Saturday 5 December 2020

Books to Look Forward to From Bookouture

 January 2021

I will do anything to protect my daughter. She’s all I’ve ever wanted and all I really have, but the moment I opened that letter and accepted the inheritance, I walked us right into a dangerous trap. I know I should have got her to tell me who she’s been talking to on the phone late at night, and where she was the day I went to pick her up from school and couldn’t find her, but she’s not spoken a word since she found that little pile of bones buried in the garden. And now she’s missing… Single Mother is by Samantha Hayes.

The Missing Woman is by Georgina Cross. They live in the big houses on the pretty street. Those other women, as we call them. And to think I used to want to be like them, to have their money and happiness, to live and laugh and play like them. Not any more. It’s the fourth of July and the whole town is gathered at the local pool. Through the sweltering afternoon, we single mothers don’t mix with the other women—the ones with the perfect lives and happy marriages. Women like Sabine Miller. But when Sabine shoots me a desperate look across the water and suddenly disappears, my blood runs cold…Running to the back gate, all I find is a silver charm bracelet she dropped on her way out. I convince myself I’m imagining things until Sabine’s husband Mark appears. When he realizes she’s missing, he phones the cops straight away. “Someone has been threatening Sabine,” he says. “Now they’ve kidnapped her.” Hours later, I wish I’d run faster. The whole town is searching the streets, calling Sabine’s name over and over. On the TV, Mark is begging for someone to bring his wife home. The truth is, I was the last person to see her alive—and it’s killing me inside. Now the cops are at my door asking questions. I’m terrified they’ll find out what happened years ago between me and Sabine. Something I’ve never told anyone. But I need to tell someone. Can you keep a secret?

Two women are dead. They both look like you. The giant stretch of frozen river was melting and the light made the lake glitter like crystals. The women lay side by side on the shore, eyes open and glassy. Their long, dark hair was like tangled rope, their faces a reflection of each other… When two bodies are found dumped in one of the vast lakes in Lakemore, Washington, DetectiveMackenzie Price is first on the scene. She identifies one of the victims as Katy Becker, a local known for her work helping the community. The other victim looks strikingly similar. Still grappling with a shocking revelation from her past, Mack is only too happy to throw herself into the case. But when she goes to break the news to Katy’s husband, the investigation takes an unexpected turn: Katy is very much alive, and has never met the women who resemble her so closely. Now the race is on to find the killer before Katy becomes the next victim. But when Mack unearths a disturbing connection to a sixteen-year-old suicide, she realizes they could be hunting someone whose crimes span decades –and there are more lives than just Katy’s at stake. Their Frozen Graves is by Ruhi Choudhary


The Patriot is by Nick Thacker. “I can help you find the man who killed your wife.” It’s the last thing Jake Parker expects to hear from an old friend from his military days at West Point, Lt Colonel Douglas McDonnell. Officially, Jake’s wife Mel was an unlucky bystander during a sudden terrorist attack, but Jake has always felt there was a missing piece of the puzzle. When McDonnell tells him that his team has been tracking the group responsible, it’s Jake’s opportunity to finally lay Mel’s ghost to rest.  McDonnell believes that the terrorist cell is linked to one of the big pharma companies operating out of Puerto Rico, and he needs Jake’s skills on his team for one specific task: find the link and take them down. But as soon as Jake arrives, the plan begins to crumble. Focused on targeting the group members one at a time, the team on the ground won’t listen to Jake’s insistence that they look at the bigger picture.  When Jake meets bio-chemist Veronique, they hit it off. But when she confesses her fears that her employer is manufacturing a drug for the US market with deadly side effects, Jake realises that the terrorists have raised the stakes, and more innocent lives are at risk if he doesn’t act fast. Then Veronique is kidnapped. Unable to trust anyone around him, Jake is pushed as never before to find Vero while taking down the evil organisation before they strike at the US population…

Detective Amanda Steele stops just inside the doorway, recognizing the victim’s face instantly. He seems so vulnerable in death; soft, human, even harmless. But she can never forget the evil he has inflicted. Her heart is hammering as she remembers her precious daughter, with her red curls and infectious laugh, and how she was lowered into that little grave… It’s been five years since Detective Amanda Steele’s life was derailed in the path of an oncoming drunk driver. The small community of Dumfries, Virginia, may have moved on from the tragic deaths of her husband and daughter, but Amanda cannot. When the driver who killed her family is found murdered in a motel room, she can’t keep away from the case. Fighting her sergeant to be allowed to work an investigation with such a personal connection to her, Amanda is in a race to prove that she can uncover the truth. But the more she digs into the past of the man who destroyed her future, the more shocking discoveries she makes. And when Amanda finds the link between a silver bracelet in his possession and the brutal unsolved murder of a young exotic dancer, she realizes she’s caught up in something darker than she ever imagined and suspects that more girls could be in danger. But as Amanda edges toward the truth, she gets closer to a secret as personal as it is deadly. Amanda has stumbled upon a dangerous killer, and she must face some terrible truths in order to catch this killer – and save his next victim as she couldn’t save her own daughter…The  Little Grave is by Carolyn Arnold.

The Woman Inside is by Anna Lou Weatherly, Daisey Garrett wakes up in a hospital bed. She remembers her boyfriend has left her for another woman but she doesn’t remember what happened to her. The night she was attacked in her own home. Daisey shouldn’t be alive but against all odds, she’s survived an ordeal most would never recover from. And her new friend and roommate Iris will help her get back on her feet. But Daisey’s mind is broken. She’s on edge, drinking too much and as she sits across from her cheating ex, Luke, in the beautiful home they once shared together, she can’t shake the feeling that she is being watched. Yet tiny fragments of Daisey’s memory are starting to come back to her.  The missing pieces of that fateful summer night are beginning to surface… The lies she told the police. The lies Luke told her. Iris will help her find the truth, won’t she?

The little boy played with his toy trains in the bedroom, keeping quiet so as not to wake his mother. He stayed silent as he watched his window creaking open and heard the whisper from outside. A minute later, Tommy and the trains were gone. An unrelenting heatwave sweeps the country and starts a fire which uncovers the charred remains of a young woman. But when DI Eleanor Raven attends the post-mortem it reveals some disturbing details—the girl was dead long before the fire, her body had been lovingly preserved before being dressed up, her hair perfectly arranged, and a lime-green scarf knotted around her neck. With little evidence surviving the fire, Eleanor and her team have no solid leads. But back on duty after six months’ enforced leave, Eleanor is determined to prove herself fit for service, and she won’t accept that this case could prove impossible. Following a tenuous link to an old missing-persons case, Eleanor discovers the poor woman’s identity: Giselle Baker was a young dancer at a local bar before she disappeared two years ago, leaving behind a worried roommate and, concealed amongst her things, a curious wooden carving of a snake. Before Eleanor can uncover the significance of the toy though, another woman goes missing, and then, a little boy… It seems that someone is collecting a family for themselves. As Eleanor battles her own demons, she pushes herself to the limit to find the killer. But her fight to save his last innocent victim may become a battle to save herself… Perfect Little Dolls is by Karen Long.

The Newlyweds is by Arianne Richmode One marriage. One lie. Two sides to the story. The moment Vivien meets Ashton, she knows she will be his wife and absolutely nothing will stop her. Powerful, rich and from a good family, Ashton is everything Vivien is not. So, she molds herself into Ashton’s perfect soulmate. Pouring his favorite vintage wine, whispering ‘I love you’ over dinner in front of friends and biting her tongue when she disagrees with him are simple sacrifices for the perfect marriage she has always craved. When people begin to notice the bruises on her cheek, she holds their stares. There is no cry for help from Vivien. She simply keeps her mouth shut and lets the gossip continue. If you saw Vivien nursing a black eye, you might be forgiven for thinking what everyone else does—that she is the victim in her marriage, but you’d be wrong. Vivien and Ashton’s life together is much more complicated than that. You will never guess the true story behind Vivien’s undying devotion to her husband. Nor could you possibly predict what she does next…

It’s a crisp spring morning when the small-town community around Briar Ridge Elementary School is shattered by devastating news. Bright and shy five-year-old Nicole has disappeared at recess. Nicole’s mother, Gia, is lost in her grief. On the same day her baby girl vanished, Gia found out she was pregnant with the sister Nicole had begged for. Gia is also devastated that her best friend Karen was supervising the playground when Nicole was taken. And when Nicole’s body is discovered, Gia can’t help but ask: why didn’t Karen protect her little girl? Someone knows what happened in school that day and Detective Jo Fournier is determined to find the truth. Jo’s little nieces also attend Briar Ridge and she would cross mountains to keep them safe. As she starts to dig into the mothers’ secrets, she begins to wonder if anyone is telling the truth. Gia’s been hiding a part of herself for years and Jo can tell it’s eating her apart. And Karen is definitely lying—but what is more important than finding the killer of her best friend’s daughter? As Gia and Karen struggle with their guilt, a teacher at Briar Ridge dies in what looks like a tragic accident. But with two deaths in such a short time, Jo knows better than that. In this school, where soccer moms flock to the gates with cookies for teachers, someone is willing to kill to keep a secret.The only question is who. The Other Mothers is by M.M. Chouinard.

You thought your little girl was safe at summer camp. You were wrong. She drags her eyes open, realizing she’s starting to fade. Did she imagine the voices, or were they real? She tries calling out—“Daddy?”—using all her remaining strength. But she’s too late and her little voice just isn’t loud enough… When Detective Madison Harper arrives at a remote summer camp in Shadow Falls, northern California, her heart breaks for Jenny, the sweet little girl last seen splashing in the lake with her friends before she vanished. Peering into the silent cabins filled with rows of neatly made beds, Madison knows this idyllic place is hiding a terrible secret. The girl’s parents are distraught, and the local police have no leads—they desperately need Madison’s help. She’ll do whatever it takes to crack this case, because it’s the only way back to the son she lost to the care system years ago when she was framed for a crime she didn’t commit. But with the camp staff keeping tight-lipped and her new partner on the edge of a breakdown, Madison can’t find any truth to her instinct that there is more to Jenny’s perfect parents than meets the eye. Until she discovers a disturbing family portrait Jenny drew at the local library. Was this angelic girl more troubled than anybody knew? Was she in danger from those she trusted most?  One thing is certain, if Madison doesn't find the answers soon, the lives of more innocent children will be at risk… Find My Child is by Wendy Dranfield.

The Secret Within is by Lucy Dawson. I need the two men sitting on the other side of the interview table to trust me. My family’s happiness is riding on my getting this job. I smile, knowing that first impressions are key. There’s no link between having a friendly face and being trustworthy, but humans are built to think there is. Even us doctors, who should know better. If only I could keep my past secret from these men, but they’ll have read about me in the papers – the court case, the threats, the lies that were told. But what’s important now are my son and daughter: a new house, new school, a new start away from the city. Away from my ex, my old job… and the scandal that nearly ruined me. What I don’t know yet is that if I convince them to hire me, I’ll be putting my children in terrible danger. I’m trying to make things right, but this is when it starts to go wrong. And when one of my precious children goes missing, I’ll realise that the nightmare is far from over. In spite of everything I’ve gone through, I will fail to recognise the evils a friendly face can hide.Sometimes it’s the people who want to be closest to you that you should be most afraid of. They’re the ones who know your secrets. Who want to make you pay.

Before She Wakes is by Ed James. She opens her eyes and focuses on the room around her. Everything is in place, yet something isn’t right. She walks towards her daughter’s room, calling her name, as she does every morning. But this morning is different. This morning there is no response, Marissa’s daughter has vanished. Single mother Marissa Bukowski stands in her daughter’s untidy room. Olivia’s phone is still charging at the wall and her clothes are still hanging in her closet. The mirror above her daughter’s desk is cracked and a message written in red ink reads ‘Never Forget’. As FBI special agent Max Carter is called in to investigate, he delves into the lives of Marissa and her quiet, studious teenage daughter, and soon discovers that Olivia has been lying to her mother. Not only did she have a secret boyfriend, but she had also been talking to her guidance counsellor in the weeks before she disappeared. What was so big that Olivia couldn’t tell? When a blood test reveals that Marissa was drugged the night Olivia went missing, Carter turns his sights towards Marissa’s estranged husband, only to find that he too has vanished without trace. And when he uncovers a family secret that could put the teenager’s life in danger, it’s clear that time is running out for Marissa’s beloved daughter. Can he discover the truth about Olivia’s family and find her before it’s too late? 
















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