Thrill of the chase make for compelling reads
Harlan Coben rolls out compelling tales set in suburbia where secrets buried underneath the facade of a happy life threaten to destroy families and neighbourhoods. Rarely can an author grab a reader from the first sentence, but Coben does so in his new novel, The Stranger, with the line: “The stranger didn’t shatter Adam’s world all at once.”
Adam has a wonderful wife named Corinne and two lovely boys. One evening he’s waiting to meet with some colleagues when a stranger approaches and tells him his wife has been lying to him. This man somehow knows things only Adam’s immediate family would know.
When Adam investigates the man’s claims about his wife, he discovers they are true. He confronts Corinne, and she acknowledges everything. Before he can get a full explanation, she runs away, leaving him with more questions than answers.
Some of the elements of the overall conspiracy aren’t fully explained, but that doesn’t matter since that makes the scenario all the more believable. This page-turner is one stranger readers will want to meet.
Detective Ty Hauck returns from a hiatus to tackle a personal case in Andrew Gross’s latest mystery, One Mile Under.
Dani Whalen knows the Roaring Fork River like the back of her hand, and she enjoys taking tourists on whitewater rafting excursions on the more exciting sections. One morning, her group comes across another boat and the body of someone she knows. From all appearances, Trey Watkins had an accident, hit his head and drowned. She knows Watkins knew the river better than she does, so she’s skeptical of the official report, since he wasn’t wearing his usual helmet.
When a local hot air balloonist tells her he was overhead that morning and saw someone with Watkins, she asks for more details. When the balloonist dies in a fiery crash, Whalen knows something is up and that she needs expert help. She approaches the local police chief, who happens to be her ex-stepfather, but chief Wade Dunn blows off her suspicions. Thankfully, her uncle Ty Hauck arrives to assist.
Gross tells a simple mystery surrounded by a provocative topic that screams to be investigated further. How is the process of fracking affecting the environment, and what are the long-term costs?
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Isaac Bell of the Van Dorn detective agency returns in Clive Cussler and Justin Scott’s new thriller, The Assassin.
It’s 1905, and Standard Oil has a monopoly on the refinery business. John D. Rockefeller’s company has been stamping out any competition that gets in the way of its profit margin. The company knows it is making many people angry, but the money and influence it yields makes it seem unstoppable.
Bell and his team want to investigate. A witness with damaging information is shot and killed by a sniper, and soon other people who oppose the company become targets. Bell has his hands full trying to stay one step ahead of a deadly assassin who seems to have insider access to his plans. This elusive killer will stop at nothing, even if it means taking out the entire Van Dorn agency.
The Isaac Bell series are a wonderful examination of life in the early 20th century.