Beach Reads
If you haven’t started tackling the books on your summer to-read list, there is no time like the present! Now that it’s August, chances are that it’s too hot to do much else but sit by the water and get lost in a good book. If you are in need of some cooling down, here are some books that will keep you on the edge of your seat and add some chill to the air!
“Survive the Night” by Riley Sager
Charlie is a college student who catches a ride home to Ohio with Josh Baxter, a virtual stranger she met through campus ride board. Charlie can’t wait to get home. Her best friend had just become the third victim of the Campus Killer, a vicious serial killer. Josh says he is on his way home to take care of his sick father. As they continue the long ride, Charlie starts to become suspicious of Josh. Some of the details in the story about his father don’t match up, and she is curious as to why he won’t let her see inside the trunk. Is there something truly off with Josh, or is Charlie just on edge with everything happening on campus? Trapped in a car with a man who just might be a serial killer, Charlie has nowhere to go and no way to call for help. All she can do is play the game and try her best to survive the night
“Water’s Edge” by Gregg Olsen
Detective Megan Carpenter is the first one to arrive at the secluded cove in Mystery Bay where Leann Truitt’s body is found. Leann has marks on her wrists, ankles, and neck where she was bound when held captive. There is also an unusual symbol scratched into a rock next to her body. Deputy Ronnie Marsh is assigned to help Megan with the investigation. Things are progressing when Megan starts receiving disturbing messages. Someone knows about Megan’s past. Someone knows what she did. Megan tries to focus and finds a link between Leann’s murder and the murder of two other women. All of these women had red hair, the same marks on their bodies, the same symbols at the crime scene and, worst of all, all of these women were pregnant when they were murdered. When they find another victim, Megan knows they have to move fast because this killer isn’t close to being finished. But someone is watching her. Will she be able to escape her past and find a way to protect herself and Ronnie?
“A Killer’s Wife” by Victor Methos
Well-respected attorney Jessica Hardley finally has a nice life with her daughter. It didn’t come easy, though. Fourteen years ago, her husband went to prison, convicted of several brutal murders. Jessica vowed to move on, but when a series of new murders takes place, it all points to her now ex-husband, Eddie. The FBI ask Jessica to help them find this copycat. That means visiting her ex in prison and bringing to the surface everything that almost tore her life apart. As the copycat gets closer, Jessica is stuck trying to figure out who she can trust, and if she is capable of stopping a killer.
“Shiver” by Allie Reynolds
Milla is excited when she receives an invitation to meet up with four friends for a reunion weekend at Le Rocher, a ski resort in the French Alps. It’s been 10 years since the crew was together on the same mountain, spending the winter training for a snowboarding competition. But Milla realizes something is wrong the second she arrives. The resort is empty, the cable cars aren’t running, cellphones have gone missing and inside the hotel a sinister game awaits them. The game is meant to remind them of Saskia, the sixth member of the group who vanished the morning of the competition 10 years ago and hasn’t been seen since. Stranded, with no way to communicate with anyone who is not on the mountain and with a snowstorm fast approaching, Milla needs to find out who she can trust, and fast, before someone else disappears.
“The Wrong Family” by Tarryn Fisher
Juno was once a successful psychologist whose habit of getting too involved with her patients’ lives led her to lose her practice and, ultimately, her home. Now she’s sleeping on a bench in the park where she meets 12-year-old Sam Crouch. Sam’s parents are renovating their home and one day Juno sneaks in when no one is around. She finds a crawl space that she makes her new home and stays there undetected. Juno thought that Sam’s parents, Winnie and Nigel, had the perfect marriage. They seemed to have the perfect son and ultimately, the perfect life. Now that Juno is living in their house, she begins to see the signs that everything is far from perfect. She doesn’t want to interfere. She just wants to live the rest of her life in peace. But then she overhears a conversation between Winnie and Nigel. The details are chilling and something she just can’t ignore. She doesn’t want to get involved, but this could be her last chance to make a few things right because, after all, Juno has a secret of her own.
“Little Disasters” by Sarah Vaughan
Jess Curtis is a stay-at-home mother of three little kids. Her best friend, Liz, sees her as an amazing mother with endless energy, patience, and love. What she doesn’t know is that having Betsey, her 10-month-old daughter, has pushed Jess over the edge. Jess struggles to get through each day physically and mentally, worrying that she might do something to harm Betsey. When Betsey is rushed to the emergency room one night, her injuries raise suspicions from the hospital staff and from Liz, who is a senior resident in the pediatrics wing. The police and social workers get involved and Jess begins to unravel. As dark thoughts and carefully guarded secrets come to light, Liz questions everything she thought she knew about her friend and, ultimately, herself.
