Five thrilling reads
In a large house in London’s fashionable Chelsea, a baby is awake in her cot. Well-fed and cared for, she’s happily waiting for someone to pick her up. In the kitchen lie three decomposing corpses, with a hastily scrawled note. The three have been dead for several days. So who’s looking after the baby? There’s little better than finding a new Lisa Jewell book on the shelves … The Family Upstairs is just FABULOUS. Penguin, R290
‘It was a good day to be free of prison.’ So begins David Baldacci’s One Good Deed … his latest release which, as always, keeps readers’ adrenalin running high. When Aloysius Archer gets out of prison, he heads for Poca City, with just the clothes he’s wearing and an appointment with his parole officer. A chance meeting sees him offered a job as a debt collector – but all’s not above board, and if Aloysius wants to avoid heading back behind bars, he’s got his work cut out for him. Macmillan, R299.
Tom Kennedy and his young son, Jake, have just moved to a quiet village, hoping to heal the hurt after the loss of their wife and mum. The place they choose to live, Featherbank, has a dark past … 15 years before, a serial killer, known as The Whisper Man, abducted and murdered five young boys. The killer was caught, and this history doesn’t worry Tom and Jake. Until another boy goes missing. And Jake says he hears whispering at his window. Alex North’s outstanding new psychological thriller is described as gripping and brilliantly creepy. Penguin, R290
Blood in the Water by Jack Flynn is set in Boston’s underworld, where the harbour chief, his 19-year-old daughter and a homeland security agent are caught up in deadly game of cat and mouse with international terrorists. Macmillan, R299
A new home in the suburbs offers a fresh start to a family of four. It’s in a quiet, leafy road, with good schools, and is close to the sea and a comfortable commute to London. Perfect. All bar the fact that it appears to be the hunting ground for a serial killer. Fiona Cummins’ The Neighbour is as thrilling as it gets. Macmillan, R290
