Date: June 27th
From the “master of action” (Publishers Weekly) and USA Today bestselling author of Robert Ludlum’s Treadstone series comes a new thriller as intense and fast-paced as The Bourne Identity
As a member of the Air Force’s Elite Pararescue, Travis Lane abides by the motto “These things we do, so that others may live.” With his papers already submitted for reenlistment, he is blindsided when his brother-in-law is killed in the line of duty, leaving Lane as the sole support for his sister and her young daughter who is fighting cancer.
Desperate for something to help pay for his niece’s continued care, Lane accepts an offer to join Broadside Solutions, a private company with specially trained military operatives who provide protection for clients all over the world. But it’s trial by fire when his first mission takes him to the Democratic Republic of Congo to find and retrieve a kidnapped American in the middle of a densely forested jungle.
Infused with the author’s own experience as a parachute infantryman, this high-octane thriller throws the reader deep into the African jungle on a rescue mission where nothing is as it seems.
From TRBS: While Hood did a good job with the Treadstone books, his fans will likely relish his return to a more Clear By Fire-like thriller series that better utilizes his own background as a member of the prestigious 82nd Airborne. Lane feels like a solid mix between Mason Kane and Adam Hayes, which is intriguing. And one thing we know that Hood does better than most is action—so expect lots of it here.
Dead Man’s Wake by Paul Doiron
Release Date: June 27th
Game Warden Mike Bowditch’s engagement party is interrupted by the discovery of a gruesome double murder in this new thriller from Edgar Award-winning author Paul Doiron.
On the evening of their engagement party, Maine Game Warden Investigator Mike Bowditch and Stacey Stevens witness what seems to be a hit-and-run speedboat crash on a darkened lake. When they arrive at the scene, their spotlight reveals a gruesome sight: a severed arm floating just beneath the surface. As day breaks, the warden dive team recovers not one but two naked corpses: a dismembered man and the married woman with whom he was having an affair. Mike begins to suspect the swimmers’ deaths were not a senseless accident but a coldly calculated murder.
Meanwhile, the hunt is on for the mysterious boater. Suspects abound on the lake, nicknamed “Golden Pond,” including the violent biker husband of the murdered woman who may have taken vengeance on his wife and her paramour; a strange woman who claims to have witnessed the crash, but then changes her story; a very aggressive realtor and his wife who were determined to catch trespassers; and the lake’s earnest young constable whose eagerness to help may hide darker motives.
Alone among his fellow officers, Mike starts to sense the involvement of a trained marksman, smarter and more dangerous than any enemy he has ever faced before. As Mike and Stacey get closer to identifying the killer, their own lives are suddenly on the line as they confront a lethal killer who plans to silence them forever. The finale is a tour de force of drama and suspense.
From TRBS: For readers looking for something similar to C.J. Box and William Kent Krueger, Doiron’s series should be next in line, though it’s worth noting that his stuff is a shade darker than those guys. Bowditch, especially over the last few books, is a really well-developed character. If you’re searching for an engrossing, outdoorsy novel that’ll keep you guessing, here it is.
Have you Seen Her by Catherine Steadman
Release Date: June 27th
A thrilling and timely novel about three women with dark secrets whose lives intersect in the picturesque and perilous Yosemite National Park from the USA TODAY bestselling author of the “propulsive” (Laura Dave, author of The Last Thing He Told Me) Please Join Us.
Equipped with a burner phone and a new job, Cassie Peters has left her hectic and secretive life in New York City for the refuge of her hometown of Mammoth Lakes, California. There, she begins working again with Yosemite Search and Rescue, where a case she worked a decade ago continues to haunt her.
She quickly falls into old patterns, joining a group of fellow seasonal workers and young adventurers who have made Yosemite their home during the summer. There, she meets Petal, a young woman living in a trailer with her much older wife, keeping a detailed diary of the goings on of the park, and Jada, a recent college graduate on a cross-country road trip with her boyfriend, documenting their journey on Instagram.
When these three women cross paths, Cassie’s past catches up with her, and the shocking consequences ripple out far beyond what any could have imagined in this unputdownable thriller from an author who “never fails to impress” (Mary Kubica, New York Times bestselling author).
From TRBS: Author Megan Collins says, “Danger lurks within the gorgeous setting of this addictive thriller. With a premise that feels ripped from the headlines, Have You Seen Her will appeal to fans of true crime, but it’s the layers of mystery—from the protagonist’s dark past to the novel’s roster of missing persons—that make it especially difficult to put this one down.” That should be more than enough to have people pre-order this one.
Obsessed by James Patterson & James O. Bourne
Release Date: July 10th
A superstitious killer targeting young women in every borough of New York City has Detective Michael Bennett facing his most terrifying case since Step on a Crack.
Aboard a police boat on the Hudson River, Detective Michael Bennett casts a wary eye into the cold, rough water. NYPD is searching for a murder victim—a young college student. They find her tossed in the dark waves, dressed for a night out in a sparkly black gown. The gruesome sight fills Bennett with the dread only a father could fathom.
As the obsessive killer extends his spree, a pattern emerges. One that Bennett’s eldest daughter fits to a disturbing degree.
Now NYPD’s top detective must lure the murderer into the light of day before the next deadly strike lands closer to home than Bennett could ever bear—as a parent, or as a protector.
From TRBS: DuBois is on double duty, but it’s Born’s co-authored book that most intrigue me among the many works Patterson will release this year.
Dead Fall by Brad Thor
Release Date: July 11th
New York Times and #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author Brad Thor’s new pulse-pounding thriller.
In the war-ravaged borderlands of Ukraine, a Russian military unit has gone rogue. Its members, conscripted from the worst prisons and mental asylums across Russia, are the most criminally violent, psychologically dangerous combatants to ever set foot upon the modern battlefield.
With all attention focused on the frontlines, they have pushed deeper into the interior to wage a campaign of unspeakable barbarity. As they move from village to village, committing horrific war crimes, they meet little resistance as all able-bodied men are off fighting the war.
Simultaneously, a team of Russian mercenaries has been dispatched by the Kremlin to loot truckloads of art and priceless cultural treasures hidden away in a host of churches, museums, and private homes.
When multiple American aid workers are killed, America’s top spy is sent in to settle the score. But in a country almost the size of Texas, will Harvath be able to find the men in question and, more importantly, will he be able to stop them before they can kill again?
From TRBS: Brad Thor is perhaps the best political thriller novelist of his time, surpassing even the late, great Tom Clancy, so all eyes are on him as we await Dead Fall, which promises to be another heart-pumping, headline-beating, action-packed adventure staring Scot Harvath—one of the genre’s most badass characters.
An Evil Heart by Linda Castillo
Release Date: July 11th
Chief of Police Kate Burkholder investigates the brutal death of a young Amish man in An Evil Heart, the latest installment of the bestselling series by Linda Castillo.
On a crisp autumn day in Painters Mill, Chief of Police Kate Burkholder responds to a call only to discover an Amish man who has been violently killed with a crossbow, his body abandoned on a dirt road. Aden Karn was just twenty years old, well liked, and from an upstanding Amish family. Who would commit such a heinous crime against a young man whose life was just beginning?
The more Kate gets to know his devastated family and the people―both English and Amish―who loved him, the more determined she becomes to solve the case. Aden Karn was funny and hardworking and looking forward to marrying his sweet fiancé, Emily. All the while, Kate’s own wedding day to Tomasetti draws near…
But as she delves into Karn’s past, Kate begins to hear whispers about a dark side. What if Aden Karn wasn’t the wholesome young man everyone admired? Is it possible the rumors are a cruel campaign to blame the victim? Kate pursues every lead with a vengeance, sensing an unspeakable secret no one will broach.
The case spirals out of control when a young Amish woman comes forward with a horrific story that pits Kate against a dangerous and unexpected opponent. When the awful truth is finally uncovered, Kate comes face to face with the terrible consequences of a life lived in all the dark places.
From TRBS: Castillo is as steady as they come, constantly releasing must-read material that never disappoints. Her latest release is always one of my most anticiapted readers of the summer, and that’s certainly the case this year yet again.
The Ocean Above Me by Kevin Sites
Release Date: July 11th
Trapped undersea in a capsized shrimping trawler, a damaged former war correspondent is forced to confront a deadly secret from his past as he struggles to survive in this gripping novel of trauma, loss, love, and redemption from award-winning journalist and author of The Things They Cannot Say Kevin Sites.
Former war correspondent Lukas Landon is alone, trapped under 150-feet of water in an overturned shrimp trawler at the bottom of the ocean. The only thing keeping him alive is an air bubble in the ship’s bow. But the water level is rising, and time is running out. Landon doesn’t know if he will survive . . . or if he even deserves to.
After years of covering bloody battles in Afghanistan and Iraq, Landon’s once promising life took a steep nosedive. But he may have found a path to redemption: a series of in-depth stories on the Philomena, the rarest of South Carolina shrimp boats skippered by decorated former army sergeant Clarita Esteban.
A Black woman struggling to survive in a white man’s world, Clarita has assembled a crew of misfits as deeply wounded as herself; a Cuban first mate who came to America during the Mariel boatlift and his troubled younger cousin; a quiet Haitian cook with a secret black book; a deckhand, the only member of the ship’s former crew willing to work for a Black female skipper; and Clarita’s daughter, who lost a college basketball scholarship to an injury.
As Landon slowly earns the disparate crew’s trust, uncovering their pasts—and how each landed aboard this rusty bucket of bolts with its own shaded history—he keeps his own story and the events that unmoored the foundation of his life a secret. But when catastrophe strikes—leaving him twenty-fathoms deep in exquisite isolation—Landon has no one to question but himself. Will he finally come clean? And if he does, will he make it out alive from this 110-ton steel tomb under the sea to finally tell the truth to those who need to hear it?
A thrilling fight for survival and a poignant story of loss and redemption, The Ocean Above Me is a literary masterpiece that explores the effects of trauma, the pain of forgiveness, and the light of love that burns in the darkest depths.
From TRBS: A journalist by trade, Kevin Sites is considered a pioneer in the field of backpack journalism, and I’m really excited to see how his years of observing and reporting from 30 different conflicts and natural disasters around the world have prepared him for this novel—which sounds excellent.
What Never Happened by Rachel Howzell Hall
Release Date: July 11th
It’s murder in paradise as a woman uncovers a host of secrets off the rocky California coast in a gripping novel of suspense by New York Times bestselling author Rachel Howzell Hall.
Colette “Coco” Weber has relocated to her Catalina Island home, where, twenty years before, she was the sole survivor of a deadly home invasion. All Coco wants is to see her aunt Gwen, get as far away from her ex as possible, and get back to her craft―writing obituaries. Thankfully, her college best friend, Maddy, owns the local paper and has a job sure to keep Coco busy, considering the number of elderly folks who are dying on the island.
But as Coco learns more about these deaths, she quickly realizes that the circumstances surrounding them are remarkably similar…and not natural. Then Coco receives a sinister threat in the mail: her own obituary.
As Coco begins to draw connections between a serial killer’s crimes and her own family tragedy, she fears that the secrets on Catalina Island might be too deep to survive. Because whoever is watching her is hell-bent on finally putting her past to rest.
From TRBS: I’m a huge fan of Rachel Howzell Hall, both as a person and a writer, so when I saw that Meg Gardiner said her latest “blends blade-sharp writing and indelible characters with a suspenseful story that pulls you in and won’t let go,” this instantly became one of my most anticipated reads of 2023.
All the Demons are Here by Jake Tapper
Release Date: July 11th
From the bestselling author of The Devil May Dance and The Hellfire Club—a new thriller set in 1977 following the Marder children: Ike, an AWOL U.S. Marine who joins Evel Knievel’s pit crew after a horrifying experience in combat, and Lucy, an aspiring journalist who gets caught up with a powerful British family starting a brand new tabloid in the US.
It’s 1977. Ike and Lucy, Senator Charlie and Margaret Marder’s kids, are grown up—and in trouble. US Marine Ike has gone somewhat off the grid, working on Evel Knievel’s pit crew in Montana, when—after a bar fight—he has to flee a neo-Nazi gang and seek refuge in the woods with a group of Vietnam veterans. Lucy, a reporter, has become the star of the brand new Washington DC tabloid, the Sentinel, and is breaking all sorts of stories about a serial killer and falling in with the Lyons, the wealthy family that owns the newspaper, British immigrants with quite a different view of journalism than Lucy’s heroes Woodward and Bernstein. As their lives spiral out of control, Ike goes on the road with Evel Knievel, the Vietnam veterans, and other societal outcasts, first heading to Graceland to mourn Elvis Presley, then going to confront politicians—for grievances real and perceived—on an island in Georgia. Lucy, too, is at that retreat with both her parents and the Lyon family, attendees at this retreat where the future of the post-Nixon Republican party will be decided. The confrontation turns violent and both Ike and Lucy have to make decisions that will affect them for the rest of their lives.
From TRBS: Tapper has really shown the ability to transport readers back in time with his historical fiction, all the while mixing in fast-paced plotlines that do not disappoint. I loved The Hellfire Club, and look forward to seeing how he’ll top his other works here.
The Collector by Danil Silva
Release Date: July 18th
#1 New York Times bestselling author Daniel Silva is back with an electrifying new thriller.
Legendary art restorer and spy Gabriel Allon joins forces with a brilliant and beautiful master-thief to track down the world’s most valuable missing painting but soon finds himself in a desperate race to prevent an unthinkable conflict between Russia and the West.
From TRBS: In recent years, Silva has gone from “one of the greatest spy novelists of all time” to being squarely in the conversation as perhaps the greatest to ever do it. While not much is known about his next book just yet, we do know it’ll follow Gabriel Allon and be set after his time as chief of the Office. Beyond that, Silva is one of the few authors who carry “buy now” status by their name alone. Do you really need to know anything else to pre-order now? No. Buy now with confidence and strap in for next summer.
Blind Fear by Brandon Webb and John David Mann
Release Date: July 18th
Haunted by the death of his best friend and hunted by the FBI for war crimes he didn’t commit, Finn lands on an island paradise that turns into his own personal hell in this gripping follow-up to Steel Fear and Cold Fear—from the New York Times bestselling writing team Webb & Mann . . .
By day, AWOL Navy SEAL Finn is hiding out on Vieques, a tiny island paradise off the eastern coast of Puerto Rico, living in a spare room behind a seafood restaurant owned by a blind local. By night he scours the dark web, hunting for the rogue officer responsible for the crimes he is accused of committing.
But Finn’s world is about to be turned upside down by a new nightmare, when his employer’s two grandchildren go missing. To find them, he’ll have to infiltrate the island’s dangerous criminal underbelly and expose a shadowy crime network known as La Empresa—even if it means exposing himself in the process.
As the children go on their own harrowing odyssey to stay one step ahead of a cop-turned-killer, a hurricane batters the coastline, cutting Puerto Rico off from the rest of the world. Taking his pursuit to the sea, Finn’s skills and endurance will be tested to their limits to rescue the lost children and escape his own pursuers before the clock runs out. No one is to be trusted. And those who are seemingly his friends might be the most dangerous foes he’s faced yet.
From TRBS: One of the hottest new series to come along in some time, Webb’s experience as a decorated Navy SEAL pairs perfectly with Mann’s easy prose and his tremendous sense of plot. Fans of Jack Carr and Brad Taylor will want to to check this one out right away.
Star Wars Inquisitor: Rise of the Red Blade by Delilah S. Dawson
Release Date: July 18th
When the Jedi Order falls, the Inquisitors rise.
From the aftermath of Order 66 comes a new group of former Jedi, each with their own reason to serve the Empire under Darth Vader. Among them is Iskat, who survived the destruction of her old Order to claim a new destiny in the Force. Iskat joins the Inquisitors in the hope of uncovering her hidden past that the Jedi refused to share with her.
From TRBS: Not every Star Wars book will make it onto this list, but this one really is a bonafide thriller, with elements of suspense and espionage, and plenty of action too,
Obsession by Stuart Woods and Brett Battles
Release Date: July 25th
Teddy Fay finds his skills put to the test in the latest thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author Stuart Woods.
While filming on location in scenic Santa Barbara, California, Peter Barrington and Ben Bacchetti look to expand Centurion Studios’s business by making a deal with a young Croatian billionaire. But when the magnate’s wife is kidnapped, Teddy Fay is brought in to assess the threat and recover the young woman. As Teddy unravels the threads of her disappearance, he quickly comes to find that darker forces are at play and an old vendetta has been revived that puts them all at risk. Meanwhile, danger lurks even nearer to home as an obsessive fan with perilous intentions weasels his way onto the film set, and only Teddy can stop him from getting too close for comfort.
From TRBS: the sixth book in the late Stuart Wood’s Teddy Fay series continues thanks to author Brett Battles, a talented writer who is best known for his Jonathan Quinn books. Battles, a super underrated talent, was the perfect choice to step in here.
Robert Ludlum’s The Bourne Defiance by Brian Freeman
Release Date: July 25th
Someone’s killing Treadstone agents and Jason Bourne may be next on the list in this latest electrifying entry in Robert Ludlum’s #1 New York Times bestselling series.
Around the world, Treadstone agents are being hunted down and murdered. Someone high up in the U.S. government is erasing all evidence of a shocking mission from Jason Bourne’s past known as Defiance—including Bourne himself. Staying one step ahead of a team of killers, Bourne follows a global trail that leads him to one of the government’s darkest secrets. But exposing the truth about the Defiance mission will also bring Bourne face-to-face with his archenemy, the assassin known as Lennon, for a final deadly confrontation.
From TRBS: Brain Freeman has done an excellent job since taking over and rebooting the Bourne series a few years back. This promises to be one of his most action-packed adventures yet.
Chameleon by Remi Adeleke
Release Date: July 25th
“Delivering authentic action from someone who has lived it, Chameleon is on target and scores a direct hit!”-Jack Carr, former Navy SEAL and #1 New York Times bestselling author
From filmmaker, memoirist, and former Navy SEAL Remi Adeleke, on the heels of his featured roles in the box office film Plane and in Fox’s Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test, comes the first installment in the pulse-pounding Black Box Thriller series, featuring Nigerian-born and New York-raised Kali Kent and the top-secret Black Box program—perfect for readers of Jack Carr, Mark Greaney, and Brad Taylor.
When a mysterious former South African commando, Lucas Van Groot, begins taking wealthy hostages all over the world, it appears at first to be a typical ransom gambit. However, it soon becomes clear that his “Hostage Inc.” venture is manipulating worldwide stock markets and threatening global economic collapse
Enter Black Box, the CIA’s elite, secret special operations branch—so surreptitious that not even the Director of CIA is fully privy to the unit’s activities. Black Box is composed of highly skilled agents who perform with precision:
- Chameleons who can transform into myriad characters,
- Ghosts who are specialists in stealth and surveillance,
- Wind operatives who are transportation experts, and
- Aberration agents whose specialty is deep cover for years.
Kali Kent, a Nigerian-born and Bronxite Chameleon in the Black Box program, leads the hunt for Van Groot. Tracking this ringleader and his cadre of international criminals, the team discovers the South African mastermind is after a much larger prize, and the race is on to prevent a worldwide tragedy.
Along the way, Kali will have to face the demons from his childhood and reflect on his emotional path that made him the Chameleon that he is today.
From TRBS: One of my early contenders for the best debut thriller of 2023, Remi Adeleke is a name already known to many. The author of the acclaimed memoir Transformed, Remi is a former Navy SEAL turned actor and filmmaker, and now, the thriller world will soon know him as the author of this lights-out thriller. I couldn’t put this one down, soaking up every page—each leading to an explosive ending that’s worth the price of admission.
Prom Mom by Laura Lippman
Release Date: July 25th
New York Times bestseller Laura Lippman tells the story of Amber Glass, desperately trying to get away from her tabloid past but compulsively drawn back to the city of her youth and the prom date who destroyed everything she was reaching for.
Amber Glass has spent her entire adult life putting as much distance as possible between her and her hometown of Baltimore, where she fears she will forever be known as “Prom Mom”—the girl who allegedly killed her baby on the night of the prom after her date, Joe Simpson, abandoned her to pursue the girl he really liked. But when circumstances bring Amber back to the city, she realizes she can have a second chance—as long as she stays away from Joe, now a successful commercial real estate developer, married to a plastic surgeon, Meredith, to whom he is devoted.
The problem is, Amber can’t stay away from Joe. And Joe finds that it’s increasingly hard for him to ignore Amber, if only because she remembers the boy he was and the man he said he was going to be. Against the surreal backdrop of 2020 and early 2021, the two are slowly drawn to each other and eventually cross the line they’ve been trying not to cross.
And then Joe asks Amber to help him do the unthinkable . . .
From TRBS: The Chicago Tribune calls Laura Lippman “one of the best novelists working today,” and they’re not wrong. An easy pre-oder and read-it-the-second-it-arrives pick if there ever was one.
An Honest Man by Michael Koryta
Release Date: July 25th
The murder of several politicians at sea has shattering implications for a local lobsterman and a young boy in Michael Koryta’s latest thriller
Israel Pike was a killer, and he was an honest man. They were not mutually exclusive.
After discovering seven men murdered aboard their yacht – including two Senate rivals – Israel Pike is regarded as a prime suspect. A troubled man infamous on Salvation Point Island for killing his own father a decade before, Israel has few options, no friends, and a life-threatening secret.
Elsewhere on the island, 12-year-old Lyman Rankin seeks shelter from his alcoholic father in an abandoned house only to discover that he is not alone. A mysterious woman greets him with a hatchet and a promise: “Make a sound and I’ll kill you.”
As the investigation barrels forward, Lyman, Israel, and the fate of the case collide in immutable ways. Written with mounting suspense, stirring emotion, and deep understanding of character, Koryta continues to prove why Stephen King has called him “a master” and Michael Connelly has deemed him “one of the best of the best, plain and simple.”
From TRBS: Koryta brings his A-game each and every book. Here, the dual mystery plotlines are both compelling, as is the mystique around Israel Pike. I can’t tell you how this one will play out, but I can pretty much guarantee it won’t be anything you see coming.
Everyone Here is Lying by Shari Lapena
Release Date: July 25th
Another thrilling domestic suspense novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Couple Next Door
“Lapena is a master of manipulation.” —USA Today
Welcome to Stanhope! A safe neighborhood. A place for families.
William Wooler is a family man, on the surface. But he’s been having an affair, an affair that ended horribly this afternoon at a motel up the road. So when he returns to his house, devastated and angry, to find his difficult nine-year-old daughter, Avery, unexpectedly home from school, William loses his temper.
Hours later, Avery’s family declares her missing.
Suddenly Stanhope doesn’t feel so safe. And William isn’t the only one on his street who’s hiding a lie. As witnesses come forward with information that may or may not be true, Avery’s neighbors become increasingly unhinged.
Who took Avery Wooler?
Nothing will prepare you for the truth.
From TRBS: Lapena does suspense as well as anyone, and as USA Today points out, she is indeed a “master of manipulation.” After Harlan Coben bows earlier in the year, fans of spine-tingling suspense should set their sights on this one.
What Harms You by Lisa Black
Release Date: July 25th
For fans of Patricia Cornwell, Jefferson Bass, and Tess Gerritsen, New York Times bestselling author Lisa Black draws from her real-life scientific expertise as a crime scene analyst and her skill in crafting complex and dynamic female characters, as Washington DC forensic scientists Dr. Ellie Carr and Dr. Rachael Davies team up to solve the deadliest and most devious crimes.
This suspense-driven installment in the Locard Institute Thriller series poses a chilling question: What happens when a serial killer goes to CSI school?
The Locard Institute is a state-of-the-art forensic research center where experts from around the world come together to confront and solve the world’s most challenging and perplexing crimes. When Dr. Ellie Carr arrives for her first day as an instructor at the prestigious facility, the buildings glimmer amid the brilliant fall foliage on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay. But within hours a colleague, Dr. Barbara Wright, is found dead on the floor of a supply closet. Her death appears to be an accident—but Ellie and her new supervisor, Dr. Rachael Davies, suspect a more sinister explanation.
A young woman attending a professional training program then disappears, only to be found in a gruesome tableau. Other than their link to the Institute, there seems to be no connection between the student and Dr. Wright. Although forensic traces are elusive, Ellie and Rachael are determined to find the bizarre link between the violent and diverse deaths.
As reporters shatter the privacy of Ellie’s new workplace, she searches old files and finds evidence of a crime that feels much too personal. But who, among those dedicated to justice, could be the threat? No matter how skilled she and Rachael may be in uncovering the truth, they may not be able to prevent a well-schooled killer from striking again.
“Black, who writes elegantly from personal experience as a criminologist herself, has fashioned a wondrously structured tale with the pace and energy of a great crime film.” —BookTrib on Red Flag
From TRBS: BookTrib was high on Black’s last book, and so were readers. Drawing on her experience as a crime scene analyst, Black’s latest should appeal to cans of Patricia Cornwell, Michael Connelly, and Tess Gerritsen.
Game of Spies by Ava Glass
Release Date: August 1st
British spy Emma Makepeace goes undercover on a Russian oligarch’s super-yacht, where she’s one wrong move away from a watery grave, in this electrifying thriller from the author of Alias Emma.
An MI6 operative is found dead, locked in a suitcase inside his own apartment. Despite an exhaustive search, no fingerprints are found at the scene. Emma Makepeace and her handler, Ripley, know an assassination when they see one, and such an obvious murder can mean only one thing: Someone is sending a message.
As she digs into his past, Emma discovers that the unfortunate spy had been investigating two Russian oligarchs based in London. He’d become obsessed with the idea that the two were spies, aided by a third man—whose identity he had yet to uncover. When he shared his findings within MI6 in the weeks before he died, the response came back fast and clear: Drop the investigation and move on. Had he uncovered a secret that cost him his life?
To pick up where he left off without ending up in a suitcase of her own, Emma goes undercover on one of the oligarch’s million-dollar yachts, scheduled to set sail from the Cote D’Azur to Monaco. Under other circumstances, this would be a dream vacation. But if Emma’s real identity gets discovered, it’s a death sentence.
As Emma’s work reveals secrets she’d be safer not knowing, the danger ratchets up. The killer may be closer to home than any of them imagined. And Emma won’t be safe until he—or she—is caught.
From TRBS: Glass is a pseudonym for a former crime reporter who also, apparently, worked in government—where she was introduced to the world of spies. Now she’s writing about them, and judging by the plot synopsis, it certainly sounds like a cracking good tale of espionage.
The Bone Hacker by Cathy Reichs
#1 New York Times bestselling author Kathy Reichs returns with her twenty-second high-stakes thriller featuring forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan who, following a series of bizarre disappearances on the islands of Turks and Caicos, enters a sinister labyrinth in which a new technology may wreak worldwide havoc.
Called in to examine what is left of a body struck by lightning, Tempe traces an unusual tattoo to its source and is soon embroiled in a much larger case. Young men—tourists—have been disappearing on the islands of Turks and Caicos for years. Seven years ago, the first victim was found in a strange location with both hands cut off; the other visitors vanished without a trace. But, recently, tantalizing leads have emerged and only Tempe can unravel them.
Maddeningly, the victims seem to have nothing in common—other than the strange locations where their bodies are eventually found, and the fact that the young men all seem to be the least likely to be involved in foul play. Do these attacks have something to do with the islands’ seething culture of gang violence? Tempe isn’t so sure. And then she turns up disturbing clues that what’s at stake may actually have global significance.
It isn’t long before the sound of a ticking clock grows menacingly loud, and then Temper herself becomes a target.
From TRBS: It feels like Temperance Brennan has been around forever. Now 22 books in, Reichs fans know exactly what to expect when she releases a new book—and the author rarely misses her mark.
To Catch a Storm by Mindy Mejia
Release Date: August 1st
In this brand new series from national bestseller Mindy Mejia, a physicist and a psychic reluctantly team up to solve two missing persons cases during an ice storm in Iowa.
When her husband’s car is found abandoned and on fire—in the middle of a rainstorm—Eve Roth becomes the police’s number one suspect. After all, her husband was suspended from the University of Iowa for inappropriate conduct with a student, and who else but an atmospheric physicist could incinerate a car in a downpour? But Eve has no idea why her husband disappeared. She’s desperate to find him, both for herself and her beloved, disabled father-in-law.
Jonah Kendrick appears on their doorstep with a theory. He’s seen Eve’s husband, bound and bleeding in a barn. Claiming to be a psychic detective who dreams of the lost, Jonah has helped find missing people his entire life. He dreamed about a young woman trapped in the same barn months ago, and she’s still missing.
As a firm believer in the laws of nature, Eve rejects anything to do with psychics, but their investigations soon collide. As the temperature drops and Iowa turns to ice, Eve and Jonah race across the state to discover what happened to the people they’ve lost. But the truth is more deadly either of them expected, and the physicist and the psychic must learn to believe in each other if they want to escape this storm alive.
From TRBS: I’ve been a fan of Mejia’s since 2016 when I first read an advance copy of her stunning physiological thriller, Everything You Want Me to Be. Now she’s gearing up to launch a new series with To Catch a Storm. Knowing what a terrific writer she is, I’ve got this one pegged to be a sleeper hit, and would bet money that fans J.T. Ellison and Jeff Abbott with go nuts for this one.
Those We Thought We Knew by David Joy
Release Date: August 1st
From award-winning writer David Joy comes a searing new novel about the cracks that form in a small North Carolina community and the evils that unfurl from its center.
Toya Gardner, a young Black artist from Atlanta, has returned to her ancestral home in the North Carolina mountains to trace her family history and complete her graduate thesis. But when she encounters a still-standing Confederate monument in the heart of town, she sets her sights on something bigger.
Meanwhile, local deputies find a man sleeping in the back of a station wagon and believe him to be nothing more than some slack-jawed drifter. Yet a search of the man’s vehicle reveals that he is a high-ranking member of the Klan, and the uncovering of a notebook filled with local names threatens to turn the mountain on end.
After two horrific crimes split the county apart, every soul must wrestle with deep and unspoken secrets that stretch back for generations. Those We Thought We Knew is an urgent unraveling of the dark underbelly of a community. Richly drawn and bracingly honest, it asks what happens when the people you’ve always known turn out to be monsters, what do you do when everything you ever believed crumbles away?
From TRBS: I last reviewed Joy’s work in 2018 when he released The Line That Held Us, a really gritty, powerful story about the coverup of an accidental death. And that’s how I would describe Joy’s work overall—gritty and powerful. Shades of his writing remind me of Ace Atkins, but the better comparison might be Brian Panowich. Either way, if you like one of the writers, you’ll love David Joy.
North of Nowhere by Allison Brennan
Release Date: August 8th
New York Times bestseller Allison Brennan’s latest standalone is an unputdownable race to the dramatic finish.
After five years in hiding from their murderous father, the day Kristen and Ryan McIntyre have been dreading has arrived: Boyd McIntyre, head of a Los Angeles crime family, has at last tracked his kids to a small Montana town and is minutes away from kidnapping them. They barely escape in a small plane, but gunfire hits the fuel line. The pilot, a man who has been raising them as his own, manages to crash land in the middle of the Montana wilderness. The siblings hike deep into the woods, searching desperately for safety―unaware of the severity of the approaching storm.
Boyd’s sister Ruby left Los Angeles for the Army years ago, cutting off contact in order to help keep her niece and nephew safe and free from the horrors of the McIntyre clan. So when she gets an emergency call that the plane has gone down with the kids inside, she drops everything to try save them.
As the storm builds, Ruby isn’t the only person looking for them. Boyd has hired an expert tracker to find and bring them home. And rancher Nick Lorenzo, who knows these mountains better than anyone and doesn’t understand why the kids are running, is on their trail too.
But there is a greater threat to Kristen and Ryan out there. More volatile than the incoming blizzard, more dangerous than the family they ran from or the natural predators they could encounter. Who finds them first could determine if they live or die . . .
From TRBS: Brennan is back with another “unputdownable” thriller, and if you’ve read her work before, you know that’s pretty much a given that you’ll be up way past your bedtime with this one.
Release Date: August 8th
From the Real Book Spy, Ryan Steck, comes another riveting Matthew Redd thriller.
On an island off the coast of Spain, Matthew Redd and his FBI fly team surveil a luxury villa in hopes of catching a high-value fugitive. But when Redd leads an unauthorized raid on the villa, he discovers they’ve been set up, and he is sent home to face the consequences of defying orders.
Meanwhile, Redd’s wife, Emily, is on a remote stretch of Montana road driving their sick baby to the doctor when she finds her SUV surrounded by a biker gang intent on harassing her. As the bikers pound her fenders and her infant son screams, Emily fights to keep the SUV on the road . . . and then suddenly the bikers back off, leaving her safe but shaken.
Redd returns home, suspended from his team and certain that he is to blame for Emily’s harassment after his run-in with the local biker gang the year before. Fearing that there is more to come, he prepares to defend his family. But Redd soon learns the gang is stronger in numbers than he could’ve imagined, and there is more behind their vendetta than he could’ve guessed. As his son’s condition worsens and his beloved ranch faces financial ruin, he finds himself fighting a war on multiple fronts—one he can’t win on his own.
From TRBS: Adding “author” to my resume in 2022 was a thrill, and while I’m certainly proud of Fields of Fire (and beyond happy that readers have responded so well to it), I cannot wait to get Lethal Range into your hands. If you thought Redd was up against in book 1, think again. I threw everything at him in this one, and then some. Fun fact—I set out to write one of the biggest action sequences in recent memory, and while it’s ultimately up to the readers to decide if i hit my mark, I can tell you that I reall went for it, swinging for the fences and leaving nothing on the table.
None of this is True by Lisa Jewell
Release Date: August 8th
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author known for her “superb pacing, twisted characters, and captivating prose” (BuzzFeed), Lisa Jewell returns with a scintillating new psychological thriller about a woman who finds herself the subject of her own popular true crime podcast.
Celebrating her forty-fifth birthday at her local pub, popular podcaster Alix Summers crosses paths with an unassuming woman called Josie Fair. Josie, it turns out, is also celebrating her forty-fifth birthday. They are, in fact, birthday twins.
A few days later, Alix and Josie bump into each other again, this time outside Alix’s children’s school. Josie has been listening to Alix’s podcasts and thinks she might be an interesting subject for her series. She is, she tells Alix, on the cusp of great changes in her life.
Josie’s life appears to be strange and complicated, and although Alix finds her unsettling, she can’t quite resist the temptation to keep making the podcast. Slowly she starts to realise that Josie has been hiding some very dark secrets, and before she knows it, Josie has inveigled her way into Alix’s life—and into her home.
But, as quickly as she arrived, Josie disappears. Only then does Alix discover that Josie has left a terrible and terrifying legacy in her wake, and that Alix has become the subject of her own true crime podcast, with her life and her family’s lives under mortal threat.
Who is Josie Fair? And what has she done?
From TRBS: I was pretty late to Jewell’s work, only first discovering her stuff a few years ago. Now, she’s one of my favorites when I’m in need of a break from nonstop action. Her work has always felt like a cross between Harlan Coben and Lisa Gardner to me, with hit television shows and movies utilizing true crime podcasts lately (Only Murders in the Building, Vengence, etc.), I’m excited to see how Jewell uses Alix Summers here.
Bridge by Lauren Beikes
Release Date: August 8th
A grieving daughter’s search for her mother becomes a journey across alternate realities in this wildly entertaining, reality-bending thriller from the author of The Shining Girls.
It was a game they played; the other worlds, the other lives. It was part of her mom’s grand delusions. It wasn’t real. Unless it was…
Bridget Kittinger has always been paralyzed by choices. It has a lot to do with growing up in the long shadow of her mother, Jo, a troubled neuroscientist. Jo’s obsession with one mythical object, the “dreamworm”—which she believed enabled travel to other worlds—led to their estrangement.
Now, suddenly, Jo is dead. And in packing up her home, Bridge finds a strange device buried deep in Jo’s freezer: the dreamworm. Against all odds, it actually can open the door—to all other realities, and to all other versions of herself, too. Could Bridge find who she should be in this world, by visiting the others? And could her Jo still be alive somewhere? But there’s a sinister cost to trading places, and others hunting the dreamworm who would kill to get their hands on it . . .
Across a thousand possible lives, from Portland to Haiti, from Argentina to the alligator-infested riverways of North Carolina, Bridge takes readers on a highly original thrill ride, pushing the boundaries of what we know about mothers and daughters, hunters and seekers, and who we each choose to be.
From TRBS: “Beukes is all about turning assumptions and expectations upside down.” That’s one heck of an endorsement by Stephen King
Lion & Lamb by James Patterson &
Release Date: August 14th
They can catch a killer—if they don’t kill each other first. Veena Lion and Cooper Lamb are rival PIs working the same intense headline-making case.
Philadelphia is in a state of shock over the fate of two hometown heroes: Eagles starting quarterback Archie Hughes, and his even more famous wife, Grammy-winning singer Francine Hughes.
One spouse is murdered. The other is suspect #1.
Even before the case hits the courtroom, it’s the hottest ticket in town.
For the defense: Cooper Lamb, private investigator to the stars.
For the prosecution: Veena Lion, a sleuth so bright she’s got to wear shades.
Between them, they know every secret in Philadelphia. Together, they prove how two wrongs can make a right. They are Lion & Lamb.
From TRBS: Another Patterson title, but with a different co-author.
Ricochet by Taylor Moore
Release Date: August 15th
DEA Special Agent Garrett Kohl and his CIA team embark on an off-the-books investigation and partner up with a ragtag crew of outcasts and outlaws to stop extortionists and dismantle their operation before complete devastation rains down in their Texas High Plains community in this pulse-pounding thriller for fans of C. J. Box.
After hunting down a rogue spy as part of an elite CIA counterespionage unit, Garrett Kohl returns home to Texas in hopes of settling down and carving out a normal life. While learning the ropes of fatherhood, falling deeper in love with his high school crush, and rebuilding his wildfire ravaged cattle ranch, he is approached in secret by an engineer working at a nearby nuclear weapons plant, who is in desperate need of his help. Utilizing a unique skill set—abilities Garrett has honed as a deep cover narcotics agent and former Green Beret—he embarks on an off-the-books investigation and learns that Iranian operatives are blackmailing weapons facility employees and potentially planning a devastating act of sabotage and destruction.
Already engaged in an intense shadow war with Tehran and their Quds Force spies, Garrett’s CIA team rallies to take down the extortionists and dismantle their operation. But before they can get their mission under way, enemy commandos hijack a train carrying nuclear weapons, and activate a lone wolf assassin to murder the visiting U.S. Secretary of Defense. Caught flatfooted by the sudden attack, Garrett musters the only help he can find—a ragtag crew of outcasts and outlaws, some of whom he’d once put behind bars. Although they’re from different walks of life, and opposite sides of the law, they hold in common the deep desire to protect their homes, their families, and their way of life on the remote, wild, and alluring Texas High Plains.
From TRBS: Tayloe Moore is a more recent version of Don Bentley, and I mean that in the best way possible. Their debuts are only a year apart, and whereas Bentley started to break out last year, I suspect Moore will shine in 2023. Think J. Todd Scott with a little C.J. Box thrown in there. If you’ve yet to discover Moore’s work, you’re in for a real treat.
Tides of Fire by James Rollins
Release Date: August 15th
In the latest riveting thriller from the #1 New York Times bestselling author, an international research station in the Coral Sea comes under siege during a geological disaster that triggers massive quakes, deadly tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions. To stop the world from burning, it’s up to Sigma Force to uncover a secret buried at the heart of our planet.
The Titan Project—an international research station off the coast of Australia—discovers a thriving zone of life in an otherwise dead sea. The area teems with a strange bioluminescent coral that defies science, yet holds great promise for the future. But the loss of a military submarine in the area triggers a brutal attack and sets in motion a geological disaster that destabilizes an entire region.
Massive quakes, volcanic eruptions, and deadly tsunamis herald a greater cataclysm to come—for something is stirring miles under the ocean, a threat hidden for millennia.
As seas turn toxic and coastlines burn, can Sigma Force stop what has been let loose—especially as an old adversary returns, hunting them and thwarting their every move? For any hope of success, Commander Gray Pierce must search for a key buried in the past, hidden deep in Aboriginal mythology. But what Sigma could uncover is even more frightening—something that will shake the very foundations of humanity
From TRBS: The gang from Sigma Force is set to return, and that’s great news for readers. Rollins remains one of the most beloved writers in the game today, and his stories keep getting bigger and better each and every year.
The Trade Off by Sandie Jones
Release Date: August 15th
From Sandie Jones, the New York Times bestselling author of the Reese’s Book Club pick The Other Woman, comes The Trade Off, a gripping suspense novel set in the midst of London’s tabloid journalism scene . . .
From TRBS: Jones has worked as a freelance journalist for more than twenty years and has written for publications including The Sunday Times, Woman’s Weekly, and Hello magazine. She lives in London with her husband and three children. She is the author of The Other Woman, a Reese’s Book Club x Hello Sunshine pick. While The Other Woman gets the most attention for being a Reece’s book club pick, everything Jones writes is fantastic, and I have total confidence that she’ll deliver yet again here.
Untitled Jack Ryan Jr. Novel by Don Bentley
Release Date: August 22
Jack Ryan, Jr., faces down a deadly foe in the latest exciting entry in the #1 New York Times bestselling series.
For years, there’s been one man standing between China and world domination—President Jack Ryan, Sr. Now they have the tool they need to defeat him, there’s only one man standing in their way: his son, Jack Ryan, Jr.
From TRBS: I teased that Bentley might have even bigger things coming in 2024, but first, he’ll wrap up a stellar 2023 with another Jack Ryan Junior book—giving him a final tally of two Clancy’s and a Matt Drake book all in the same calendar year. That’s super impressive. And after all that typing, someone better get Don a new keyboard ahead of more good news that should break in a few months.
After that Night by Karin Slaughter
Release Date: August 22
Will Trent and Sara Linton are back! This is the 11th electrifying thriller featuring GBI investigator Will Trent and medical examiner Sara Linton from New York Times bestselling author Karin Slaughter.
From TRBS: Will Trent is one of the biggest names in crime fiction, and so is Karin Slaughter. She’s shown plenty of range and has released riveting standalones, but if you’re like me, it’s especially exciting when she puts out a new Trent book. I’m a sucker for series, and this is a damn good one.
I’m Not Done with You Yet by Jesse Q. Sutanto
Release Date: August 22
Some friends—and friendships—are worth killing for in this dark, twisty suspense novel by national bestselling author Jesse Q. Sutanto.
Jane is unhappy.
A struggling midlist writer whose novels barely command four figures, she feels trapped in an underwhelming marriage, just scraping by to pay a crippling Bay Area mortgage for a house—a life—she’s never really wanted.
There’s only ever been one person she cared about, one person who truly understood her: Thalia. Jane’s best and only friend nearly a decade ago during their Creative Writing days at Oxford. It was the only good year of Jane’s life—cobblestones and books and damp English air, heady wine and sweet cider and Thalia, endless Thalia. But then one night ruined everything. The blood-soaked night that should have bound Thalia to Jane forever but instead made her lose her completely. Thalia disappeared without a trace, and Jane has been unable to find her since.
Until now.
Because there she is, her name at the top of the New York Times bestseller list: A Most Pleasant Death by Thalia Ashcroft. When she discovers a post from Thalia on her website about attending a book convention in New York City in a week—“Can’t wait to see you there!”—Jane can’t wait either.
She’ll go to New York City, too, credit card bill be damned. And this time, she will do things right. Jane won’t lose Thalia again.
From TRBS: Sutanto has a master’s degree in creative writing from Oxford University, which is an impressive credential. She’s also released both adult and YA novels. But what I like most about her, having recently launched a Twitch channel to promote books to a younger audience, is that she has self-professed love for playing games. Oh, and she can really write!
Dead Mountain by Preston & Child
Release Date: August 22
In 2008, nine mountaineers failed to return from a winter backpacking trip in the New Mexico mountains. At their last campsite, searchers found a bizarre scene: something had appeared at the door of their tent so terrifying that it impelled them to slash their way out and flee barefoot to certain death in a blizzard. Despite a diligent search, only six bodies were found, three violently crushed and missing eyes and tongues. The case, given the code name “Dead Mountain” by the FBI, was never solved.
Now, two more bodies from the lost expedition are unexpectedly discovered in a cave, one a grisly suicide. Young FBI Agent Corrie Swanson teams up with archaeologist Nora Kelly to investigate what really happened on that fateful trip fifteen years ago—and to find the ninth victim. But their search awakens a long-slumbering evil, which pursues Corrie and Nora with a vengeance, determined to prevent the final missing corpse from ever coming to light.
From TRBS: Let’s be honest and admit that we all judge books by their covers. And this one, for my money, is a stunning work of art. I love the snowy setting that contrasts with the red title. As for the book itself, well, Preston & Child know what their readers want, and even more importantly, they know how to deliver that.
Harlem After Midnight by Louise Hare
Release Date: August 29th
A body falls from a townhouse window in Harlem, and it looks just like the newest singer at the Apollo…in this evocative, twisting new novel from the authorof Miss Aldridge Regrets.
Harlem, 1936: Lena Aldridge grew up in a cramped corner of London, hearing stories of the bright lights of Broadway. She always imagined that when she finally went to New York City, she’d be there with her father. But now he’s dead, and she’s newly arrived and alone, chasing a dream that has quickly dried up. When Will Goodman—the handsome musician she met on the crossing from England—offers for her to stay with his friends in Harlem, she agrees. She has nowhere else to go, and this will give her a chance to get to know Will better and see if she can find any trace of the family she might have remaining.
Will’s friends welcome her with open arms, but just as Lena discovers the stories her father once told her were missing giant pieces of information, she also starts to realize the man she’s falling too fast and too hard for has secrets of his own. And they might just place a target on her back. Especially when she is drawn to the brightest stage in town.
From TRBS: With an MA in creative writing from the University of London, Hare got off to a fast start with her Canary Club series last year. She’ll now look to follow that up as she builds out her franchise, and there’s a lot to love about what she’s doing. If you’re into murder mysteries, you’ll want to keep an eye out for ths one.
The Hike by Lucy Clarke
Release Date: August 29th
From internationally bestselling author Lucy Clarke comes a propulsive new thriller about four women who lace up their hiking boots and venture into the Norwegian wilderness – but not all of them will return.
There’s a killer on their trail.
Burned out by both her marriage and work, Liz desperately needs an escape. More than that, she needs an adventure, a total reset. So when it is her turn to plan the annual vacation with her three best friends, she persuades them to spend four nights wild camping in the stunning mountains of Norway. Following a trail that climbs through lush valleys, towering peaks, and past jewel-blue lakes, Liz is sure that the hike is just what she needs to get her life back together. But as they stride farther from civilization, it becomes clear that they are not the only ones looking to lose themselves in the mountains.
No cell coverage.
No help.
No one to hear them scream.
Told in alternating perspectives, this gripping thriller explores the wild side of female friendship and the transportive power of the wilderness.
From TRBS: If I had to pick a comparison for Clarke’s work, I think I might go with Jane Harper. Both can plot really well, but where they excel is at creating and developing memorable characters that readers want to follow. I’m excited for this book.
Beneath Dark Waters by Karen Rose
Release Date: August 29th
Deadly secrets lie beneath the murky waters of the Louisiana bayou in this pulse-pounding new romantic suspense novel from New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Karen Rose.
There’s no safe place for a child to hide when danger comes from every direction.
Public prosecutor J.P. “Kaj” Cardozo has only lived in New Orleans for six months, and he’s already working on a high-profile celebrity sexual assault case that’s made headlines all over the country. But when his son becomes the target of a kidnapping attempt as a threat to Kaj, he is desperate to keep him safe and turns to a private investigative firm famous for their protection services.
A veteran Marine, Val Sorensen is glad to have found a new career with Broussard Investigations. Her latest assignment as the bodyguard to ten-year-old Elijah Cardozo reminds her why—Val is a kick ass guardian with a tender heart. Through her duties, Val grows fond of the boy—and his handsome father.
But when the high-stakes investigation reveals an explosive network of crime through a revived drug gang, lingering deep-seated corruption in the NOPD, and a group of murderers-for-hire targeting Kaj, Elijah, and his star client, they’re all left scrambling for safety . . .
From TRBS: Rose follows up last year’s Quarter to Midnight, which has a 4.5 out of 5-star average on Amazon with nearly 2, 400 reviews, with Beneath Dark Waters. Having been endorsed by James Patterson, Lisa Gardner, Lisa Jackson, Tess Gerritsen, and many others, Rose boasts some of the best blurbs in the business. You don’t rack those up without being able to churn out A+ work.
The Blue Hour Sanction by Landon Beach
Release Date: August 29th
For twenty years, the mysterious and deadly character of Adrienne Astra has wowed readers and propelled author Riley Cannon to become one of the bestselling novelists of all-time. Now, with Sunrise Kama Sutra, the final novel in Cannon’s mega-selling 6-volume ‘Round the Clock Series, about to be released, Cannon decides to pull back the curtain and give her fans what they have long yearned for: Adrienne Astra’s origin story. In an exclusive, e-mailed-in, 2-question interview, famous book blogger Christine Harper asked the author, “Why now?” And Cannon wrote, “Because, before you discover how Adrienne’s journey ends, you have to learn how it began.” When asked what the title of the novel would be, Cannon replied . . .
The Blue Hour Sanction
With the publishing world in a frenzy over the interview, Riley Cannon prepares to sit down and tell the world how Adrienne Astra became Adrienne Astra.
Then, the night before Cannon is to start writing the novel, she disappears, and her mega-agent, Topaz Kennedy, is forced to take drastic measures. The Blue Hour Sanction must be written and published within six months of the release of the series’ fifth book, 3 a.m. Phone Call, to give readers enough time to get through the novel before Sunrise Kama Sutra is released six months later. Any hiccup in the promotional timeline will throw off the whole, glamorous ending to the series and stain Riley Cannon and Topaz Kennedy forever.
Knowing all of this better than anyone else in the industry, Topaz Kennedy makes her audacious move: She calls Landon Beach and asks him—using Riley Cannon’s notes—to write the novel.
He accepts.
The result is an origin story unlike anything readers and listeners have ever experienced before.
How did a young woman from a small, rural town in Michigan become the most lethal assassin that the world has ever known? You are about to find out.
From TRBS: Beach has gotten out of his comfort zone in recent years, delivering everything from physcoligal suspense to crime and mystery novels. What he hasn’t done, though, is pure action. That changes in 2023.
The Longmire Defense by Craig Johnson
Release Date: September 5th
Walt Longmire faces one of his most challenging crime scenes as he tries to reckon with the revelations of his last case where he confronted the ghosts of his past and questioned the very nature of justice and mercy in the hard country of the West.
Deep in the heart of the Wyoming countryside, Sheriff of Absaroka County, Walt Longmire, is called to a crime scene like few others that he has seen. This crime brings up issues that go back to Walt’s grandfather’s time in Wyoming, as the revelations he learns about his grandfather come back to offer clues and motives for Walt’s investigation. Filled with back-country action, and with the great cast of characters that readers have come to love with the Longmire series, this new book will be sure to satisfy both long-time readers and those new to the series.
From TRBS: Longmire is back to take on one of his most challenging crime scenes yet. Johnson has been at this a long time, and yet somehow, he’s gotten better over the coarse of his career. Look for another strong outing in 2023.
The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger
Release Date: September 5th
William Kent Krueger’s new standalone novel, THE RIVER WE REMEMBER. It’s a sprawling, absorbing, nostalgic, American story, with a compelling murder mystery at its heart. Kent conjures small-town America in the 1950s, where just below the surface of glossy post-war life, pain and brokenness and trauma abound. These people are damaged, everyone lost a loved one in the war or came back changed. It deals with issues of racism and sexual violence. But because it’s Kent, there’s also a deep moral center and abiding compassion for those who are struggling — people helping their neighbors, doing the right thing when they can.
From TRBS: On the one hand, I’m going to miss Cork O’Connor in 2023. On the other hand, I’d argue that Krueger’s standalones—Ordinary Grace (2013), This Tender Land (2019)—are his best works yet. So with that in mind, The River We Remember should be on everyone’s TBR pile this fall.
PRE-ORDER LINK COMING SOON
Holly by Stephen King
Release Date: September 5th
Holly Gibney, one of Stephen King’s most compelling and ingeniously resourceful characters, returns in this thrilling novel to solve the gruesome truth behind multiple disappearances in a midwestern town.
“Sometimes the universe throws you a rope.” —BILL HODGES
Stephen King’s Holly marks the triumphant return of beloved King character Holly Gibney. Readers have witnessed Holly’s gradual transformation from a shy (but also brave and ethical) recluse in Mr. Mercedes to Bill Hodges’s partner in Finders Keepers to a full-fledged, smart, and occasionally tough private detective in The Outsider. In King’s new novel, Holly is on her own, and up against a pair of unimaginably depraved and brilliantly disguised adversaries.
When Penny Dahl calls the Finders Keepers detective agency hoping for help locating her missing daughter, Holly is reluctant to accept the case. Her partner, Pete, has Covid. Her (very complicated) mother has just died. And Holly is meant to be on leave. But something in Penny Dahl’s desperate voice makes it impossible for Holly to turn her down.
Mere blocks from where Bonnie Dahl disappeared live Professors Rodney and Emily Harris. They are the picture of bourgeois respectability: married octogenarians, devoted to each other, and semi-retired lifelong academics. But they are harboring an unholy secret in the basement of their well-kept, book-lined home, one that may be related to Bonnie’s disappearance. And it will prove nearly impossible to discover what they are up to: they are savvy, they are patient, and they are ruthless.
Holly must summon all her formidable talents to outthink and outmaneuver the shockingly twisted professors in this chilling new masterwork from Stephen King.
“I could never let Holly Gibney go. She was supposed to be a walk-on character in Mr. Mercedes and she just kind of stole the book and stole my heart. Holly is all her.” —STEPHEN KING
From TRBS: Obviously, readers are going to be excited about one of the great storytellers of our generation coming back to such a beloved character, and for good reason. Look, a more diverse author there is not, and no matter how much he writes, skipping and jumping to different genres, King never seems to lose his magic. He always delivers, making this one of the most anticipated books of the year.
Code Red by Kyle Mills
Release Date: September 12th
Mitch Rapp returns to make a mortal enemy of Russia in this high-octane and up-to-the-minute installment in the #1 New York Times bestselling series from “one of the best thriller writers on the planet” (The Real Book Spy).
Mitch Rapp hates owing anyone a favor—especially when it’s the world’s most powerful crime lord. But when Damian Losa calls, Mitch is honor-bound to answer.
The Syrian government appears to have created a highly addictive new narcotic that it plans to distribute throughout Europe. It’s a major threat to Losa’s business and he’s determined to send someone to keep him on top by any means necessary.
Rapp is the perfect choice for the mission. Not only does he have extensive experience operating in the Middle East, but he’s also entirely expendable.
As he crosses into war-torn Syria, Rapp quickly discovers a shocking truth. The new drug isn’t being produced by Damascus to prop up the government’s collapsing finances. Instead, it was created by Russia’s asymmetrical warfare unit, not for profit but as a weapon against the West.
With far more than Damian Losa’s interests at stake, Rapp devises a desperate plan that forces him and his team onto a battlefield where the United States is virtually powerless and allegiances shift almost hourly. Further, if Russia uncovers their plot, it will set off a confrontation between the two countries that could change the course of human history.
From TRBS: Kyle Mills has been a godsend for this series. Who would have thought, following the death of beloved bestselling author Vince Flynn, that another writer could step in and not only continue Flynn’s series with little to no drop off in readership but actually elevate the franchise as a whole? Now, nine books into Mills’ run, that’s absolutely the case—and he deserves so much credit for the incredible work he’s done to keep Mitch Rapp, the American assassin, alive and well.
Blessing of the Lost Girls by J.A. Jance
Release Date: September 12th
Returning to her southwest roots, New York Times bestselling author J. A. Jance presents a riveting new Walker Family suspense novel in which human remains found in Cochise County have federal investigator Dan Pardee, Brandon Walker’s son-in-law, stepping into Sheriff Joanna Brady’s jurisdiction. As the investigation to track down a killer who preys on Indigenous victims unfolds, Jance brings together popular characters from both her Brady and Walker books.
When human remains are found in Joanna Brady’s Cochise County, the victim turns out to be a missing young woman of Apache descent. As part of a newly formed Missing and Murdered Indigenous People’s Task Force, Dan Pardee, a former Border Patrol Shadow Wolf and Brandon Walker’s son-in-law, catches the case and ends up in Sheriff Joanna Brady’s jurisdiction. Will Dan find out what led to this young woman’s death? There’s a long case ahead, and the task force will do anything to bring down a serial killer before he can strike again.
From TRBS: Jance is one of the most recognizable names in the game today, and after more than sixty books, it’s safe to say she’s one of the most reliable authors still working. Her fans will especially like that this one promises to merge characters from two of her popular series.
Traitors Gate by Jeffrey Archer
Release Date: September 26th
If you thought William Warwick had troubles in the past, it’s nothing compared to what he’s facing now.
*Pre-order the unputdownable new novel from international bestseller Jeffrey Archer now*
From TRBS: Archer’s William Warwick series is right up there with the Clifton Chronicles in terms of quality. There’s no doubt that Archer still has a ton of writing ability and one of the smoothest styles in the game today. This book follows Next in Line, which came out last year to much acclaim. In fact, it’s one of Archer’s better-reviewed books in recent memory, currently holding a 4.4 out of 5 stars rating on Amazon with nearly 900 reviews. Let’s see if he can keep that momentum going in 2023.
Untitled Prey 33 by John Sanford
Release Date: October 3
Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers take on another challenging case in this thrilling new novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author.
From TRBS: There’s no cover or title just yet, but both Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers are back this fall in another must-read book from John Sandford. Speaking of the cover, Sandford’s series got a revamp a few years back with a new cover template design, and they’ve put out some lookers over the last five books (especially Ocean Prey, which is gorgeous). So, I’m excited to see what the art department at G.P. Putnam’s Sons comes up with this time around. As for the book itself, we don’t know anything just yet—but c’mon, its Davenport and that f****** Flowers, what more do you need?
Call Me Hunter by Jim Shockey
Release Date: October 17th
In this page-turning, unique debut thriller, an elite society of killers goes after the best art in the world for their own gains when one of them breaks from the pack in order to save his soul and his daughter.
FAMOUS OUTDOORSMAN: Jim Shockey is a big celebrity in the outdoor sports/exploration/travel world. He’s a professional big game outfitter and television producer/host for many hunting shows in Canada and on the Outdoor Channel. He’s considered the most influential celebrity in big game hunting and is a retired member of the Canadian Armed Forces
Operating today, right now, deep beneath the art world as we know it, there is a 250-year-old organization known as “Our World.” The single finest work of art ever created by the human race is not sitting in The Louvre or The Met, and in fact, is not on display in any museum or collection, private or institutional. The whereabouts of this incomprehensibly valuable and exquisite work of art are unknown. It is called the Soul Catcher . . . The Keeper of Breath. Once in every hundred million births, there is a child born to this world possessing a mystifying talent, a gift from God, with the ability to sense the purest forms of beauty, to feel the greatest works of art, and recognize masterpieces. A one in a hundred million child of incomprehensible genius. When such a child is found by “Our World,” its organization’s vast resources, access to intelligence, and power beyond compare moves toward the gifted one and trains them to acquire the greatest works of art without the academics of the world ever knowing a masterpiece has surfaced. These pieces surface suddenly, only to disappear again, sold for billions of dollars of profit at a secret auction attended by only the wealthiest of the art world’s patrons. One operative, Zhivago, one of the hundred million with a gift of genius, is also a deranged psychopath and killer. When an ordinary young woman recieves a manuscript in the mail one day, with a note that “Zhivago is dead. I hunted him down and killed him,” she is pulled into a whirlpool of intrigue, hunted by “Our World,” and uncovering 40-year-old murder cases as she follows the clues in the manuscript that will lead her to the truth about her origins and self.
From TRBS: Any time Emily Bestler, the editor behind such talents as Vince Flynn, Brad Thor, and Jack Carr, signs a new writer, it’s noteworthy in of itself. But this story sounds amazing, and I’m excited to check it out. (Fun fact: Shocky is related to former NFL tight end Jeremey Shockey.)
PRE-ORDER LINK COMING SOON
The Secret by Lee Child and Andrew Child
Release Date: October 24th
The gripping new Jack Reacher thriller from the #1 New York Times bestselling authors Lee Child and Andrew Child
1992. Eight respectable, upstanding people have been found dead across the US. These deaths look like accidents and don’t appear to be connected. Until one body – the victim of a fatal fall from a hospital window – generates some unexpected attention.
That attention comes from the Secretary of Defense, who promptly calls for an inter-agency task force to investigate. Jack Reacher is assigned as the Army’s representative.
Reacher may be an exceptional soldier, but sweeping other people’s secrets under the carpet isn’t part of his skill set. As he races to discover the link between these victims, and who killed them, he must navigate around the ulterior motives of his new ‘partners’. And all while moving into the sight line of some of the most dangerous people he has ever encountered.
His mission is to uncover the truth. The question is: will Reacher bring the bad guys to justice the official way . . . or his way?
From TRBS: Thought it’s technically the twenty-eighth book in the series, The Secret is set in 1992, making it a prequel novel. Chronologically speaking, and not counting short stories, The Secret falls somewhere between The Enemy (released in 2004) and Night School (published in 2016), or approximately five years before the events of The Killing Floor. With the Amazon show covering the events of Child’s first book in it’s debut season last year, the timing of The Secret makes a ton of sense. Newcomers to the series by way of the television show can jump in with this book and not miss a beat, while longtime fans will no doubt appreciate going back in time to learn even more about their favorite hero. Also, Andrew was a brillaint choice to help shoulder the load, and has given this series a big shot in the arm. I can’t wait for this book.
Resurrection Walk by Michael Connelly
Release Date: November 7th
Defense attorney Mickey Haller is back, taking the long shot cases, where the chances of winning are one in a million. He agrees to represent a woman in prison for killing her husband, a sheriff’s deputy. Despite her conviction four years earlier, she still maintains her innocence. Haller enlists his half brother, retired LAPD Detective Harry Bosch, as investigator. Reviewing the case, Bosch sees something that doesn’t add up, and a sheriff’s department intent on bringing a quick search for justice in the killing of one of its own.
The path to justice for both the lawyer and his investigator is fraught with danger from those who don’t want the case reopened. And they will stop at nothing to keep the Haller-Bosch dream team from uncovering what the deputy’s killing was really about.
From TRBS: Michael Connelly is one of the best the genre has ever seen, period. If he writes it, I’m reading it. Simple as that. But I’m especially drawn to the books—like this one—that have both Bosch and Haller. I love the two together and look forward to yet another page-turning mystery.
Dirty Thirty by Janet Evanovich
Release Date: November 7th
The latest title in #1 New York Times bestselling author Janet Evanovich’s popular Stephanie Plum series.
From TRBS: Anytime Janet Evanovich releases a new book, it instantly becomes of the can’t miss releases for that year. That’s especially true when it’s a Stephanie Plum book. Dirty Thirty (which is a great title) will follow Going Rogue, which came out last year and was, for my money, probably one of the best Plum books to date. Evanovich is one of the biggest names in publishing for a reason—you know what you’re getting from her with each book, and it’s impossible not to come back for more.
Perfect Shot by Steve Urszenyi
Release Date: November 14th
Special Agent Alexandra Martel has put her days on the battlefield behind her. Charming and disarming, relentless and lethal, she earned a reputation as one of the most renowned and decorated Army snipers in the service before stepping away. But when Alex, now an FBI special agent on loan to Interpol, learns that an old friend, an MI5 officer, has been killed under mysterious circumstances, she’s pulled back into the dangerous world she left behind: a world where some people fear her, some want to recruit her, and everyone seems to want her dead.
Following a trail of clues left by the dead woman, Alex pieces together a terrifying conspiracy that only escalates when a nuclear warhead goes missing. Dodging death at every turn, she reluctantly joins forces with a CIA agent, but he has plans of his own for her—and will stop at nothing to achieve them.
Chasing the truth through the streets of London and bustling Turkish markets to the underbelly of Paris, Alex is unrelenting in her pursuit of justice. But as the clock ticks down and the world edges closer to doom, she must fall back on her Special Ops skills to stop the unthinkable. She thought her life as a sniper was behind her—but with stakes this high, she might be the only one with the perfect shot to render the world safe.
From TRBS: I highlighted another top debut thriller above, but I’ll be clear, Perfect Shot is my pick for the best debut of 2023. Steve Urszenyi is wildly talented, and his kickass new hero, Alex Martel, is sure to be a hit with fans of Mark Greaney, Jack Carr, and Stephen Hunter. A deadly sniper turned FBI Agent, Alex is lethal both up close and from a very long distance away—and isn’t someone you want to cross. I had the pleasure of reading an advance copy of this one, so let me be the first to say that Urszenyi is a name to remember moving forward.
Huron Sunrise by Landon Beach
Release Date: December 19th
The time has come for Riley Cannon, one of the bestselling novelists in history, to end her beloved series, but little do her readers know the major twist she is planning to deliver . . . if she can stay alive long enough to write it.
Understanding that she will soon have to bid farewell to her indestructible heroine and friend, Adrienne Astra, Rachel Roberts—pen name Riley Cannon—fears a world where she no longer spends time with the character whom she credits with keeping her alive during the most challenging times of her life. Overwhelmed, she realizes that in order to find the peace that she has long desired and to finish the series, she will have to open a chapter of her own life that she has closed off for four decades—locating and confronting the woman who abandoned her when she was two: Tina Haines, her mother.
But, as the search for Tina begins, Rachel’s inner circle starts to crumble. For the first time in Topaz Kennedy’s mythical career, she feels the savagery of the publishing world and the changing landscape that is ready to swallow her up, accelerated by the fact that she’s about to lose her biggest client. And Obadiah Ben-David, a man who has not only saved Rachel’s life but has finally found happiness in a relationship with a bookseller, receives crushing news that could change his life forever.
As her friends’ lives continue to fall apart and her fabled character’s survival hangs in the balance on the page, Rachel Roberts finds herself in the fight of her life. She must deal with the fact that her mother is not who she thought she was, while struggling to protect those she holds most dear . . . attempting to preserve a future for them that she believes is worth risking her existence for.
For life is like a Huron sunrise: Before the first sliver of orange breaks the horizon—symbolizing renewal, hope, and a new beginning—there is darkness . . .
and some of us never live to see another sunrise.
From TRBS: 2022 marked the first time Beach released a true sequel to one of his books, and now, that trilogy will come to a close. If you’re not already familiar with Riley Canon, you should be.
Praised as “One of the hardest working, most thoughtful, and fairest reviewers out there” by #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Scottoline, Ryan Steck has “quickly established himself as the authority on mysteries and thrillers” (Author A.J. Tata). Steck also works full-time as a freelance editor and is building a growing community on Twitch. His debut thriller, FIELDS OF FIRE, which #1 New York Times bestselling author Jack Carr says “will leave you speechless and begging for more,” is now available. For more information, be sure to follow him on Twitter and Facebook. And to take part in free, exclusive BOOK CLUBS each month, join The Real Book Spy on Discord.