Intrigued? Well read on to discover the synopsis and an excerpt from The Shadow Friends by Tess Gerritsen, which releases on August 25th 2026.

When a renowned disease expert and Russian defector dies mysteriously during a global affairs conference in Purity, Maine, the tight-knit band of former spies in the Martini Club once again sees their quiet coastal retirement interrupted by international intrigue. And when a waitress at the conference hotel is found murdered, Ingrid Slocum sees chilling links to a disastrous mission that nearly killed her three decades ago.

Desperate to uncover the truth, Ingrid’s drawn back into the game by a magnetic ex-CIA colleague—and former lover—who was with her on the long-ago doomed mission. He convinces her to join him, and together they head to Amsterdam to track down her would-be killer.

Ingrid’s frantic husband Lloyd and Maggie Bird are close behind, but a clandestine network of assassins is intent on stopping them. Forced to question every allegiance, the Martini Club must rely on the skills they tried to leave behind. Because in this game of revenge and deception, the past never dies—it just hides in the shadows.

CHAPTER ONE

INGRID

Her life was not supposed to end this way. Then again, in her profession, one never knew how it would end. She had hoped her final exit would happen many years in the future, and it would be painless, perhaps while she dozed in a rocking chair with a fire gently crackling in the hearth and a cat purring on her lap. Or perhaps the end would be heralded by a crushing pain in her chest after one last triumphant climb up a mountain. She had not expected it to come today, with so many years of life still ahead of her, and not in this old stone house, amid the fields of blooming lavender. It was a breathtakingly beautiful place to die. Through the window, framed by ancient wooden shutters, she could see the hills of Provence, cloaked in the golden haze of summer. The air that wafted in through that window was perfumed with the scent of flowers. This was a day that should be savored, a day to sip pastis in the nearby village and nibble on olives and peanuts.

Instead, she would die trapped in a bedroom with a wounded young woman who was bleeding to death beside her. Ingrid had locked the door and had desperately shoved furniture against it to stave off the invaders, but those pitiful barriers would not hold them off for long. Already, the men were battering against it, and while the door was solid, made of centuries-old oak, eventually the attackers would burst through. For Ingrid, death would probably come swiftly, with two merciful bullets in the head.

But for Sophie . . .

“Cannot—cannot breathe,” Sophie whispered.

Ingrid looked down at the woman she had been assigned to protect. Sophie was barely a woman, really, only twenty-two years old, but blessed—some would say cursed—with the courage of a warrior. She had trusted the Agency to keep her alive, had believed all their assurances that Moscow would never find her in this safe house, tucked away in a quiet corner of Provence.

And for weeks, they had kept Sophie safe. While Ingrid’s colleagues in Paris and Marseille had worked to dismantle the Russian syndicate, Sophie and Ingrid had felt secure enough here to venture outside every morning to pick flowers and sip coffee in the garden. Who would think to look for Sophie in this old stone farmhouse at the end of a private dirt road? To even access the road, an attacker would first have to contend with Ingrid’s two Agency colleagues, stationed in the gatehouse at the top of the road. With these safeguards in place, and their location classified, no one should’ve been able to find them.

But somehow, they had been found.

Their first warning had been a curl of dust spiraling up in the distance, kicked into the air by the tires of an approaching vehicle. All vehicles first had to be cleared by Simon and Gordon, the two agents in the gatehouse, but Ingrid had received no heads-up from her colleagues about a visitor. She’d radioed the men to confirm.

No one answered.

She’d called out to Sophie, who was crouched in the garden, snipping a bundle of lavender stalks. With her straw hat and summer-streaked blond hair, Sophie looked like a winsome country girl, happily flushed from the sun, without a care in the world. The way a young woman should look while spending her summer in France. Contented. Unafraid.

“Sophie, go in the house,” Ingrid had said.

Sophie looked up, and when she saw Ingrid’s face, she quickly rose to her feet. Now she, too, spotted the fantail of dust rising from the road. “Who is coming?” she asked.

“I don’t know. Go inside.”

At once Sophie dropped the bundle of lavender stalks that she’d so lovingly harvested and she retreated into the house.

Again, Ingrid radioed the gatehouse. Again, there was no response.

The dust cloud kept moving closer. She could now see it was a black SUV, and it was moving fast. Something is wrong, she thought. She followed Sophie into the house, barred the door, and issued a Mayday to her backup team in the village.

Then she grabbed the rifle.

Through the rifle scope, she watched the SUV roar closer. She could make out the silhouettes of five heads inside the vehicle. She kept her rifle aimed at the driver, but she held her fire because the situation was still unclear. They could be friendlies. There could have been a comm failure. Her finger twitched on the trigger.

The SUV skidded to a stop in front of the house. Four men stepped out. Armed, dressed in black.

Definitely not friendlies.

She fired and took down one man. The others immediately scrambled for cover behind the vehicle. A barrage of return fire shattered the kitchen window and glass exploded into the room, clattering across the floor.

“Sophie!” she yelled. “Go upstairs!”

No answer.

She turned and saw the young woman, her face pale and contorted in pain, slowly sliding down against the blood-spattered wall.

“Sophie!”

More bullets tore into the kitchen and thudded into the cabinets. Wineglasses and chinaware disintegrated.

As Ingrid scrambled toward Sophie, shrapnel bit into her leg, and warm blood trickled down her skin. Even as she dodged the hail of gunfire, her focus was only on Sophie. Get her out of the room. Out of the line of fire.

She grabbed Sophie around the waist, slung the rifle over her shoulder, and pulled the young woman out of the kitchen. There was no escape route from this house. Their only option was to retreat upstairs to one of the bedrooms, bar the door, and hope that rescue arrived in time. Sophie’s legs had gone limp, and she was little more than deadweight as Ingrid hauled her up the narrow staircase. By the time they reached the second floor, Ingrid was dragging her, leaving a trail of blood on the floorboards.

From downstairs came the sound of pounding, kicking. How long would the door hold?

Not long enough.

Ingrid pulled Sophie into the upstairs bedroom and laid her on the floor. The young woman’s blouse was saturated with blood and she was gasping for air, but Ingrid had no time to attend to her wounds. A blast shook the house.

They had plastic explosives.

She bolted the bedroom door and shoved a dresser and chair against it. Scrambled behind the bed and crouched against the mattress with her rifle aimed at the door. The first one through that door would be a dead man.

“Please . . . help . . .”

Ingrid reached out and touched Sophie’s hand. Already it felt like the hand of a corpse, the warmth of life draining away. I’m sorry. I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you.

Voices shouted downstairs in the kitchen. Russian. They were inside the house. Footsteps thudded up the stairs. Her finger was already squeezing the trigger, ready to fire, as they banged on the bedroom door. Each blow shook the dresser, her last pitiful line of defense. Her heart was banging as well, like a wild animal trying to beat its way out of her chest. It would not take long for them to break through. She could take down the first one or two of them, but there was only one way this would end. The syndicate demanded it. Sophie, who’d dared to betray them, must now suffer the consequences.

As Ingrid leaned into the mattress, her finger poised to fire, she thought about all the pleasures she would never live to enjoy, the breaths she would never take, the sunsets she would never witness. She thought about the man who waited for her at home, the man with whom she could have spent the rest of her life. Gone, those possible futures, all gone. Now it was down to these final moments, the invaders pounding at the door, the sweat trickling down her cheek like a warm teardrop. How many rounds were left in her rifle? She didn’t know, but she would keep firing as long as she was able to, as long as she had bullets. Make them pay dearly. Make them . . .

The blast splintered wood, sent shrapnel flying. The shock wave threw her backward, and her head slammed against the wall. For a moment she saw nothing, heard nothing, felt nothing. No discomfort, just the black numbness of death. Then, faint and distant, the staccato of gunfire. Men shouting. Footsteps.

They are coming. Here it ends.

“Ingrid.”

She drew in a shuddering breath, and pain stabbed her ribs, sharp as a blade. Pain meant she was alive. Pain meant they weren’t finished with her yet.

“Ingrid!”

She opened her eyes. To her wonder, she saw a face she knew well, a face that was now staring down at her in panic. Rodrigo’s black hair was powdered with a layer of dust, and his cheek was spattered with blood. Not his blood, she realized, but another man’s.

“Help her,” whispered Ingrid. “Help Sophie.”

He gave a sorrowful shake of the head and looked away. She followed his gaze to the body lying nearby.

In life, Sophie had been a pale and luminous beauty, but beneath her seeming fragility was tempered steel. For almost a year, she had gone unnoticed while embedded within a viper’s nest of men who made their fortunes from death and destruction. She had been listening, always listening, as those men talked freely about the deals they’d made, the rivals they’d eliminated. None of those men could imagine that the harmless and insignificant girl they’d hired to serve their drinks, adorn their yachts, would be the Trojan horse that would bring them down. Ingrid herself had been dubious when a troubled Sophie first approached the Agency with information about the syndicate. Damning information that she’d gleaned while she’d hovered silently in the background. To the syndicate, she was just another pretty face, like so many others that could always be found orbiting powerful men. Unlike the others, though, Sophie had been paying attention and taking notes. She had come to understand, with growing horror, who these men were and the brutal violence they were capable of.

I’m sorry. Ingrid reached out to Sophie’s lifeless body. Oh God, I’m sorry.

“Ingrid.” Rodrigo gently tugged on her arm. “There’s nothing you can do here. Come, let me take you to the village.”

“How did this happen? How did they find us?”

“I don’t know.”

“We had no warning. Why didn’t our men warn us?”

There was a silence. She looked up and saw his pained expression.

“What happened to them? Where are Simon and Gordon?”

He shook his head. “I’m sorry.”

“Both of them?”

“We’ll talk about it later.”

“Just tell me!”

“If you really want to know,” he said quietly, “I’ll show you.”

*

She should not have asked. Far better to have read the details in some dry autopsy report, or to hear about it second- or third-hand, to put as much distance as she could from this bloody reality. But now that she was staring at the carnage, these images would be forever imprinted in her memory.

Gordon would have been taken down first. His body was lying outside the stone guardhouse, sprawled at the edge of the garden, his blood soaking into the soil. Life’s nutrients, returning to the earth to nourish next year’s blossoms. The instrument of death was still implanted in Gordon’s left orbit. It was a stiletto, an elegant and efficient tool made of stainless steel. Some sort of symbol was engraved on the handle: a small circle with a dot inside. A minimalist design, like the weapon itself. It would have been a mercifully quick death—at least she hoped it was. One stab would have driven the tip of the stiletto through the eye socket and straight into the brain. Gordon would not have suffered long.

The same could not be said for Simon.

He, too, must have been taken by surprise, because his gun was lying off in the corner, where it had probably been kicked during the fight. The room smelled of carnage, the stink of sweat and desperation. The wall was covered with fantails of blood, sprayed there from his severed carotid artery as he’d turned and twisted. From the doorway, Ingrid surveyed the blood, splashed like scarlet streamers around the room, and imagined Simon slip-sliding through those pools. He had been the fair-haired kid on their team, only twenty-eight and happy to have escaped the small and unexciting town in Texas where he’d grown up. Now he’d be returning to that town in a box.

She turned and walked away.

Outside in the garden, she took deep breaths, emptying her lungs of the stench. A hot wind swept down the valley, bringing with it the scent of summer-warmed grass and lavender. She heard Rodrigo’s footsteps crunching toward her across the gravel.

“What about the men who did this?” she asked.

“We’ve secured the location. They’re all dead,” said Rodrigo. “We took care of it.”

“Are you sure?”

“You saw their bodies.”

She thought back to the blood and chaos left behind in the farmhouse. She remembered two men lying dead on the stairs, a third body sprawled on the kitchen floor. And there’d been a fourth one in the yard, where Ingrid had brought him down with her rifle shots. She recalled their black SUV roaring up to the farmhouse, and the view she’d had through her rifle scope of the occupants inside that vehicle.

“There’s someone missing,” she said.

Rodrigo frowned at her. “What?”

“I saw four bodies at the house.”

“Yes. That’s all of them.”

“But there were five people in the SUV.”

“No, we killed them all. There were four.”

“And no one escaped?”

“Trust me, there was no fifth man.”

“But I could swear—”

“Ingrid.” He touched her face, his fingers lingering on her cheek. “You caught the blast from that door. When I found you, you were barely conscious. Can you really be certain of what you saw?”

“I don’t know,” she whispered, and clutched her head. It was still throbbing from the blast, and she tried to rub away the ache, the failure. “I just need to be sure. I owe it to Gordon and Simon. And Sophie . . .”

He wrapped his arms around her. “Come. Let me take you back to the hotel.”

Suddenly exhausted, she sagged against him. They had once been lovers, and even though she had ended it a year ago, the contours of his body still felt familiar. They’d seemed well matched in so many ways, the way her head tucked so perfectly under his chin, even the way the rhythm of their breathing seemed aligned. But that was before she’d really known him. Before she’d come to realize that she was just one in a long line of Rodrigo’s conquests. This fire between them, so bright and hot, would inevitably burn out, leaving nothing but ashes.

She stared down at Gordon’s body and thought about all the memories that blade had destroyed as it sank into his brain. All the laughter, all the dreams. All the love. “His son just turned twelve,” she said softly. “Gordon showed me his photo the other day. Told me how rotten he felt about missing the boy’s birthday. And his wife. Oh God, Vicky . . .”

“This isn’t the time to think about it.”

“When is the time?” She looked up at Rodrigo. “Or will there never be a good time? Do we just shove it into the closet and forget it? The way we forget everything else?”

He took her arm. “You need to rest.”

“No. What I really need is to go home.”

“Yes. I think that’s a good idea. You should fly home. Take as much time as you need, and come back when you feel ready.” He caressed her cheek. “But please,” he said with a smile. “Don’t be gone for too long.”

She caught his wrist and gently lowered his hand. “To be honest, there’s another reason I need to go home for a while.”

“What reason?”

She turned and looked up the road at the safe house. At what should have been a safe house but instead had turned into a place of slaughter. “I thought I was going to die there. And that’s when I realized what I want to live for. Who I want to live for. I need to tell him, while I still have the chance.”

“Him?” Rodrigo frowned. “You can’t mean that analyst you’ve been talking about?”

“That’s exactly who I mean.”

“Are you really going home to that—that desk jockey?”

“That desk jockey loves me.” In ways that you never will, she thought.

“And is that enough?”

“Love?” She looked at him and gave a sad laugh. “You really don’t understand it, do you?”

“I understand that you and I have something special.”

“And how long would that last?”

“Long enough.” He tilted up her head and looked straight into her eyes. “Admit it, Ingrid. You’d miss me, wouldn’t you? How long will it take for you to get bored with him? Maybe not this year or next year, but eventually you will be. He has no idea what our world is like. He spends all day at his desk and goes home every night, to what? Dinner and a video?”

“That’s starting to sound pretty damn good.”

“You know what does sound good?” He pulled her closer, so close their bodies were pressed against each other. “A hotel room. A glass of champagne . . .”

She stepped away. “I’ll write my report tonight, and it will be on your desk tomorrow, for the cable. And then I’m going to apply for a transfer.” She looked down one last time at Gordon. Poor Gordon would never have the chance to grow old, but she would. And she didn’t want to do it alone. “Goodbye, Rodrigo. I’ll invite you to the wedding.” She turned and walked away.

“I won’t come!” he called.

“Suit yourself.”

“I hate to watch tragedies!”

“Not a tragedy.” She paused and glanced back at him. “A happy ending.”

“Are you sure about that?”

She didn’t answer him. She didn’t know.

Copyright © 2026 by Tess Gerritsen. From THE SHADOW FRIENDS by Tess Gerritsen. Reprinted by permission of Thomas & Mercer, a division of Amazon Publishing. 

The post Read The First Chapter From ‘The Shadow Friends’ by Tess Gerritsen appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

Hi, Tess! Welcome back! How have you been over the last year and a bit since we last spoke?

Busier than ever! I’m writing the third in the Martini Club series, featuring my merry band of retired spies as they solve crimes (while occasionally annoying the local chief of police) in small-town Maine. I’m also working on the pilot for a television series, VACATIONLAND, featuring a semi-autobiographical Asian-American character who leaves California and moves to Maine.

Your latest novel, The Summer Guests, is out March 18^th and the second installment in your Martini Club series! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?

In only five words? That’s brutal! But I’ll try: “Old spies seek missing girl.”

What can readers expect?

Maine has long been a destination for well-to-do summer visitors, leading to friction between the local population and these demanding outsiders. When the teenage daughter of a wealthy summer family goes missing, and Maggie Bird’s neighbor is implicated, Maggie and her four friends — all retired from the CIA — join the search for the girl. This leads to inevitable clashes with police chief Jo Thibodeau, who’s annoyed that the Martini Club is once again always a step ahead of her. Believing that the girl may have drowned, the police search the pond near the family’s house — only to drag up the skeleton of a long-dead woman. As the case becomes more and more complex, it will take the efforts of both Jo and the Martini Club to finally reveal the truth.

Where did the inspiration for The Summer Guests come from?

During my research for THE SPY COAST, I came across an obscure bit of history concerning the CIA and what it was doing in Maine. There was an outpost of MKULTRA operations here on the midcoast, a program that later became embroiled in scandal, and that was part of what inspired THE SUMMER GUESTS. But the biggest inspiration was from having lived in Maine for 35 years, observing the tensions between the summer people and the locals, and imagining how those conflicts could escalate.

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

I love writing about the sometimes fraught relationship between Jo Thibodeau and the members of the Martini Club! There are so many layers of conflict between them: young vs old, local vs. outsider, innocence vs. cynicism. With each book, Jo learns more and more about these ex-spies, and she’s also drawn slowly into their circle of trust. They can never completely trust her of course, because the members of the Martini Club are by nature suspicious, but they have come to appreciate that Jo is truly a good egg who’ll always try to do the right thing. (Which sometimes gets in their way!)

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

I get plot block with every single book I write. It’s because I don’t outline my stories ahead of time, I just plunge into the story without a plan for where it’s going. When I get around two-thirds through the first draft, I have to stop and figure out what the heck is happening, who the villain is, and how to reveal their guilt. I’m at that stage now with my third Martini Club story. I know I’m near the end, but I just don’t know how to wrap it up.

My strategy for dealing with plot block is to stew and lie sleepless at night and vow that this is the last book I’ll ever write. I’ll stare at the ceiling, watch a lot of TV, and do a lot of ironing. What does help, I find, is to take long and boring drives. Very often, the solution to my problem pops into my head as I’m behind the wheel. I wish there were an easier way to do this, but after 32 books, I’ve come to accept that this is my process, and I’m too old to change.

Why thrillers?

It doesn’t matter what kind of book I set out to write, the story always veers into a thriller! Over my nearly 40-year writing career, I’ve written romance, historicals, science fiction, medical suspense, crime novels, and even a ghost story. While the sub-genre may change, at heart, they always seem to involve crime in one form or another. Perhaps it has to do with my childhood love of Nancy Drew stories. Or it’s because a beloved friend of my family later went to prison for murder, and I’m still trying to process how someone I loved and trusted could have done such a terrible thing.

What are some of the key lessons you’ve learned as an author and about the publishing world since your debut?

I’ve learned to be comfortable with my own writing process, that as painful as it can sometimes be, my way of writing books is right for me. I’ve also learned to trust my emotions when it comes to plots and characters. If a premise or situation gives me a strong gut reaction, then that’s what I should write. Stories grab you because you feel something about the situation or the character. Those are the stories that keep readers turning the pages.

What’s next for you?

I’m working on book #3 of the Martini Club series. The title is THE SHADOW FRIENDS, and this story focuses on former spy Ingrid Slocum, whose former lover from her espionage days comes back into her life, complicating her marriage, and leading to more murder and mayhem.

Lastly, what books are you looking forward to picking up this year?

I always look forward to Lisa Unger’s books, and she has a new one coming: CLOSE YOUR EYES AND COUNT TO TEN. Also SA Cosby’s KING OF ASHES and Shari Lapena’s SHE DIDN’T SEE IT COMING.

Will you be picking up The Summer Guests? Tell us in the comments below!

The post Q&A: Tess Gerritsen, Author of ‘The Summer Guests’ appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

Hi Tess, welcome to The Nerd Daily! Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

I’ve been a writer for about 36 years, and have produced 31 novels and a few screenplays. I don’t limit myself to any genre, I just write what thrills me, and I’ve moved in several genres: crime novels, historicals, science fiction, romance, even a ghost story. I live in Maine, where just looking out the window is an inspiration.

When did you discover you wanted to be a writer? We understand you are also a retired doctor?

I was seven years old when I announced to my father that I wanted to be a writer. He was a very practical man and he told me writing was no way to make a living, so I took a detour…  to medical school. I was board-certified in internal medicine and worked as a doctor for a few years. That came to an end after I became a mom and discovered how hard it is for two doctors to juggle careers plus parenthood when there’s no childcare available. So I decided to stay home with my kids for a while — which turned out to be a great excuse to focus on my writing. And that’s when I wrote my first novel.

Quick lightning round! Tell us the first book you ever remember reading, the one that made you want to become an author, and one that you can’t stop thinking about!

It was probably a Nancy Drew book, THE HIDDEN STAIRCASE. Nancy Drew was a huge inspiration for me, not just because she was a detective, but because she was independent, clever, and respected by adults. She made girls believe we could do anything.

The Spy Coast is coming out November 1 by Thomas & Mercer – what’s the quick one-sentence pitch for the book?

A retired spy living in Maine finds a dead body in her driveway and turns to her friends — also retired spies — to help her find out who wants her dead.

And then can you give us five action words to describe The Spy Coast? 

Fun. Fast. Thrilling. Globe-trotting. Surprising.

What’s the inspiration behind The Spy Coast?

I live in a small Maine town where quite a few retired spies live. I wondered what ex-spies do with themselves. Do they have cocktail parties? Book clubs? Do they long to get back into action? I thought about these ordinary-appearing neighbors I see every day in the grocery store and post office, and imagined what stories they could tell. That’s how the character of Maggie Bird came to me. She seems like just a gray-haired chicken farmer, living in the quiet town of Purity. In truth, she’s a woman haunted by her past career, and by the tragic consequences of her last operation as a spy.

You are a prolific writer! How many books have you had published, and do you have a favorite book or a favorite character? How come that one is your favorite?

THE SPY COAST will be my 31st novel. It’s hard to choose a favorite book or character, because whoever I’m writing about is my favorite at the time. But I’d have to say Maggie Bird is definitely one of my favorites because she has the wry and weary voice of experience.

What’s coming up after The Spy Coast?

I’m writing the second book featuring Maggie Bird and her friends, called THE SUMMER GUESTS.

Will you be picking up The Spy Coast? Tell us in the comments below!

The post Q&A: Tess Gerritsen, Author of ‘The Spy Coast’ appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

Told in a non-linear format, the story opens with an investigation into what appears to be a suicide of a young woman, but Detective Frankie Loomis is not the type of detective that ignores a gut feeling—and her senses are telling her there is more to this story. She is not going to take short-cuts and wrap this case up as a suicide until she is satisfied.

From this point, the story jumps back and forth, before and after this opening moment, but each section of the book is very clear about this time jump, and it is never confusing or difficult to follow. We learn much more about the woman who is suspected to have committed suicide, and we see what was going on in her life and those she interacted with in the last days of her life. These jumps between before and after her death occurred are very cleverly placed to keep the tension high, and each time the shift occurs the reader is let in on yet another twist in this fast-paced mystery.

Readers who need likeable main characters may have a difficult time, as most of the characters in the story (apart from the detectives) would generally not be considered likeable people. They are, however, interesting multi-layered characters which, in my personal opinion, has much more bearing on how much I enjoy a story.

The detectives, while they take a back seat for the majority of the book, are characters I would love to see more of in the future. Their partnership has a very realistic dynamic, and Detective Loomis in particular has a unique perspective on some crimes, as she is raising two teenage daughters herself and this invariably affects her when she has a victim not much older than those daughters.

The mystery itself is exciting and well-paced and full of enough twists to keep the reader guessing throughout. Even with the relatively small cast of characters, Choose Me is so cleverly written that it is never obvious how things are going to turn out.

Choose Me is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of July 1st 2021.

Will you be picking up Choose Me? Tell us in the comments below!

Synopsis | Goodreads

From New York Times bestseller Tess Gerritsen and acclaimed thriller writer Gary Braver comes a sexy murder mystery about a reckless affair and dangerous secrets.

Taryn Moore is young, beautiful and brilliant…so why would she kill herself? When Detective Frankie Loomis arrives on the scene to investigate the girl’s fatal plunge from her apartment balcony, she knows in her gut there’s more to the story, especially after the autopsy reveals that the college senior was pregnant. It could be reason enough for suicide-or a motive for murder.

To English professor Jack Dorian, Taryn was the ultimate fantasy: intelligent, adoring, and completely off limits. But there was also a dark side to Taryn, a dangerous streak that threatened those she turned her affections to–including Jack. And now that she’s dead, his problems are just beginning.

After Frankie uncovers a trove of sordid secrets, it becomes clear that Jack may know the truth. He is guilty of deception, but is he capable of cold-blooded murder?

The post Review: Choose Me by Tess Gerritsen and Gary Braver appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

APRIL

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The Perfect Daughter by DJ Palmer

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In The Company of Killers by Bryan Christy

A tightly wound debut thriller! Tom is an investigative reporter, but only as a cover – he’s also a CIA spy.  While he is on assignment in Kenya, his carefully crafted double life begins to fall apart, revealing truths that even Tom doesn’t know about.

MAY

The Next Wife by Kaira Rouda

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Find You First by Linwood Barclay

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The Hunting Wives by May Cobb

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The Photographer by Mary Dixie Carter

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JUNE

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A young but experienced female detective literally follows a murderer into the eye of a storm when she helps the FBI find a killer using natural disasters to hide his crimes and aid his escape.

Hairpin Bridge by Taylor Adams

The author of No Exit is back with a new thriller where a young woman refuses to accept the official police version of her sister’s death.  Lena is willing to fight for the truth, but instead may be fighting for her life.

The Fiancee by Kate White

What should have been a relaxing family vacation is turned on its head when a mysterious woman is involved.  An unexpected death further rocks the family, but was that only the beginning?

Hostage by Clare Mackintosh

The ultimate locked-room mystery, a claustrophobic thriller that takes place entirely on a twenty- hour flight from London to Sydney. A lot can happen in twenty hours.

Survive the Night by Riley Sager

Set in 1991, when help was not just as close as a cellphone call away, two people share a car ride when neither person knows enough about the person they are riding beside.

JULY

Choose Me by Tess Gerritsen and Gary Braver

When a young woman who is both beautiful and brilliant plunges from her apartment balcony, the detective in charge can feel in her gut that there is more to the story than meets the eye.  Discovering her sordid secrets provides more questions, rather than answers.

For Your Own Good by Samantha Downing

This best-selling author is back with a new thriller set in a prestigious private school.  Meddlesome parents, murder, Teacher of the Year, and overachieving students – what else could we ask for?

Her Last Breath by Hilary Davidson

When it is discovered that a woman predicted her own murder, her sister will absolutely not let the truth be brushed aside, despite being a pariah in her own family. Digging for the truth may come at too high of a cost, however.

Safe in my Arms by Sara Shepard

At an elite preschool, the principal is attacked and three moms who don’t think they fit in with the ultra-wealthy community work together to both find out who is trying to frame them as well as how to keep their real secrets hidden.

Silver Tears by Camilla Lackberg

Three generations of women have been hiding from one man, but secrets always eventually come out.  Betrayal and tears are sure to follow.

Are you as excited as we are about all of these upcoming thrillers? Are some of your favourite authors back with something new? Which books are you most excited to pick up? Tell us in the comments below!

The post Thrillers We Are Eagerly Anticipating In The Next Few Months appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

Read on to discover our picks and tell us in the comments below if you will be picking up any!

Find Me (Call Me By Your Name #2) by André Aciman
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

In this spellbinding exploration of the varieties of love, the author of the worldwide bestseller Call Me by Your Name revisits its complex and beguiling characters decades after their first meeting.

The Shape of Night by Tess Gerritsen
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

A woman trying to outrun her past is drawn to a quiet coastal town in Maine–and to a string of unsolved murders–in this haunting tale of romantic suspense from New York Times bestselling author Tess Gerritsen.

How Fires End by Marco Rafala
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

A dark secret born out of World War II lies at the heart of a Sicilian American family in this emotional and sweeping saga of guilt, revenge, and, ultimately, redemption.

The Remaking by Clay McLeod Chapman
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

Inspired by a true story, this supernatural thriller for fans of horror and true crime follows a tale as it evolves every twenty years—with terrifying results.

Christmas Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

#1 New York Times bestselling author Sophie Kinsella returns with a festive new Shopaholic adventure filled with holiday cheer and unexpected gifts.

Olive, Again (Olive Kitteridge) by Elizabeth Strout
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

#1 New York Times bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize winner Elizabeth Strout continues the life of her beloved Olive Kitteridge, a character who has captured the imaginations of millions of readers.

Quantum by Patricia Cornwell
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

International bestselling author Patricia Cornwell delivers pulse-pounding thrills in a series featuring a brilliant and unusual new heroine, cutting-edge cybertechnology, and stakes that are astronomically high.

One Night Gone by Tara Laskowski
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

One sultry summer, Maureen Haddaway arrives in the wealthy town of Opal Beach to start her life anew. But Maureen’s new life just might be too good to be true, and before the summer is up, she vanishes. Decades later, when Allison Simpson is offered the opportunity to house-sit in Opal Beach during the off-season. But when she becomes drawn into the mysterious disappearance of a girl thirty years before, Allison realizes the gorgeous homes of Opal Beach hide dark secrets. And the truth of that long-ago summer is not even the most shocking part of all…

The Widow of Rose House by Diana Biller
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

A young widow restores a dilapidated mansion with the assistance of a charming, eccentric genius, only to find the house is full of dangerous secrets in this effervescent Gilded Age debut novel.

Cilka’s Journey (The Tattooist of Auschwitz #2) by Heather Morris
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

From the author of the multi-million copy bestseller, The Tattooist of Auschwitz, comes the new novel based on an incredible true story of love and resilience.

The House of Brides by Jane Cockram
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

Jane Cockram makes her thrilling debut with this page-turning tale of psychological suspense in which a young woman whose life is in tatters flees to the safety of a family estate in England, but instead of comfort finds chilling secrets and lies.

The Christmas Spirits on Tradd Street by Karen White
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

The Christmas spirit is overtaking Tradd Street with a vengeance in this festive new novel in the New York Times bestselling series by Karen White.

Will you be picking up any of these releases? Tell us in the comments below!

The post October 2019 Book Releases: Fiction appeared first on The Nerd Daily.