Killer thrillers
Writers up summer's sizzle factor, writes Pat St. Germain.
The Retreat Elisabeth de Mariaffi Harpercollins Canada
A stay at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity provided inspiration for Elisabeth de Mariaffi's third novel. It's set at a remote arts centre, where traumatized dancer Maeve Martin takes the first steps to restarting her career after her abusive ex-husband dies. But there's more danger afoot in the mountain locale, courtesy of hazards both natural and unnatural. And Maeve should be afraid — very afraid. She's left her two kids in the care of her abusive mother; a bear seems to be stalking her outdoors, and it appears that each of the art centre's guests and staff members is dysfunctional in their own special way. In fact, one of them is downright deranged. When an avalanche knocks out power and cuts their ties to the outside world, the centre's inhabitants start to die off, one by one. As in her previous novels (Hysteria, The Devil You Know), de Mariaffi's knack for penning adrenalin-rush action scenes is on full display.
Not a Happy Family Shari Lapena Doubleday Canada
A few years back, prolific author Shari Lapena also set a thriller, An Unwanted Guest, at a remote locale, a country inn where guests stranded by a snowstorm became sitting ducks for a killer. This time, a wealthy enclave in upstate New York is the scene of a gruesome crime. Following a family dinner, an older couple are slain in their elegant home, leaving three adult heirs to mourn the sudden departure. Like the title says, they were not a happy family, but murder seems like
... well, overkill. Coming out July 27, it promises to be a page-turner. Fellow author Linwood Barclay has called Lapena the queen of the one-sit read. If you'd rather have two sits, her 2020 domestic thriller, The End of Her, was released in paperback in June.
Find You First Linwood Barclay Harpercollins Canada
There's good news and bad news for nine people whose genetic father was a sperm-bank donor. A few decades after making those deposits, Miles Cookson is a billionaire and they are heirs to his fortune. Unfortunately, they're also heirs to the hereditary disease that's killing him. And there's a double-whammy — when Miles and his newly found daughter Chloe set out to find her siblings, a murderer seems determined to get to them first. Trust Barclay (Elevator Pitch, A Noise Downstairs) to deliver a killer thriller.