Suspense/Thrillers

L is the Last Woman

Standard

There’s something so gripping about post-apocalyptic scenarios, even as they terrify us. And within that terror comes the same thought, time and time again: what if we were completely alone? What if we were the very last person on earth?


Last Woman by Jacqueline Druga. Amazon for $2.99. After emerging from a coma, Faye Wills opens her eyes to complete darkness and the feeling of being trapped. Soon she discovers she is in no less than a nightmare world and awakens in the worst place imaginable. She is one of thousands of bodies in a makeshift mass grave that was once a football stadium.

Left for dead.

There are no signs of life and the only sound she hears is the buzzing of flies that follow the stench of death.

Once out of the stadium she steps into a desolate, barren world, void of all life and people. Faye learns that while in a comatose state, the world was besieged by some sort of epidemic. Without a soul around, there are a lot of missing pieces.

Where did everyone go? What really happened?

Though in a weakened state, she must pull it together and move forward. She focuses on a goal of finding not only answers but survivors. However, the further she moves in her journey, the more Faye realizes that she may never find anyone and must face the very scary and real possibility that she may not only be the last woman on earth, but the last person as well.

Like a mystery? Try Her Cousin Much Removed. Or download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities. It’s free!

Longing for more? Sign up for my newsletter.

Escape to Eden

Standard

It finally looks like spring, in that it’s gray and raining, and so I could use a little touch of Eden. Then again, I have a sinking feeling that it probably won’t turn out exactly like it sounds. I’m guessing trouble ahead. Luckily, that’s the characters’ problem, right?


EDEN (Eden Saga) by Dean Crawford. Amazon for $1.99. If the world fell apart overnight, what would you do to protect your family? When a horrific natural disaster causes the collapse of civilisation and strands Cody Ryan deep inside the Arctic Circle, he is forced to embark upon an impossible journey. Thousands of miles from home in a brutal new world where only the strongest will survive, Cody and his companions must conquer seemingly insurmountable odds in a search for their loved ones, the limits of their own humanity and the rumoured last refuge of mankind… Eden.

REVIEW

Praise for Dean Crawford’s Ethan Warner series:

“The fossilized remains of a 7,000-year-old creature dug from the sands of the Negev Desert in Israel become the bones of contention in Dean Crawford’s fast-paced debut thriller… The book neatly threads together a wild variety of plotlines.” Wall Street Journal

“Partly mythical read, part thriller this pacy tale is a page turner guaranteed to keep you up late.” The Sun

“A fast-paced and entertaining yarn.” Melbourne Age

“… cleverly introduced premise… assured pacing and plotting…” Publishers Weekly

“Get the cameras rolling—Indiana Jones meets Alien. What a combination of mystery, suspense, and unspeakable horror. I loved it!” R.L. Stine

“Earth-shattering intrigue, hyperdrive action and a desperate race to save humanity, cranked up to the max with scarily realistic science and apocalyptic religion thrown in for good measure . . . a major new talent has hit the mystery thriller scene!” Scott Mariani

“This is an amazingly good, intelligently told novel by an exciting new British author.” Eurocrime

Seek Blood and Justice

Standard

Heat up the weekend if not the weather with a mysterious thriller. Pick up this free book, and by Sunday, you may have solved a murder. Who says you don’t do anything constructive with your free time?

by Rayven T. Hill. Free from Smashwords.com
A serial killer is on the loose and sixteen-year-old Jenny James is missing. Why she has so mysteriously disappeared? The whole town is gripped with fear.

When her boyfriend’s body is found, the fear grows. Has she become his latest victim? The chase is on and the bodies pile up.

As the killer continues to strike, Jake and Annie Lincoln race to put the pieces in place before it’s too late.

Watch for the Stone and Silt

Standard

A young girl tries to solve a murder to save her father in this coming-of-age mystery. Maybe, if there’s a sequel in the works, she can solve the mystery of what happened to spring.


Stone and Silt by Harvey Chute. Amazon for $4.99. A ruthless murder and a stolen shipment of gold.

At school, sixteen-year-old Nikaia Wales endures the taunts of bullies who call her a “half-breed.” At home, she worries about how her family will react if she reveals her growing feelings for the quiet boy next door.

Those are soon the least of her troubles. Nikaia discovers a hidden cache of gold, and when police find a corpse nearby, her father becomes a suspect. Worse, Elias Doyle is circling, hungry to avenge his brother’s death.

Nikaia desperately searches for clues to save her father. In her quest to find the killer, she learns about the power of family, friendship, and young love.

Hearing Echoes

Standard

This is a bonus day, because in addition to Therin Knite’s book “Echoes,” you also get the Knight Writes Awesome Indie Roundup blog post. There you’ll find a a whole slew of great indie reads organized by genre. Check it out, and check out this sci-fi thriller while you’re at it.


Echoes by Therin Knite. Amazon for $3.99. Twenty-three-year-old Adem Adamend has it rough. His name is ludicrous. His friends are few. And the only thing his “kid genius” status has gotten him at the Interdistrict Bureau of Intelligence is a boatload of extra work with no credit in sight.

Then hotshot lawyer Victor Manson is burned to death in his own back yard, and Adem finds himself using his unique skills to piece together the strangest crime he’s ever seen. Strange because the only possible suspect Adem can pin the murder on…is a mythical beast. A dragon.

Before Adem can unravel the mystery of Manson’s death, the Bureau loses jurisdiction to the secretive EDPA, an organization that investigates weird and deadly events. But Adem isn’t one for giving up, so he takes it upon himself to delve deeper into EDPA’s machinations, into the series of unfortunate events that led to Manson’s demise.

And what he finds may change the way he views the world — and himself — forever.

_____

What do you do when a killer can hide behind his dreams?

What do you do when a murder weapon ceases to exist?

And how do you stop a villain who can conjure up nightmares and burn you from the Earth in the blink of an eye?

Adem Adamend is about to find out.

Catch Free Book Friday’s Syndrome

Standard

If you’re craving excitement this weekend, help yourself to this thriller from Thomas Hoover. Sinister science experiments, a New Jersey medical clinic…what more can you need? And if you like this one, make sure to check out Hoover’s full page, he’s got a lot of free reading for you.

Syndrome by Thomas Hoover. FREE from Smashwords.com
Pinnacle 2003

Alexa Hampton runs her own interior design firm in New York’s Soho but now a heart mishap threatens her life. Her black-sheep younger brother insists she go to a New Jersey clinic owned by his eccentric boss for stem cell experiments. There she and her long-ago lover, a medical reporter, uncover a bizarre experiment to reverse the aging process.

Pinnacle 2003

At Amazon, the Book Buys You

Standard

OK, that’s not entirely accurate. Or remotely accurate, but I couldn’t resist the joke.

Normally, about now I’d be telling you about a book you can buy from Amazon, but today I figured I’d flip that. I don’t know if you know, but Amazon will buy your books as well. It’s like a big, natural circle of reading. Amazon pays for shipping, so it won’t cost you anything. Current best-sellers are probably your best bet, but at least that takes some of the guilt out of buying a full-priced new book.

And it’s not just for books, either. You can trade in movies, video games and other things, and get an Amazon gift card in exchange. When I logged in, it even told me what some things I’d bought from Amazon were worth, which is nice to know, not that I’m parting with my Zumba World Party, which is the most fun game ever, but I digress.

So you can use books to feed your reading habit. It’s beautiful, in a way.

Anyway, thus concludes this public service announcement.

 

 

 

Walk the Dark Passage

Standard

The snow is back, so I’m feeling kind of dark today. You’d think the thought of a winter that won’t end would be terrifying enough, but maybe the cold weather’s a good enough excuse to curl up with a hot thriller.


Dark Passage (A Terrifying Horror Thriller) by Griffin Hayes. Amazon for $2.99. An illicit drug trial promises to cure the crippling nightmares that have kept Tyson Barrett awake for months, nightmares rooted in the terrible abuse he suffered as a child. Exhausted and near collapse, he jumps at the chance to get his life back.

But Tyson soon discovers a side effect no one could have imagined. Doors are opening between Tyson’s nightmares and the real world–and more than memories are coming through.

Now he must face a terror that has stalked him since childhood or risk losing everything he holds dear.

The mind is full of halls. And some of the darkest passages lead to rooms better left closed.

Bonus: The complete first episode of Primal Shift, a post-apocalyptic thriller.

Yet MORE Books Free With Coupon

Standard

As promised, here’s another slew of books free at Smashwords with coupon code RW100! If one of these books doesn’t catch your eye, there are plenty more to be had there. But the sale is on only through Sunday, so load up now.

Deadly Stillwater Runs Deep

Standard

Get your weekend, and Free Book Friday, of to a heart-pounding start with this thriller. Though I wouldn’t envy the setting of St. Paul this time of year. Then again, given our weather right now, I probably wouldn’t notice the difference.

Deadly Stillwater by Roger Stelljes. FREE from Smashwords.com
NYT & USA Today bestselling author, Roger Stelljes delivers an action packed, pulse pounding thriller that is the 2nd book in the McRyan Mystery Series. An abduction is just the beginning in a case of betrayal and revenge that will ultimately strike at the soul of the St. Paul Police Department. Also available: FIRST DEADLY CONSPIRACY – 3 book box set and Newest Release – ELECTING TO MURDER.