Reading Ahead: April 2016, part 3

Women with secrets has long been a best-selling suspense novel staple. But it's tried-and-true, as several of April's new bestsellers-to-be are sure to prove.

The Obsession, by Nora Roberts. A childhood trauma forced Naomi to abandon her past and reinvent herself completely. Moving far away, changing her name, nothing seems to erase the shadows of her past. Until she comes to a small community and finds a rambling old house that needs repair--here, she finds somewhere she wants to call home, even if her neighbors do insist on pulling her out of the solitude she craves. What will it take for her to leave her past behind, once and for all? Roberts hasn't been a best-selling author for decades without a reason--her books almost always find their way onto my reading list.

Hide Away, by Iris Johansen. World-famous forensic sculptor Eve Duncan has landed in a well-guarded hospital room in Carmel, California. But hidden danger looms for Eve, her beloved Joe Quinn, and Cara Delaney, the young girl they’ve both sworn to protect. With Cara’s enemies on the move, Eve has no choice but to flee the hospital―no matter what the doctors say. And help is going to have to come from the very last person Eve ever thought she'd ask. Johansen's Eve Duncan series is a long-running fan favorite--if you're new to it, consider starting at the beginning with The Face of Deception.

As Time Goes By, by Mary Higgins Clark. Television journalist Delaney Wright is trying to find her birth mother, only to find herself on the brink of stardom after she begins covering a sensational murder trial, that of Betsy Grant, accused of murdering her wealthy husband. Delaney should be thrilled at the opportunity, but finds herself distracted. Her friends, in an effort to ease Delaney's mind, offer to help with her search, only to find a shocking secret they do not want to reveal. And widow Betsy Grant refuses to accept a plea bargain--she's innocent, and she'll go to trial to prove it. The only one who seems to believe her, though, is Delaney herself. Clark's fans are legion.

Reading Ahead: April 2016, part 2

There are thrillers and suspense novels galore on the April new-release list--check 'em out!

Close Your Eyes, by Michael Robotham. A mother and her teenage daughter are found murdered in a remote coastal home, the latter posed like Sleeping Beauty waiting for her prince. Joe O'Loughlin is drawn into the investigation when a former student, trading on Joe's reputation by calling himself "the Mindhunter," jeopardizes the police inquiry by leaking details to the media and stirring up public anger. Joe discovers a link between the farmhouse murders and a series of vicious attacks in which the victims are choked unconscious and brutally scarred. Now, Joe must stop a ruthless and brash criminal who has apparently graduated to murder, a killer who seems to anticipate every move Joe makes...

The 14^th Colony, by Steve Berry. Latest in the Cotton Malone series (which starts with The Templar Legacy, if you're new to the series), The 14th Colony finds ex-Justice Department agent Cotton Malone shot down over Siberia. There, he is forced into a fight for survival against Aleksandr Zorin, a man whose loyalty to the former Soviet Union has festered for decades into an intense hatred of the United States.

Before escaping, Malone learns that Zorin and another ex-KGB officer, this one a sleeper still embedded in the West, are headed overseas to Washington D.C. Noon on January 20th―Inauguration Day―is only hours away. A flaw in the Constitution, and an even more flawed presidential succession act, have opened the door to disaster and Zorin intends to exploit both weaknesses to their fullest.

Most Wanted, by Lisa Scottoline.Christine Nilsson and her husband, Marcus, are desperate for a baby. Unable to conceive, they find themselves facing a difficult choice they had never anticipated. After many appointments with specialists, endless research, and countless conversations, they make the decision to use a donor.Two months pass, and Christine is happily pregnant. But one day, she is shocked to see a young blond man on the TV news being arrested for a series of brutal murders―and the blond man bears an undeniable and uncanny resemblance to her donor. Delving deeper to uncover the truth, Christine must confront a terrifying reality and face her worst fears.

Reading Ahead: April 2016, part 1

There's a new crop of thrillers on the horizon this spring, and I can't wait to share with you! Here are a few to get you warmed up.

The Last Mile, by David Baldacci.
Convicted murderer Melvin Mars is counting down the last hours before his execution--for the violent killing of his parents twenty years earlier--when he's granted an unexpected reprieve. Another man has confessed to the crime. Amos Decker, newly hired on an FBI special task force, takes an interest in Mars's case after discovering the striking similarities to his own life: Both men were talented football players with promising careers cut short by tragedy. Both men's families were brutally murdered. And in both cases, another suspect came forward, years after the killing, to confess to the crime. A suspect who may or may not have been telling the truth. The confession has the potential to make Melvin Mars--guilty or not--a free man. Who wants Mars out of prison? And why now?

Extreme Prey, by John Sandford. After the events in Gathering Prey, Lucas Davenport finds himself in a very unusual situation—no longer employed by the Minnesota BCA. His friend the governor is just cranking up a presidential campaign, though, and he invites Lucas to come along as part of his campaign staff. “Should be fun!” he says, and it kind of is—until they find they have a shadow: an armed man intent on killing the governor . . . and anyone who gets in the way.

War Hawk, by James Rollins and Grant Blackwood. Former Army Ranger Tucker Wayne and his war dog Kane are thrust into a global conspiracy that threatens to shake the foundations of American democracy in this second Sigma Force spinoff adventure, following 2014's The Kill Switch. Here,Tucker Wayne’s past and his present collide when a former army colleague comes to him for help. She’s on the run from brutal assassins hunting her and her son. To keep them safe, Tucker must discover who killed a brilliant young idealist—a crime that leads back to the most powerful figures in the U.S. government.From the haunted ruins of a plantation in the deep South to the beachheads of a savage civil war in Trinidad, Tucker and Kane must discover the truth behind a mystery that leads back to World War II, to a true event that is even now changing the world . . . and will redefine what it means to be human.