Hi Rachel! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?

I’m Rachel Howzell Hall, the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author of 16 novels, including the Fog and Fury, The Cruel Dawn and The Last One, which was a Good Morning America book club selection. I am a two-time finalist of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize.

When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?

I first fell in love with writing as a child. I was a devotee of those classic book club fairs and would write on every single thing, including church bulletins and any kind of paper I could get my hands on. I love stories because they helped me disappear into worlds that had a sense of order and an ending, which explained some of the things that scared me. I read The Diary of Anne Frank in third grade, and after that, I started keeping my own diaries and paying attention to the world around me. I haven’t stopped since.

Quick lightning round! Tell us:

• The first book you ever remember reading: Ramona the Brave by Beverly Cleary, and I bought that at probably my first Scholastic Book Fair. I still have that copy today.
• The one that made you want to become an author: Realistically: Terry McMillan’s Waiting to Exhale–she showed that you could write contemporary stories about contemporary Black women.
• The one that you can’t stop thinking about: It by Stephen King, because I’m still scared of clowns, and I’m still scared of sewers, and every time I see either, which, shockingly, is too many times, I think about Pennywise hiding in the sewers, his eyes like dimes.

The Cruel Dawn is the second installment in your Vallendor series and it’s out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?

 Revealing, heartbreaking, hopeful, revelatory and kick ass.

For those who haven’t picked up The Last One, what can they expect?

You can expect a story about a woman who doesn’t remember who she is or how she got to a strange forest outside an even stranger town. Yet, she must save the town and the people who hate her, as well as the entire realm of Vallendor. Along the way, she meets a hot blacksmith who may or may not help her. It’s a novel of self-discovery and what it means for one woman to be told she is one thing, while knowing she is something—or someone—way more powerful than she can remember.

And for those who have, what’s to come?

In The Cruel Dawn, Kai will start remembering who she is, why she’s on Vallendor and what led her to have amnesia. She will find herself in a love triangle, which was a major issue in the last one. Because how do you fall in love when you have no idea who you are? What if she was in love with someone else before she met Jadon, before she forgot her identity? That’s a new wrinkle.

Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring further?

I really liked exploring the reluctant sisterhood between Elyn and Kai, and what happened to their relationship when one woman took the wrong road and the other woman had to watch her friend flail and fail. I also liked her interaction between Kai and the mysterious god, Malik Sindire. He is constantly pumping her up–but to what end?

Did you face any challenges whilst writing? How did you overcome them?

I knew I had to answer all the questions I left open in the last book, and not just answer them, but have it be an organic, satisfying answer to why she was the way she was. Some readers were confused or frustrated with how Kai dealt with her failures. So, I just wrote draft after draft and dug deep into who these characters are–into the very foundation of what makes them think and act the way they do. I tapped into my own life to look closer at how I react to failure, and how I react to comments from people who assume they know me but have no idea who I am or what I’ve seen and lived through.

What’s next for you?

More writing, both thrillers and mysteries and contemporary fantasy, specifically, a story about another woman in search of who she is.

Lastly, what books have you enjoyed reading this year? Are there any you’re looking forward to picking up?

Right now, I am reading nonfiction. One book is about the space shuttle Challenger. I recently finished reading a preview of Lisa Unger’s next book, Served Him Right. It was so fun.

I’m looking forward to going back into my Kindle library and maybe try to read some of the 8000 books that I’ve downloaded but have yet to read, including If You Tell by Greg Olson, a true story about family secrets, and I want to read Project Hail Mary before it comes out in theaters.

Will you be picking up The Cruel Dawn? Tell us in the comments below!

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Intrigued? Well read on to discover the synopsis and an excerpt from Rachel Howzell Hall’s Fog and Fury, which is out July 1st 2025.

After ten years on the force, LAPD cop Sonny Rush relocates with her elderly mother to peaceful Haven, California, to join her godfather’s burgeoning PI business. What crimes could possibly happen in a town nicknamed “Mayberry by the Sea”? Sonny’s first case: find Figgy, a missing goldendoodle last seen sporting a Versace collar. At least scouting out a dognapper gives Sonny a chance to get to know her new neighbors.

Forty-eight hours in town and Figgy’s disappearance entangles Sonny in an unwelcome reunion with her ex, one of Haven’s wealthiest citizens. And when the body of a teenage boy is found along a popular hiking trail, Sonny is drawn into a web of strange beyond anything she ever saw in LA.

Then comes a local’s warning: question everything. Haven hides secrets that could destroy its idyllic facade. Or destroy Sonny first.

The fog kept me blind.

My scalp prickled with worry-sweat as I crept along Pearl Way, the least twisty road in Haven, with the headlights of FaB, my 1970 Ford Bronco, pushing through the mist only to find more mist, driving to my first day as a private investigator in a town of one thousand people, terrified that I’d end up warped and wrapped around a redwood tree. I’d crept through fog before—and in the same truck with the same headlights—but that was in Los Angeles, more than five hundred miles south of here. Here in Haven, I could’ve driven off a cliff, hit a deer, or slammed into a logging truck. I’d have never seen my end come.

Yeah, I may just die here.

Too early in the day to be thinking such thoughts but this fog and this highway . . .

Weather was making me hyperbolic.

At the same time . . . Was it so strange that a woman who’d chased a homicidal rapist into the fog and come out of that fog alive but with a bullet in her shoulder was acting a little fidgety?

In the last two years, I’d clenched FaB’s mahogany-wood steering wheel so tight, my hands had damn near whittled the wheel into an embroidering hoop.

“Stress,” Dr. Tess Molina had diagnosed.

“Hell yeah,” I’d said.

“It’s Los Angeles,” she’d added.

“The fuck it ain’t,” I’d said then. Because there I was, driving through a town three square miles big—ocean on one side, forests on the other—still clenching.

My cell phone buzzed from the cup holder, but I didn’t take my eyes off the road, not until I stopped at one of the seven traffic signals in Haven.

You starting today?

A million years to drive a mile?

I tapped a response.

You want me there walking or riding in a pine box?

Fog getting to you?

Yeah

Take your time

Not like I was still a homicide detective rushing to a crime scene. Not like there was a cooling body waiting for me to figure out whodunit and why. Not like I was driving to notify a family that the worst thing that could ever happen had happened—and had happened to them. I no longer had to experience any of this, not anymore.

I dropped the phone back into the cup holder and looked to my left—no cars heading northbound on Highway 1—and to my right—no cars heading southbound. Except for the waves of fog, the two-lane highway looked clear, and if I wanted, I could’ve buzzed through that red light, easy peasy. Just my luck, though . . . Bam! T-boned by a train.

A thick cloud rolled around my gut, making me dizzy, but I couldn’t close my eyes. My breath grew shallow and fast as my eyes flicked at the rearview and side mirrors. Not that I 100 percent believed the Suarez family had followed me up here from Los Angeles. Not that I 100 percent believed their threats. You’ll never take another deep breath again. But 9 percent believing is a helluva lot, and I’d watched members of that clan drive slow circles around my car in parking lots and the streets around my apartment building. There was nothing stopping them from harvesting the power of fog to reap my breath for the lost breath of their loved one, Autumn.

The traffic signal turned green.

Weary of monster fog and an angry, grieving family hiding in it, I looked left and right again before spurring the Bronco through the intersection. Once I safely reached the other side of Highway 1, once I saw that no one had pulled up behind me, my damp hands relaxed.

Yeah, I may just die here . . .

Travel blogs had nicknamed this village “Mayberry by the Sea.” On my first trip, downtown Haven and Seaview Way, especially, had made me go “Aahhh,” and my eyebrows had crumpled, and I imagined living full-time in such a charming, walkable town. No buildings over three stories in Haven but plenty of craft stores, bookstores, real estate offices, art galleries, and boutiques that outfitted your inner Stevie Nicks or Jack Nicklaus. No bare asses hung out in Haven, and nothing popped or dropped here, either, not with old couples shuffling to Roll-Roll-Roll-Your-Dough Diner over there, and over there, young parents posted at tables outside a coffee shop named Deegan’s with one leash clipped to their dogs and the other leash clipped to their toddlers. No twerking allowed in the Victorian-era buildings soon to be designated as National Historic Landmarks.

I rolled west on Seaview Way, and like a sheriff on her horse, I slipped into a parking space, stopping before my bumper tapped the polished wood rail. Made it. One more glance in the Bronco’s mirrors—still alone—and my hands finally released the wheel. In front of me, through the windows of the repurposed Victorian with gray clapboards and white gingerbread trim, I spotted Ivan Poole at a bank of file cabinets with his sleeves rolled up and his lips and brows rolled down. Half Robert De Niro and half polar bear, Ivan was a former LAPD Missing Persons detective, now the sole proprietor of Poole Investigations. He was my godfather, and now he was my boss.

A plastic tub of office desk trinkets sat in the Bronco’s cargo area, stuffed with a framed picture of Ivan standing on my left and my father, Al, standing on my right, both men with an arm wrapped around my shoulders. They were my sword and shield. Once Dad died, though, my right side had been left vulnerable. That’s when the wolves started their hunt.

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Intrigued? Well read on to discover the synopsis and an excerpt from Rachel Howzell Hall’s What Fire Brings, which is out June 11th 2024.

Bailey Meadows has just moved into the remote Topanga Canyon home of thriller author Jack Beckham. As his writer-in-residence, she’s supposed to help him once again reach the bestseller list. But she’s not there to write a thriller—she’s there to find Sam Morris, a community leader dedicated to finding missing people, who has disappeared in the canyon surrounding Beckham’s property.

The missing woman was last seen in the drought-stricken forest known for wildfires and mountain lions. Each new day, Bailey learns just how dangerous these canyons are—for the other women who have also gone missing here…and for her. Could these missing women be linked to strange events that occurred decades ago at the Beckham estate?

As fire season in the canyons approaches, Bailey must race to unravel the truth from fiction before she becomes the next woman lost in the forest.

Some things are unknowable.

I blink and—

Stop!

—slam my foot on the car’s brake pedal. The Volvo skids to a stop on the side of the road. My heart booms as I try to catch my breath.

What . . .

Not paying attention on a twisty road while listening to this podcast about . . .

What . . . ?

I jab the stereo’s power button, dropping the cabin into silence. Since I’m stopped, I close my eyes. Force my pulse to slow. Force my hands to unclench the steering wheel and for my lungs to take deep—

A knock on my driver’s-side car window.

I yelp, jerking away as far as I can.

An old Black man is stooped outside the car, his knuckles still resting against my window. “Hey, you okay in there, young lady?” he asks, concern and sweat bright against his grizzled face. He wears a black baseball cap and a black satin jacket. A writing pen is clipped to his shirt pocket, and his gold tin badge—Russell Walker–Privatas Security Patrol—should also say “Marshal–Dodge City,” that’s how fake it looks.

“I saw you swerving just now,” Russell Walker says. “You’re lucky you didn’t go flying off this mountain.”

I gape at him, my mind still revving.

“You okay in there, young lady?” he asks again.

Am I okay in here?

I’m breathing so . . . I guess?

My purse sits on the passenger seat. My phone sits in the cup holder. There’s gas in the gas tank. So . . . yeah? An envelope addressed to Bailey Meadows sits atop my purse along with a postcard-size invitation:

JOIN US

Emerging Writers Reception

May 12, 2021, 5:00 pm

61147 Old Topanga Canyon Road

Topanga, CA 90290

RSVP to Margo Dunn

*Masks Required*

I force myself to smile at Russell Walker–Security Guard, and through the small crack in the window, I shout, “I’m okay. All good, Mr. Walker.”

Beyond the old man, there’s chaparral and old thick trees and hillsides covered with more chaparral and old thick trees. To my left, there are orange skies and the sun sinking behind a hill already lost in shadow. In front of me, there’s a battered Wagoneer with a Privatas Security Patrol sticker on its rear and a bar of orange lights on its roof. Those orange lights are now swirling.

Swirling lights signal danger.

I want to write all of this down, capture it in the here and now because Topanga Canyon is a mystery to me—I’ve never visited this part of the county before today. It’s too far from my home in South Los Angeles—thirty-nine miles—for a casual visit. This road carved through the Santa Monica Mountains is too twisty for a casual drive. A population of eight thousand people lives nestled around these parts. I roll down my car window and smell sage, wood, wildflowers. That sky, colored blue-orange-yellow—

“Where you trying to reach?” Russell Walker asks.

“Umm . . . I don’t . . .” I swipe through my head for the address, then nervous-laugh. “Let me look . . .” I push the stereo’s off button as I peek at the invitation and then peek at the directions on my phone now dangling from its charger between the cup holder and my knee. “I’m trying to reach . . . 61147 Old Topanga Canyon Road.”

Some things are unknowable.

And you’ll never know enough, even if you know everything.

Why am I thinking about the unknowable—

“Oh, I know exactly where you’re going,” the old man says, his head bobbing. “You’re going to the Beckham place, ain’t you?”

I swallow—my throat feels lined with sandpaper. “Yes. That’s right.” I grab my phone to confirm that, yes, I missed a right turn off this main road. There’s a text message banner still sitting at the top of the phone’s screen:

Some things are unknowable.

Ah. My eyes had left the road for just a second to read that text, and just like that . . .

“People always pass these turnoffs,” Russell Walker–Security Guard says now. He chuckles, then adds, “Happens all the time if you ain’t used to it. You from the city part of LA, ain’t you?”

I nod. “Yes, sir.”

“Uh-huh. It’s gonna take you a while to get used to how they do things up here, then. The Beckhams’ driveway is almost hidden. Like everybody up here, the family likes their privacy. Margo shoulda told you to slow down once you passed that first turnoff with all them trash bins.”

“She may have,” I say. “She probably did, and I still missed it.” And now, that sandpaper sensation travels from my throat and up to my mind, scratch-scratch-scratch.

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“Red Tower Books is dedicated to delivering standout fantasy and sci-fi romance from some of the most talented writers of today,” says Molly Majumder, editorial director for Red Tower. “I’m excited to combine my love and knowledge of the genre with Entangled’s creative marketing strategies to bring these incredible stories to a wide audience of readers.”

Along with Molly Majumder, the 100% women-owned publishing company’s new imprint will be led by publishing veterans – CEO and publisher Liz Pelletier, VP of Operations Stacy Cantor Abrams, and VP of Marketing Meredith Johnson.

The imprint’s first release, scheduled for May 2, 2023, is the highly anticipated Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros, an epic fantasy set at a brutal and elite war college for dragon riders, which boasts an announced first print run of 350,000. In a series of heated preempts and auctions, Fourth Wing has already sold into more than a dozen countries. Yarros says, “I’m delighted and honored to be published by Red Tower Books and to be a part of such a dynamic community of writers. I can’t wait for readers to visit the magical world in Fourth Wing and delve into the works of the other immensely talented authors on the list.”

Currently, there are seven titles slated for 2023, each with an exclusive first print run of hardcovers with special effects such as sprayed or stenciled edges, foil, or embossing. These limited-edition books will be a signature of the imprint sure to become collectibles on every reader’s shelf.

The subsequent releases will publish beginning in July 2023, with Starbringer from #1 New York Times bestselling author Tracy Wolff (Crave series) and Nina Croft (Breakout), The Wren in the Holly Library by USA Today bestselling author K.A. Linde (The Wright series), Bloodguard by international award-winning author Cecy Robson (Weird Girls series), and The Last One by New York Times bestselling author Rachel Howzell Hall (These Toxic Things).

Tracy Wolff, whose title Starbringer is a snarky LGBTQ+ sci-fi in the vein of Firefly meets the Breakfast Club and has an impressive announced first printing of 500,000, says about the line, “Red Tower is a powerful new force in fantasy romance, and I am thrilled to have my first sci-fi romance, Starbringer, as part of their incredible launch.”

Books will be distributed globally by Macmillan in New York, and their VP of Client Services, Liz Tzetzo, adds, “Macmillan is excited to partner with Entangled on their new imprint Red Tower Books. With Entangled’s strong track record for breakout successes and highly innovative marketing, we know that Red Tower will be a huge success.”

For more information, please visit www.entangledpublishing.com and follow @redtowerbooks on Instagram!

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Intrigued? Well read on to discover the synopsis and an excerpt from Rachel Howzell Hall’s We Lie Here, which is out July 12th!

TV writer Yara Gibson’s hometown of Palmdale, California, isn’t her first choice for a vacation. But she’s back to host her parents’ twentieth-anniversary party and find the perfect family mementos for the celebration. Everything is going to plan until Yara receives a disturbing text: I have information that will change your life.

The message is from Felicia Campbell, who claims to be a childhood friend of Yara’s mother. But they’ve been estranged for years—drama best ignored and forgotten. But Yara can’t forget Felicia, who keeps texting, insisting that Yara talk to her “before it’s too late.”

But the next day is already too late for Felicia, whose body is found floating in Lake Palmdale. Before she died, Felicia left Yara a key to a remote lakeside cabin. In the basement are files related to a mysterious tragedy, unsolved since 1998. What secrets was Felicia hiding? How much of what Yara knows about her family has been true?

The deeper Yara digs for answers, the more she fears that Felicia was right. Uncovering the truth about what happened at the cabin all those years ago will change Yara’s life—or end it.

Thursday, June 25, 1998

Every summer, the Afro-Americans came to hoot and holler at Lake Paz. Yes, every summer they arrived and talked loudly, and never kept private things private, and always spilled those secret things across the woods like cheap wine. And they always spilled those most-awful private things while good people, quiet people, tried to sleep.

Birdie glanced at the clock on her nightstand: almost an hour before midnight and those people in the cabin next door were doing this now. Of course they were. Their anger had slipped through the evergreens and rustled through the high grass to pull her from sleep.

They made the first Black family in these woods look flawless. Now, that family-the best of their people-would drive up, say hello as they moved from the car to their porch, bags of groceries already in hand and purchased from wherever they lived ten months out of the year.

The noise from that family would be laughter. A woman’s. A girl’s. His. Melodic. Harmonious. Pure. And he would play the piano, too. “Rhapsody in Blue” had been Birdie’s favorite, and he’d play a few other songs she recognized from the movies or television shows. The girl played piano, too. Not as good as her father, but it was still nice to listen to. Not that Birdie would ever admit that to Bud. Oh no, not ever.

Any time that family sat lakeside, Birdie would hear them speak soft words. I love you and You’re beautiful and Yes, I’d like another. And the way he looked at his woman and at his little one as he said those words … So soft. So dreamy.

What was that like? To hear soft words and silken declarations of love?

But that had been many summers ago. Tonight? Only hard words. Stop and Let me go and Please don’t, with the little girl crying, screaming, shrieking even.

Birdie studied Bud, still sleeping in bed beside her. He was snoring with his mouth open. Lost to this world for the next seven hours. That was for the best, since Bud didn’t much like the Blacks-not the ones who’d vacationed at that cabin summers before and definitely not the ones vacationing there now.

The girl shrieked again.

Birdie’s pulse jumped, and she pushed away the heavy quilt. Mosquitoes lunged at her bare, pale legs. She slapped them away, then grabbed the bedside can of DEET and sprayed. After pulling on her robe and pushing her feet into slippers, she tiptoed toward the doorway.

The hardwood floor creaked.

Bud snuffied, then turned over in bed. “Where you going?”

“Fresh air,” she said. “Can’t sleep.”

But he was already out again. Good. With Bud asleep, she wouldn’t have to involve Karlton, Lake Paz’s sole sheriff’s deputy. He’d warned Bud and Birdie several times: Leave them people alone, or I’ll have to bring you in again.

Let sleeping Buds lie.

Birdie grabbed the flashlight from the living room coffee table and the pistol from the empty sugar tub in the pantry. Just in case Bud was right.

The night air smelled of dying lake grass and still water and held the heat of the day. Croaking frogs and crickets vied to make the most noise. Tonight, the crickets were winning. Sometimes these were the only noises in the woods by the lake, and sometimes Birdie thought she was the only human surrounded by trees, water, and a sky as wide as forever.

Birdie now heard crying coming from the cabin.

These people.

This lakeside community had one restaurant, a general store, two churches, and a bar. No crime. No problems. Maybe not as fancy as Lake Arrowhead with all those movie stars and tycoons building mansions around its shores. Lake Paz was natural, created by the San Andreas Fault. Or, according to legend, created by the devil himself. Lake Arrowhead couldn’t say that.

Beneath that moonless, forever sky, Birdie tromped through the crackling dry leaves and hard pine needles, past that gold Camaro (the only thing Bud actually liked about these people) with its god-awful thunderous muffler.

“Please, don’t! Ohmigod, stop! Please.”

All of this late-night hullabaloo made her underarms sticky with perspiration. What was he doing to her? And with their daughter right there? She’d heard that mental illness plagued the family. Every morn­ ing, she saw the woman, glassy-eyed and limp, wandering the shores of the lake. The child, wearing her Cookie Monster nightgown, trailing behind her mother, would stop to dip her hands into the water, but then call out Mommy, wait! because Mommy never stopped because she was drunk or whacked-out on drugs. The girl could’ve drowned a million times, and Mommy would’ve never known.

Maybe tonight he had tired of her spells, of searching for her again in the woods, of finding the little girl alone on the porch or playing by herself near the lake again.

Or maybe she cheated on him, and he found out and threatened to leave.

Or maybe he cheated on her, and the silly young thing had been enough of a fool to ask him about it.

“I’m begging you!”

Birdie’s blood chilled. Crazy or not, any woman-white, Black, purple-knew desperation when she heard it. She slowed in her step as she came upon the kelly-green A-frame cabin, the nicest cabin at Lake Paz. It had a basement, a hot tub, and a deck that overlooked the lake. They can’t do anything without flash and noise, Bud had complained, even though he’d wanted both a hot tub and a deck. Even though he owned the town’s only general store, he still couldn’t afford those fancy-pants things.

Hesitant, Birdie climbed the porch steps and pushed the doorbell. As she waited, worry flitted around her belly like fireflies.

No answer.

She ran her fingers through her short blonde hair, then banged her fist against the door. “It’s Roberta Sumner from next door. I’m gonna call the sheriff’s if you don’t open up.” She slapped at her neck-she’d forgotten to DEET there, and the skeetos were eating her alive.

The door cracked open. A smell wafted through that small slit. It wasn’t alcohol. It wasn’t drugs. Not even blood. Did terror have a scent?

Birdie stuck her hand into the robe pocket hiding the pistol.

All had quieted in the cabin. Even the girl had stopped crying.

The woman’s eye, bloodshot and swollen from crying, peeked out at her. “Mrs. Sumner, how are you?” Always polite, she now sounded hoarse, tired.

“You all are too loud.” These hard words made Birdie a little dizzy, a little nauseated. Because that wasn’t what she’d meant to say, not right away. A Nebraskan, she’d been raised to offer pleasantries first-how do you do, lovely evening isn’t it, that’s a lovely coat. It was almost midnight, though. “You’re gonna wake up the dead making all that noise.”

“I’m so sorry,” the young woman said.

Birdie tried to peer past her into the living room. The space was dark and quiet. Too dark. Too quiet. She gripped the pistol tighter. “Everything okay?” she asked. “Do you need the police? An ambulance?”

“I’m fine, thank you,” the woman said. “Just a little disagreement. Nothing serious.”

Birdie snorted. “More than a little disagreement, gal. And it sounds very serious. You woke me up, and you damn near woke Bud up, too, and you and me both know … ”

The woman’s eye widened.

What they both knew burned in the small space between them.

“We won’t trouble you again, Mrs. Sumner. I’m so sorry.”

Birdie squinted at the young mother on the other side of the door. She knew her entire face-tawny skin with freckles across the bridge of her nose, lips that usually curved into a smile but had broken tonight. Those brown eyes-or brown eye-weary, no longer merry. A flirt, she’d tried to soften Bud with those soft eyes and generous smile. The poor thing didn’t understand that Bud would never, not ever … not even with a pretty thing like her.

“We’ve cooled off, I promise,” the woman said. “We’re leaving tomorrow. This will be the last fight you’ll hear. I promise, absolutely promise you.”

Birdie said, “Good. You take care, okay? Get some help.” She leaned in closer and whispered, “You need anything, just leave me a note beneath my doormat. Nobody else has to know, okay? Just between us gals.” She winked.

The woman nodded and whispered, “Thank you, Mrs. Sumner.”

The front door gently closed, and Birdie started back to her own cabin. In the middle of her journey, she paused beneath the pine trees and cocked her head to hear …

Not a whimper. Not a word.

In the bathroom, Birdie grabbed the bottle of pink calamine lotion from the medicine cabinet and spread it across her neck, arms, and legs until she looked like a hot dog. Then she-

What was that? She closed her eyes to hear …

Bud snoring.

Mosquitoes buzzing.

No, it sounded like a small …  pop.

Like a light bulb blowing out or …

Yes, she’d check under the doormat first thing tomorrow.

“Bird?” Bud shouted. “Come to bed. Can’t sleep with you making all that noise.”

“Coming, Bud.” She placed the cap back on the lotion.

Yes, it sounded like a bulb blowing out.

A small …  pop.

Excerpted from We Lie Here by Rachel Howzell Hall with permission from the publisher, Thomas & Mercer. Copyright © 2022 by Rachel Howzell Hall. All rights reserved.

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In These Toxic Things we follow Mickie Lambert who makes high-tech digital scrapbooks, which are a collection of items, memories, and keepsakes that hold a special significance for clients. Working with her newest client, however, includes challenges that Mickie has never dealt with (or even dreamed of dealing with) before.

At the same time, Mickie is suddenly receiving threatening messages that she can’t even fathom a reason for. She also is concerned with a recent change in her parents’ behaviour and their lack of a plausible explanation. To add just a little more to Mickie’s current stressors, she is also dealing with the break-up of the romantic relationship she has previously had with the man who is currently her boss, with whom she helped to create and develop the digital scrapbook technology. Being pulled in so many different directions makes Mickie feel all the more like a very real person.

Hall’s mystery and thriller elements are consistently well done and there are always surprises in store, but more than anything else this is a fascinating and well told story full of interesting characters, clever dialogue, and a flawlessly crafted plot.

I have tried for days to come up with exactly the right adjective for Hall’s incredible writing in These Toxic Things, but I have finally decided that there is no single word to encompass how alive her characters always feel. I came away feeling like I knew these people and feeling like I was actually there with Mickie when all of this went down. Hall’s style and pacing is second to none, and I am already excited about whatever she does next.

These Toxic Things is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore.

Will you be picking up These Toxic Things? Tell us in the comments below!

Synopsis | Goodreads

A dead woman’s cherished trinkets become pieces to a terrifying puzzle.

Mickie Lambert creates “digital scrapbooks” for clients, ensuring that precious souvenirs aren’t forgotten or lost. When her latest client, Nadia Denham, a curio shop owner, dies from an apparent suicide, Mickie honors the old woman’s last wish and begins curating her peculiar objets d’art. A music box, a hair clip, a key chain―twelve mementos in all that must have meant so much to Nadia, who collected them on her flea market scavenges across the country.

But these tokens mean a lot to someone else, too. Mickie has been receiving threatening messages to leave Nadia’s past alone.

It’s becoming a mystery Mickie is driven to solve. Who once owned these odd treasures? How did Nadia really come to possess them? Discovering the truth means crossing paths with a long-dormant serial killer and navigating the secrets of a sinister past. One that might, Mickie fears, be inescapably entwined with her own.

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There are some exciting debut authors, much-anticipated continuations in a series, domestic suspense, cults, detectives, spies, old secrets, and so much more. Without a doubt, there is something for every mystery/thriller reader coming in the next few months. This is only a sampling of some of our most anticipated!

The Night Village by Zoe Deleuil
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

Determined to start a new life in London, despite some unexpected circumstances, Australian expat Simone moves in with her boyfriend Paul. When Paul’s cousin Rachel arrives, however, Simone feels much more unease than relief. Something doesn’t seem right about Rachel’s motives for moving in, as well as just what secrets these cousins share.

Where I Left Her by Amber Garza
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The worst nightmare a mother can imagine comes true in this highly suspenseful tale of Whitney, a mother who drops her teenage daughter off at a sleepover, only to return to pick her up and find that the elderly couple living there have never seen the teenagers and they have no idea what Whitney is talking about. As she begins following what turns out to be a trail of lies, she has to wonder if she ever really knew her daughter at all. 

The Night We Burned by S.F. Kosa
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Dora’s job, and in fact her life itself, depends on her ability to separate fact from fiction as she struggles to outrun the secrets of her past. Old secrets, a cult, a fire, and a murder fit together to make a truly exciting psychological thriller! 

The Receptionist by Kate Myles
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

Emily’s tough, ruthless persona in her work life does not match that of her personal life, but a chain of shocking scandals throws Emily’s life into chaos. It becomes a fight for survival in this thriller full of sex, ambition, pregnancy, affairs, and disaster. How far will Emily go to protect what she loves most?

These Toxic Things by Rachel Howzell Hall
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A serial killer that has been dormant begins leaving messages for Mickie who makes “digital scrapbooks” of precious items for clients. But when Mickie began this task for her latest client, an apparent suicide, threats began arriving and Mickie is determined to solve the mysteries about her client even as the answers she finds become more sinister.

Dark Things I Adore by Katie Lattari
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An exciting debut tale of manipulative men and fierce women. Beginning in 1988, there are secrets and there are witnesses, and in 2018 there is a woman who has woven the perfect web to exact revenge. This psychological thriller of dark academia and vengeance has been described as seductive and captivating!

Never Saw Me Coming by Vera Kurian
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Chloe is not just a regular college student – she is also part of a clinical study for psychopaths. Chloe is actually one of seven students at the college who fall into this category, unable to feel (or even understand) emotions like regret, guilt, or fear. When one of the students in the study is murdered, Chloe may need to figure out how to trust, who to trust, and whether or not someone can trust her.

Nice Girls by Catherine Dang
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After an uncomfortably awkward childhood and adolescence in Minnesota, Mary saw an Ivy League school as her ticket into a different life. Three years later she is back, and definitely different, but refusing to explain what happened at Cornell and why she was kicked out as she started her senior year. She soon becomes obsessed with the disappearance of her childhood best friend, though they haven’t spoken in many years. Mary certainly knows about secrets and knows her missing friend is likely not who everyone believes she is…and that her disappearance may have ties to yet another missing girl.

Wolf Point by Ian K. Smith
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The follow-up to last year’s The Unspoken, continues to follow former Chicago Police Department detective Ashe Canyon as he fights corruption on the streets, and in the underbelly, of Chicago, now as a private investigator. Smith’s extensive research into the historical (and current) inner working of the city of Chicago, its politics, and its criminal justice system always give his writing a “ripped from the headlines” feel!

Litani by Jess Lourey
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Inspired by a terrifying true crime story, the author of Unspeakable Things and Bloodline is back with a story set in the rural Midwest. Fourteen year old Frankie can just feel that something is amiss when she has to move to live with her estranged mother in Litani, Minnesota. She is soon bullied by some of the local girls into ignoring her mother’s warnings to stay out of the nearby woods. Secrets, hysteria, and paranoia abound as Frankie begins to fear that those living around her truly are monsters.

These Silent Woods by Kimi Cunningham Grant
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A father and his young daughter are living in isolation in a cabin in the Appalachian Mountains while the father hides from the secrets of his past. While his daughter has been content living with her books and her imagination, she is beginning to push back against living a life disconnected from the outside world. When the pattern they have lived by all these years is disrupted it sets off a chain of events that exposes the reality of their lives. A shocking disappearance may be the end of the father’s ability to hide in this tension-filled story of survival and sacrifice.

Grave Reservations by Cherie Priest
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Fans of the Aurora Teagarden series by Charlaine Harris will find a lot to enjoy in this tale of a Seattle detective and a psychic travel agent working together to solve a murder. Premonitions, cold cases, secrets, a murdered fiancée, and karaoke…what’s not to love?

Hello, Transcriber by Hannah Morrissey
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Police transcriber and aspiring writer Hazel Greenlee becomes captivated by the investigation (and the lead detective) of a suspicious death linked to a notorious drug dealer. Before she knows it, Hazel is about to go a step too far in the chase for a good story.

True Crime Story by Joseph Knox
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In this uniquely told true crime documentary-style thriller there is a missing girl, a writer drawn into the story years later, and troubling inconsistencies in the official version of what happened to Zoe Nolan. In a unique twist, Joseph Knox puts himself into the story when revelations of a secret life and a stalker begin to show that, while she is missing and presumed dead, this may only be the beginning of Zoe Nolan’s real story.

The Secret Next Door by Rebecca Taylor
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In an exclusive neighbourhood near Denver, rapidly flowing gossip, on-going personality conflicts, and deep divisions boil over when a thirteen year old is found dead beside the neighbourhood lake. The long-held belief in the importance of a beautiful exterior pales in comparison to the secrets being kept in each house.

Everything We Didn’t Say by Nicole Baart
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Past and present collide in this family drama. Juniper had only just graduated from high school when a couple who lived on a nearby farm were brutally murdered. With Juniper’s brother named as the prime suspect, she left town promising never to return. But now she is back, and believes that solving the murders will put everything right. But it is never that easy…

Darkness Falls by Robert Bryndza
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I will readily admit that my favourite time of year is when a Kate Marshall thriller from Robert Bryndza comes out. This time, the heroine from Nine Elms and Shadow Sands investigates a journalist’s disappearance. It’s a cold case and most people have moved on. There are no new leads and no new suspects, but that does not mean Kate and Tristan are stuck at the same dead ends as previous investigators. The journalist may have been looking into something far darker and more disturbing than anyone previously realised.

The Witching Tree by Alice Blanchard
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Detective Natalie Lockhart is back, but the events that occurred in Trace of Evil and The Wicked Hour have taken a terrible toll on her well-being. Living at the centre of two well-known murder cases has just been too much, and she is thinking that the police force may not be where she belongs. But a shocking murder unlike anything she has seen before changes everything and she is back on the case with her boss and childhood friend Detective Luke Pittman.

Safecracker by Ryan Wick
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

This much-anticipated debut novel about a professional safecracker (obviously) and the incredibly high stakes involved in his latest job is full of action and has received many glowing early reviews. Michael Maven was hired to steal a rare coin, but that job gets unexpectedly complicated and Michael is soon coerced into much more dangerous work, and the lives of his family hang in the balance. Hopefully, there are plans for this to begin a whole new series!

My Darling Husband by Kimberly Belle
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

A happily married couple with adorable kids, a beautiful home, and a thriving business have their lives turned upside down when they are confronted one night by a home invader. The husband has been a good father and a loving spouse, but there are secrets he has kept that now put them all in danger and it is all about to become a very public scandal. Early reviewers have repeatedly mentioned the incredible pacing and breakneck speed of this domestic suspense thriller.

There are many other exciting thrillers coming in the next few months, by some of our long-time favourites like Alice Feeney, Kimberly McCreight, Catherine Ryan Howard, and the list goes on! 

What has been your favourite thriller this year so far, and what are you most excited about reading as 2021 winds down? Tell us in the comments below!

The post Closing Out 2021 With More Outstanding Thriller Book Releases appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

Grayson Sykes has been through a lot in her life, but now she has just become a full-fledged private investigator for Rader Consulting and she is on her first case. Her assignment is to track down their client’s missing girlfriend, who took the client’s dog when she suddenly left town several weeks ago. As there is no body, no signs of assault, kidnapping, or foul play, and it is not illegal to just walk away from your life, as an adult, the police have not been interested in this case. Grayson’s search for the missing Isabel Lincoln is nowhere near as simple and straightforward as she thought it might be. As first cases go, this one is intense!

As Grayson starts talking to different people who fill various roles in Isabel’s life, instead of getting a clearer picture, things just get muddier with every step. Who is telling the truth and who isn’t? Some of the dangerous elements Grayson uncovers makes her, at times, think that maybe it would be best if she didn’t find Isabel at all.

Along the way, we get to know Grayson, what she has been through, who she is, and how her life has led her to where she is right now. Grayson and Isabel are both fascinating, complicated characters, and Hall brings them both, along with a host of other characters, sharply to life with such themes as domestic violence, manipulation, extortion, religion, and familial ties.

This novel is told in a manner that takes the reader back to Grayson’s past and some of the trauma she has had to survive intermingled into the current events that are happening as the search continues for Isabel Lincoln. I realise not everyone loves this storytelling device like I do, but I personally love getting background information handed to me just a little at a time. I like piecing things together to make them fit into what is happening in the present timeline. The pacing of the story stays strong as these flashbacks occur in just the right places.

At times clever and witty, and other times incredibly dark and painful, And Now She’s Gone is a fantastic thriller, excellent character study, and tightly constructed bundle of suspense and tension. This was my first experience reading Rachel Howzell Hall, but it will certainly not be my last!

And Now She’s Gone is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore.

Will you be picking up And Now She’s Gone? Tell us in the comments below!

Synopsis | Goodreads

Isabel Lincoln is gone.

But is she missing?

It’s up to Grayson Sykes to find her. Although she is reluctant to track down a woman who may not want to be found, Gray’s search for Isabel Lincoln becomes more complicated and dangerous with every new revelation about the woman’s secrets and the truth she’s hidden from her friends and family.

Featuring two complicated women in a dangerous cat and mouse game, And Now She’s Gone explores the nature of secrets — and how violence and fear can lead you to abandon everything in order to survive.

The post Review: And Now She’s Gone by Rachel Howzell Hall appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

The locked room mystery has been around for a long time, with a popular example being Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, where ten strangers are lured to an island, and start dying off one by one. The appeal is that the physical limitations of the story means that the person “whodunnit” has to be in the initial group of people. There is an indirect challenge to the reader to solve the crime before the final, satisfying reveal. It makes for a gripping, hair-raising read, requiring little effort other than sitting back and letting events reveal all the clues.

Here are a few modern “locked room” mysteries that will have you reading from cover-to-cover in a single-sitting. These are highly recommended for getting out of a reading rut, and escaping our very own global “locked room”.

The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware

Rowan Caine is a live-in nanny whose sole responsibility is the care of two little girls, who live in a “smart” home on the Scottish highlands, while their parents are away for work. Rowan has to contend with the emotional isolation of caring for young children, and the fact that her only adult contact with the outside world is the janitor, Jack. Add the eeriness of physical isolation, compounded by the malfunctioning technology of the house, and you have an eerie tale, told in Rachel’s desperate letters from prison to her lawyer. Something went seriously wrong, and there are only a handful of people who could have been responsible.

The Escape Room by Megan Goldin

Who doesn’t want to be stuck in a small, confined space with their work colleagues? And apparently as small as a Zoom meeting room might be, the confines of an elevator in an isolated construction site with three other people is much more stifling. Told from the alternating perspective of Sara, and one of her colleagues stuck in the elevator, things escalate quickly from what seems to be a team-building exercise, to an all-out struggle for survival. A team shares both it successes and its failures, and also the consequences of its behaviour.

They All Fall Down by Rachel Howzell Hall

Seven strangers receive an invitation to a private island under the pretense of a reality TV show competition. Told from the first-person perspective of Miriam, things quickly escalate, and they realise that they have each been brought to the island for a secret they’ve been harbouring, and it’s time for a reckoning. This one is directly inspired by, and is a modern retelling of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None.

Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty

Liane Moriarty is best known for Big Little Lies and her empathy and insight into people’s motivations, which is reflected in Nine Perfect Strangers. Nine people arrive at a remote wellness resort to work on varying personal goals for ten days that are meant to change their lives. Their lives do change, but not as advertised in the brochures. There’s something not quite right about Tranquilium House, and ultimately the guests have to decide what their true values and priorities are.

An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena

A weekend at a hotel in the snowy mountains sounds like the perfect cozy getaway, even if it means a storm has cut off the hotel staff and eight guests from civilisation. That’s until one guest dies mysteriously, and then another. As the body count rises, paranoia sets in and the accusations fly. By the time the police arrive, the guests and staff have been through a harrowing experience.

The Darkest Secret by Alex Marwood

Three year old Coco Jackson goes missing at her family’s vacation home after her father’s 50th birthday party, and is never seen again. The mystery goes unsolved until the death of the father, Sean Jackson, many years later. Sean’s family and their friends finally meet for his funeral and attempt to bury the past, only to dig it up and have to face it first. There is no way anyone could see this conclusion coming!

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

Set on a private island, the Sinclair cousins meet when their families visit in the summer. The relationships between their parents and their grandparents have an inevitable, lasting effect on their summers and the rest of their lives. It’s a beautiful, quiet, yet suspenseful read, that has you gasping at the conclusion, which again, you will never see coming!

The Last by Hanna Jameson

Set in a world that quickly unraveled after an apocalyptic nuclear event, twenty guests deal with their abrupt disconnection from life as they knew it. They also contend with each other as resources deplete and a body is discovered in the hotel’s water tank. Events are narrated through the eyes of Jon, a historian by occupation who is away from his wife and two kids, and describes how we cope when we are forced to deal with the unthinkable.

The Guest List by Lisa Foley

Set on a remote island off the coast of Ireland, The Guest List is the tale of events that take place at a wedding. It’s told from the first-person perspectives of the wedding planner Aoife, Jules the bride, Hannah the “plus-one”, Johnno the best man, and Olivia the bridesmaid. The varying points of view make for a dizzying read, that digs into each of the characters personalities and motives. It’s a slow burn that will have you wondering who the victim was, who murdered them, and why.

Do you have any other recommendations? Tell us in the comments below!

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