Earlier this month, the International Thriller Writers announced the nominees for the 2014 Best Hardcover Novel Award.. The award is presented in 2014 but all of these titles were published in 2013. We have copies of all of them at the library so I thought perhaps you would like to compare to see who you think should win the title. The winner will be announced during Thrillerfest in July in New York City.
Linda Castillo's Her Last Breath is the first entry. Kate Burkholder is the chief of police in a small town in Amish country in Ohio. When her childhood best friend's husband and two children are killed in a suspicious car accident, Kate's investigation contains evidence that this might not have been an 'accident.' Her investigation makes her question everything about her past and the Amish culture.
Lee Child's Never Go Back is next. Former military cop Jack Reacher returns to the headquarters of his old unit in northeastern Virginia to meet the new commanding officer Major Susan Turner, but she's not the one behind the CO's desk. Reacher must find Turner and clear his name. Jack Reacher being very much like - well - Jack Reacher.
Next is Lisa Gardner's Touch and God. The Denbe family appear to have it all and be living the life most can only dream about. Underneath, there are plenty of cracks but until they walk into their house and find catastrophe waiting for them. The family - husband, wife and daughter are abducted. Private investigator Tessa Leoni and the FBI are on the case.
Stephen King's Doctor Sleep - the revisiting to the story of The Shining - is on the list. Perhaps King has mellowed with age, but this sequel is not a straight horror read but more of the eternal battle of good vs evil. Personally, I think many of King's works cover this. Dan Torrance, the young boy in the first book, has grown up and fought the battle against alcohol. He now works in a Hospice. He discovers a 12 year old girl who is strongly gifted with 'shining' powers. He must save her from a tribe of murderous paranormals called The True Knot.
Owen Laukkanen - a name that might not be as familiar - has Criminal Enterprise on the list. From the outside, Carter Tomlin's life looks perfect: a big house, pretty wife, two kids. But Tomlin has a secret. He's lost his job, the bills are mounting, and that perfect life is hanging by a thread. Desperate, he robs a bank. Then he robs another. Then he decides he likes it not just for the money but for the thrill and power. FBI special agent Carla Windermere and Minnesota state investigator Kirk Stevens reunite to solve the case.
Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child unite again to give us another Pendergast novel, the 13th in White Fire.
Corrie Swanson is investigating supposed bear attacks that took place years ago in Roaring Fork, Colorado for her thesis. The resort city first appeared to be helpful but soon turned it's back on her research and she ended up in jail. Pendergast steps in and Corrie reveals that it was something other than a bear that ate those miners. Soon a serial arson killer joins in the story. A tightly woven plot featuring a Sherlock Holmes and Arthur Conan Doyle thread reach an explosive finish.
Last but not least on the list is Andrew Pyper's The Demonologist. Professor David Ullman makes a living lecturing on John Milton's Paradise Lost but does not really believe in biblical events until......In Venice, his 12 year old daughter disappears and he must find her, following clues from that work while confronting demons. A paranormal work of suspense.
OK - those are the nominees. Check them out and see who you think should win.
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