I’m a sucker for post-apocalyptic stories, and this one’s beautifully told.
In The Last, the big event just happened, and Jon’s struggling with being half a world away from his family after all the bombs drop. He’s torn between what he has to do for survival, stuck at this Swiss hotel with others from around the world, and how he might be able to get back to – or even simply contact – his wife. Their last conversation didn’t end well, and it’s haunting him on a personal level as he tries to keep up with the changing world and simple survival.
You care just as much about Jon’s internal struggle as the external, so he takes center stage even as a murder mystery unfolds around him.
This propulsive post-apocalyptic thriller “in which Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None collides with Stephen King’s The Shining” (NPR) follows a group of survivors stranded at a hotel as the world descends into nuclear war and the body of a young girl is discovered in one of the hotel’s water tanks.
Jon thought he had all the time in the world to respond to his wife’s text message: I miss you so much. I feel bad about how we left it. Love you. But as he’s waiting in the lobby of the L’Hotel Sixieme in Switzerland after an academic…
I saw early reviewers comparing One by One to And Then There Were None, and that’s one of my comp weaknesses.
One by One is a dual-point-of-view thriller that follows a group of people stuck together on a company ski trip in the Alps. The company’s trying to make a big decision as it moves forward, but everything hinges on one member who’ll end up with the deciding vote… except that balance of power changes when people start disappearing and being found dead.
The two narrating characters slowly reveal more information about themselves and their pasts while – of course – being careful to conceal the most important parts, making the desperate situation every person for themself. Read this one with a fuzzy blanket and some cocoa – it’s all kinds of chilling.
This instant New York Times bestseller and “claustrophobic spine-tingler” (People) from Ruth Ware follows a group of employees trapped on a snow-covered mountain.
Getting snowed in at a luxurious, rustic ski chalet high in the French Alps doesn’t sound like the worst problem in the world. Especially when there’s a breathtaking vista, a full-service chef and housekeeper, a cozy fire to keep you warm, and others to keep you company. Unless that company happens to be eight coworkers…each with something to gain, something to lose, and something to hide.
When the cofounder of Snoop, a trendy London-based tech start-up, organizes…
CJ Tudor is an automatic pre-order for me. When you write thrillers, it can be hard for other authors to give you a satisfying twist, but Tudor always delivers.
The Drift combines two elements of my other favorites, setting the post-apocalyptic story in (and above) a snowy wasteland, so get a refill on that hot cocoa. This story is told from three different points of view, and part of the fun is piecing together how they all connect with the characters and the timeline. The characters fight the disease, their own isolation, and each other as they strive for survival on an individual level, because it seems that there might not be any hope left for the human race.
PRE-ORDER THE HEART-POUNDING NEW NOVEL FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE CHALK MAN AND RICHARD & JUDY PICK THE BURNING GIRLS
'The wildest thriller of the year is three thrillers in one. Buckle up' LINWOOD BARCLAY
'An exceptional thriller that blew me away with its original, high-octane plot, jaw-dropping twists and characters I cared about. When I wasn't reading The Drift I was thinking about it. A writer at the top of her game' CLAIRE DOUGLAS
'A truly terrifying, ice-cold chiller from the master of macabre. C.J. Tudor should be on everyone's must-read list' CHRIS WHITAKER
A not so classic girl meets boy story begins when a televangelist’s adult daughter, Marcy, journeys to a secluded island resort where she awakens a captive of a handsome, charming, notorious serial killer who requests she pen his autobiography explaining all of his intentions and crimes in detail. She finds herself horrified that she is intrigued by him and maybe even...infatuated by him. He has more control than she realizes as he slowly begins to brainwash her just as the autobiography is completed. Once she is rescued and he is arrested, Marcy begins to pull her life back together only for her captor to escape and her brother becomes a new suspect in a murder.
