Oh, the thrills! Oh, the chills! Oh, the scary, suspenseful moments discussed! That’s right, we had our Thriller/Suspense book group and it was pretty darned exciting! Here’s what everyone is saying about their thrilling choices:

Evelyn: The Girl Who Disappeared Twice by Andrea Kane. Behaviorist Casey Woods heads up Forensic Instincts, a group consisting of a profiler, tech-guru, former Navy SEAL and a clairvoyant. When they are called in to help with the kidnapping of the 6-year-old daughter of a high-profile judge, Casey learns that the judges’ twin sister was also kidnapped when she was six, thirty-two years ago. This first book in a new series makes a great beach read.

Julie: Pick up Worth Dying For by Lee Child and you probably won’t put it down! It’s the latest installment in his series featuring ex-military cop, Jack Reacher. In this one he’s traveling through the vast plains of Nebraska and goes up against the Duncans, who basically control the town Reacher is passing through. The book has characters you can care about and plenty of action.

Janet: Love You More by Lisa Gardener. A beat-up Tessa Leoni, State Police Trooper and dedicated mother, kills her husband in a clear case of self-defense with three bullets to the chest, but where is her six-year-old daughter. Veteran detective D.D. Warren is leading the homicide investigation as well as a statewide search for a missing child D.D. is joined by Bobby Dodge, her former lover, friend, and partner. As they investigate D.D. and Bobby must deal with a continually changing version of what they believe has happened. The many twist and turns keep the reader guessing up until the final pages of this very satisfying thriller.

Emma: Whiplash is the 14th entry in the FBI thriller series by Catherine Coulter. Private investigator Erin Pulaski is hired to find out why a drug used in combination with chemotherapy is suddenly in short supply forcing patients to use another much more expensive drug. Erin smuggles important documents from Schiffer Hartwin and discovers illegal activities on the part of company officials. A top German employee is murdered and his body is dumped behind Schiffer Hartwin U.S. headquarters in Connecticut on federal land. Special agent Bowie Richards is involved in solving the case and FBI agents Sherlock and Savich are also called in. It’s all here: explosions, poisonings, accidents, romance, affairs, murder, mutilation, secrets, messages from the dead, etc.

Carol: Evil at Heart by Chelsea Cain is the third in a series. In this installment, Portland Detective Archie Sheridan resides full time in a mental hospital institutionalized as a result of the hold that ‘Beauty Killer’ Gretchen Lowell has over him. When they last met, Gretchen promised Archie she wouldn’t kill again, but when bodies are found, they bear her signature. Archie, who is the only one who truly knows how Gretchen operates, must come out of hiding to help track her down. Meanwhile, Beauty Killer fever has hit an all-time high. Are her fans acting out crimes in her name? This thrilling series is bloody and violent. Reader beware!

Megan: Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane is a psychological thriller set in the 1950s. Teddy Daniels is a U.S. Marshal who has been charged to lead the search for a missing patient on Shutter Island, home to an asylum for the criminally insane. His investigation uncovers disturbing evidence of sinister experiments being performed on inmates. When he begins to question hospital officials, Teddy soon learns that nothing is what it seems and he begins to have doubts about his partner, his memories, and his own sanity. A complex story, haunting description, and a shocking plot twist will keep readers guessing until the very end of this thriller.

Dori: The Snowman, by Norwegian author Jo Nesbo, has been compared to the Stieg Larrson trilogy. Curmudgeonly detective Harry Hole is drawn into a cat and mouse game with a serial killer who murders at first snowfall and leaves a snowman behind. As Hole closes in, he begins to realize that the killer is getting all too personal, driving Hole close to madness. Will he find the killer before he loses his mind and/or his life?

Ann: On Borrowed Time by David Rosenfelt. Richard Kilmer is a journalist who falls head over heels with Jennifer Ryan. When Jen takes Richard home to meet her parents, and they become engaged, she wants to show him around the upstate New York area where she grew up. On a scenic drive to Kendrick Falls, the weather suddenly changes from a beautiful day to a dark and windy sky. They are in a small convertible, but it is now too late to put the top up. They skid off the road. Richard reaches for Jen, but she’s not there. In fact she’s nowhere to be found- and when help comes, and Richard is driven back to Jen’s parent’s house, her mother doesn’t recognize Richard. In fact, it’s as if Jen never existed! What gives?? Read On Borrowed Time to find out.

Stacey: Across the Universe by Beth Revis is the beginning of what promises to be a clever trilogy. Amy and her parents were cryogenically frozen for the three hundred year flight on the spaceship Godspeed. Accidentally brought out of her frozen state early, Amy struggles to understand the monoethinic culture and the limited, preselected occupations that have evolved while she was sleeping. When more sleeping chambers are activated, and some of the occupants die before receiving the proper medical care, Amy and Elder, second in the ship’s command, it becomes obvious someone is doing it on purpose. Secrets, big and small, abound to keep readers guessing at the next twist in this socio-political thriller.

Now that’s one long list of chilling books to take the heat off this summer, no? (Is it wrong that sometimes I make myself laugh? Is it?) So the group has provided a nicely diverse list, from the mentally challenging to the bloody battles, all guaranteed to keep you on your reading toes.

If the suspenseful thrillers (or thrilling suspense books) aren’t intriguing you, it might bring a little smile to your face when you find out that our next book discussion will feature a new (slightly made-up) category –Beach Reads! Our selections will be based on tough, specific guidelines, such as: I love this book!, I would be happy to give it to someone to read in the sun or shade!, This book made me laugh! or cry! or laugh and cry!, and so on… I can’t wait! Can you?

— Stacey