A grad student meets his intellectual match and seals his dark fate when he responds to a newspaper ad seeking a conversationalist.

Pushed to the breaking point, Cara Burrows flees her home and family and escapes to a five-star spa resort she can't afford. Late at night, exhausted and desperate, she lets herself into her hotel room and is shocked to find it already occupied -- by a man and a teenage girl. A simple mistake at the front desk but soon Cara realizes that the girl she saw alive and well in the hotel room is someone she can't possibly have seen: the most famous murder victim in the country, Melody Chapa, whose parents are serving natural life sentences for her murder. Cara doesn't know what to trust -- everything she's read and heard about the case, or the evidence of her own eyes. Did she really see Melody? And is she prepared to ask herself that question and answer it honestly if it means risking her own life?

"Pulled into a deadly game of deception, secrets, and lies, a woman must find the truth in order to defeat a mysterious opponent, protect her daughter, and save her own life in this dazzling standalone psychological thriller with an unforgettable ending from the New York Times bestselling author of Woman with a Secret and The Monogram Murders. You thought you knew who you were. A stranger knows better. You've left the city and the career that nearly destroyed you--for a fresh start on the coast. But trouble begins when your daughter withdraws, after her new best friend, George, is unfairly expelled from school. You beg the principal to reconsider, only to be told that George hasn't been expelled. Because there is, and was, no George. Who is lying? Who is real? Who is in danger? Who is in control? As you search for answers, the anonymous calls begin a stranger, who insists that you and she share a traumatic past and a guilty secret. And then the caller threatens your life. This is Justine's story. This is Justine's family. This is Justine's game. But it could be yours"--

Betty, Veronica, Cheryl, and the rest of the River Vixens are heading out of town for the weekend on a cheerleading retreat. So Archie, Jughead, and the rest of the guys decide to have a poker night at La Bonne Nuit. But a storm causes the power to go out, and the speakeasy goes into lockdown. When the lights come back on, all of the cash is gone. The thief has to be someone the guys know -- but who? A few hours away, the River Vixens are ready to enjoy a few days of nature and team bonding. But when they arrive at the cheerleading camp, there are two other feuding squads already there. The team from Stonewall Prep claims that the Greendale girls are the reason one of their teammates went missing two years ago. Betty and Veronica volunteer to investigate after creepy things start happening all over camp. And when one of the cheerleaders nearly drowns in the lake, B & V know they have to find out the truth before anyone else gets hurt -- or worse.

Presents twenty mystery stories from various writers, including Sue Henry, Barbara D'Amato, Carolyn Hart, and Sara Paretsky.

" What if time could be taken from us-the minutes, the hours, the years of our lives, extracted like organs taken for transplant? What would it mean for the world? And what would it do to the person from whom it's taken? Grace Berney is a mid-level bureaucrat in the Food and Drug Administration, a woman who once brimmed with purpose but somehow turned into a middle-aged single mom with a dull government job and a melancholy sense that life has passed her by. Until the night a strange photo comes across her desk, of a young woman in a hospital bed who has been subjected to a mysterious procedure. Against orders and against common sense, Grace sets out to bring the girl to safety, and finds herself risking her job, her future, and her life on whether she can find the missing girl before an obsessive and violent mercenary who's also looking. Big Time is a fast-paced thriller and a metaphysical mystery about the very nature of our lives." -- Amazon.

A number one bestseller in Sweden, Jens Lapidus's Top Dog is a thrilling, character-driven look at Stockholm's drug-and-sex-fueled underworld. A Vintage Crime/Black Lizard Original. Emelie is a young lawyer who's just started her own firm. Teddy is a reformed criminal looking for a fresh start. The first time they teamed up, in Stockholm Delete , they uncovered the secrets of a Swedish sex ring. Though their partnership proved rewarding--both professionally and personally--they haven't seen each other since. But when a vulnerable young client of Emelie's is murdered before she can testify against her abusers, Emelie turns to her ex-partner/lover for help. Meanwhile, Teddy's nephew Nikolas has resolved not to repeat his uncle's felonious mistakes. But the gang-related murder of his best friend sets him back on a trail of violent vengeance--and into the path of Roksana, a naïve hipster whose discovery of a drug cache is giving her a dangerous crash course in Stockholm's dark side. And as Teddy and Emelie's investigation heats up, police corruption threatens to land him back in prison--or both of them in body bags.

When four members of a wealthy household are killed in their suburban Chicago mansion, shock reverberates around the quiet community. The only witness is a small child, and with the obvious culprit soon behind bars, it seems like an open-and-shut case. Enter Cameron Winter. Winter -- a spy turned English professor -- has a unique knack for solving complicated crimes. Despite the lead detective blocking his involvement, Winter discovers this seemingly safe suburban paradise is concealing something dark, something that people want to keep hidden -- and he will do anything to bring the truth to light.

"Austin, a struggling screenwriter living in LA, is transported to the medieval city of Galiana, where he is charged with murder. He is suddenly transported back to LA and sets off in search of the only book written about the medieval kingdom. But Austin is not the only one interested in the book - Serge Orosgo, a powerful billionaire and family friend, wants the books so badly that he threatens to kill Austin if he doesn't find it. Realizing Serge and his family are on an evil mission, Austin struggles to stay alive and find the book before it gets into Serge's hands. His search is continually derailed, however, because Austin has no control over his passage between the two worlds and keeps suddenly returning Galiana."--

Greenbury, New York. The brutally beaten body of a young man is discovered in the woods adjacent to an empty vacation home. Brady Neil had no criminal record, few friends, worked full-time, and attended community college. When Brady was a baby, his father, Brandon Gratz, was convicted of robbing and killing the owners of a local jewelry store. Decker begins to suspect that the son's murder may be connected to the father's sins. When one of Brady Neil's friend goes missing, Decker and his temporary new partner, Hamilton PD cop Lenora Baccus, discover a bloodbath. With the help of the Greenbury detectives, Decker is determined to see justice done. -- adapted from jacket.

"Somewhere in Philadelphia, a master engraver is turning out brilliant forgeries of U.S. currency plates for an organized crime gang - and the government wants to put a stop to it. But how can they get close enough to bring down the criminal enterprise from the inside? By snatching a west coast crime boss' right-hand man and sending a federal agent undercover in the man's place. His assignment: pose as a buyer of counterfeit bills and try to get the engraver out. Which works fine - until he crosses paths with someone who knows the man he replaced"--Publisher.

Paris, 1900. Comte de Landois has ordered his wife Marguerite to travel from Paris, to join him in the Loire Valley. Her journey into the pastoral quiet is shattered by the appearance of a dead man on the railway tracks. Who is he? And why does Marguerite's young traveling companion pale when she sees him? When the Comte presents Marguerite with an adopted baby, and his sudden friendship with local clerics imposes new rules and regulations on her behavior, things start to take a sinister and troubling turn. The sister of her young companion goes missing and Marguerite calls in Chief Inspector Durand to help hunt her down. Together, they begin to unravel a tangled world of small-town secrets, disturbing obsessions and unholy loves.

A stand-up comedian wonders who she can trust when she anonymously receives the same token clue, a small white book, that has been found at each scene of a serial murder case.

"Former Michigan cop Adam Tatum receives an unexpected offer from Heaton Global Investments, a golden opportunity that seems almost too good to be true. He travels to 10 Downing Street to help implement a new pension program for the British Civil Service. The deal goes off without a hitch--and so does a bomb in the conference room. The Prime Minister is gravely wounded. And the only attendee with a checkered past is Adam Tatum. Sensing a trap, Adam flees with his family, desperately fighting for survival in an unfamiliar country. The lives of his children, the future of his marriage, and the fate of a nation depend on Adam exposing the conspirators who pegged him for a fall. Georgia Turnbull, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Davina Steel, the lead investigator, each stand to gain from the successful manhunt of Adam Tatum. But, as motives emerge and desires excite, each must decide what they're really after. Layered plots, crackling dialogue, and propulsive action mark Keep Calm, the riveting debut thriller from award-winning actor, director, and screenwriter Mike Binder"--

"For fans of Black Mirror and True Detective, a visceral high-concept thriller about a psychologist who must protect the life of an eleven-year-old girl whose ability to remember past lives makes them both targets of a merciless killer. Dr. Matilda Deacon is a psychologist researching how memories are made and stored when she meets a strange eleven-year-old girl named Ashanique. Ashanique claims to harbor the memories of the last soldier killed in World War I and Matilda is at first very interested but skeptical. However, when Ashanique starts talking about being chased by the Night Doctors--a term also used by an unstable patient who was later found dead--Matilda can't deny that the girl might be telling the truth. Matilda learns that Ashanique and her mother have been on the run their whole lives from a monstrous assassin named Rade. Rade is after a secret contained solely in memories and has left a bloody trail throughout the world in search of it. Matilda soon realizes Ashanique is in unimaginable danger and that her unique ability comes with a deadly price. Fast-paced, suspenseful, and a chilling blend of science and danger, The Clarity is a compelling take on the possibilities of reincarnation and life after death"--

Stolen jewels, black markets, hired guns, crossed lovers, unregistered addresses, people gone missing, shadowy figures disappearing in crowds, newspaper stories uncomfortably close and getting closer . . . this ominous novel is Patrick Modiano's most noirish work to date. Set in Nice--a departure from the author's more familiar Paris--this novel evokes the bright sun and dark shadow of the Riviera. Modiano's trademark ability to create a haunting atmosphere is here on full display: readers descend precipitously into a world of mystery, uneasiness, inevitability. A young couple in hiding keeps close watch over a notorious diamond necklace known as the Southern Cross. Its provenance is murky, its whereabouts known only to our hero and heroine, who find themselves trapped by its potential value--and its ultimate cost. Deftly Modiano reaches further and further into the past, revealing the secret histories of the two even as the pressurized present threatens to overwhelm them.

The diary of Marcus Rottner, the 24-year-old scion of a rich and powerful family, who kills his girlfriend with an overdose of heroin.

On the day Nora discovered that her husband, Hugh, had gotten another woman pregnant, she made a vow: I will come back to life no matter how long it takes-- It's taken Nora three years. With the help of her best friend, she fled New York City for a small resort town, snagged a job as the advice columnist for the local paper, and is cautiously letting a new man into her life. But when Hugh and his perfect new family move into a house nearby, Nora backslides. Coping with jealousy, humiliation, and resentment again is as hard as she feared. It's harder still when Hugh and his wife are shot to death in their home. If only Nora could account for the night of the murders. Unfortunately, her memories have gone as dark as her fantasies of revenge. But Nora's not the only one with a reason to kill--and as prime suspect in the crime, she'd better be able to prove it.

" Out There in the Dark is an old school Hollywood blockbuster. . . . A terrific, grab-you-by-the-throat movieland epic." ---Jerry Stahl, author of Permanent Midnight Since leaving Berlin, the proud, distinguished émigré director Dieter Seife has had to content himself cranking out B movies for Superior Pictures in Hollywood during World War II. Finally, Superior's founder, Arthur Lustig, gives Seife the chance to prove himself on a lavish, three-hankie "woman's picture" titled The Big Betrayal . Set to star is Harley Hayden, the young (and 4-F) actor who's engaged to Lustig's daughter. Though the town's biggest names are in uniform, Seife is convinced he can find a better male lead for his movie. Hayden counters by hiring a disgraced ex-cop named Roarke to look into Seife's private life---does the secretive German have something to hide? What Roarke uncovers is dangerous, disturbing . . . and, maybe, a very different mystery than it seems. With its atmosphere of lockstep patriotism and rampant paranoia, Out There in the Dark provocatively speaks to our own time even as it brings to life the sordid side of 1940's Hollywood.