Fabulous Fiction Firsts #801, Psychological Thriller Debuts

Sat, 02/26/2022 - 8:45am by muffy

Greenwich Park *  by British journalist  Katherine Faulkner (also in downloadable eBook and audiobook) is a “twisty, fast-paced" debut thriller. (The Sunday Times, London)

Siblings Rory and Helen, now married to their best friends Daniel and Serene, are expecting.  When Rory, Serena and Daniel bailed on their first prenatal class, Helen met Rachel - a single mother-to-be who smokes, drinks, and was overly friendly. Nevertheless, Helen was drawn to her, being a bit lonely and insecure, allowing Rachel to insinuate herself into her life, and into their home. Then strange and troubling things started happening, and Helen began to suspect that it might be linked to a horrifying incident they witnessed as Cambridge students.

“There's a palpable sense of menace hanging over the story, which packs punch after shocking punch. An original and highly imaginative plot, combined with complex characters and a stunning conclusion, will shock even the most seasoned crime-fiction aficionado. An outstanding debut thriller. “ (Booklist)

Edgar Award Nominee for Best First Novel, Never Saw Me Coming * by Vera Kurian (also in downloadable eBook and audiobook) will appeal to fans of Gone Girl, Jeff Lindsay's Dexter series, and Patricia Highsmith's Tom Ripley novels.  

Eighteen-year-old psychopath Chloe Sevre is one of seven students at a D.C. university receiving free tuition in exchange for participating in a Multimethod Psychopathy Panel Study. When not partying, attending mandated counseling, or participating in psychological experiments, Chloe is plotting - to kill Will Bachman, a fellow student and a childhood friend who cruelly hurt her. 

Then two of the study participants are murdered. Suddenly, it's not just about the boy she wants to kill, but the hunter picking off members of her program one at a time.
“Excellent pacing, sprightly narrative voices, and judicious dabs of wry humor make this a highly entertaining tale. Kurian's refreshingly different slant on psychopathy marks her as a writer to watch.“ (Publishers Weekly) 

In A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham (also in downloadable eBook and audiobook), when Chloe Davis was twelve, six teenage girls in her small town of Breaux Bridge, LA were murdered. By the end of the summer, her father had confessed and is serving 6 consecutive life sentences.

Now Chloe, a 32-year-old medical psychologist living in Baton Rouge, LA, is planning her wedding.  To deal with anxiety from her childhood trauma, Chloe secretly self-medicates. As the 20th anniversary of the killings approaches, a girl went missing. Shortly after, Lacey Deckler, one of Chloe’s patients also disappeared leaving their appointment. Chloe becomes convinced that another killer lurks in her life, and she begins to suspect people closest to her. 

“A great addition to any mystery/psychological thriller collection, with an unforgettable character haunted by her past in an authentic Louisiana setting, which ups the creep factor.” (Library Journal)

 

BONUS FEATURE

Readers might also want to check out  Catch Her When She Falls by Allison Buccola  (in eBook format, and also available in downloadable audiobook) 

10 years ago, high school senior Micah WIlkes’s boyfriend was convicted of murdering her best friend, Emily.  Now the owner of a popular coffee shop, Micah has moved on, happily coupled up with another old high school friend. 

But when reminders of her past begin appearing at her work and home, Micah begins to doubt what she really knows about Emily’s death. Questions raised on a true crime blog and in an online web sleuthing forum force her to reexamine her memories of that fateful night. 

* = Starred review