August’s Best New Thrillers

Bullseye, by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge
The ninth Michael Bennett novel finds the NYPD detective pulled away from his family on the eve of an historic summit at the United Nations between the presidents of Russia and the United States. On the trail of a threat, Bennett finds himself caught in the sights of a team of elite assassins, first as they engage in some “target practice” and then as Bennett realizes their true purpose—and the horrific consequences that would result if they are successful. Ledwidge and Patterson remain near-perfect partners, producing a story that crackles with inventive twists and realistic characters.

The Sting, by Sandra Brown
Shaw Kinnard is a hired assassin whose latest assignment is the beautiful Jordie Bennett, owner of a run-down New Orleans bar. But Kinnard has other plans, because Jordie’s brother Josh recently made off with $30 million from an investment scheme in which he double-crossed his boss. Now Josh, his boss, and the money are all missing—and Shaw hopes he can use Jordie as leverage to get a share of the cash. Brown’s story unfolds as a battle of wills between two smart, resourceful people who are deeply attracted to each other, giving their cat-and-mouse situation a spice that elevates it. Things get complicated as the FBI, also searching for Josh, step onto the chessboard—but the real fireworks remain between Shaw and Jordie, as they maneuver around each other in increasingly complex—and sexy—ways.

Dark Matter, by Blake Crouch
Crouch, of Wayward Pines fame, delivers a fantastic puzzle box of a novel that deals with the very nature of existence. Fifteen years ago, genius physicist Jason Dessen gave up on the demanding research he was pursuing when his girlfriend became pregnant and they decided to marry and keep the baby, building a life he treasures despite misgivings. Until the night he’s kidnapped and drugged, before waking up in an alternate reality in which he’s a renowned scientist working with an unlimited budget on a project to pierce the barriers between alternate realities. What follows is storytelling at its best: a taut thriller that consistently surprises without ever breaking its own internal logic, a compelling love story, and a sci-fi-tinged adventure across multiverses that never loses sight of the beating human heart at its center.

Smooth Operator, by Stuart Woods and Parnell Hall
Woods and Edgar Award finalist Hall team up here to expand the already sprawling Stone Barrington universe in a story that brings back a fan favorite: master of disguise Teddy Fay. Barrington receives a summons to a state dinner in Washington, at which he’s pulled into a meeting with President Kate Lee and Speaker of the House Charles Blaine. Blaine’s daughter has been kidnapped and will be killed unless he can somehow convince his party to pass a veterans benefits bill the party adamantly opposes. Asked for help, Barrington agrees but won’t tell the President who he has in mind for the job—former CIA agent Fay. Fans will be pleased to learn that this marks the beginning of a more Fay-centric arc of books within the Barrington-verse.

Behind Closed Doors, by B.A. Paris
Paris offers up the gripping, tension-filled story of newlywed couple Grace and Jack Angel. Their outward perfection is all an act: Jack is a violent, cruel sociopath keeping Grace a prisoner in her own home, and forcing her to play the part of doting wife. Grace would escape through death if she could, but Jack has made it clear that her younger sister, Millie, is his next target. Grace must survive her own torturous existence and find a way to not only escape Jack, but protect her sister. Paris spins this premise into thriller gold, as chapters alternate between the past and a build toward an explosive climax in the present.

The One Man, by Andrew Gross
Gross spins an alt historical tale in which the Manhattan Project is stalled in the Spring of 1944, because the team working on the atomic bomb lacks the expertise of one man: a Jewish scientist imprisoned in Auschwitz. Nathan Blum, a desk-bound intelligence officer who narrowly escaped a similar fate in Poland, is recruited to risk his life to break the scientist out of the concentration camp before the Nazis can beat the U.S. to the bomb—and possibly use it to reverse their fortunes in the war. Gross mixes tantalizingly real “what if” scenarios with a truly horrifying look into the dark heart of the Holocaust, and the result is a thriller with real emotional bite.

Surrender, New York, by Caleb Carr
Carr roars back with a thriller that combines a dense murder mystery with an engaging debate concerning how hard, CSI-style science has affected the perception of old-school psychological profiling in criminal investigations. Trajan Jones, a criminal psychologist, and DNA evidence expert Mike Li were once an elite team working with the NYPD—but their work discrediting sloppy crime labs made enemies, and now they live in the small town of Surrender, New York, teaching online forensics classes. They’re called in by the local cops when a serial killer appears to be preying on “throwaway children,” a horrific new classification for children who aren’t orphans or runaways, but who have simply been abandoned by their families. Their investigation begins to reveal something even more horrifying.

Any Minute Now, by Eric Van Lustbader
Any Minute Now is a unique blend of supernatural storytelling and military thriller. The master brings these two threads together surprisingly well, telling the story of Greg Whitman, leader of a team of private military contractors in Pakistan—and a man with a lot of experience and skill with darker, more mystical powers. When a mission goes off the rails, Whitman is ordered to let it go, but decides instead to keep going, bringing on his own people, including ex-lover Charlize Daou. Whitman’s determination pits him against the Alchemists, a shadowy occult organization seeking to dominate the world—and against the former employers who taught him the darkest art of all: torture.

Rise the Dark, by Michael Koryta
Koryta’s sequel to Last Words offers up a perfect combination of solid mystery and gripping action. Private investigator Markus Novak’s wife, Lauren, was murdered, and the last thing she did before dying was write the mysterious phrase “Rise the Dark” in her diary. During a heavy snowstorm, a power failure brings power plant supervisor Jay Baldwin out of his house only to discover someone has cut down trees to take out the power lines. Soon, his wife is taken hostage by Garland Webb, the man Novak suspects killed Lauren. What follows is a tangled web of events that slowly tightens until it threatens to snap—but Koryta’s expert skill keeps everything under taut control.

Nothing Short of Dying: A Clyde Barr Novel, by Erik Storey
Storey’s debut Barr novel kicks off a new action-oriented series in style, introducing Clyde Barr, a two-fisted adventurer in the classic mode. After years of traveling the world working and fighting for various causes, Barr goes home to find his sister Jen has taken up with a very bad man: Lance Alvis, the local meth dealer kingpin and a nasty piece of work. Learning Jen is being held prisoner by the ruthless drug lord, Barr heads off to rescue her, picking up an indispensable ally in the form of bartender Allie Martin along the way. Barr proves to be a butt-kicking machine—an expert tracker, marksman, and bare-knuckle fighter—and Martin is no slouch, either. Together, they fight their way through the mountains of Colorado in a fast-paced, fierce story that will keep heart rates high.