If You Like Jeffery Deaver
Updated 07/2009
Jeffery Deaver grabbed attention with his stand alone Psychological Thrillers, then kicked his career into the stratosphere with his first Lincoln Rhyme novel. In his writing career, he has explored the worlds of forensic investigation, police detectives, amateur sleuths and computer hackers with astonishing confidence and an eye for crucial details. Victory for the good guys is never certain in these stories, and the price they pay for winning against evil is usually a very high one. Part of Deaver's skill is his ability to portray villains who turn the very methods of the heroes back on them to confuse, delay and defeat the forces of good – in the end, the heroes only survive through their courage and determination. By telling tightly plotted tales with interesting main characters and strong secondary casts, and by ratcheting up the tension in every chapter, Deaver has won a large and loyal following of readers who like their detectives smart, their villains smarter, and their pages flying past.
– Andrew Smith, Readers Advisory Librarian
Murder Suicide by Keith Ablow
Drawing upon his real-life experience of evaluating and treating criminals, Ablow delivers a chilling story featuring forensic psychiatrist Frank Clevenger, who ventures into a dead man's dark past to unearth the truth in an explosive mystery of passion and betrayal.
The Camel Club by David Baldacci
It exists at the fringes of Washington, D.C., has no power, and consists solely of four eccentric and downtrodden members whom society has forgotten. Their simple goal is to find the "truth" behind their country's actions. One man leads this aging, ragtag crew. He has no known past and has taken the name "Oliver Stone." Day and night, Stone and his friends study wild conspiracy theories, current events, and the machinations of government, hoping to discover some truth that will hold America's leaders accountable to its citizens. Also try Hour Game or Split Second.
Eureka by William Diehl
Eureka. It's what you say when you strike gold. It's also a town in California where the truth might be buried forever. In New York Times bestselling author William Diehl's thrilling, accomplished new novel, the seamy past of America's most glamorous state lies in this deceptively peaceful area, 100 miles north of Los Angeles. Also Try Reign in Hell or Primal Fear.
Red Dragon by Thomas Harris
Red Dragon was the world's first peek at the monstrously intelligent psychiatrist, in this story of a behavioral scientist's pursuit of a brutal serial killer who targets entire families during the full moon. The narrative alternates between agent Will Graham's investigations and the chillingly warped psyche of multiple murderer Francis Dolarhyde, with the imprisoned Lecter manipulating both men. Like the best of Deaver's reluctant detectives, Graham's unwanted ability to place himself in the mind of the killer at each grisly crime scene leads him to details that begin to add up to an identity; all the while, the relentless calendar puts him under a deadline to find either the killer or his next victims. Also try Silence of the Lambs or Hannibal.
When the Bough Breaks by Jonathan Kellerman
Dr. Morton Handler practiced a strange brand of psychiatry. Among his specialties were fraud, extortion, and sexual manipulation. Handler paid for his sins when he was brutally murdered in his luxurious Pacific Palisades apartment. The police have no leads, but they do have one possible witness: seven-year-old Melody Quinn. It's psychologist Dr. Alex Delaware's job to try to unlock the terrible secret buried in Melody's memory. But as the sinister shadows in the girl's mind begin to take shape, Alex discovers that the mystery touches a shocking incident in his own past. This connection is only the beginning, a single link in a forty-year-old conspiracy. And behind it lies an unspeakable evil that Alex Delaware must expose before it claims another innocent victim: Melody Quinn. First in a series.
Gone, Baby, Gone by Dennis Lehane
The neighborhood is no place for the innocent, the young, the defenseless or the pure. This is a territory of broken families, bitter cops, whacked out ex-cons, and a mother who watches herself on the nightly news as her missing child floats further and further into the unknown. Boston private investigators Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro don't want this case. But after pleas from the child's aunt, they embark upon an investigation and ultimately risk losing everything – their relationship, their sanity, and even their lives – to find this little-girl-lost. Also try Mystic River.
Mary, Mary by James Patterson
FBI agent Alex Cross is on vacation with his family in Disneyland when he gets a call from the director. A top actress has been shot outside her home in Beverly Hills. Shortly afterward, an editor for the Los Angeles Times receives an e-mail recounting the murder in shocking detail, signed Mary Smith. The authorities fear this is only the beginning. More killings follow, and more e-mails arrive immediately after. Also try London Bridges.
The Art of Deception by Ridley Pearson
Bestselling author Pearson is back with a suspenseful Lou Boldt novel. Daphne Matthews has been brought in to investigate the death of a young woman who was pushed off a bridge. Boldt is following the trail of a murderer through Seattle's dangerous underworld. When the investigations suddenly point to the same person, the deception takes an artful turn. Also try Parallel Lies or Middle of Nowhere.
Cross Bones by Kathy Reichs
When an Orthodox Jewish man is found shot to death in Montreal, Temperance Brennan is called in to examine the body and to figure out the puzzling damage to the corpse. Unexpectedly, a stranger slips her a photograph of a skeleton and assures her it is the key to the victim's death. Before she knows it, Tempe is involved in an international mystery as old as Jesus, and one that could lead to the rewriting of 2,000 years of religious history. As Tempe investigates, she learns that the stranger's picture shows bones uncovered during an archaeological dig. Also try Grave Secrets or Fatal Voyage.
Rules of Prey by John Sandford
Lieutenant Lucas Davenport, highly touted killer detective, invents intricate video games that he sells for cash. Called in to aid the Minneapolis team scrambling to stop a psychopathic serial woman-slayer, Lucas almost meets his match. The self-styled "mad dog" murderer views his rape/stabbings as a game as well, setting up obstacles for the police, carefully selecting his victims, and priding himself on clever moves. Despite his largely deja vu plot, novelist Sandford delivers tense action, chilling excitement, and thrilling suspense. Fast-moving prose and romantic sidelines add a little zest, too. First in a series.