Fiction

White River Burning

Filed Under: Books Read

White River Burning

White River Burning by John Verdon
Series: Dave Gurney #6
Pages: 423
Format: hardback
Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Suspense
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Synopsis

The next installment of Verdon's internationally bestselling series featuring retired NYPD detective Dave Gurney, who must solve a deadly puzzle amidst murder and racial strife in one small town.

Tensions have been running high in White River as it approaches the one-year anniversary of a fatal shooting of a black motorist by a local police officer. The economically depressed, racially polarized city is on edge, confronted with angry demonstrations, arson, and looting. In the midst of the turmoil, a White River police officer is shot dead by an unknown sniper. As the town spirals out of control, local authorities approach Dave Gurney to conduct an independent investigation of the shooting.

The situation in White River becomes truly explosive as more killings occur in what appears to be an escalating sequence of retaliations. But when Gurney questions the true nature of all this bloodshed, and zeroes in on peculiar aspects of the individual murders, his involvement is suddenly terminated. Obsessed with evidence that doesn't support the official version of events, Gurney cannot let go of the case. Despite intense opposition from the police, as well as from dangerous fanatics lurking in the shadows, he begins to uncover an astonishing structure of deception—learning that nothing in White River it what it seems to be.

White River Burning is the most provocative and timely book yet by the author hailed by the New York Times as "masterly"—furthering the adventures of Dave Gurney, a detective reviewers have compared to Sherlock Holmes.

Half Moon Bay

Filed Under: Books Read

Half Moon Bay

Half Moon Bay by Alice LaPlante
Published by Scribner on July 10th 2018
Pages: 288
Format: arc_ebook
Genres: Fiction, Suspense
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Synopsis

A smart, haunting tale of psychological suspense from the award-winning New York Times bestselling author of Turn of Mind.

Jane loses everything when her teenage daughter is killed in a senseless accident. Jane is devastated, but sometime later, she makes one tiny stab at a new life: she moves from San Francisco to the tiny seaside town of Half Moon Bay. She is inconsolable, and yet, as the months go by, she is able to cobble together some version of a job, of friends, of the possibility of peace.

And then, children begin to disappear. And soon, Jane sees her own pain reflected in all the parents in the town. She wonders if she will be able to live through the aching loss, the fear all around her. But as the disappearances continue, she begins to see that what her neighbors are wondering is if it is Jane herself who has unleashed the horror of loss.

Half Moon Bay is a chilling story about a mother haunted by her past. As Stewart O’Nan said about Turn of Mind—this novel “blindfolds the reader and spins her around.”

A haunting tale of a woman driven a little crazy by the loss of her teenage daughter in a senseless accident. Jane O’Malley has lost her daughter and husband, in an attempt to restart her life she moves from Berkeley to Half Moon Bay and takes a job at a local nursery that specializes in native plants. When not working she walks the desolate beaches and rides her motorcycle into the city. Jane keeps herself at arm’s length from the local inhabitants, that is until Edward, an environmental activist, and Alma, an adjunct physics professor, arrive in town.

Before Edward and Alma’s arrival, a little girl is abducted and murdered. Jane because of her past is considered a suspect. Tensions around town mount, as other young girls are abducted and killed Jane is drawn in by first Edward then Alma, she becomes enthralled with the couple. Edward and Alma are not all that they seem, and Jane will discover that too late.

The book is not a psychological thriller instead it is a study of how people can misuse another.

The Fallen

Filed Under: Books Read

The Fallen

The Fallen by David Baldacci
Published by Grand Central Publishing on April 17, 2018
Series: Amos Decker #4
Format: audiobook
Genres: Fiction, Suspense, Thriller
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Synopsis

The closer Amos Decker comes to the truth, the deadlier it gets in David Baldacci's latest #1 New York Times bestselling Memory Man thriller.

Something sinister is going on in Baronville. The rust belt town has seen four bizarre murders in the space of two weeks. Cryptic clues left at the scenes--obscure bible verses, odd symbols--have the police stumped.

Amos Decker and his FBI colleague Alex Jamison are in Baronville visiting Alex's sister and her family. It's a bleak place: a former mill and mining town with a crumbling economy and rampant opioid addiction. Decker has only been there a few hours when he stumbles on a horrific double murder scene.

Then the next killing hits sickeningly close to home. And with the lives of people he cares about suddenly hanging in the balance, Decker begins to realize that the recent string of deaths may be only one small piece of a much larger scheme--with consequences that will reach far beyond Baronville.

Decker, with his singular talents, may be the only one who can crack this bizarre case. Only this time--when one mistake could cost him everything--Decker finds that his previously infallible memory may not be so trustworthy after all...