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Our 22 Most Anticipated Thrillers of 2024

December 21 2023
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Looking ahead to 2024, we can confidently say that thriller enthusiasts are in for a heart-pounding treat. The new year promises an exhilarating array of novels that are set to redefine the genre, and we’ve spotlighted the MOST thrilling of them for you. So, whether you’re looking for a new moody crime saga or anxiously awaiting the end of a favorite thrillogy (thriller trilogy), fasten your seat belts and prepare for a roller-coaster ride through the pages of our most anticipated thrillers.

Daughter of Mine
by Megan Miranda

Elizabeth’s Pick: Perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell and Mary Kubica, Megan Miranda’s latest combines slow-build suspense with rich family drama set against an idyllic lakeside community brimming with secrets. An unexpected inheritance brings sibling grudges to the fore while an ominous underwater discovery challenges long-held beliefs about Hazel Sharp’s family, neighbors, and a decades-old disappearance. . . . Although all of Miranda’s novels are page-turners and often investigate the impact of secrets in small communities, this one feels especially close to the author’s blockbuster breakout ALL THE MISSING GIRLS, with the long-lingering family drama, and a lead character who’s tried to build a new life far away from home, only to find that your roots have a way of pulling you back.

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Daughter of Mine
Megan Miranda

The new thrilling novel from Megan Miranda, the instant New York Times bestselling author of All the Missing Girls, The Last to Vanish, and The Only Survivors.

When Hazel Sharp, daughter of Mirror Lake’s longtime local detective, unexpectedly inherits her childhood home, she’s warily drawn back to the town—and people—she left behind almost a decade earlier. But Hazel’s not the only relic of the past to return: a drought has descended on the region, and as the water level in the lake drops, long-hidden secrets begin to emerge…including evidence that may help finally explain the mystery of her mother’s disappearance.

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Our 22 Most Anticipated Thrillers of 2024

By Off the Shelf Staff | December 21, 2023

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Here in Avalon
by Tara Isabella Burton

Heather’s Pick #1: Missing sister. Cabaret troupe that may actually be a sinister cult. New York City. What more reason could I possibly need to pick up Tara Isabella Burton’s next novel, HERE IN AVALON? The premise sounds so good: Sisters Rose and Cecilia may have shared the same unstable childhood, but they’ve processed it differently and chosen opposite paths as young adults. When wild-child Cecelia decides to return to New York City, Rose hopes it’ll be an opportunity for them to reconnect and finally enjoy peaceful lives together. Instead, Rose finds herself more concerned about her sister than ever, especially after Cecilia joins a sketchy cabaret, the Avalon, and disappears one night. The more she digs into the Avalon, however, the more Rose finds herself being pulled into the group’s orbit too.

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Here in Avalon
Tara Isabella Burton

An “enchanting” (Caroline Kepnes, author of You) New York City fairy tale about two sisters that fall under the spell of an underworld cabaret troupe that might be a dangerous cult—but one that makes the materialist world left in its wake feel like a sinister cult itself.

Rose has come a long way. Raised—and often neglected—by a wayward mother in New York City’s chaotic bohemia, Rose has finally built the life she’s always wanted: a good job at a self-help startup, a clean apartment, an engagement to a stable if self-satisfied tech CEO who shares her faith in human potential, hard work, and the sacrifice of childish dreams.

Rose’s sister Cecilia, on the other hand, never grew up. Irresponsible and impetuous, prone to jetting off to a European monastery one month and a falcon rescue the next, Cecilia has spent her life in pursuit of fairy-tale narratives of transcendence and true love—grand ideas Rose knows never work out in the real world. When Cecilia declares she’s come home to New York for good, following the ending of a whirlwind marriage, Rose hopes Cecilia might finally be ready to face adulthood: compromises and all.

But then Cecilia gets involved with the Avalon: a cultish-sounding cabaret troupe—one that appears only at night, on a mysterious red boat that travels New York’s waterways—and soon vanishes: one of a growing number of suspicious disappearances among the city’s lost and loneliest souls. The only way Rose can find Cecilia is by tracking down the Avalon herself.

But as Rose gets closer to solving the mystery of what happened to her sister, the Avalon works its magic on her, too. And the deeper she goes into the Avalon’s underworld, she more she begins to question everything she knows about her own life, and whether she’s willing to leave the real world behind.

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Murder Road
by Simone St. James

Heather’s Pick #2: When I’m in the mood for an atmospheric mystery novel with supernatural elements, Simone St. James’s books are always there for me. I’m very much looking forward to her latest, MURDER ROAD, which is set in 1995 (fun!) and follows a couple, April and Eddie, from the night they generously offer a ride to a lone hitchhiker. Since no good deed goes unpunished, they soon realize this decision has landed them squarely in the middle of a serial murder investigation, and that they’re now the prime suspects. Intent on proving their innocence to the local police, April and Eddie begin their own search for the real killer. But as if tracking down a human monster weren’t scary enough, the pair realize they may be closing in on an otherworldly menace. Oops.

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Murder Road
Simone St. James

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Our 22 Most Anticipated Thrillers of 2024

By Off the Shelf Staff | December 21, 2023

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The Band
by Christine Ma-Kellams

Melissa’s Pick: THE BAND is a searing look at fandom, obsession, Korean culture, racism, and sexism through the lens of a thinly veiled BTS‑type musical group simply called The Band. When one of its members is canceled after a controversial solo song, he hides out at the mansion of an unhappily married woman who he randomly met at an H‑Mart. Little does he know that his exile has kicked off a series of unstoppable events that will change the future of The Band forever. Extremely compelling, each sentence in THE BAND is packed with palpable, incisive takes, almost flippantly deployed but always hitting dead‑on with biting humor. As a reader, I both recoiled and was unable to look away.

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The Band
Christine Ma-Kellams

“This could very well be the first great K-Pop literary phenomenon.” —Debutiful, Most Anticipated Books of 2024

Perfect for fans of Mouth to Mouth and Black Buck, this whip-smart, darkly funny, and biting debut follows a psychologist with a savior complex who offers shelter to a recently cancelled K-pop idol on the run.

Sang Duri is the eldest member and “visual” of a Korean boy band at the apex of global superstardom. But when his latest solo single accidentally leads to controversy, he’s abruptly cancelled.

To spare the band from fallout with obsessive fans and overbearing management, Duri disappears from the public eye by hiding out in the McMansion of a Chinese American woman he meets in a Los Angeles H-Mart. But his rescuer is both unhappily married with children and a psychologist with a savior complex, a combination that makes their potential union both seductive and incredibly problematic.

Meanwhile, Duri’s cancellation catapults not only a series of repressed memories from his music producer’s earlier years about the original girl group whose tragic disbanding preceded his current success, but also a spiral of violent interactions that culminates in an award show event with reverberations that forever change the fates of both the band members and the music industry.

In its indicting portrayal of mental health and public obsession, fandom, and cancel culture, The Band considers the many ways in which love and celebrity can devolve into something far more sinister when their demands are unmet.

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Our 22 Most Anticipated Thrillers of 2024

By Off the Shelf Staff | December 21, 2023

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The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels
by Janice Hallett

Caleigh’s Pick: I love mysteries, thrillers, and any kind of whodunit, but I rarely find myself trying to crack the code on my own. My hands‑off approach was no match for THE MYSTERIOUS CASE OF THE ALPERTON ANGELS, though. This unique epistolary novel put me right in the center of the action, tracking the steps of a truly creepy cult alongside true-crime author Amanda Bailey and her reluctant partner. I was theorizing through every twist and felt gripped from the very first page. ALPERTON ANGELS is a rare crime story that manages to be inviting and immersive but not feel exploitative; I’ll be thinking about the ANGELS, and the survivors, long after putting this one down.

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The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels
Janice Hallett

A whip-smart and “fast-paced mystery” (The Daily Telegraph, London) from the internationally bestselling author of The Twyford Code and The Appeal about a true crime journalist who revives a long-buried case about a cult—and finds herself too close to the story.

Everyone knows the story of the Alperton Angels: the cult who brainwashed a teenage girl into believing her baby was the anti-Christ. When the girl came to her senses and called the police, the Angels committed suicide and mother and baby disappeared.

Now, true crime author Amanda Bailey is looking to revive her career by writing a book on the case. The Alperton baby has turned eighteen; finding them will be the scoop of the year. But rival author Oliver Menzies is just as smart, better connected, and also on the baby’s trail.

As Amanda and Oliver are forced to collaborate, they realize that the truth about the Angels is much darker and stranger than they’d ever imagined, and in pursuit of the story they risk becoming part of it.

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Our 22 Most Anticipated Thrillers of 2024

By Off the Shelf Staff | December 21, 2023

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The Stars Turned Inside Out
by Nova Jacobs

Juliet's Pick #1: In this thrilling novel, a young physicist, Howard Anderby, is found dead at CERN's Large Hadron Collider, sparking a mystery that ripples throughout the lab. With no evidence of his entry into the tunnel and questionable lab security, CERN hires private investigator Sabine Leroux, who has a personal connection to the lab and an interest in particle physics. Concurrently, Howard's colleague and love interest, Eve, is devastated and seeks answers of her own. Amid an escalating physics arms race and rumors of a mole at the lab, Sabine navigates academic rivalries and hidden agendas to uncover the truth behind Howard's mysterious death. As someone whose adolescence was shaped largely by the early 2000s classic TV show Veronica Mars, I can’t get enough of stories that center around a smart female private detective who has personal ties to a case.

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The Stars Turned Inside Out
Nova Jacobs

The discovery of a suspicious death at a famous Swiss physics laboratory sparks a mystery that merges science, philosophy, and the high-stakes race to unlock the fundamental nature of our universe in this thrilling new novel from the Edgar Award–nominated author of the “hugely entertaining” (The Wall Street Journal) The Last Equation of Isaac Severy.

Deep beneath the ground outside of Geneva, where CERN’s Large Hadron Collider smashes subatomic particles at breathtaking speeds, a startling discovery is made when the tunnel is down for maintenance: the body of Howard Anderby, a brilliant and recently arrived young physicist, who appears to have been irradiated by the collider. But security shows no evidence of him entering the tunnel, and for all of the lab’s funding, its video surveillance is sorely lacking.

Eager to keep the death under wraps until more is known, CERN brings in private investigator Sabine Leroux, who has her own ties to the lab’s administration—and more than a passing interest in particle physics. Meanwhile, Howard’s colleague and budding love interest Eve, shattered by his death, determines to reconcile what she knew of Howard with his gruesome fate, wondering if she could have done something to stop it.

As Sabine digs into petty academic rivalries and personal secrets, an escalating international physics arms race heightens tensions and fuels speculation of a mole at the lab—throwing into question loyalties and revealing what sort of knowledge may be worth killing for.

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Our 22 Most Anticipated Thrillers of 2024

By Off the Shelf Staff | December 21, 2023

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The Angel of Indian Lake
by Stephen Graham Jones

Juliet's Pick #2: I’d be shocked to hear from a thriller enthusiast who doesn’t have the final installment of Stephen Graham Jones’s Indian Lake trilogy on their list for 2024. Picking up four years after DON’T FEAR THE REAPER, THE ANGEL OF INDIAN LAKE sees Jade Daniels, newly out of prison, having been away from her hometown of Proofrock, Idaho, since the day she took the fall to protect her friend and family from incrimination. Things have changed in the past few years, and there’s a lot of unfinished business to revisit. From serial killer cultists to the rich trying to buy Western authenticity and—most prominently of all—the curse of the Lake Witch, this book will explore the final stand. From what I hear, it’s the best of the trilogy, so let’s just say I might be out of the office on March 26.

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The Angel of Indian Lake
Stephen Graham Jones

The final installment in the most lauded trilogy in the history of horror novels picks up four years after Don’t Fear the Reaper as Jade returns to Proofrock, Idaho, to build a life after the years of sacrifice—only to find the Lake Witch is waiting for her in New York Times bestselling author Stephen Graham Jones’s finale.

It’s been four years in prison since Jade Daniels last saw her hometown of Proofrock, Idaho, the day she took the fall, protecting her friend Letha and her family from incrimination. Since then, her reputation, and the town, have changed dramatically. There’s a lot of unfinished business in Proofrock, from serial killer cultists to the rich trying to buy Western authenticity. But there’s one aspect of Proofrock no one wants to confront…until Jade comes back to town. The curse of the Lake Witch is waiting, and now is the time for the final stand.

New York Times bestselling author Stephen Graham Jones has crafted an epic horror trilogy of generational trauma from the Indigenous to the townies rooted in the mountains of Idaho. It is a story of the American west written in blood.

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Our 22 Most Anticipated Thrillers of 2024

By Off the Shelf Staff | December 21, 2023

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The Split
by Kit Frick

Juliet's Pick #3: THE SPLIT tells the story of pragmatic Jane Connor and her impulsive younger sister Esme. When Esme leaves her husband and asks Jane for a ride to their Connecticut hometown to live with her, a trauma from Jane’s past and her subsequent fear of the highway pose a dilemma. The story unfolds in two realities based on Jane's decision. In one, Jane refuses, leading to Esme's disappearance and Jane's guilt-ridden quest to uncover her sister's secrets. In the other, Jane overcomes her fear, but living with reckless Esme unravels their relationship, bringing them to confront a devastating past secret. I love a book that hinges on a good Sliding Doors moment; throw in the complexities of familial relationships and deep dark secrets, and I know I’ve got a new favorite on my hands.

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The Split
Kit Frick

“Double the suspense…The Split is a storytelling feat.” —Riley Sager, New York Times bestselling author

From critically acclaimed author Kit Frick, this electrifying suspense novel explodes convention to deliver two interlocking thrillers in one, following a pair of sisters into a family’s dark past and illuminating how a single choice can drastically alter the trajectory of our lives.

Jane Connor is resigned to being the “plain Jane” of her family—pragmatic and dependable—so unlike her beautiful and impetuous younger sister Esme. When Esme calls Jane during a flash summer storm, announcing she’s left her high society husband, Jane is shocked to learn that her sister wishes to stay with her. Could this be an opportunity for them to become close again? The only catch: Esme needs a ride from the city to their small Connecticut hometown, and Jane is terrified of getting on the highway…because of what she did when they were teens.

Jane must either let Esme stand on her own two feet for once or jump to her flighty younger sister’s rescue—and her choice cleaves her life in two.

In one reality, Jane can’t overcome her fear and tells Esme to crash with a friend. Twenty-four hours later, her sister is missing. Tortured by regret, Jane dedicates herself to piecing together Esme’s life before her disappearance, unraveling a web of lies, broken relationships, and, finally, the truth.

In the other reality, Jane swallows her fear and offers her less-than-grateful sister a ride. But while Jane hopes living together in their childhood home will be healing, Esme is aloof and increasingly reckless. The tension between the sisters builds until they are finally forced to reckon with the explosive secret from their past that could destroy their fragile bond—and both their lives.

With a rollicking pace and shocking twists and turns, The Split captivatingly explores how little we know the ones we love—and how one small choice can change everything.

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Our 22 Most Anticipated Thrillers of 2024

By Off the Shelf Staff | December 21, 2023

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A Better World
by Sarah Langan

Laura’s Pick: Sarah Langan knows exactly how to pull me into a narrative by creating stories that feel so realistic but quietly harbor an innate sense of wrongness. Her new thriller, A BETTER WORLD, follows the Farmer-Bowens, who have recently moved to Plymouth Valley with their twins. It’s a walled-off town—owned by the BetterWorld company that hired Linda Farmer’s husband—that offers the wealthy residents peace and protection from the chaos and destruction of the outside world. But something feels wrong. The locals are cold, only warming up to the family when Linda, a medical professional, offers to help the most powerful people in town. The residents follow customs referred to as Hallow, which Linda can’t quite understand, and with the Plymouth Valley Winter Festival approaching, the locals appear frightened, but they won’t say why. As Linda tries to uncover the dark truth lurking within the town, she begins to question if the safety inside this utopia’s walls comes at a cost. Combining suspense with thought-provoking questions, Sarah Langan has once again created a chilling masterpiece.

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A Better World
Sarah Langan

The author of Good Neighbors, “one of the creepiest, most unnerving deconstructions of American suburbia I’ve ever read” (NPR), returns with a cunning, out-of-the-box satirical thriller about a family’s odyssey into an exclusive enclave for the wealthy that might not be as ideal as it seems.

You’ll be safe here. That’s what the greasy tour guide tells the Farmer-Bowens when they visit Plymouth Valley, a walled-off company town with clean air, pantries that never go empty, and blue-ribbon schools. On a very trial basis, the company offers to hire Linda Farmer’s husband, a numbers genius, and relocate her whole family to this bucolic paradise for the .0001%. Though Linda will have to sacrifice her medical career back home, the family jumps at the opportunity. They’d be crazy not to take it. With the outside world literally falling apart, this might be the Farmer-Bowens last chance.

But fitting in takes work. The pampered locals distrust outsiders, cruelly snubbing Linda, Russell, and their teen twins. And the residents fervently adhere to a group of customs and beliefs called Hollow...but what exactly is Hollow?

It’s Linda who brokers acceptance by volunteering her medical skills to the most powerful people in town with their pet charity, ActHollow. In the months afterward, everything seems fine. Sure, Russell starts hyperventilating through a paper bag in the middle of the night, and the kids have drifted like bridgeless islands, but living here’s worth sacrificing their family’s closeness, isn’t it? At least they’ll survive. The trouble is, the locals never say what they think. They seem scared. And Hollow’s ominous culminating event, the Plymouth Valley Winter Festival, is coming.

Linda’s warned by her husband and her powerful new friends to stop asking questions. But the more she learns, the more frightened she becomes. Should the Farmer-Bowens be fighting to stay, or fighting to get out?

Sarah Langan’s latest novel A Better World is gleefully ruthless in its dissection of wealth, power, and privilege, timely in its depiction of a self-destructing world—and it is a prescient warning to us all.

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Our 22 Most Anticipated Thrillers of 2024

By Off the Shelf Staff | December 21, 2023

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The Mountain King
by Anders de la Motte

Dayna’s Pick: Something about crime fiction with a Nordic setting just speaks to me this time of year, and Anders de la Motte has crafted a perfectly ominous atmosphere in THE MOUNTAIN KING. Criminal Inspector Leonore Asker is riding high on her latest investigation when things suddenly go awry, and she finds herself banished to a department full of misfits. Undeterred, she is drawn to an unusual kidnapping case. With the assistance of her odd new co-workers, Asker finds herself facing an unexpected evil lurking within the depths of the city. I flew through this tension-filled novel and couldn’t wait to witness the unlocking of each intricate piece of the puzzle. De la Motte has weaved together an exceptional cast of characters—particularly in lead investigator Leo Asker. If you’re a fan of Stieg Larsson or Jo Nesbø or TV series like Mindhunter and True Detective, look no further for your next read!

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The Mountain King
Anders de la Motte

This atmospheric and sinister mystery, perfect for fans of the Nordic thrillers of Jo Nesbo and Stieg Larsson, follows an overachieving female inspector investigating the darkest side of humanity, from “one of Sweden’s most talented crime fiction authors” (Erik Axl Sund, author of The Crow Girl).

Criminal inspector Leonore Asker seems to have the leading position at Malmö’s Major Crime Division within reach. But things go awry when, in the middle of a high-profile kidnapping case, management relegates her to the so-called Department of Lost Souls—the unit for odd, cold cases banished to the basement of the police station.

Despite the humiliation, Asker is drawn into one of the more peculiar cases. Someone is placing small ominous figures in town and one of them seems to represent the missing woman from the kidnapping case. As Asker’s investigation takes her to abandoned buildings, she reaches out to a local architecture expert and together they explore the sinister recesses of the city and discover that an unusual kind of evil lurks in the shadows.

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Our 22 Most Anticipated Thrillers of 2024

By Off the Shelf Staff | December 21, 2023

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The Off Season
by Amber Cowie

Mackenzie’s Pick: Amber Cowie has married Daphne du Maurier’s REBECCA and Stephen King’s THE SHINING to create an eerie, mysterious lush destination read, with twists and secrets peeling off with the wallpaper. The story explores the insecurities of a new wife, documentary filmmaker Jane, when she’s confronted by her contractor husband’s secrets and a difficult stepdaughter in a beautiful and remote setting with a very dark past. There’s no supernatural element in the novel, though; the thrills are all psychological (which I love). This truly is an unputdownable page-turning read and will be catnip for fans of Lucy Foley, Ruth Ware, Lisa Jewell, and Riley Sager. THE OFF SEASON is filled with claustrophobic domestic tension in a remote hotel. It delivers and ensures that destination thrillers are here to stay—but I don’t recommend staying at the Venatura Hotel.

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The Off Season
Amber Cowie

For fans of Lucy Foley and Ruth Ware, a destination thriller about a woman who accompanies her new husband to a remote hotel during the off season to do renovations—and uncovers deadly secrets behind every door, from the author of the “endlessly entertaining and fiendishly clever” (Christina McDonald, USA TODAY bestselling author) thriller Last One Alive.

The Venatura Hotel desperately needs a facelift. Too bad renovations are murder on a marriage.

While recovering from a professional setback, documentary filmmaker Jane Duvall stays at a remote hotel during the off season with her new contractor husband, Dom, and his daughter, Sienna. Surrounded by an immense forest and the mighty Fraser River, Jane wants nothing more than to bond with her new family. But she’s unsettled by the cold, quiet presence of the hotel’s owner, Peter, who is overseeing Dom’s renovations. When she starts asking questions, Dom grows distant and Sienna becomes belligerent. Undeterred, Jane uncovers secrets that make her question exactly who she married, including a series of strange disappearances at the hotel in previous seasons. When a rainstorm of epic proportions threatens to flood the banks of the river and claim the Venatura Hotel, Jane must solve these mysteries if she’s to survive the off season.

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Our 22 Most Anticipated Thrillers of 2024

By Off the Shelf Staff | December 21, 2023

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High Society
by Daniel Kalla

Rebecca’s Pick #1: Bestselling author Daniel Kalla knows how to write pulse-pounding topical stories, and HIGH SOCIETY is no exception. In this twisty psychological thriller, Dr. Holly Danvers is a sought-after psychiatrist determined to use her expertise with psychedelics to treat patients suffering from addictions—but when one of her patients overdoses, things start to unravel. A true bumpy ride, this book is perfect for fans of Liane Moriarty’s Nine Perfect Strangers. Plus, just look at that cover!

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High Society
Daniel Kalla

From internationally bestselling author Daniel Kalla comes a twisty psychological thriller about a pioneering psychiatrist hiding dark secrets, in the vein of The Golden Couple by Hendricks and Pekkanen and Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty.

At sixteen, Holly Danvers barely survived the car accident that killed her father. While she has no memory of the crash, it took an ayahuasca treatment, a native plant-based psychedelic therapy, in the jungles of Peru for her to emotionally recover. Twenty years later, Holly is a sought-after psychiatrist determined to use her expertise with psychedelics to treat patients suffering from addictions. Ignoring the risks, she embarks upon an unproven new protocol with miraculous results. But her success in probing the traumas of her patients and the secrets they keep is short-lived.

When one celebrity client goes public with his recovery and another overdoses after accusing Holly of improprieties, her world is turned upside down. With her career on the line, Holly reaches out to her mentor—and estranged husband—Dr. Aaron Laing, for advice and comfort. But he has a different agenda, and it soon becomes clear that it will be up to Holly alone to figure out why her clients are relapsing and dying. To accomplish that, she will have to risk her life and revisit her own deep-seated trauma.

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Our 22 Most Anticipated Thrillers of 2024

By Off the Shelf Staff | December 21, 2023

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What We Buried
by Robert Rotenberg

Rebecca’s Pick #2: I’ve been eagerly awaiting the latest Robert Rotenberg crime thriller, and WHAT WE BURIED does not disappoint! This novel ups the stakes with a new exotic setting, a decades-old murder investigation, and historical ties all wrapped in a fresh new look. In it, a homicide detective from Toronto goes investigating the murder of his brother in Italy during the Nazi occupation a decade ago. Perfect for fans of Louise Penny and Kathy Reichs, you won’t want to miss WHAT WE BURIED.

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What We Buried
Robert Rotenberg

A Toronto homicide detective is attacked at his doorstep when his investigation into possible links between the Nazi occupation of Italy and the murder of his brother decades later gets too close to the truth—in the new crime thriller from bestselling author Robert Rotenberg. Perfect for fans of Scott Turow and David Baldacci.

It’s been years since Daniel Kennicott’s brother, Michael, was shot and killed the night before he was about to depart for Gubbio, Italy. The case, never solved, has haunted Daniel ever since. Long suspecting the killing was tied to Michael’s planned trip but overwhelmed with grief, Daniel has put off going there—until now, the tenth anniversary of the murder.

As he’s about to leave, Daniel learns that his two mentors, detectives Ari Greene and Nora Bering, have been more involved in the investigation of Michael’s murder than he ever knew. And they’re concerned about Daniel’s safety. But why? Is Daniel risking his life—and those of others—by trying to uncover the truth?

When Daniel arrives in the bucolic Italian hill town, he learns the past has not been put to rest. Residents are still haunted by the brutal Nazi occupation, the brave acts of the local freedom fighters, and the swift savagery of German retribution.

And as Daniel delves into his family’s deadly connection to Gubbio, Ari Greene searches for a killer closer to home.

Inspired by the true story of the Forty Martyrs in Gubbio, Italy, during World War II, What We Buried is an extraordinary crime novel about troubled legacies, revenge, and the unbreakable bonds of family.

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Our 22 Most Anticipated Thrillers of 2024

By Off the Shelf Staff | December 21, 2023

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Kill for Me, Kill for You
by Steve Cavanagh

Sara’s Pick #1: Enough of us have seen/heard enough true crime media to have at least considered what it would take to commit the perfect crime, with the biggest factor for getting caught being any possible connection to the victim. When Amanda and Wendy, strangers to each other, meet per chance at a New York City bar, they realize that they've stumbled into the perfect solution to their little conundrum of how to deal with the men who’ve ruined their lives: have the other do it. A must for fans of Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train, KILL FOR ME, KILL FOR YOU is a thrilling, twisted tale that will keep you up next year!

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Kill for Me, Kill for You
Steve Cavanagh

For fans of The Silent Patient and Gone Girl, a razor-sharp and Hitchcock-inspired psychological thriller about two ordinary women who make a dangerous pact to take revenge for each other after being pushed to the brink.

One dark evening on New York City’s Upper West Side, two strangers meet by chance. Over drinks, Amanda and Wendy realize they have much in common, especially loneliness and an intense desire for revenge against the men who destroyed their families. As they talk into the night, they come up with the perfect plan: if you kill for me, I’ll kill for you.

In another part of the city, Ruth is home alone when the beautiful brownstone she shares with her husband, Scott, is invaded. She’s attacked by a man with piercing blue eyes, who disappears into the night. Will she ever be able to feel safe again while the blue-eyed stranger is out there?

Intricate, heart-racing, and from an author who “is the real deal” (Lee Child, #1 New York Times bestselling author), Kill for Me, Kill for You will keep you breathless until the final page.

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Our 22 Most Anticipated Thrillers of 2024

By Off the Shelf Staff | December 21, 2023

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The Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder
by C.L. Miller

Sara’s Pick #2: The world of antiquing is often described as cutthroat, but that description isn't meant to be a literal one. Freya Lockwood is shocked to find her former mentor Arthur murdered, only to receive a letter he wrote days before, begging her to investigate the circumstances that led to his death. Reluctant to go back to her English hometown, Freya teams up with her aunt Carole in order to figure out which antiquer might have killed Arthur, and if they might strike again. If you're looking for a thriller with a quirky twist and eccentric characters, this is the book for you.

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The Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder
C.L. Miller

In this irresistible and thrilling debut novel, a former antique hunter investigates a suspicious death at an isolated English manor, embroiling her back in the dangerous world of tracking stolen artifacts.

What antique would you kill for?

Freya Lockwood is shocked when she learns that Arthur Crockleford, antiques dealer and her estranged mentor, has died under mysterious circumstances. She has spent the last twenty years avoiding her quaint English hometown, but when she receives a letter from Arthur asking her to investigate—sent just days before his death—Freya has no choice but to return to a life she had sworn to leave behind.

Joining forces with her eccentric Aunt Carole, Freya follows clues and her instincts to an old manor house for an advertised antiques enthusiast’s weekend. But not all is as it seems. It’s clear to Freya that the antiques are all just poor reproductions and her fellow guests are secretive and menacing. What is going on at this estate and how was Arthur involved? More importantly, can Freya and Carole discover the truth before the killer strikes again?

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Our 22 Most Anticipated Thrillers of 2024

By Off the Shelf Staff | December 21, 2023

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Tender Beasts
by Liselle Sambury

Bezi’s Pick: With her previous novels, DELICIOUS MONSTERS and the BLOOD LIKE duology, Liselle Sambury demonstrated how masterfully she builds tension, creating complicated Black characters and vividly creepy settings that suck you in, so I was so excited to read her new novel, TENDER BEASTS. In this story, we meet Sunny, who’s trying to hold her life and her family together after the death of her mother, who raised her to maintain their picture-perfect façade at all costs. When her brother Dom—newly released from juvie to await trial for the murder of his girlfriend—is accused of murdering a classmate at her private school, Sunny has to discover the truths her family has worked so hard to bury. Even so, people keep dying . . . and there may be supernatural forces at work that are about to make their presence known. Once again, Sambury combines chilling suspense with thoughtful commentary on race, class, and who gets to presume innocence, making TENDER BEASTS a must-read, mind-bending thriller.

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Tender Beasts
Liselle Sambury

After her private school is rocked by a gruesome murder, a teen tries to find the real killer and clear her brother’s name in this psychological thriller perfect for fans of The Taking of Jake Livingston and Ace of Spades.

Sunny Behre has four siblings, but only one is a murderer.

With the death of Sunny’s mother, matriarch of the wealthy Behre family, Sunny’s once picture-perfect life is thrown into turmoil. Her mother had groomed her to be the family’s next leader, so Sunny is confused when the only instructions her mother leaves is a mysterious note: “Take care of Dom.”

The problem is, her youngest brother, Dom, has always been a near-stranger to Sunny…and seemingly a dangerous one, if found guilty of his second-degree murder charge. Still, Sunny is determined to fulfill her mother’s dying wish. But when a classmate is gruesomely murdered, and Sunny finds her brother with blood on his hands, her mother’s simple request becomes a lot more complicated. Dom swears he’s innocent, and although Sunny isn’t sure she believes him, she takes it upon herself to look into the murder—made all the more urgent by the discovery of another body. And another.

As Sunny and Dom work together to track down the culprit, Sunny realizes her other siblings have their own dark secrets. Soon she may have to choose: preserve the family she’s always loved or protect the brother she barely knows—and risk losing everything her mother worked so hard to build.

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Our 22 Most Anticipated Thrillers of 2024

By Off the Shelf Staff | December 21, 2023

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The Silence in Her Eyes
by Armando Lucas Correa

Emily’s Pick #1: What I love the most about a thriller is how heightened my senses get. Every little detail in the setting or dialogue makes me sit up and take notice. And the unique narrator in THE SILENCE IN HER EYES promises a reading experience that’ll force me to pay even more attention. The main character, Leah, has motion blindness. For decades, she’s been unable to see movement, but she can see things one image at a time, like a snapshot; at the same time, to compensate, she’s acquired an enhanced sense of smell and hearing. When an intruder with a particular scent of bergamot enters her apartment, and she continues to smell him everywhere, she decides to take action—working together with her new neighbor, who might be in danger as well. Armando Lucas Correa is known for his emotional, riveting historical fiction novels, so I can’t wait to read his journey into the psychological thriller realm.

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The Silence in Her Eyes
Armando Lucas Correa

In the vein of Paula Hawkins and Ruth Ware, a bold and suspenseful psychological thriller about a young woman with a rare neurological condition who is convinced her neighbor is going to be murdered.

Leah has been living with akinetopsia, or motion blindness, since she was a child. For the last twenty years, she hasn’t been able to see movement. As she walks around her upper Manhattan neighborhood with her white stick tapping in front, most people assume she’s blind. But the truth is Leah sees a good deal, and with her acute senses of smell and hearing, very little escapes her notice.

She has a quiet, orderly life, with little human contact beyond her longtime housekeeper, her doctor, and her elderly neighbor. That all changes when Alice moves into the apartment next door and Leah can immediately smell the anxiety wafting off her. Worse, Leah can’t help but hear Alice and a late-night visitor engage in a violent fight. Worried, she befriends her neighbor and discovers that Alice is in the middle of a messy divorce from an abusive husband.

Then one night, Leah wakes up to someone in her apartment. She blacks out and in the morning is left wondering if she dreamt the episode. And yet the scent of the intruder follows her everywhere. And when she hears Alice through the wall pleading for her help, Leah makes a decision that will test her courage, her strength, and ultimately her sanity.

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Our 22 Most Anticipated Thrillers of 2024

By Off the Shelf Staff | December 21, 2023

Our 20 Most Anticipated Books of 2024

By Off the Shelf Staff | November 27, 2023

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The Year of the Locust
by Terry Hayes

Sue’s Pick: I am an insatiable reader of thrillers—spy or political thrillers to be specific. I’ve read most of the works of Clancy and le Carré and have enjoyed more recent books by Jason Matthews (RED SPARROW), Jack Carr (IN THE BLOOD), and Kyle Mills/Vince Flynn (CODE RED). If the author doesn’t grab me on page one, I’m likely to move on—I’ve gotten that selective. I can say with complete confidence and excitement that Terry Hayes is as good as those I’ve mentioned, and as he writes more, might even get better. As an award-winning writer and producer of movies—Road Warrior and Dead Calm are among his credits—he has honed his craft so well that reading his novels is like being treated to a 360-degree entertainment experience. Book to movie to book again. I read his first novel, I AM PILGRIM, ten years ago and it passed the page-one test with flying colors, keeping me on the edge of my seat until the last word. He writes characters that you care about, respect—even if they’re bad guys—and come to understand on a very human level. I am rereading I AM PILGRIM now as a refresher in anticipation of his new book THE YEAR OF THE LOCUST, coming February 2024. Based on the amazing reviews already coming in from authors such as Brad Thor and Nelson DeMille, I expect it to be another epic espionage tale, and a wild ride that will grab me on page one. I can’t wait!

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The Year of the Locust
Terry Hayes

Terry Hayes, author of the #1 global bestseller I Am Pilgrim, returns with a terrifying and eagerly awaited new thriller.

If, like Kane, you’re a Denied Access Area spy for the CIA, then boundaries have no meaning. Your function is to go in, do whatever is required, and get out again—by whatever means necessary. You know when to run, when to hide—and when to shoot.

But some places don’t play by the rules. Some places are too dangerous, even for a man of Kane’s experience. The badlands where the borders of Pakistan, Iran, and Afghanistan meet are such a place—a place where violence is the only way to survive.

Kane travels there to exfiltrate a man with vital information for the safety of the West—but instead he meets an adversary who will take the world to the brink of extinction. A frightening, clever, vicious man with blood on his hands and vengeance in his heart...

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Our 22 Most Anticipated Thrillers of 2024

By Off the Shelf Staff | December 21, 2023

Our 20 Most Anticipated Books of 2024

By Off the Shelf Staff | November 27, 2023

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It Had to Be You
by Mary Higgins Clark & Alafair Burke

Emily’s Pick #2: Fans of Mary Higgins Clark and Alafair Burke’s incredible Under Suspicion series likely already have this one preordered. But for anyone who’s unfamiliar—listen up! The Under Suspicion series stars TV show producer Laurie as she tracks down cold cases for the show to delve into and try to uncover. You can imagine the amount of suspense that builds as all the elements come together with this premise: high-stakes media pressure, enraptured audiences, decades-old crimes coming to light. This newest book in the series starts with a cold case that’s a real head-scratcher: twin brothers believe the other is responsible for their parents’ brutal murder on the night of their college graduation. There are so many ways this could go, but we still don’t see any of the twists coming!

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It Had to Be You
Mary Higgins Clark & Alafair Burke

In the latest thrilling entry in the bestselling Under Suspicion series by Queen of Suspense Mary Higgins Clark and Alafair Burke, television producer Laurie Moran investigates the unsolved murder of a beloved couple celebrating the college graduations of their successful twin sons.

The two identical brothers seemed perfect in every way—handsome, intelligent, popular—until a shocking summer night when one brother killed his parents in cold blood while the other brother had an iron-clad alibi. But which twin was where during the murders? And is it possible the two of them planned the perfect crime together?

Years later, the twins are long estranged, each of them claiming to be convinced that the other is responsible for the death of their parents. Married now with children of their own, they may finally be ready to clear one name at the expense of the other and turn to Laurie Moran and her team to reinvestigate their parents’ murder. But as the Under Suspicion crew gets closer to the truth, the danger that was assumed to be left in the past finds its way into the present.

Featuring chilling suspense, a cast of characters whom loyal readers have come to love, and a final jaw-dropping twist, It Had to Be You is not to be missed.

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Our 22 Most Anticipated Thrillers of 2024

By Off the Shelf Staff | December 21, 2023

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The Search Party
by Hannah Richell

Emily’s Pick #3: I’ve been longing to do an Escape Room, but, alas, my desire to stay in my room and read keeps winning. Luckily, I’ve found the perfect compromise for my warring personalities in 2024: THE SEARCH PARTY by Hannah Richell. In this locked-room mystery, a group of longtime friends decide to gather with their children (with quite a range of ages) and reunite at a glamping retreat on the rural Cornwall coast. But when the weather strands them all, sours the mood, and leads to a missing child, secrets are brought to light. I can’t wait to try to figure out the culprit before the ending page as Hannah Richell throws all the obstacles at me.

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The Search Party
Hannah Richell

A spellbinding locked-room mystery about a glamping trip gone horribly wrong when a powerful storm leaves the participants stranded and forced to confront long-held secrets and a shocking disappearance.

Max and Annie Kingsley have left the London rat race with their twelve-year-old son to set up a glamping site in the wilds of Cornwall. Eager for a dry run ahead of their opening, they invite three old university friends and their families for a long-needed reunion. But the festivities soon go awry as tensions arise between the children (and subsequently their parents), explosive secrets come to light, and a sudden storm moves in, cutting them off from help as one in the group disappears.

Moving between the police investigation, a hospital room, and the catastrophic weekend, The Search Party is a propulsive and twisty destination thriller about the tenuous bonds of friendship and the lengths parents will go to protect their children—perfect for fans of Ruth Ware and Lucy Foley.

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MENTIONED IN:

8 Fast-Paced Thrillers for Lucy Foley Fans

By Sara Roncero-Menendez | January 10, 2024

Our 22 Most Anticipated Thrillers of 2024

By Off the Shelf Staff | December 21, 2023

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The Sleepwalkers
by Scarlett Thomas

Emily’s Pick #4: That cover makes me think of WHITE LOTUS, and just for that I must read it now. Luckily, the description also promises the sinister, seductive, thrilling character dynamics and philosophical vibes of WHITE LOTUS. When Evelyn and Richard arrive at the Greek hotel Villa Rose for their honeymoon, they’re still recovering from a wild wedding, but little do they know the excitement is about to ramp up even more. The hotel owner Isabella is annoyingly flirtatious with Richard. The guests all seem to be beautiful, famous, and successful. And the island inhabitants can’t stop talking about a recent couple who drowned via sleepwalking, of all things. I can’t wait to see how everything unravels.

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The Sleepwalkers
Scarlett Thomas

From “one of the UK’s most interesting authors” (Kirkus Reviews), Patricia Highsmith meets White Lotus in this surprising and suspenseful modern gothic story following a couple running from both secretive pasts and very present dangers while honeymooning on a Greek island.

Still reeling from the chaos of their wedding, Evelyn and Richard arrive on a tiny Greek island for their honeymoon. It’s the end of the season and a storm is imminent. Determined to make the best of it, they check into the sun-soaked doors of the Villa Rosa. Already feeling insecure after seeing the “beautiful people,” the seemingly endless number of young models and musicians lounging along the Mediterranean, Evelyn is wary of the hotel’s owner, Isabella, who seems to only have eyes for Richard.

Isabella ostensibly disapproves of every request Evelyn makes, seemingly annoyed at the fact that they are there at all. Isabella is also preoccupied with her chance to enthrall the only other guests—an American producer named Marcus and his partner Debbie—with the story of “the sleepwalkers,” a couple who had stayed at the hotel recently and drowned.

Everyone seems to want to talk about the sleepwalkers, save for Hamza, a young Turkish man Evelyn had seen with some “beautiful people,” as well as the “dapper little man”—the strange yet fashionable owner of the island’s lone antiques and gift shop she sees everywhere.

But what at first seemed eccentric, decorative, or simply ridiculous, becomes a living nightmare. Evelyn and Richard are separated the night of the storm and forced to face dark truths, but it’s their confessions around the origins of their relationship and the years leading up to their marriage that might save them.

Exhilarating, suspenseful, and also very funny, The Sleepwalkers asks urgent questions about relationships, sexuality, and the darkest elements of contemporary society—where our most terrible secrets are hidden in plain sight.

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Our 22 Most Anticipated Thrillers of 2024

By Off the Shelf Staff | December 21, 2023

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The Curse of Pietro Houdini
by Derek B. Miller

Juliet's Pick #4: If there’s one thing to know about me, it’s that I freaking love a heist narrative. So you can imagine how excited I was to hear about THE CURSE OF PIETRO HOUDINI, a World War II tale that offers a unique mix of art heist, philosophy, and wartime intrigue. It tells the story of fourteen-year-old Massimo, orphaned in Rome during an American bombing raid, as he stumbles upon Montecassino Abbey. There, he meets Pietro Houdini, a self-proclaimed "Master Artist" with a mysterious vibe. As the Germans close in on the abbey, with the intent of stealing valuable works of art, Massimo and Pietro hatch a plan of their own to smuggle precious Titian paintings to safety with the help of a quirky band of misfits (something no heist story is complete without, in my opinion).

Beyond the heist, the dark humor and philosophical undertones have me totally hooked, and I can’t wait to dive into this story and see how these characters' relationships unfold. 

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The Curse of Pietro Houdini
Derek B. Miller

From the Dagger Award–winning author of Norwegian by Night comes a vivid, thrilling, and moving World War II art-heist-adventure tale where enemies become heroes, allies become villains, and a child learns what it means to become an adult—for fans of All the Light We Cannot See.

August, 1943. Fourteen-year-old Massimo is all alone. Newly orphaned and fleeing from Rome after surviving the American bombing raid that killed his parents, Massimo is attacked by thugs and finds himself bloodied at the base of the Montecassino. It is there in the Benedictine abbey’s shadow that a charismatic and cryptic man calling himself Pietro Houdini, the self-proclaimed “Master Artist and confidante of the Vatican,” rescues Massimo and brings him up the mountain to serve as his assistant in preserving the treasures that lay within the monastery walls.

But can Massimo believe what Pietro is saying, particularly when Massimo has secrets too? Who is this extraordinary man? When it becomes evident that Montecassino will soon become the front line in the war, Pietro Houdini and Massimo execute a plan to smuggle three priceless Titian paintings to safety down the mountain. They are joined by a nurse concealing a nefarious past, a café owner turned murderer, a wounded but chipper German soldier, and a pair of lovers along with their injured mule, Ferrari. Together they will lie, cheat, steal, fight, kill, and sin their way through battlefields to survive, all while smuggling the Renaissance masterpieces and the bag full of ancient Greek gold they have rescued from the “safe keeping” of the Germans.

Heartfelt, powerfully engaging, and in the tradition of City of Thieves by David Benioff, The Curse of Pietro Houdini is a work of storytelling bravado: a thrilling action-packed adventure heist, an imaginative chronicle of forgotten history, and a philosophical coming-of-age epic where a child navigates one of the most enigmatic and morally complex fronts of World War II and lives to tell the tale.

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MENTIONED IN:

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Photo credit: iStock / Charl Folscher

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