July’s Best New Thrillers

The Late Show, by Michael Connelly
Detective Renée Ballard was an up-and-comer in the LAPD, until she filed sexual harassment charges against her boss and her career went sideways. She landed on the night shift in Hollywood, which means she never finishes an investigation, always handing them off to the day shift. Until she catches two cases she can’t let go of: a prostitute beaten into unconsciousness, who claims she was assaulted in the “upside-down house” before passing out, and a young woman killed in a nightclub shooting. Ballard works the cases during the day and continues to take her regular shift in the evening, dodging her former boss (who’s officially working the nightclub shooting) and her own demons—demons which begin to haunt her as she begins losing sleep and delving deeper into the twin mysteries.

House of Spies, by Daniel Silva
Gabriel Allon returns in the 17th entry in Silva’s series, thrust into an international hunt for the perpetrators of a horrific terrorist attack in London. He and his team follow a clue left the the attackers’ single mistake, which takes them to the south of France, where a wealthy couple lives a life seemingly disconnected from the troubles of the world. But Jean-Luc Martel’s wealth stems from the global drug trade, and even if he and his fashion model wife Olivia wants to deny it, Allon knows they could be used as perfect tools in the war against terror.

The Lying Game, by Ruth Ware
Four women—Isa, Kate, Thea, and Fatima—spent their boarding school years at Salten House, sneaking away to hang with Kate’s art teacher father and her dreamy brother and play the Lying Game, a challenge to get people to believe the most outlandish stories they could dream up. It all ends in tragedy, and 20 years later, new mum Isa receives a note from Kate that sends her off on a train and back to the village of Salten, where she meets the rest of the old gang. It seems a bone has been found in the marshes nearby, and the women know all about its origins—and the discovery of a body means all of their lives, and the lies they’re built on, could come apart.

The Breakdown, by B.A. Paris
Paris’ clever thriller pivots on a chillingly familiar premise: a woman named Cass sees a driver on the side of the road, trying to flag down help near a broken-down car. She drives past without stopping, then later learns the motorist was brutally murdered. She begins to receive phone calls during which no one speaks, and her fear she has inherited her mother’s early-onset dementia are brought to the fore as her grip on details—and her own memories—slips. She comes to rely more and more on her husband and her best friend, who never liked each other, but this is one of those books in which no one is above suspicion.

The Marriage Pact, by Michelle Richmond
Alice and Jake meet in rehab, fall in love, get married, and receive a mysterious gift from Alice’s rock-star friend: membership in The Pact, a cult-like group whose voluminous member manual is all about making sure marriage vows do indeed last forever. Signing up without reading deeply, the couple soon discovers breaking any of the rules in the manual—gaining too much weight, failing to answer each other’s phone calls, and not taking regular vacations together—results in increasingly disturbing punishments that edge into torture territory. As Alice and Jake realize what they’ve gotten themselves into, the paranoia and plot twists come at a furious pace—seems there’s no mechanism for resigning your membership.

Look Behind You, by Iris Johansen and Roy Johansen
Kendra Michaels, blind until the age of 20 and blessed with near-supernatural capabilities in her other four senses, is called upon by the FBI to assist with finding a bizarre serial killer who leaves behind objects at the scene of the crime that don’t seem to have any connection to his victims. Michaels is reluctant—and becomes more so when Adam Lynch, who has strong feelings for her, becomes involved—but her skills quickly reveal the objects are connected—but to past crimes. A team of detectives traces the links while Michaels turns to a tough private investigator named Jessie Mercado for help, and the killer slowly resolves into someone responsible for many of the most infamous killings all around the country. Now, he’s got his sights set on Kendra.

Final Girls, by Riley Sager
The “Final Girl” is the one in a slasher movie who survives to tell the tale. Quincy has survived a mass murder, but refuses to play the role of Final Girl, picking up her life seemingly without a hitch. But her memory is murky and she’s popping pills. When another survivor of mass violence who served as her mentor commits suicide and the media’s attention is drawn to yet another Final Girl, Sam,  Quincy begins to come apart. Doubting Sam and questioning her own memory, Quincy delves into her past and begins to learn the horrifying truth of her situation—leading to a climax that might not spare her a second time.

LoveMurder, by Saul Black
San Francisco detective Valerie Hart put serial killer Katherine Glass behind bars—but failed to catch Katherine’s partner. Years later, Hart stands at a crime scene where a note addressed to her has been taped to the body. Glass’ partner is back, and he wants her released from prison. When he kills, and kills again, he leaves elaborate clues near his victims that only Katherine can decipher—meaning Valerie is forced   with the brilliant murderer. Valerie knows she’s being manipulated, but she has no choice—and as she sinks deeper into a twisted game that’s been arranged just for her, she realizes might not be a match for Katherine Glass’ intellect, or her capability for evil.

Blame, by Jeff Abbott
A car crash leaves Jane Norton without no memory of the incident—or the previous three years. Her best friend’s boyfriend dies in the accident; Jane, the driver, apparently left a suicide note behind, transforming her from victim to monster. Jane can’t believe she would do something like that, but then again, she can’t remember anything. Two years later, someone calling themselves Liv Danger begins posting online that they know the truth about what happened, as one by one, people connected to the evening’s fatal events are targeted. Jane begins to wonder if everyone she knows has been rewriting history around her, hiding the ftruth of what happened—and becomes determined to find out.

Don’t Close Your Eyes, by Holly Seddon
Robin and Sarah Marshall are twins whose lives are altered forever when their parents trade romantic partners with the Grangers, shattering two families and making Callum Granger their unofficial stepbrother. Years later, Robin Marshall is a former rock guitarist who never leaves her house, and Sarah’s life is unraveling after she loses custody of a little girl she cares deeply about. As Sarah searches for her estranged sister and Robin becomes entangled in a scenario she watches playing out through her home’s rear window, the secrets of the past emerge, revealing more than family ties were cut through all those years ago.