Diario Do Estado

Repas de famille : thriller psychologique par Shari Lapena, l'auteure du Couple d'à côté

Autor: Shari Lapena

Número de Páginas: 309

L'ARGENT NE FAIT PAS LE BONHEUR... ET ENCORE MOINS EN FAMILLE Les trois enfants de Fred Merton, patriarche aussi toxique que manipulateur, peuvent en témoigner. En particulier Dan, son seul fils, furieux depuis que son père a vendu l'entreprise qu'il espérait reprendre. Catherine, l'aînée, n'a quant à elle pas été ravie d'apprendre que ses parents comptent se séparer de la villa dont elle rêve d'hériter. Sans oublier Jenna, la cadette, artiste à l'existence dissolue qui vit sous la menace permanente de se voir couper les vivres... Lorsque les époux Merton sont retrouvés assassinés après un repas de famille qui a tourné au règlement de comptes, tous les enfants sont suspectés. D'autant qu'ils ont hérité du don paternel pour le secret et la dissimulation... Et quand la soeur du défunt s'en mêle, le doute devient certitude. L'un des enfants a assassiné ses parents de sang-froid. Mais lequel ? Tous les thrillers de Shari Lapena sont publiés aux éditions Les Presses de la Cité : - Le Couple d'à côté, 2017 - L'Étranger dans la maison, 2019 - Un assassin parmi nous, 2020 - Une voisine encombrante, 2021 - En secondes noces, 2023 - Repas de famille, 2024 - Le ...

Un assassin parmi nous : thriller psychologique par Shari Lapena, l'auteure du Couple d'à côté

Autor: Shari Lapena

Número de Páginas: 252

Rien de tel qu'un séjour au Mitchell's Inn pour se ressourcer... Le Mitchell's Inn est un hôtel de charme perdu au cœur de la forêt. Ses pensionnaires croient avoir choisi la destination idéale pour se détendre au coin du feu, loin de la frénésie new-yorkaise. Là-bas, pas d'Internet ni de réseau. Mais la tempête fait rage et, après une coupure d'électricité, on découvre Dana Hart, venue pour une escapade romantique avec son fiancé, morte au pied de l'escalier. Chute accidentelle ? Drame passionnel? Alors que les conditions météorologiques se dégradent encore et que l'établissement est coupé du monde, un deuxième cadavre est retrouvé. Le doute n'est alors plus permis : l'assassin est dans la place, et pas moyen de lui échapper... Un huis clos façon murder party qui se lit sans temps mort. Qui est le meurtrier et quelle est sa motivation ? Qui est le prochain sur sa liste ? Écrivaine pleine d'ambition, couple au bord du divorce, héritier richissime, amies de longue date... Tous les protagonistes, clients comme employés, ont quelque chose à cacher ! Tous les thrillers de Shari Lapena sont publiés aux éditions Les Presses de la Cité : - Le Couple d'à...

O casal que mora ao lado

Autor: Shari Lapena

Número de Páginas: 330

Best-seller internacional muito aguardado no Brasil. É o aniversário de Graham, e sua esposa, Cynthia, convida os vizinhos, Anne e Marco Conti, para um jantar. Marco acha que isso será bom para a esposa; afinal, ela quase nunca sai de casa desde o nascimento de Cora e da depressão pós-parto. Porém, Cynthia pediu que não levassem a filha. Ela simplesmente não suporta crianças chorando. Marco garante que a bebê vai ficar bem dormindo em seu berço. Afinal, eles moram na casa ao lado. Podem levar a babá eletrônica e se revezar para dar uma olhada na filha. Tudo vai dar certo. Porém, ao voltarem para a casa, a porta da frente está aberta; Cora desapareceu. Anne e Marco se envolvem em uma teia de mentiras, que traz à tona segredos aterradores.

Alguém que você conhece

Autor: Shari Lapena

Número de Páginas: 339

Você acha que conhece seus vizinhos. Mas será que sabe exatamente o que acontece depois que a porta é fechada? De Shari Lapena, autora de Um casal que mora ao lado, Alguém que você conhece é um suspense eletrizante e repleto de reviravoltas, escolhido pela TAG Inéditos. Em um pacato bairro, todos se conhecem. As famílias são simpáticas e prestativas; as mulheres participam do mesmo clube do livro, os maridos estão sempre juntos nos fins de semana e, como pais, todos compartilham das mesmas dificuldades de criar os filhos. É para esse ambiente acolhedor que o jovem casal Amanda e Robert Pierce decide se mudar. Dona de uma beleza avassaladora, Amanda atrai olhares por onde passa. Robert também desperta a fantasia de algumas donas de casa, mas parece completamente devotado à mulher. Então todos ficam chocados quando ele vai à delegacia relatar o desaparecimento da esposa, depois de ela não retornar de uma suposta viagem com uma amiga. O que muitos não imaginam é que, dentro de cada casa daquela sossegada vizinhança, depois que a porta é fechada, nada é o que parece. Todos têm algo a esconder: Olivia e Paul Sharpe sabem que o filho adolescente anda arrombando a...

Need to Know

Autor: Karen Cleveland

Número de Páginas: 290

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • FINALIST FOR THE ITW THRILLER AWARD • Perfect husband. Perfect father. Perfect liar? “Terrific.”—John Grisham “Superb.”—Lee Child “Breathtaking, heart-pounding.”—Louise Penny “A fast-paced, relentlessly gripping read.”—Chris Pavone Vivian Miller. High-powered CIA analyst, happily married to a man she adores, mother of four beautiful children. Until the moment she makes a shocking discovery that makes her question everything she believes. She thought she knew her husband inside and out. But now she wonders if it was all a lie. How far will she go to learn the truth? And does she really . . . . . . NEED TO KNOW? Film rights sold to Universal Pictures for Charlize Theron • Rights sold in more than 20 markets “Shaping up to be one of the year’s biggest new thrillers.”—Entertainment Weekly “So timely . . . Think of the perfect mix of Homeland and The Americans. . . . Need to Know needs to be read by all who relish spy novels. As entertaining as it is informative and as irresistible as it is impossible to put down.”—Providence Journal “Pulse-pounding.”—O: The Oprah Magazine “Accomplished . . . a nonstop...

O último jantar

Autor: Shari Lapena

Número de Páginas: 400

Um casal é encontrado assassinado em sua mansão. Os suspeitos de cometer o crime? Os próprios filhos. Em O último jantar, de Shari Lapena, autora do best-seller O casal que mora ao lado, todos guardam segredos, especialmente os mortos. É preciso ser rico para morar em Brecken Hill, um bairro de luxo ao norte de Nova York. E poucas pessoas são mais ricas que Fred e Sheila Merton. A fortuna deles, porém, não é suficiente para protegê-los quando a morte bate à porta. No domingo de Páscoa, após um jantar desastroso com os três filhos e a ex-babá da família, os Merton são brutalmente assassinados. Sheila é enforcada e Fred, esfaqueado diversas vezes, além de ter a garganta cortada. Dan, Catherine e Jenna Merton ficam arrasados com o crime. Ou ao menos era o que se esperava deles. Mas agora cada um herdará milhões de dólares. E o que poucos sabem é que os Merton nunca foram uma família feliz. Os filhos tinham de suportar os mandos e desmandos de um patriarca vingativo e cheio de caprichos sem nenhum apoio da mãe, totalmente negligente. O que leva a uma pergunta crucial: será que um deles seria capaz de cometer tal crime? Porque, ainda que objetos de valor...

Damage

Autor: Caitlin Wahrer

Número de Páginas: 346

ONE NIGHT. ONE CRIME. ONE FAMILY TORN APART . . . 'Pulled me in from the first page' STEPHEN KING 'Utterly authentic and full of twists. A remarkable debut' SUNDAY TIMES 'Powerful and thought-provoking. Palpably suspenseful' 5***** READER REVIEW 'One of the best books you'll read this year' SHARI LAPENA 'The final relevation left me speechless' 5***** READER REVIEW _______ There are good men, and there are bad men . . . But which one is her husband? All Julia wants is to hold her family together. Her brother in law, Nick, just wants to forget his brutal assault. But Julia's husband Tony can't let go of his anger about the attack . . . So when Tony decides to take matters into his own hands, Julia fears for the attacker's family. Even more than that: she fears where saving her husband will take her . . . _______ 'As though Michael Connelly and Tana French had joined forces. A spectacularly plotted and powerful family drama' A.J. FINN 'A suspenseful family drama. It draws you right in and constantly leaves you guessing and questioning - sometimes even shouting at the page . . . An explosive ending' COSMOPOLITAN 'Gritty and suspenseful . . . Splices small-town family drama with nervy ...

Froid comme l'enfer

Autor: Lilja Sigurdardottir

Número de Páginas: 235

Aurora vit en Angleterre et sa sœur Isafold en Islande, elles sont très différentes et ont des relations compliquées. Isafold disparaît et leur mère, ne faisant pas la différence entre enquêtrice financière et enquêtrice policière, supplie Aurora d’aller chercher sa sœur. Aurora ne peut pas s’empêcher de pratiquer ce qu’elle fait de mieux, démasquer les fraudeurs et les faire payer. Elle va donc profiter de ce voyage pour examiner de près certains investissements financiers douteux, et analyser la corruption islandaise tout en testant ses capacités de séduction sur deux hommes. Elle découvrira surtout la violence domestique à laquelle était soumise Isafold et qu’elle niait farouchement subir ; au cours des témoignages qu’elle reçoit, elle voit évoluer les nuances de ses sentiments pour sa sœur. En même temps, des personnages inquiétants émergent peu à peu. Nous suivons son enquête au fil des détails qu’elle nous donne sur les façons de vivre et de se parler, et par ce travail de dentelière elle nous fait entrer dans un monde plus complexe que ce dont il a l’air.

Everyone Here Is Lying

Autor: Shari Lapena

Número de Páginas: 337

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! Another thrilling domestic suspense novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Couple Next Door “The most addictive book I've read in ages—so slick and disquieting and clever. Just brilliant.” —Lisa Jewell, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Family Remains “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.

Cadillac Couches

Autor: Sophie B. Watson

Número de Páginas: 176

Winner of a 2012 Independent Publisher Book Award Gold Medal Cadillac Couches is a picaresque road trip novel that journeys from prairie to big city and back again. A quixotic tale set in the late nineties and framed by the popular Edmonton Folk Music Festival, it follows two music-smitten twentysomething women as they search for love and purpose. Annie Jones is trying to put her big love, Sullivan, behind her and squash her demons of anxiety and compulsion. In a post-fest funk, she and her more worldly sidekick Isobel jump in Annie's 1972 Volkswagen Beetle and race across the country to Montreal where her real-life fantasy man, Hawksley Workman, is doing a gig. A year later Annie and Isobel end up back at the folk festival, this time in a much different position. A witty first novel, Cadillac Couches is a story about finding one's holy grail in life. The book comes with its own playlist.

The Closer You Get

Autor: Mary Torjussen

Número de Páginas: 370

They had the perfect plan to start a new life together...before it all went horribly wrong. A new twisting novel of psychological suspense from the acclaimed author of The Girl I Used to Be. Coworkers Ruby and Harry are in love—but they’re married to other people. They decide to tell their spouses that their marriages are over and to start a new life together. Ruby has wanted to leave her controlling husband for a while, so she tells him she’s leaving and waits at the hotel where she and Harry are to meet. But Harry never shows up. Suddenly, Ruby has lost everything. Harry won’t answer her calls, and she’s fired from her job. She finds a cheap apartment in a run-down part of town, all the while wondering what happened to Harry. Just as Ruby thinks she’s hit rock bottom, strange and menacing things start to happen—someone is sneaking into her apartment, and someone is following her home late at night—and she is going to have to fight for her survival.

Happiness Economics

Autor: Shari Lapena

Número de Páginas: 212

The riotously funny second novel by the New York Times bestselling author of Everyone Here Is Lying, Shari Lapena, that explores what happens when art collides with commerce. Will Thorne is a stalled poet, married to Judy, a wildly successful celebrity economist. Pressured by a starving fellow poet, Will establishes The Poets' Preservation Society, a genteel organization to help poets in need. But when Will meets his muse, the enigmatic and athletic Lily White, he becomes inspired not only to write, but to take guerrilla action in support of poets everywhere. Poetry meets parkour and culture clashes with commerce in this hilarious look at how we measure the value of art.

The Truth About Lisa Jewell

Autor: Will Brooker

Número de Páginas: 243

*For those aspiring authors who are interested in the path to success* 'I read this yesterday in one glorious sitting! What an absolute treat of a book!' Lesley Kara 'Illuminating, revealing and absolutely fascinating, Will Brooker offers us the keys to the Jewell kingdom.' Vanessa Fox O'Loughlin aka Sam Blake __________ Have you ever thought about what it takes to become a bestselling writer? If so, The Truth About Lisa Jewell is the book for you. It is the story of how a novel is written, from before the start to after the finish; it's an in-depth analysis of how that novel fits into a bestselling author like Lisa Jewell's career and her previous work, and what her style shares with authors from James Joyce to Martin Amis. But this is more than just a study of an author at the top of her game. Like Lisa Jewell's much-loved novels, it's also the story of a relationship - between the bestselling author and the professor of cultural studies who has made her his muse - evolving slowly as the world comes gradually out of Covid. It's the story of two very different writers getting to know each other gradually through words; two complete strangers becoming something more like friends....

Against Her Nature

Autor: Elizabeth Buchan

Número de Páginas: 357

Lose yourself in the captivating novels by bestselling author Elizabeth Buchan, perfect if you love Harriet Evans or Deborah Moggach . Love, money and children... Life is a risk, however much we try to protect ourselves... Unlike the Frants living their quiet ordered lives in the village of Appleford, Tess and Becky are of the generation that believes it can have everything. Highflyers in the high-octane world of London's high-finance, they move through the opportunists, the short-termists, the sharks, the bullies and the very, very rich to face many choices, not least the one presented by biology: children. As the different generations balance the challenges life throws at them, a tender and unexpected love story emerges alongside a journey to maturity in this bold and beautiful novel. 'A modern day Vanity Fair ... brilliantly done' - Mail on Sunday

Local Gone Missing

Autor: Fiona Barton

Número de Páginas: 465

INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER Detective Elise King investigates a man’s disappearance in a seaside town where the locals and weekenders are at odds with each other in this suspenseful new novel from the #1 bestselling author of The Widow. Elise King is a successful and ambitious detective—or she was before a medical leave left her unsure if she'd ever return to work. She now spends most days watching the growing tensions in her small seaside town of Ebbing—the weekenders renovating old bungalows into luxury homes, and the locals resentful of the changes. Elise can only guess what really happens behind closed doors. But Dee Eastwood, her house cleaner, often knows. She’s an invisible presence in many of the houses in town, but she sees and hears everything. The conflicts boil over when a newcomer wants to put the town on the map with a giant music festival, and two teenagers overdose on drugs. When a man disappears the first night of the festival, Elise is drawn back into her detective work and starts digging for answers. Ebbing is a small town, but it's full of secrets and hidden connections that run deeper and darker than Elise could have ever imagined.

Eat Your Heart Out

Autor: Katie Boland

Número de Páginas: 179

With unsentimental prose and ironic dialogue, Katie Boland brings to life a variety of characters who all have one thing in common—a need for something more. A literary debut by a refreshing new voice in fiction, the stories in Eat Your Heart Out are about the haunted and heartbroken, about dreamers, losers and love-lost souls. From a sixteen-year-old autistic savant who’s sleeping with his best friend’s mother, to a tattooed beauty coming to terms with an alcoholic parent, to a newspaper man forever changed by a tender drifter, to a grief counsellor trying to reconcile her own tragic loss, the stories examine the fragility of human relationships and why people love the way they do. Bold, poignant and affecting, Eat Your Heart Out is a clear-eyed exploration of youth, life, love, sex and death.

The Tropoholic's Guide to Universal Thriller Tropes

Autor: Cindy Dees

Número de Páginas: 383

NYT and USAT bestselling author and screenwriter, Cindy Dees, brings her formidable skills as a master storyteller and veteran writing teacher to this encyclopedic series analyzing the major tropes used in commercial thriller fiction, film, television, and more. In this volume, Cindy does in-depth analysis of 40 iconic thriller tropes found across all sub-genres of thriller fiction. Written by a working writer for working writers, this is a comprehensive reference guide and brainstorming tool to help you quickly generate ideas, create characters and plot, revise and edit, brand and market your story. You’ll write faster, cleaner, and deliver your audience a story they’ll recognize and love. If you’re writing a novel, script, play, comic, graphic novel, video game script, or other story format that includes a thriller element, this book is for you. Each trope entry includes: · detailed definition and analysis · list of adjacent tropes · list of reasons why audiences love this trope · descriptions of all obligatory scenes necessary to structure this trope correctly · list of additional key scenes important to this trope · an extensive list of questions to think about...

After the Accident

Autor: Kerry Wilkinson

Número de Páginas: 342

‘Oh my God, this book was so so addicting! I just couldn’t stop… so many twists and turns in this tale that it kept me on the edge of my seat til the very last page.’ Bookshelf Life The perfect holiday just became their worst nightmare… After the accident which tore apart her family, Emma is shocked to be invited away to a beautiful Mediterranean island – but when her mother calls her out of the blue, wanting to make amends, she can’t say no. Julius hasn’t seen his sister Emma in years. Although he can’t ever trust her again after what she did, he’s willing to put their differences aside for the sake of their elderly parents. Despite what happened in the past, everything is going surprisingly well – days spent sipping sangria by the pool, evenings spent forcing smiles at the dinner table – until the night Julius and Emma’s father is attacked on the beach and left for dead on the sand. She says: Nobody would benefit from our father’s death more than Julius. He says: We all know what Emma’s capable of. And no-one knows where she was that night. She says: He’s always been a liar. He says: She looked me in the eye and told me she wanted our father dead. ...

Breaking the Dark

Autor: Lisa Jewell

Número de Páginas: 342

From the multi-million-copy bestselling author, discover the gripping Sunday Times bestselling and gritty detective novel, the first book in the brand-new Marvel Crime series. 'A fun, entertaining read that really packs a punch!' Shari Lapena ‘Immersive, page-turning, addictive, fresh and fun.' Andrea Mara ‘Tricksy, endlessly interesting and pure entertainment, don’t miss this one.' Gillian McAllister 'Exhilarating, twisty and original. Agatha Christie meets Black Mirror!’ Claire Douglas ---- Meet Jessica Jones: a private investigator and retired super hero based out of Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, who goes from job to job as a hard living, rough talking, loner. And then a wealthy Upper East Side woman pays her a visit. Amber Randall is concerned about her twin sixteen-year-olds, Lark and Fox, who have acted and looked very different since they returned from spending the summer with their British father in the UK. She tells Jessica that her children have unnaturally perfect skin for teenagers and have lost all the tics and habits that made them who they were. They are not Lark and Fox, she tells Jessica. Something has happened to them. To find out more, Jessica travels to...

His Other Wife

Autor: Nicole Trope

Número de Páginas: 321

“Oh. My. WOW! Here I sit at 2.30am having read this book in one evening… I could not put it down… Had me hooked from the very first page. What a crazy ride! Absolutely brilliant. Loved every moment.” Stina the Bookaholic, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ She has my husband. She has my child. She has my life. I never thought I would end up here. Alone, in a cold one-bedroom apartment, only seeing my precious daughter once a week. Another woman is living the life that was once mine. I wish I was still married to my ex-husband, the love of my life. I dream of tucking my five-year-old child into her ballerina bed sheets every night. I miss living in a beautiful house, the perfect family home, with a winding staircase and a sprawling garden. I’d do anything to be with my family again. To start over and prove to them that I’ve changed, that I won’t lose control like before. But when I get my second chance, the vicious messages come. The noises at night. The feeling of being watched. It’s happening all over again. I know I’m not going mad, but no one will believe me. I don’t know if I even believe myself. All I wanted was my life back. But now my life is under threat – and my...

The Wife's Secret

Autor: Kerry Wilkinson

Número de Páginas: 358

Charley Willis was thirteen years old when her parents were killed in their family home and she was found hiding in a cupboard upstairs. Fifteen years later, Charley is marrying Seth Chambers. It should be the happiest day of their lives, a chance for Charley to put her past behind her, but just hours after the ceremony, she is missing. No one saw her leave. No one knows where she is. One thing is for certain…Seth is about to discover he doesn’t really know the woman he just married. And his nightmare is only just beginning. A totally gripping psychological thriller that will keep you reading until the very last jaw-dropping twist. Read what everyone is saying about The Wife’s Secret: ‘What a book!!!! Had me gripped from the first page right through to the last page.... could not put it down but didn't want it to end either! A fantastic read!’ NetGalley Reviewer, 5 stars ‘WOW ABSOLUTELY WOW!!!! This is the most unputdownable book I've read in a very long time!!! …Loads of tense moments and twists and turns. And an ending you won't see coming!!’ NetGalley Reviewer, 5 stars ‘Possibly his best yet! The characters in the story are brilliant...Five stars from me for...

Her Perfect Revenge

Autor: Lesley Sanderson

Número de Páginas: 285

On the surface we were the perfect couple, but no one knows what we’ve been hiding… Just six hours ago, Alex and I were married. It was a beautiful wedding by the sea, on the beach we’ve always loved. Our guests crowded outside our beach hut to raise a toast before our first midnight swim together as man and wife. And then, suddenly, he was gone, drowning in the water that meant so much to us. But instead of being able to mourn in peace, to get to grips with my awful new reality, the police are here. It seems they don’t think Alex’s death was an accident. And I’m the main suspect. I know I’m innocent, but I also know we both had secrets. And to my horror, it seems Alex’s were worth killing for. But who in our wedding party could have wanted him dead? I thought I knew the man I married but I couldn’t have been more wrong. But then again, he didn’t know the real me either. I’ve been hiding from the truth for so long. And then I realise: what if it wasn’t Alex’s past that was coming back to find him. What if it’s mine? How far will someone go to expose my darkest secret? A gripping, jaw-dropping page-turner with twists to die for. If you love Lisa Jewell,...

What the Neighbors Saw

Autor: Melissa Adelman

Número de Páginas: 222

Desperate Housewives meets The Couple Next Door in a chilling story of murder and intrigue set in a well-to-do DC suburb. Sometimes the darkest acts occur in the most beautiful houses... When Alexis and her husband Sam buy a neglected Cape Cod house in an exclusive DC suburb, they are ecstatic. Sam is on the cusp of making partner at his law firm, Alexis is pregnant with their second child, and their glamorous neighbors welcome the couple with open arms. Things are looking up, and Alexis believes she can finally leave her troubled past behind. But the neighborhood’s picture-perfect image is shattered when their neighbor Teddy – a handsome, successful father of three – is found dead on the steep banks of the Potomac River. The community is shaken, and as the police struggle to identify and apprehend the killer, tension in the neighborhood mounts and long-buried secrets start to emerge. In the midst of the turmoil, Alexis takes comfort in her budding friendship with Teddy’s beautiful and charismatic widow, Blair. But as the women grow closer, the neighborhood only becomes more divided. And when the unthinkable truth behind Teddy’s murder is finally uncovered, both Blair...

The Stepchild

Autor: Nicole Trope

Número de Páginas: 277

Three-year-old Millie Everleigh disappears on a crisp winter’s day, and nothing is as it seems… It’s the phone call every mother dreads. I’m climbing into the car after a trip to the grocery store. As the engine starts, my phone rings. It’s my stepdaughter, Shelby, who is babysitting my three-year-old little girl Millie. ‘I only went upstairs for a second,’ she says through her sobs. ‘She’s gone.’ I race home to find my blue-eyed baby girl missing, and my heart ripped out of my chest. When the police turn up, Shelby’s story starts to unravel. What is she hiding? Then I get a message saying, ‘Your husband is not who you think he is.’ Could he be lying? Suddenly, my family feel like strangers. Everyone has a secret – even me. No one knows why I was late coming back from the shop, and the guilt I’ve been feeling ever since… Once the truth comes out, all of our lies exposed, will it be too late to save my precious child? A pulse-pounding psychological thriller about family secrets, shocking pasts and the lies we tell ourselves in order to survive. You’ll lose sleep as you race through the pages until the final gasp-worthy twist! Perfect for fans of...

Bring Him Home

Autor: Nicole Trope

Número de Páginas: 361

‘I literally could not put this one down… I started this book late last night and I didn’t stop till I finished it at 4am. It was quite literally unputdownable!… Amazing… Impossible to stop reading… I absolutely loved it!’ Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Where is he? Where’s my beloved child with his father’s blue eyes and a halo of golden curls? My little boy is out there on his own. Please keep him safe, I silently beg, please, please just keep him safe. ‘Your son is missing,’ they say, and life as I know it is over. ‘Where would he go?’ the police ask. ‘Where would he be?’ my daughter begs. My heart races as images flash in my mind. The cabin we rent every autumn, surrounded by fiery red maple trees. Voices raised. Tears falling. A marriage falling apart. And worst of all my husband telling our child, Theo, to run. The rest is a blank in my memory. If I close my eyes I can almost see it. A betrayal that has left me alone, in tatters, grieving for what we had. It wasn’t meant to be like that. It should have been precious time as a family, with boardgames, walks in the mountain and pancakes for breakfast. Instead my little one is has vanished....

The Day I Lost You

Autor: Alex Sinclair

Número de Páginas: 256

Writers' Handbook 2026

Autor: J. Paul Dyson

Número de Páginas: 1616

The 2026 edition of firstwriter.com’s annual directory for writers is the perfect book for anyone searching for literary agents, book publishers, or magazines. It contains over 1,400 listings, including revised and updated listings from the 2025 edition, and over 200 brand new entries. Finding the information you need is now quicker and easier than ever before, with multiple tables and a detailed index, and unique paragraph numbers to help you get to the listings you’re looking for. The variety of tables helps you navigate the listings in different ways, and includes a Table of Authors, which lists over 5,000 authors and tells you who represents them, or who publishes them, or both. The number of genres in the index has expanded to over 950. So, for example, while there was only one option for “Romance” in previous editions, you can now narrow this down to Historical Romance, Fantasy Romance, Supernatural / Paranormal Romance, Contemporary Romance, Diverse Romance, Erotic Romance, Feminist Romance, Christian Romance, or even Amish Romance. The new edition includes: · Over 600 literary agents and agencies; · Over 350 magazines; and · Over 400 publishers that don’t...

Wonderland

Autor: Jennifer Hillier

Número de Páginas: 432

"Welcome to Wonderland. By day, it's a magical place boasting a certain retro charm. Excited children, hands sticky with cotton candy, run frenetically from the Giant Octopus ride to the Spinning Sombrero, while the tinkling carnival music of the giant Wonder Wheel--the oldest Ferris wheel in the Pacific Northwest--fills the air. But before daybreak, an eerie feeling descends. Maybe it's the Clown Museum, home to creepy wax replicas of movie stars and a massive collection of antique porcelain dolls. Or maybe it's the terrifyingly real House of Horrors. Or...maybe it's the dead, decaying body left in the midway for all the Wonder Workers to see. Vanessa Castro's first day as deputy police chief of Seaside, Washington, is off to a bang. The unidentifiable homeless man rotting inside the tiny town's main tourist attraction is strange enough, but now a teenage employee--whose defiant picture at the top of the Wonder Wheel went viral that same morning--is missing. As the clues in those seemingly disparate crimes lead her down a mysterious shared path of missing persons that goes back decades, she suspects the seedy rumors surrounding the amusement park's dark history might just be...

Summary of She Didn’t see it Coming

Autor: Quickchapters

Número de Páginas: 67

How does a woman vanish without a trace—from her own home, in the middle of the day? In She Didn’t See It Coming, bestselling thriller author Shari Lapena delivers a gripping mystery about a seemingly perfect life that unravels in an instant. This chapter-by-chapter summary captures the suspenseful twists and psychological tension of the novel as Sam’s world is turned upside down by his wife Bryden’s sudden disappearance. One moment, she’s working from home; the next, she’s gone—leaving behind her car, phone, keys, and an apartment full of unanswered questions. As secrets surface and suspicion spreads through their upscale condo community, nothing—and no one—is as it seems. This summary distills Lapena’s razor-sharp narrative into a fast-paced, digestible format for readers who want to uncover the key revelations and emotional beats of the story without missing a detail. Perfect for fans of domestic thrillers, this is your shortcut to the chilling intrigue and expertly layered suspense that define Shari Lapena’s storytelling. Disclaimer: This is an unofficial summary and analysis of She Didn’t See It Coming by Shari Lapena. It is designed solely to enhance...

The Forcing: The visionary, emotive, breathtaking MUST-READ climate-emergency thriller

Autor: Paul E. Hardisty

Número de Páginas: 426

In a near future, where civilisation has collapsed, a government of youth has taken power in North America. All older people deemed responsible for the cataclysmic climate emergency are relocated, but a breakaway group escapes exile to seek freedom ... at devastating cost... 'The dystopian future landscape of The Forcing comes with a heightened realism that grips and shakes you ... provocative and insightful, visceral and terrifying' SciFi Now Book of the Month 'A superbly handled tale of struggle and survival in a maimed world' The Times 'Smart, gripping, and all too plausible ... announces Paul E. Hardisty as the true heir to John Christopher' Tim Glister The jaw-dropping, passionate and provocative climate-emergency thriller from one of the world's leading environmental scientists. ___________ Civilisation is collapsing... Frustrated and angry after years of denial and inaction, in a last-ditch attempt to stave off disaster, a government of youth has taken power in North America, and a policy of institutionalised ageism has been introduced. All those older than the prescribed age are deemed responsible for the current state of the world, and are to be 'relocated', their...

The New Mother

Autor: Nora Murphy

Número de Páginas: 366

Sleepless nights were just the beginning . . . Natalie already loves her newborn son, Oliver, with everything she has. From the moment he was born, she knew that she was meant to be his mother. But when Oliver refuses to sleep, and her husband Tyler returns to work, Nat is left alone in a new neighbourhood, the task of keeping her small son healthy and happy on her shoulders alone. No one else can breastfeed Oliver; no one else will protect him like she can; no one can help her. No one, that is, except her neighbour Paul. He is everything Tyler isn’t, and provides the lifeline she needs in what feels like the most desperate of times. When Paul is helping with Oliver, calmed by his reassuring, steady presence, Nat feels like she can finally rest. But Paul wants something in return. He has a plan of his own, and it's no coincidence that he's befriended Nat . . . * * * Praise for Nora Murphy: 'I couldn't put it down' – Shari Lapena 'Taut, compelling and deliciously dark' – B. A. Paris 'Brilliant, gripping, dark and superbly written' – Gilly Macmillan

Toxic

Autor: Helga Flatland

Número de Páginas: 267

Shamed schoolteacher, Mathilde, moves to a dairy farm in the Norwegian countryside for an 'easier life', but she's soon up to her old tricks ... upending and unsettling the lives of two reclusive farmers. Exquisitely written, razor-sharp and simmering with an unexpected tension, Toxic marks the return of one of Norway's finest writers... `Flatland has the gift that I most often covet in the work of other writers: the ability to make everyday events compelling ... how the quietest existence can brim with urgency and drama ́ Ann Morgan `Helga Flatland writes with elegance and subtle humour ́ Daily Express `The author has been dubbed the Norwegian Anne Tyler and for good reason ́ Good Housekeeping –––––––––––––– When Mathilde is forced to leave her teaching job in Oslo after her relationship with eighteen-year-old Jacob is exposed, she flees to the countryside for a more authentic life. Her new home is a quiet cottage on the outskirts of a dairy farm run by Andres and Johs, whose hobbies include playing the fiddle and telling folktales – many of them about female rebellion and disobedience, and seeking justice, whatever it takes. But beneath the...

Tell Me No Lies

Autor: Alex Sinclair

Número de Páginas: 311

Dead Sweet

Autor: Katrín Júlíusdóttir

Número de Páginas: 273

When a celebrated government official is found dead after his surprise birthday party, a young police officer uncovers a terrifying world of financial crime, sinister cults and disturbing secret lives. Icelandic politician Katrín Júlíusdóttir's award-winning debut – first in a breathtaking series... **Winner of the Blackbird Award for Best Icelandic Crime Debut** `A breathtaking thriller from one of Iceland's most exciting new voices' Eva Björg Ægisdóttir `So chilling ́ Heat magazine `Katrín Júlíusdóttir skilfully weaves together intense family dynamics, dark pasts and criminal endeavours in this masterful narrative ́ Lilja Sigurðardóttir `A sophisticated, multi-layered thriller ... a series with great potential ́ Financial Times ____________________ A murder is just the beginning... When Óttar Karlsson, a wealthy and respected government official and businessman, is found murdered, after failing to turn up at his own surprise birthday party, the police are at a loss. It isn't until young police officer Sigurdís finds a well-hidden safe in his impersonal luxury apartment that clues start emerging. As Óttar's shady business dealings become clear, a second,...

Inside Book Publishing

Autor: Angus Phillips , Giles Clark

Número de Páginas: 421

Now fully revised and updated for its sixth edition, Inside Book Publishing is the classic introduction to the book publishing industry. Giles Clark and Angus Phillips offer authoritative coverage of all sectors of the industry, from commercial fiction and non-fiction to educational publishing and academic journals. They reveal how publishers continue to adapt to a fast-changing and highly interconnected world, in which printed books have proved resilient alongside ebooks and the growth of audio. Major themes are explored, including the development of digital products and the use of social media in book marketing, as well as those that affect publishers’ businesses, such as the rise of internet retailing; rental models for student textbooks; and open access, where academic content is free to the user. Case studies from industry experts give fascinating perspectives on topics such as crowdfunding, self-publishing and how authors can market themselves. The book provides excellent overviews of the main aspects of the publishing process: commissioning authors, product development, design and production, marketing, sales and distribution. As a manual for those in the profession and a ...

You Make Things Better

Autor: Faye Worthington

Número de Páginas: 66

Beautiful and elegant Ellie Spire notices her best friend Alice Peatrunk isn’t happy these days. How can she be after losing her husband and son a year earlier? Life has become an unshielded and emotional blur for Alice as her grieving continues, even with Ellie’s help. Alice currently resides with Ellie, a temporary arrangement until she can move into her newly-purchased condominium. Ellie’s romantically affected by Alice, though, and finds her more than kind, thoughtful, and extraordinary. Ellie watches Alice: reading, sleeping, and gardening, as summertime swiftly moves forward. As Ellie’s tender and erotic emotions for her grieving guest heighten, she notes Alice relies on the next door neighbor’s abandoned dandelion garden for therapy. A week passes, then another. But something strange begins to unearth at the garden as the anniversary of Alice’s loss unfolds. Something unsettling, ominous, and troublesome occurs. Ellie notices Alice keeps digging and digging among the dandelions. But why? What’s happening at the garden? A single afternoon’s moment of necessary survival change their lives forever, but is it for better or worse?

The Party at Number 12

Autor: Kerry Wilkinson

Número de Páginas: 337

Everyone’s invited. Someone will never leave. In a grand townhouse rented specially for the evening, Hannah beams at her guests under the sparkling chandelier. Her sisters, her mother and aunt, her best friends… although she’ll miss them all so much when she moves away, tonight is about celebrating the happy times and raising a toast to the future. But the next morning, one of the guests is found cold and lifeless in their pristine white bed. Hannah is desperate to call the police. After all, it must have been an accident. Perhaps too much wine, on a night where emotions were running high. But it soon becomes clear that every single person at the party has something to hide. A mother who’ll do anything for her daughters. Best friends with dark secrets between them. A sister with a jealous streak. What if one of them is a killer? And what if this is just the first victim? An absolutely unputdownable thriller that won’t let you sleep until you’ve reached the final page! Perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell, The Hunting Party and Shari Lapena. Readers are loving The Party at Number 12: ‘Twists that take your breath away. This book has everything you could possibly want…...

Blind Date

Autor: Wendy Clarke

Número de Páginas: 358

When Mel is set up on a blind date by her best friends Chris and Simon, she’s as anxious as any woman would be. Her divorce came as such a shock and she’d been feeling lost and lonely, but that didn’t mean she was desperate to date again. It was a terrible day at work that made her say yes: it could be a bit of fun, a distraction at least. What did she have to lose? When Mel meets Malik, she knows instantly that they could have more than just a fling. She tells him her deepest, darkest secrets and it doesn’t make him run away. He makes her feel wanted for the first time in years, and when she wakes up in his bed in the early hours she feels completely content. Until she notices that he’s no longer lying beside her. She’s tangled up in his sheets alone in his bedroom and she can’t remember how she got there. And then she hears the metallic scrape of a key in the door and realises that Malik has locked her in. Is her dream man going to turn into her worst nightmare? Thrilling and gripping until the final page, Blind Date is a dark and unsettling story about deception and how much we can trust the people we love. For fans of Gone Girl, The Girl on the Train and anything ...

Death on the Island

Autor: Eliza Reid

Número de Páginas: 336

Agatha Christie meets Nordic noir in this “brilliant debut” (Louise Penny, #1 New York Times bestselling author) about diplomats stranded on a windswept Icelandic island with a murderer in their midst. A remote Icelandic island. A diplomatic dinner party. A murderer in their midst. When Kavita Banerjee, the deputy ambassador of Canada, dies suddenly at a dinner party attended by the great and the good from Icelandic business and politics, suspicion falls on everyone present, but particularly on the victim’s boss, Graeme Shearer, the Canadian ambassador. Jane Shearer, Graeme’s long-suffering wife, is accustomed to cleaning up his messes. But now, saving her husband’s career—and her crumbling marriage—requires her to investigate her fellow dinner guests. Uncovering corruption and murder is a dangerous job, but Jane knows better than most what desperate people will do to protect their secrets.

The Burning Stones

Autor: Antti Tuomainen

Número de Páginas: 273

A top saleswoman at a Finnish sauna company must outwit the police and a murderer when her boss is found dead ... in a sauna. A darkly funny, tense new thriller from `The funniest writer in Europe ́ ( The Times) 'The best comic crime novel you'll read this year ́ Abir Mukherjee `Suspense is uppermost in this adroit mix of psychological thriller, whodunnit and middle-aged rom-com. Comedy is still pervasive ... the novel's glorious gallery of weirdos ́ Sunday Times Book of the Month `Finnish author Tuomainen has a talent for creating offbeat characters ... [a] tense, pacy novel, laced with the author's trademark laconic humour ́ Guardian Book of the Month `It may seem hard to find good comic crime-writers, but clearly we haven't been looking in Finland ... simultaneously thrilling and evocative of the mundanity of life, and also very funny indeed ́ Telegraph ______ Saunas, love and a ladleful of murder... A cold-blooded killer strikes at the hottest moment: the new head of a sauna-stove company is murdered ... in the sauna. Who has turned up the temperature and burned him to death? The evidence points in the direction of Anni Korpinen – top salesperson and the victim's...