sizzling psychological Thrillers
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THE Christmas PREsent
There will be no escape this Christmas...
They’re out there again.
My heart pounds as I look out of the kitchen window.
For weeks now, they’ve been harassing us, vandalising our property and intimidating our children. It’s been relentless.
The police don’t take them seriously because they’re teenagers. But they don’t know what it’s like to live like this. Those girls are running rings around us, and it’s got to the point where they're there every time we leave the house, mocking us. Following wherever we go.
We’ve had as much as we can take.
So in the middle of the night, my husband Howard and I pack our family into the car, and set off for a secluded cabin in the snowy wilderness of the Scottish Highlands.
As Christmas morning dawns, the children are excited to begin the festivities. Our eldest daughter, Taylor reaches for her stocking, her eyes sparkling with excitement. But as she peers inside, her joyful expression morphs into one of sheer terror. Time freezes as we all stare in disbelief at the ominous object that falls from the wrapping paper and we realise there’s no escape.
What do they want from us, and what will it take to make them stop?
THE Beach
You thought you were keeping them safe. You let the evil in...
My heart twists as I watch my teenagers, Willow and Josh, head off on their first holiday without me. They're spreading their wings, venturing out into the world, and I feel a mix of pride and anxiety. Choosing a quiet resort in Bulgaria seems like a safe bet, but I can't shake the worry gnawing at my gut.
Then, like a beacon of hope, I stumble upon Kelly's ad. An English woman of my own age is offering to discretely watch over them for a fee. It's a lifeline, a way to ease my frazzled nerves. So I accept, clinging to the reassurance it offers.
Kelly’s updates paint a picture of blissful normalcy. I relax, trusting that my children are safe and sound. Little do I know, they're facing dangers they're too proud to confess.
Then a phone call in the middle of the night shatters the illusion. With desperation fuelling every heartbeat, I drive to the airport, praying it's not too late. As I wait for my plane, I research the woman I hired to watch my children. Panic grips me as I delve into her past and discover the horrifying truth. There is more to Kelly’s offer than I ever could have imagined.
What the hell have I done?
THE PERFECT HOUSEMATE
You let her in. You shouldn’t have…
I was so nervous about someone new joining our house share; after everything that happened with my parents, my friends are like my family. Our imperfect but well-loved house is the only place where I can be myself. But when Poppy knocks on our door, blonde hair, wide eyes and a friendly smile, we all agree she’s a perfect fit. I just wish I could shake the feeling that I’ve seen her before…
At first, everything runs smoothly. But one day, Poppy arrives home with my housemates in tow. She says she ‘forgot’ to invite me to the movie. My stomach drops. As she sidles up to my friends, I’m gripped by a familiar panic. If Poppy is from my past, will she turn my friends against me? Will she tell them the secret I’ve so carefully buried?
I feel like Poppy’s watching my every move. My home used to be the place where I felt most comfortable. But as she places a delicious home-cooked meal in front of me, I don’t even feel safe eating here.
I have to find out who she really is, and what she wants.
And when I do, will she realise too late which one of us is truly dangerous?
An absolutely gripping page-turner about the dark secrets harboured by the people closest to us. Fans of Shari Lapena, Lisa Jewell and Sally Hepworth won’t be able to put down The Perfect Housemate!
What readers are saying about The Perfect Housemate:
‘Fantastic… loved the twists and turns… Edge of the seat… I read it in less than a day. EXCELLENT.’ Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars
‘Omg. What did I just read??!!!!!!… gripping… a thrilling ride.’ NetGalley reviewer, 5 stars
‘Absolutely superb… Has you hooked… Full of twists and turns you will literally gasp… really brilliant.’ Jessica’s Book Biz, 5 stars
‘Gripping… Plenty of twists… will keep you hooked until the end… I was completely invested… Impossible to put down… I read it in a day.’ Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars
‘Holy cow!!! What a ride!!! I loved this book… amazing!’ Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars
‘An absolute page-turner… Explosive… fasten your seat belt… you are in for an amazing ride.’ Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars
‘I absolutely loved it!… I was shocked at the twists!… I was super invested and read through it in a day. Loved it!’ Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars
‘Had me hooked from the beginning… There were lots of twists I didn’t see coming… I loved it!’ Goodreads reviewer
‘Had me gripped throughout and wow what an ending.’ NetGalley reviewer, 5 stars
THE WIFE'S MISTAKE
‘Wow… Completely blew me away! I couldn't stop exclaiming “OMG”… My stomach was in knots as I kept turning the pages… A must-read!’ Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Everything my husband and I have always dreamt of has finally come true. Our new home with its open-plan kitchen and marble countertops couldn’t be further from the small, damp flat where we lived only months ago. I’d hoped this would be our fresh start, an escape from my past, but the handwritten note that arrived on our doorstep makes my blood run cold – you don’t deserve this life.
I’ve never told my husband, Hayden, what I did all those years ago. I lie awake every night with my heart pounding in my chest thinking about what I could’ve done differently. Hayden’s always been there for me, and I wonder if he would he have done the same?
I want to trust my husband with the truth, but why has all the colour drained from his face at the sight of the note? Is that guilt I can see in his eyes too? Does he know my secret, or is he hiding one of his own?
I don’t know how long I have until my past catches up with me, but I do know one thing: If I don’t find out who sent the message, then my marriage is over, and my life is in terrible danger…
A gripping page-turner filled with edge-of-your-seat suspense, fans of Sally Hepworth, Lisa Jewell and Liane Moriarty will be completely hooked by The Wife’s Mistake!
What readers are saying about The Wife’s Mistake:
‘Oh my gosh!…I was hooked on this… Up until the wee hours reading this as I could not put it down… I just loved it… Absolutely phenomenal!’ Jessica’s Book Biz, 5 stars
‘My head was spinning, at one stage, I felt like it was going to fall off and roll away!... Jaw-dropping! Mind. Freaking. Blown!’ @thesassynerdblog
‘A WILD ride!... There are some absolutely shocking twists… will keep you on the very edge of your seat towards the end. I absolutely loved this one!’ @whatanniereadsnext, 5 stars
‘OH my word! This was one wild ride, twisted from the beginning and kept me guessing. I loved this book so dang much!’ NetGalley reviewer
‘DELICIOUSLY TWISTY!... Gosh once it reaches the part of the plot where everything begins to unravel it feels like you’re going at lightning speed. Full of twists and turns… jaw-dropping… Even juicier than you expected.’ @onlyshelves
‘I read The Wife’s Mistake in a day… I couldn’t put it down… more twists and turns than you can shake a stick at… It had me hooked from page one… kept me enthralled to the end. A highly recommended 5 star read.’ Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars
‘I was constantly on edge, needing to know what was going to happen next! Every time I thought I knew, I was wrong. Twist and turns in almost every chapter… hard to stop reading. The ending was another twist I never saw coming! Truly an amazing story.’ Goodreads reviewer
‘Really grabbed me from the very first chapter... A LOT of different twists and secrets… A slow burn that was definitely worth it. Definitely add this one to your TBR.’ @pretty_andpinkbooks
‘The biggest SHOCKER happened… I was Like NO WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!… I can’t say enough about the ending, it was terrific.’ Goodreads reviewer
‘A very addictive read.’ Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars
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The Family Trap
Prudence welcomed Zoe into her home. Now she’s fighting to survive.
Two simple words shatter Prudence Ahern’s world - “I’m pregnant.”
Her son Nathan is only eighteen when his new girlfriend Zoe drops that little bombshell. Prudence feels she has to support her son and asks Zoe to move in with them.
Right from the start, Prudence knows something isn’t right. When Nathan is around, Zoe is sweet and funny but as soon as it’s just the two of them, she becomes menacing and sullen.
Worse still, Prudence becomes the victim of a series of increasingly dangerous accidents which begin soon after Zoe moves in.
She tries to warn her son that something is wrong with Zoe, but he refuses to listen, so it’s left to Prudence to figure out what's going on. Who is the mysterious Zoe? What exactly does she want from them? And whose child is she really carrying?
Filled with shocking twists and diabolical secrets, The Family Trap will keep you up all night.
The Perfect Family
They seem like the perfect family. Until you discover their secret.
For Victoria, image is everything. And on the surface, she has it all - a big house, a successful husband and two beautiful children.
But behind the scenes, things are very different. Because Victoria and her husband have a dark secret and she lives in terror of it being discovered, of her perfect facade being shattered forever.
Under massive stress, but still desperately trying to keep up appearances, this is a family that is falling apart.
Husband Kit is unable to work. Teenage daughter Anna grows ever more rebellious. And nine-year-old Joey seems increasingly different from other kids.
Victoria realises she has to act now or she will lose everything. And that’s when she has to ask herself - how far is she willing to go, how much is she willing to do, to preserve her perfect family?
The answer is beyond shocking and will plunge them all into a nightmare from which they may never wake.
the wrong twin
Two twins. One terrifying secret.
When her marriage breaks down, Mel moves back to her hometown to live with her twin, Abbie.
Mel just needs some space so she can recover from a painful separation and get ready to begin a new phase in her life. But something is wrong with Abbie – where she used to be outgoing and gregarious, now she’s sullen, hostile and secretive.
Even more disturbing, Mel is being followed by a sinister man she has never seen before. She doesn’t know what he wants, but she’s pretty sure it’s nothing good.
And Mel is right to be worried. As she is inexorably pulled into a vortex of unimaginable terror, she gradually discovers the horrifying truth about Abbie’s secret life… And the terrible price that has to be paid – by the wrong twin.
The girl in the woods
She finally had the family she had always wanted...
So why did she feel as though someone had stepped on her grave?
Suzannah and Noel are desperate for a child so when they get the chance to adopt a young girl called Orchid, they jump at the chance. They have been warned that it will take time for Orchid to settle into their family, but the problems they encounter seem out of the ordinary. Rooms are flooded, mirrors are smashed and Orchid owns up to none of it. Then things take a sinister turn and Suzannah becomes truly frightened.
Who is this child they have let into their lives and will they ever be able to tame her?
The perfect girl
She was beautiful, popular and successful, the one they all wanted to be.
When reclusive writer, Jock falls for vivacious Tea Shop owner, Sapphire, he is amazed that she seems to feel the same way about him. He watches with pride as Sapphire is crowned May Queen at the town's May Day celebrations, but his joy turns to heartbreak when she runs off into the crowd, never to return.
As the days pass, he becomes increasingly desperate. Everyone he speaks to seems to love Sapphire. No one has a bad word to say about her. So why did she run away like that, and what is stopping her from coming back?
The Perfect Girl is a claustrophobic British thriller set on the English/Welsh border.
This book was previously titled May Queen Killers
The Bitter End
The McBride Vendetta Psychological Thrillers Book 5
Some will live. Some will die. This is the bitter end.
In the final book in the McBride Vendetta Series, Isabel and her family face their tormentors in the ultimate battle for survival.
This disturbing crime novel is utterly gripping and impossible to put down.Perfect for fans of Rachel Abbott, Robert Bryndza, C.L Taylor and Shalini Boland.
the girl who caught fire
The McBride Vendetta Psychological Thrillers Book 4
Your sister. Your best friend. Your killer?
They set fire to me and left me for dead.
They thought I had perished but I survived.
I will never forget the ones who tried to break me.
And when the time is right, I will reveal myself.
I will have my revenge.
The Girl who Caught Fire is the fourth novel in the McBride Vendetta psychological thriller series.
cold bath lane
The McBride Vendetta Psychological Thrillers Book 3
Who will pay the price for her silence?
Nine-year-old Jody is does well in school, despite living in a run-down part of East London.
Then one terrible night, her life changes forever, and Jody is forced to make an impossible choice between telling the truth and keeping her family together.
The police bring her in for questioning, and pressure her to tell them what really happened but is Jody ready to admit it, even to herself?
Will the truth win out, or will Jody be sucked into a web of lies in order to protect her family?
This disturbing crime novel is utterly gripping and impossible to put down.
Cold Bath Lane is the 3rd novel in the McBride Vendetta psychological thriller series.
Angel dust
The McBride Vendetta Psychological Thrillers Book 2
It's every parent's worst nightmare…
When Isabel's daughter, Lauren is snatched from outside her school, she suspects Jody McBride is behind the kidnapping. Yet the detective in charge of Lauren's case seems more interested in picking apart her statement, and investigating members of her family.
Can Isabel persuade the police to take her seriously, or will she have to take matters into her own hands? In order to save Lauren, she must take a stark look at her own relationships, and consider how well she really knows her daughter.
Angel Dust is the second novel in the McBride Vendetta psychological thriller series.
FRY
The McBride Vendetta Psychological Thrillers Book 1
She acts like she’s your new best friend, but is she really a deadly enemy?
When Isabel nearly runs over mysterious Alicia, she is ridden with guilt. She helps Alicia get a job at the supermarket where she works and soon, Alicia is acting like her new best friend. Then fires break out all over town and she suspects Alicia knows more than she's letting on, but it’s Isabel the police want to question. In order to survive, she must question her own innocence, her sanity and the very fabric of her morality.
FRY is a very British psychological thriller.
IndieReader.com's Best Indie Books of 2013
FRY is the first novel in the McBride Vendetta psychological thriller series.
About me
I started out as a politics graduate and worked for the British Home Office before turning to crime fiction. My first thriller, FRY was released in 2013.
I was named after the novel, Lorna Doone, and as you would expect, I love reading. My favourite genre is crime, especially psychological thrillers but I also enjoy romance and historical fiction.
The books I write are dark domestic thrillers. I like to see what happens when ordinary people are thrown into impossible situations and I'm especially fond of female villains.
I live in the Orkney Islands with my Ukrainian husband and his parents, three children, a crafty cat and a happy dog.
You can contact me at LornaDounaevaAuthor on Facebook or send me an email at info@lornadounaeva.com