Summer is finally here, and with it, some of the year’s hottest thrillers.
First up, it’s no secret that when I’m not writing reviews and breaking news under The Real Book Spy name, I’m also churning out thrillers under my real name, Ryan Steck. This month, my latest novel, Out For Blood, finally hits bookstores, and I am so excited to hear what you all think of it. The most action-packed adventure I’ve written yet, this is my favorite in my series so far, and even if you didn’t read my first two books—Fields Of Fire and Lethal Range—you can absolutely jump right on it with no problems whatsoever. I’d be honored if you’d give it a read. For those who are planning to buy a copy, right now, at launch, every hardcover edition will come signed by me, no matter where you get it. Just order here or anywhere else books are sold.
As always, we’ve chosen a few titles that we think stand above the rest, and this month’s Featured Selections are Eruption by Michael Crichton and James Patterson, Red Sky Mourning by Jack Carr, Shadow Heart by Meg Gardiner, Don’t Let The Devil Ride by Ace Atkins, and Sentinel by Mark Greaney.
Find out more about those titles, plus every other mystery and thriller set to hit bookstores this month, below.
Happy Reading!
Tuesday, June 4th
Eruption by Michael Crichton and James Patterson (Featured Selection)
Release Date: June 3
Two of the bestselling storytellers of all time have created an unforgettable thriller. A history-making volcanic eruption is about to destroy the Big Island of Hawaii. But a secret held for decades by the military is more terrifying than the volcano.
Michael Crichton, creator ofJurassic ParkandWestworld, had a passion project he’d been pursuing for years ahead of his untimely death. Knowing how special it was, his widow held back his notes and the partial manuscript till she found the right author to complete it.
The author she chose is the world’s most popular storyteller:James Patterson.Eruption brings the pace of Patterson to the concept of Crichton—the most anticipated mega-thriller in years.
From TRBS: Impossible to spot where Crichton ends and Patterson begins, Eruption, a landmark achievement in thriller fiction, further solidifies the legacy of two of the most influential authors of our time.
Out For Blood
by Ryan Steck (From The Real Book Spy)
Release Date: June 4th
“Set in Montana’s breathtaking Big Sky Country and packed with intense, hard-hitting action, Out for Blood reaffirms Ryan Steck’s prowess in the thriller genre, demonstrating once again why his character, former Marine Raider Matthew Redd, is a force to be reckoned with. If you’re looking for action, this one’s coming in hot!” ― Jack Carr, former Navy SEAL Sniper and #1 New York Times bestselling author of the James Reece Terminal List series
From the Real Book Spy, Ryan Steck, comes another riveting thriller full of “gutsy action and nonstop mayhem” (James Rollins) in the series that New York Times bestselling author Nelson DeMille describes as “intense, brutal, and faster on the draw than a gunslinger.”
Winters in Montana can be deadly, but it wasn’t the cold that was killing Matthew Redd . . .
Gavin Kline, executive assistant director of the FBI’s Intelligence Directorate, is escorting a high-value prisoner with the intel to bring down a global conspiracy when their plane comes under attack. In the aftermath, much of Kline’s team is dead, but he recovers a phone from a member of the hit team that reveals another attack is imminent. This time they’re going after the man who was instrumental in capturing the prisoner and foiling their plans: Matthew Redd.
When Redd learns he’s in the crosshairs, he sends his family into hiding and heads for the mountains. He might be outnumbered, but the hit team will have to hunt him down on his own turf. With a snowstorm bearing down on Montana and no help in sight, Redd fights for survival in the harshest conditions. But when they take the fight to his hometown, he’ll need all his allies at his back to save what he holds most dear.
A page-turning thriller set in the heart of Montana, Ryan Steck’s third action-packed Matthew Redd novel is perfect for fans of the hit show Yellowstone and readers of C. J. Box and Jack Carr.
“Bigger, better, and more badass than ever before, Matthew Redd is back! Imagine if Louis L’Amour had created the Jason Bourne franchise and then bolted it to the biggest rocket he could find. OUT FOR BLOOD is packed with nonstop action, wall-to-wall adventure, and page after page of fiendishly clever intrigue. Lock the door, turn off your phone, and strap in. You’re about to be taken for one hell of a ride!” — Brad Thor, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Shadow Of Doubt
One Deadly Eye by Randy Wayne White
Release Date: June 4th
After the deadliest hurricane to hit Sanibel Island in a century, Doc Ford must stop a gang of thieves—and worse—during the twelve hours of chaos that follow the passing of a storm’s eye.
A month before a killer hurricane hits Florida, Doc Ford gets a heads-up from a state department pal that during recent natural disasters, a group of paramilitary contractors have used the poststorm chaos as a license to steal—and kill.
Doc doesn’t give the warning much thought until the night the big storm hits. He’s alone. The marina is a ghost town. Doc would have evacuated too but had to work a last-minute deal with the owner of the marina and some other stubborn liveaboards. They know the odds of being robbed after a storm spike. On barrier islands, there’s about a twelve-hour window before help of any type arrives. No law enforcement, no first responders. And very few residents to deal with because most have evacuated.
So, Doc stays. He isn’t worried about himself. But he does wonder about a new neighbor: a British physician, inventor and possibly an MI-6 asset. The man lives in one of the expensive houses on Millionaires Row. In fact, it’s just down the shoreline from the retired N.S.A. Director’s home. This is no coincidence, and it begs the question: Will the storm bring out other new visitors to the island?
The Unweddingby Ally CondieRelease Date: June 4th
TheWhite Lotus meets Agatha Christie inThe Unwedding,the adult fiction debut from #1New York Timesbestselling YA author Ally Condie, about a recent divorcee whose vacation at an exclusive Big Sur resort unravels when she discovers a dead body ontheday a wedding was set to occur.
Ellery Wainwright is alone at the edge of the world.
She and her husband, Luke, were supposed to spend their twentieth wedding anniversary together at the luxurious Resort at Broken Point in Big Sur, California. Where better to celebrate a marriage, a family, and a life together than at one of the most stunning places on earth?
But now she’s traveling solo.
To add insult to injury, there’s a wedding at Broken Point scheduled during her stay. Ellery remembers how it felt to be on the cusp of everything new and wonderful, with a loved and certain future glimmering just ahead. Now, she isn’t certain of anything except for her love for her kids and her growing realization that this place, though beautiful, is unsettling.
When Ellery discovers the body of the groom floating in the pool in the rain, she realizes that she is not the only one whose future is no longer guaranteed. Before the police can reach Broken Point, a mudslide takes out the road to the resort, leaving the guests trapped.When another guest dies, it’s clear something horrible is brewing.
Everyone at Broken Point has a secret. And everyone has a shadow. Including Ellery.
Farewell Amethystine by Walter Mosley
Release Date: June 4th
Easy Rawlins’ latest client sends him down a warren of memory and nostalgia, blinding him to reason and risk, from “master of the genre,” (Washington Post) Walter Mosley.
January 1970 finds Ezekiel “Easy” Rawlins, LA’s premier Black detective, at 50 years of age despite all expectations.He has a loving family, a beautiful home, and a thriving investigation agency.All is right with the world… and then Amethystine Stoller, his own personal Helen of Troy, arrives. Her ex-husband is missing. A simple enough case. But even as Easy takes his first step in the investigation he trips.He falls into the memory of things past. Little things, like loss, love, a world war, and a hunger that has eaten at him since he was a Black boy on his own on the streets of Fifth Ward, Houston, Texas.
The missing ex, a young white man named Curt Fields, is found dead. Easy’s only real friend in the LAPD, Melvin Suggs, has gone into hiding rather than allow his femme fatale wife to go to the gas chamber.And that’s only the beginning.
Easy finds himself pressed into a reckoning. All of his success cannot succor his heart. The 1970’s have ushered in new expectations of men and women, Black and White, and Easy has to make a choice that will almost certainly hasten a permanent descent, one that might sunder his soul.
Devil’s Kitchen by Candice Fox
Release Date: June 4th
Devil’s Kitchen is a fast-paced, heart racing thriller from Candice Fox, “a bright new star in crime fiction.” (James Patterson)
This tight-knit, four-person unit has worked together to save countless lives and stop out of control fires before they cause major destruction.
They’ve also stolen millions from banks, jewelry stores, and art galleries. Under the cover of saving the city, they’ve used their knowledge and specialist equipment to become the most successful heist crew on the East Coast.
Andy Nearland is the newest member of the unit, and she’s helping them prepare for their largest heist yet — New York’s largest private storage facility, an expensive treasure trove for the rich and famous. She’s also an undercover operative, and keeping her true motives hidden proves more and more dangerous as the day of the heist approaches.
Bright and Tender Dark by Joanna Pearson
Release Date: June 4th
In the tradition of Notes on an Execution and I Have Some Questions for You, a thrilling, wire-taut debut about an murder on a college campus and its aftermath twenty years later.
Days after the dawn of Y2K, beautiful, charismatic nineteen-year-old Karlie Richards is found brutally murdered in her campus apartment. Two decades later, those who knew Karlie-and those who just knew of her-remain consumed by her death. Among them is her freshman year roommate, Joy, now middle-aged and mid-divorce, living in the same college town and desperate for a new beginning. When she stumbles upon a twenty-year-old letter from Karlie, Joy becomes convinced the man in prison for her murder was wrongfully convicted. Soon she is diving deep into the dark world of internet conspiracy theorists and amateur sleuth blogs and bouncing off others touched by the long, sensational aftermath of this crime. They include KC, the trans night manager at the building where Karlie was killed; Sheri, the mother of the intellectually disabled man serving time; and Jacob Hendrix, the charming professor with whom, Joy knows all too well, Karlie was romantically entangled before her
death.
Jumping between 2019 and 1999, Bright and Tender Dark takes us from the era of Reddit threads and online obsession to the evangelism-infused culture of the late ’90s to reveal what really happened to Karlie. It is a compulsively readable, prismatic literary mystery that brilliantly mines the mythology of murder, the power of urban legend, and the psychological urge to both protect and exploit what you love but cannot have.
Blood in the Cut by Alejandro Nodarse
Release Date: June 4th
“Blood in The Cut brims with dangerous energy in the face of existential entropy. A fantastic story.” ―S. A. Cosby, New York Times bestselling author of All the Sinners Bleed
Iggy Guerra is out of prison, but his homecoming is anything but smooth. His beloved mother is gone, his grief-stricken father Armando is deep in debt, and they are about to lose the butcher shop that has been in their family for generations.
Iggy must earn his father’s lost trust in order to save La Carnicería Guerra from the threats imposed by a new rival business, a vigilante activist, and big-game hunter Orin, who has dragged Armando into his dangerous money-making schemes deep in the Everglades, where more than secrets are buried. Iggy will wrestle with the beauty and the danger of the place he calls home as he tries to save his family―without losing himself forever.
Sharp as a butcher knife gleaming in the Miami sun, Alejandro Nodarse’s Blood in the Cut opens onto a deeply personal vision of the streets and swamps of Miami, where the roots are crooked but strong as mangroves.
The Crown Conspiracyby Connie Mann
Release Date: June 4th
She’s a master at spotting a forgery . . . and knowing how to create one. But can she solve a decades-old mystery?
The media spotlight is the last thing art thief and forger Sophie Williams needs. But when one of three long-missing royal portraits turns up in Germany at her best friend’s art gallery, the spotlight is exactly what she gets. Since the tragic deaths of Princess Johanna of Neuhansberg and her two children forty years ago, the whereabouts of these portraits have been unknown . . . and the timing of their reappearance―just days before a new prince’s coronation―reignites questions surrounding the infamous accident.
Then Sophie’s best friend vanishes, and a rumor about hidden treasure connected to the paintings surfaces, seemingly confirmed by a cryptic message on the back of the first canvas. Convinced that finding the other two portraits will lead to her friend, Sophie begins a twisty investigation that pits her against other ruthless treasure hunters, a handsome who seems to dog her trail at every turn, and a mysterious group that offers help, wearing an emblem identical to one on the painting.
From Germany’s grand castles and soaring cathedrals through the Alps to the canals of Venice, Sophie must choose her allies carefully if she hopes to find the portraits, rescue her best friend―and perhaps save a throne―before time runs out.
Stuart Woods’ Smolder
by Brett Battles
Release Date: June 4th
In this latest adrenaline-fueled adventure in the #1 New York Times bestselling series, Stone Barrington faces his most vindictive threat yet.
Finally enjoying some downtime in Santa Fe, Stone Barrington agrees to attend an art exhibit with a dear friend. There, he encounters an intriguing woman who is on the trail of a ring of art thieves. Always one to please, Stone offers his help.
From Santa Fe to Los Angeles, it quickly becomes clear that her investigation has links to Stone—particularly to rare Matilda Stone art, his mother’s paintings. And when old grudges come to light, Stone is forced to reckon with a familiar enemy. Stone must act fast before whoever is out to get him finally closes in on him . . . for good.
Tuesday, June 11th
CleteRelease Date: June 11th
In the latest installment in his famous Detective Dave Robicheaux series, New York Times bestselling author James Lee Burke brings Dave’s partner and friend Clete Purcel to the forefront for the first time as Clete and Dave attempt to stop ruthless smugglers of a dangerous new drug
Clete Purcel – private investigator, ex-member of the New Orleans Police Department, and war veteran with a hard shell and just a few soft spots – is Dave Robicheaux’s longtime friend and partner in detective work. But he has a troubled past. When Clete leaves his car at the local car wash, only to return to find it ransacked by a group of thugs tied to the drug trade from Mexican cartels to Louisiana, it feels personal – his grandniece died of a fentanyl overdose, and his fists curl when he thinks of the dealers who sold it.
Just as Clete starts to trail the culprits, Clara Bow, a woman with a dark past hires Clete as a detective to investigate her scheming, slippery ex-husband, and a string of brutal deaths all link back to a heavily tattooed man who seems to lurk around every corner. Clete is experiencing shockingly lifelike hallucinations and questioning Clara’s ulterior motives when he and Dave start to hear rumors of a dangerous substance with potentially catastrophic effects. The thugs who destroyed his car might have been pawns in a scheme far darker than they could’ve imagined.
Gripping, violent, yet interlaced with Clete’s humor and consistent drive to protect those he loves, Clete brings a fresh perspective to a truly iconic series. James Lee Burke proves yet again that he is the “heavyweight champ” and “great American novelist whose work, taken individually or as a whole, is unsurpassed” (Michael Connelly).
What Fire Brings by Rachel Howzell-Hall
Release Date: June 11th
A writer’s search for her missing friend becomes a real-life thriller in a twisting novel of suspense by the New York Times bestselling author of These Toxic Things.
Bailey Meadows has just moved into the remote Topanga Canyon home of thriller author Jack Beckham. As his writer-in-residence, she’s supposed to help him once again reach the bestseller list. But she’s not there to write a thriller―she’s there to find Sam Morris, a community leader dedicated to finding missing people, who has disappeared in the canyon surrounding Beckham’s property.
The missing woman was last seen in the drought-stricken forest known for wildfires and mountain lions. Each new day, Bailey learns just how dangerous these canyons are―for the other women who have also gone missing here…and for her. Could these missing women be linked to strange events that occurred decades ago at the Beckham estate?
As fire season in the canyons approaches, Bailey must race to unravel the truth from fiction before she becomes the next woman lost in the forest.
Red Star Fallingby Steve Berry and Grant Blackwood
Release Date: June 11th
FromNew York Timesbestselling authors, Steve Berry andGrantBlackwood, comes an action-packed adventure, borne in the waning days of the Cold War, that propels Luke Daniels on a quest in search of the legendary library of Ivan the Terrible—the unlikely key to ending a looming threat orbiting two hundred miles above the earth.
Wrapping up his latest assignment for the Magellan Billet, Luke Danielsreceivesa surprise visit from the head of a former-CIA operation named Sommerhaus—a failed attempt to assemble an espionage network within the Ukraine on the eve of the Russian invasion. Sommerhaus ranks high on Luke’s list of painful regrets for it was during this mission that his friend, CIA case officer John Vince, was captured by Russian operatives andsupposedlyexecuted. But Luke is provided some shocking news. Vince is alive, in failing health, locked behind the walls of Russia’s brutal Solovetsky Island prison, and has a critical message he’ll give to no one but Luke. Needing no further convincing Luke vows to bring Vince home.
However, just as he manages to extract his friend from prison Vince tragically dies and his final words are rambling and incoherent. Just bits and pieces. But enough to plunge Luke into a hunt for something lost since the 15th century. The legendary library of the first Tsar of All Russia, Ivan the Terrible.
Within that priceless collection of rare manuscripts is the key to unraveling a modern-day cipher and stopping a secret Soviet satellite program that still exists. But Luke is not the only one on the trail. Others, both inside and out of Russia, want the library for a totally different reason — to re-start the Red Star program and finally unleash its destructive potential. Luke’s mission is clear. Find the lost library, solve the puzzle, and prevent Red Star falling.
A Talent for Murder by Peter Swanson
Release Date: June 11th
A newlywed librarian begins to suspect the man she married might be a murderer—in this spectacularly twisty and deviously clever novel by Peter Swanson, New York Times bestselling author of The Kind Worth Killing and Eight Perfect Murders.
Martha Ratliff conceded long ago that she’d likely spend her life alone. She was fine with it, happy with her solo existence, stimulated by her job as an archival librarian, constantly surrounded by thought-provoking ideas and the books she loved. But then she met Alan, a charming and sweet-natured divorcee with a job that took him on the road for half the year. When he asked her to marry him, she said yes, even though he still felt a little bit like a stranger.
A year in and the marriage was good, except for that strange blood streak on the back of one of his shirts he’d worn to a conference in Denver. Her curiosity turning to suspicion, Martha investigates the cities Alan visited over the past year and uncovers a disturbing pattern—five unsolved cases of murdered women.
Is she married to a serial killer? Or could it merely be a coincidence? Unsure what to think, Martha contacts an old friend from graduate school for advice. Lily Kintner once helped Martha out of a jam with an abusive boyfriend and may have some insight. Intrigued, Lily offers to meet Alan to find out what kind of man he really is . . . but what Lily uncovers is more perplexing and wicked than they ever could have expected.
Rogue SequenceRelease Date: June 11th
It’s 2091 and independent contract companies around the world are producing genetically modified soldiers…to be sold to the highest bidders.
Ander Rade is a super-soldier, a genetically engineered living weapon, and has been dutifully following orders since he gave himself to Xyphos Industries’ Gene-Mod Program several years ago. But when a mission goes sideways, he’s captured, imprisoned, and forced into brutally violent fighting pits for the better part of the next decade…until agents from the Genetic Compliance Department of the United American Provinces appear in the visiting room.
Things have changed since Rade was captured. Shortly after his incarceration, the World Unity Council banned human genetic engineering and deemed all modified individuals a threat to society. Overnight, an entire subculture of people became outlaws simply for existing. But instead of leaving Rade locked behind bars, the GCD agents have come with an offer: Freedom in exchange for his help tracking down one of his former teammates from that ill-fated mission all those years ago.
It’s an offer Rade can’t refuse, but he soon realizes that the situation is far more volatile than anyone had anticipated, and is forced to take matters into his own hands as he tries to figure out whose side he’s really on, and why?
Truth Be Toldby Patricia Raybon
Release Date: June 11th
Denver’s newest detective. A garden’s deadly secrets.
On a lovely June night in 1924, amateur detective Annalee Spain is mingling bravely at a high-class political fundraiser in the lush backyard garden of famed political fixer Cooper Coates, one of the wealthiest men in Denver’s Black neighborhood of Five Points. When Coates’s young daughter discovers a pretty stranger dead in her father’s garden shed, Annalee is thrust onto the baffling new case just as she’s reeling from another recent discovery―a handwritten letter, found buried in her own garden, that reveals the identity of her mother.
Not ready to face the truth about her hidden past, Annalee throws herself into solving the mystery of the young woman’s demise. With the help of her pastor boyfriend Jack Blake, her orphaned buddy Eddie, and her trustworthy church friends, Annalee follows the clues to three seemingly disconnected settings―a traveling carnival set up downtown, a Black civic club, and a prestigious white seminary on the outskirts of Denver. Intriguing advice also comes from a famous, real-life Denver visitor. But is Annalee on the right track or just running in circles, fleeing from conflicts racing in her heart?
In a taut, heart-gripping narrative driven by secrets, romance, and lies, Annalee must unravel a case with higher stakes than she imagined―one where answers about a lovely woman’s death point to truths and tensions still throbbing today.
Bodies to Die ForRelease Date: June 11th
Perfect for fans of You Shouldn’t Have Come Here and None of This Is True, Bodies to Die For is a brilliant psychological thriller that will have readers wondering whether the perfect body really is worth dying for …
Popular fitness influencer Gemma has transformed herself from aBeforeinto anAfter, complete with washboard abs, thriving business, and gorgeous husband. But social media can be deceiving. Offline, the cutthroat world of bikini bodybuilding may just eat her alive. That’s if she’s not first devoured by the secret nemesis that lurks beneath her polished surface, waiting to destroy her.
Software engineer Ashley is fat and frustrated. Frustrated with failed diets. With a world that wants her to shrink. With biased doctors, online trolls, and even her own mother. Until Ashley falls in with a mysterious and radical sect of Fat Activists who are fighting back…by any means necessary. She’s never felt so alive, so full of purpose. She’ll do whatever it takes to ride this high, destroy Diet Culture, and win the approval ofhercharismatic leader.
But when Gemma’s toughest rival turns up dead, and more fitness girls fall like dominoes, it’s beginning to look like the body image war has gone too far.
With breakneck pace and keen insights,Bodies to Die For takes a hard look at social media, the $70 billion diet industry, and the war on women’s bodies–the wars we wage with each other, and with ourselves.
Horror Movie by Paul TremblayRelease Date: June 11th
A chilling twist on the “cursed film” genre from the bestselling author ofThe Pallbearers ClubandThe Cabin at the End of the World.
In June 1993, a group of young guerilla filmmakers spent four weeks makingHorror Movie,a notorious, disturbing, art-house horror flick.
The weird part?Only three of the film’s scenes were ever released to the public, butHorror Moviehas nevertheless grown a rabid fanbase. Three decades later, Hollywood is pushing for a big budget reboot.
The man who played “The Thin Kid” is the only surviving cast member. He remembers all too well the secrets buried within the original screenplay, the bizarre events of the filming, and the dangerous crossed lines on set that resulted in tragedy. As memories flood back in, the boundaries between reality and film, past and present start to blur. But he’s going to help remake the film, even if it means navigating a world of cynical producers, egomaniacal directors, and surreal fan conventions—demonsof the past be damned.
But at what cost?
Horror Movie is an obsessive, psychologically chilling, and suspenseful feat of storytelling genius that builds inexorably to an unforgettable, mind-bending conclusion.
Tuesday, June 18th
Red Sky Mourning by Jack Carr (Featured Selection)
Release Date: June 18th
With the walls closing in, Navy SEAL sniper James Reece is on a race to dismantle a conspiracy that has forced America to her knees in the latest high-octane page-turner that seems ripped from the headlines from the “hottest author on the thriller scene today” (The Real Book Spy), #1 New York Times bestseller Jack Carr.
You think you know James Reece. Think again.
A storm is on the horizon. America’s days are numbered. A Chinese submarine has gone rogue and is navigating towards the continental United States, putting its nuclear missiles within striking distance of the West Coast.
A rising Silicon Valley tech mogul with unknown allegiances is at the forefront of a revolution in quantum computing and Artificial Intelligence.
A politician controlled by a foreign power is a breath away from the Oval Office.
Three seemingly disconnected events are on a collision course to ignite a power grab unlike anything the world has ever seen.
The country’s only hope is a quantum computer that has gone dark, retreating to the deepest levels of the internet, learning at a rate inconceivable at her inception. But during her time in hiding, she has done more than learn. She has become a weapon. She is now positioned to act as either the country’s greatest savior or its worst enemy. She is known as “Alice” and her only connection to the outside world is to a former Navy SEAL sniper named James Reece who has left the violence of his past life behind.
Will there be blood?
Count on it!
Will the forces that threaten to destroy the United States be enough to light the fuse of Reece’s resurrection? From “master novelist” (Ballistic magazine) Jack Carr comes his most intense thriller to date, pressing “emotional buttons that other writers wouldn’t dare explore” (The Real Book Spy).
From TRBS: In Jack Carr’s latest high-octane thriller, the stakes are sky-high and the action relentless as Navy SEAL sniper James Reece faces his most formidable challenges yet. Carr continues to solidify his reputation as one of the premier thriller writers of our time with this latest installment, a gripping, thought-provoking ride that will keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. James Reece is back, and you won’t want to miss what could be his most electrifying adventure yet.
Iron Star by Loren D. Estleman
Release Date: June 18th
Set against the sprawling landscape of the Wild West, this riveting adventure by Spur Award-winning author Loren D. Estleman follows a man on a journey to set his legacy, and the men dedicated to bringing his story to life.
From his youth as a revolutionist to his time as a Deputy U.S. Marshal, aging lawman Iron St. John has become a larger-than-life figure―and in the process, the man has disappeared behind the myth. During his brief, unsuccessful political career, St. John published his memoirs―a sanitized version of his adventures to appeal to the masses. A generation later, the clouded truth of this giant of the Old West has been all but lost.
Now, Buck Jones, a pioneering film star, is vying for a cinematic story that will launch his career to incredible heights. He approaches Emmet Rawlings, a retired Pinkerton detective, to set the record of St. John’s life straight once and for all. Twenty years ago, Rawlings accompanied St. John on his final manhunt, and in desperate need for the funding a successful book promises, he dives deep into St. John’s past―and his own buried memories―to tell the truth about this part-time hero.
As the story of St. John unfolds, the romance of the period is stripped away to reveal a reality long-forgotten in this unvarnished, heart-racing depiction of the American West by acclaimed author Loren D. Estleman.
Shadowheartby Meg Gardiner (Featured Selection)
Release Date: June 18th
What happens when two serial killers begin to compete with each other?
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Meg Gardiner comes a new high-octane thriller in the acclaimed UNSUB series.
FBI Special Agent Caitlin Hendrix faces a case from nightmares.
In a Tennessee prison, Efrem Judah Goode draws haunting portraits of women he claims he has killed. Around the country, desperate families of the missing seek answers in his eerie drawings. And on darkened back roads and New York City streets, a new killer poses duct-taped bodies at the sites of Goode’s murders.
Two serial killers are locked in a twisted rivalry. To stop the brutal slayings, FBI profiler Caitlin Hendrix must unravel the connection between Goode and the Broken Heart Killer. Their warped competition destroys anyone in their path. Caught between a manipulative psychopath and a ruthless UNSUB, Caitlin has to dive into not one, but two dark and twisted minds. She will risk everything, plunging into the depths of their depraved clash to hunt down an unstoppable killer.
From TRBS: A total mind trip of a story, Gardiner delivers her most unputdownable book since UNSUB. It’s been four years since the last Caitlin Hendrix novel, but it’s safe to say that the beloved FBI profiler is back and better than ever… much like Heat 2, expect Shadow Heart to stand among the year’s best thrillers when it’s all said and done.
We Used to Live Hereby Marcus Kliewer
Release Date: June 18th
The Turn of the Key meets Parasite in this eerily haunting debut and Reddit hit—soon to be a Netflix original movie starring Blake Lively—about two homeowners whose lives are turned upside down when the house’s previous residents unexpectedly visit.
As a young, queer couple who flip houses, Charlie and Eve can’t believe the killer deal they’ve just gotten on an old house in a picturesque neighborhood. As they’re working in the house one day, there’s a knock on the door. A man stands there with his family, claiming to have lived there years before and asking if it would be alright if he showed his kids around. People pleaser to a fault, Eve lets them in.
As soon as the family enters their home, strange and inexplicable things start happening, including their toddler going missing and a ghostly presence materializing in the basem*nt. Even more weird, the family can’t seem to take the hint that their visit should be over. And when Charlie suddenly vanishes, Eve slowly loses her grip on reality. Something is terribly wrong with the house and with the visiting family—or is Eve just imagining things?
The Midnight Feastby Lucy Foley
Release Date: June 18th
The deliciously twisty new locked room murder mystery from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Guest List and The Paris Apartment
It’s the opening night of The Manor, and no expense, small or large, has been spared. The infinity pool sparkles; crystal pouches for guests’ healing have been placed in the Seaside Cottages and Woodland Hutches; the “Manor Mule” co*cktail (grapefruit, ginger, vodka, and a dash of CBD oil) is being poured with a heavy hand. Everyone is wearing linen.
But under the burning midsummer sun, darkness stirs. Old friends and enemies circulate among the guests. Just outside the Manor’s immaculately kept grounds, an ancient forest bristles with secrets. And the Sunday morning of opening weekend, the local police are called. Something’s not right with the guests. There’s been a fire. A body’s been discovered.
THE FOUNDER * THE HUSBAND * THE MYSTERY GUEST * THE KITCHEN HELP
It all began with a secret fifteen years ago. Now, the past has crashed the party. And it’ll end in murder at…The Midnight Feast.
What You Leave Behind by Wanda M. Morris
Release Date: June 18th
Award-winning author Wanda Morris returns with a powerful, haunting thriller following a lawyer who after the mysterious disappearance of a local landowner and the death of his sister just months before, uncovers a conspiracy that dates back to Reconstruction and persists in half the United States today.
Deena Wood’s life has fallen apart in the aftermath of losing her beloved mother, her marriage, and her prestigious job at an Atlanta law firm. She needs what the Geechee people of coastal Georgia call a “dayclean,” a fresh start.
She returns to her childhood home in Brunswick, Georgia, to heal. But her return is anything but the respite she thought it might be. To make peace with all her loss, she often drives through the city. One day, she unwittingly finds herself on the oceanfront property of a loner widower who is fighting to keep land that has been in his family since the end of the Civil War. He threatens her and warns her to never return. But shortly after, he disappears, and his very expensive property is quickly put up for sale. Curious about what has happened to the man, Deena digs into his disappearance and finds a family legacy at risk. What starts out as a bit of curious snooping, turns into a deadly game of illegal land grabs and property redevelopment in poor and rural communities with dark and powerful forces at work.
Without realizing it, Deena finds herself caught up in a nightmarish scheme that threatens her community and her family. She’ll need help and finds it in a close but unlikely source because she knows she must do whatever it takes to stop the sinister forces at play before she becomes their next target.
The King’s Ransom by Janet Evanovich
Release Date: June 25th
“Thriller master” (Mystery and Suspense Magazine) Janet Evanovich takes readers on a global hunt to track down missing masterpieces in this action-packed and steamy sequel to the instant New York Times bestseller The Recovery Agent.
Gabriela Rose, recovery agent extraordinaire, can find just about anything. Too bad she can’t seem to lose her gorgeous-but-infuriating ex-husband Rafer Jones. And now he needs her help. His cousin, Harley, is in trouble…big trouble.
As the president of a too-big-to-fail bank, he invested an astronomical amount of money in insuring some of the world’s most priceless artifacts at the urging of his board. It seemed like a low-risk, high-reward business move, so he jumped in with both feet. But recently, these insured pieces started going missing and worse, there’s no paper trail of Harley being directed to make these risky investments. Unless the artwork can be recovered soon, it looks like Harley is going to be heading to jail as the fall guy for an ingenious crime.
Gabriela knows what she must do: travel around the world with Rafer to find the missing works of art, keep Harley out of jail, and save both his skin and his bank. Along the way, she’ll encounter corruption, threats, murder, mysterious dark forces behind a global conspiracy to destroy the world’s wealth, and a nefarious villain who will stop at nothing to bring the world to the brink of ruin.
Joe Justle by Richard Lange
Release Date: June 25th
Joe Hustle has never had much luck—but things start looking up when he meets an intriguing new woman and scores a rare windfall. Can he outrun disaster long enough to turn things around?
Joe Hustle is a survivor. A Gulf War vet and ex-con always one stumble away from catastrophe, he manages to scrape together enough money from various jobs to eke out a precarious existence on the darker fringes of Los Angeles. When he meets Emily, the black-sheep daughter of a wealthy family, the two spark an instant connection—she seems like the best thing to happen to him in a while.
But their whirlwind romance is put to the test when what starts out as a simple favor for a friend leaves Joe homeless, unemployed, and on the wrong side of a vengeful drug dealer. An impulsive offer to go on a road trip with Emily promises to take them out of harm’s way—but may only lead to more chaos.
Part hard-boiled love story, part thriller, part portrait of a tormented yet resilient soul, Joe Hustle ratchets up the tension as it rockets from the after-hours clubs and dive bars of the mean streets of L.A. to the mansions of the Hollywood Hills and, finally, to the desolate highways of the Southwest. What emerges is a gritty portrait of a man who may be down but can never be counted out.
Flashbackby Iris Johansen and Roy Johansen
Release Date: June 25th
Investigator Kendra Michaels—formerly blind and now with uniquely insightful observational skills in the tradition of Sherlock Holmes—returns in this novel from the #1 New York Times and Edgar Award-winning writing duo Iris and Roy Johansen
Kendra Michael #11
From Grand Central Publishing
Pitch DarkRelease Date: June 25th
Game Warden Mike Bowditch must chase down a cunning and dangerous fugitive in the North Maine Woods in this nail-biter of a thriller from Edgar Award-nominated author Paul Doiron, Pitch Dark.
Legendary bush pilot Josie Jonson can’t believe her luck when a skilled builder just happens to show up after she purchases land near Prentiss Pond. All Mark Redmond asks in return for building Josie’s dream cabin is that he be left alone to homeschool his 12-year-old daughter, Cady.
For Maine game warden investigator Mike Bowditch, the intensity of Redmond’s secretiveness is troubling, especially in light of suspicious criminal activity being reported around the area―including rumors of an armed man offering large sums of money in exchange for the location of Redmond and Cady. Josie, though hesitant to violate the trust of her prized builder, eventually agrees to fly Mike and his father-in-law Charley Stevens to the secluded pond in an attempt to protect Redmond and Cady. But hours after landing, the trip takes a dark turn when they witness a horrific murder and are taken captive themselves.
Freeing himself, Mike is forced to set off through the impenetrable Maine forest towards Canada, alone and unarmed in pursuit of a mysterious fugitive. As he navigates a windblown landscape choked with deadfalls and blocked by swollen streams, he marvels at his enemy’s bush craft. The killer possesses skills surpassing his own, and Bowditch can’t tell if he is the cat or the mouse in this dangerous game. Can Mike Bowditch stop his adversary in time to save the life of a young girl, or will he be forced to watch another innocent soul die?
Man in the Water by David Housewright
Release Date: June 25th
When his wife finds the body of an Army veteran in the lake, it is inevitable that former cop, now unofficial P.I. Rushmore McKenzie will get enmeshed in a complicated case of possible murder.
It all starts with the body in the water―on what should be the first boat day of the season, McKenzie’s wife Nina finds a dead Army vet. As the dock owner and the insurance companies claim that it was suicide, despite the deceased, E.J. Woods, having no obvious reason to kill himself, his widow starts acting suspiciously. McKenzie finds himself pulled into the fight when Naveah, the victim’s daughter, convinced her father was murdered, asks him to investigate.
Further complicating the situation are uncooperative boaters, allegations of PTSD, and the simple fact that there was no reason for E.J. to be in the water. McKenzie’s investigation unearths not only the petty squabbles surrounding the lake and its dock, but details of her father’s past that Naveah is perhaps better off not knowing. With Nina haunted by dreams of the body and the legal fight over cause of death becoming increasingly nasty, McKenzie may be the only one interested in finding justice for E.J.― and uncovering the truth before another person dies.
Don’t Let the Devil Ride by Ace Atkins (Featured Selection)
Release Date: June 25th
“An instant Southern noir classic” –S.A. Cosby
S.A. Cosby meets Don Winslow in the breakout thriller from New York Times bestselling author Ace Atkins. A Memphis woman hires a PI to find her missing husband, only to discover that he is involved in a dangerous web of international intrigue—and she and her children are now at risk.
Hell is empty…and Addison McKellar’s husband is missing.
Addison McKellar isn’t clueless—she knows she and her husband Dean don’t have the perfect marriage—but she’s still shocked when he completely vanishes from her life. At first Addison is annoyed, but as days stretch into a week and she’s repeatedly stonewalled by Dean’s friends and associates, her frustration turns into genuine alarm. When even the police seem dismissive of her concerns, Addison turns to her father’s old friend, legendary Memphis PI Porter Hayes.
Porter and Addison begin to dig deeper into Dean’s affairs and quickly discover that he was never the hardworking business owner and family man he pretended to be. As they piece together the connections between a hook-handed mercenary, one of Elvis’s former leading ladies, and a man posing as an FBI agent, it becomes clear that Dean was deeply enmeshed in a high-stakes web of international intrigue, and Porter and Addison aren’t the only ones looking for him.
Dean angered some very dangerous people before he disappeared—people who have already killed to get what they want—and they won’t hesitate to come after his family to even the score.
Don’t Let the Devil Ride is a thrilling adventure about what can happen when you pull back the curtain on your life. Ace Atkins, long known for gritty Southern noir with a witty edge, has crafted an ambitious, globe-hopping story that comes home to Memphis in explosive fashion.
From TRBS: When the brilliant S.A. Cosby calls a book “an instant Southern noir classic,” that’ll get your attention. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this one, and I went into it knowing next to nothing about the story itself, though it didn’t take long for things to take shape. Without giving anything away, the comparison to Don Winslow is spot on and Atkin’s latest is one of the best books I’ve read since Windlow’s The Force.
A Stranger In The Familyby Jane Casey
Release Date: June 25th
The gripping new thriller featuring DS Maeve Kerrigan and DI Josh Derwent from the Top Ten Sunday Times bestselling author
Every mother’s worst nightmare . . .
When nine-year-old Rosalie Marshall vanished from her bed one summer night, her disappearance tore her family apart.
Now, sixteen years later, her mother Helena is found dead, her husband by her side. It looks like a straightforward murder-suicide but DS Maeve Kerrigan and DI Josh Derwent soon discover nothing about this case is straightforward.
The Marshalls have been keeping secrets. And someone is prepared to kill to hide the truth. Until Maeve finds out what happened to Rosalie, no one will be safe . . .
You’ll Never Find Meby Allison Brennan
Release Date: June 25th
Nothing brings family together like crime.
Working alone as a private investigator is tough. Estranged from her PI family, Margo Angelhart does what she must to get by—including taking on sordid cases that pay the bills, even if she’d rather be helping those the justice system has failed.
That is, until a cheating husband case she’s working intersects with her siblings’ corporate espionage investigation, forcing Margo to cooperate with the Angelhart firm. Now, as the siblings compare notes, it’s clear they need to work together before a white-collar crime escalates to murder.
With far more questions than answers and a key suspect on the run, they’ll need the whole family to pitch in. But as they investigate the ever-twisting mystery, Margo isn’t sharing everything. Can she learn to trust her family and heal their once-close relationship before her secrets put those she loves most in danger.
Shanghaiby Joseph KanonRelease Date: June 25th
In this dazzling thriller, New York Times bestselling author Joseph Kanon gives us his richest setting yet: pre-World War II Shanghai, where glamour and squalor exist side by side and murder is just a cost of doing business. A love affair against all odds, a city dancing on the rim of a volcano—Shanghai is the story of a political haven that becomes a minefield of conflicting loyalties.
After the violence of Kristallnacht (1938), European Jews, now desperate to emigrate, found the consular doors of the world closed to them. Only one port required no entry visa: Shanghai, a self-governing Western trading enclave in what was technically Chinese territory, a political anomaly that became an escape hatch—if you were lucky enough to afford a ticket on one of the great Lloyd liners sailing to the East and safety.
Daniel Lohr was one of the lucky ones—lucky enough to have escaped the Gestapo when his colleagues in the resistance were caught, lucky to have an uncle waiting in Shanghai, lucky to find a casual shipboard flirtation turn unexpectedly passionate. But even lucky refugees have to confront the reality of Shanghai. With all their assets, and passports confiscated by the Nazis, they arrive penniless and stateless in a tumultuous, nearly lawless city notorious for vice. When you can sink fast, how far are you willing to go to survive? What lines do you cross? As Daniel tries to navigate his way through his uncle’s world in Shanghai’s fabled nightlife, he finds himself increasingly ensnared in a maze where politics and crime are two sides of the same shiny coin. The trick, his uncle tells him, is to stay one step ahead. But how do you stay ahead of murder? How do you outrun your own past?
Sentinelby Mark Greaney (Featured Selection)
Release Date: June 25th
An African coup may force Josh Duffy to choose between his mission and his family in this intense thriller from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Gray Man series.
Josh Duffy and his wife Nikki are both working for the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service providing protection for diplomats in the field. They’ve been sent to Ghana with a team of US embassy personnel who are there to highlight American commitment to the construction of a new dam.
Since Ghana is a stable democracy, the Duffy children have come along for a short vacation. But stability proves to be fleeting when a Chinese plan to embarrass the US means the destruction of the dam. Now Josh and his protectees are on the run caught between a Chinese hit squad and a rebel army.
From TRBS: There’s no Gray Man, but Mark Greaney’s trademark lightning-fast pacing and heart-thumping action are on full display in Greaney’s second Josh Duffy novel, proving yet again that he’s one of the most talented authors working today.
