81 books like The Walker in Shadows

When Daniel Roke takes on an unusual job he does it for monetary and personal reasons and has no idea he is risking his life. Dick Francis takes you from Australia to the world of English horseracing with a clever plot that is unexpected and has a really wicked twist. He also can deliver some villains that inspire visceral dislike like no other author and doesn’t let you down in this intense novel. Well done and kept me doing the infamous reading into the night.

Let’s talk about memorable beginnings and I am talking about the kind that will keep you awake at night. Sanford is gritty and he really pushes the edge with his villains. On that note, he really pushes the edge with his protagonists as well, because Lucas Davenport is one of my favorite cops. Take one very smart (but seriously disturbed villain) and one very smart (but intense cop) and pit them against each other.

As Lucas weaves through the unfathomable workings of the brain of someone who is truly unhinged, he encounters an unholy marriage of two killers who operate on a separate plane yet have a common goal and the result is chilling to say the least.

The Prey novels are never for the faint of heart, but always fast-paced and well-written, suspense being the end game each time.

If as a suspense fan you missed this one, shame on you. Well, let’s picture a haunted castle on Rhine with a murdered magician, an eccentric cast of characters, a very astute detective, and his pragmatic American assistant investigating the crime.

Carr never cheats on plot and he always delivers on drama. His timing is just exquisite. You are given everything but you still have an ah-ha moment (usually more than one) as events unfold. It is a timeless setting and story tension so high that I could see the flicker of the lights and hear the rush of the river.

The twists are so unpredictable you are truly blindsided.

If you like a dramatic setting and unpredictable conflict, I recommend it.

The first in the series of Dave Robicheaux novels, this is handled quite well. The main character is very human, flawed by his own admission by a battle with an addiction to alcohol, but nonetheless is a tough and competent cop who definitely sees—and knows well—the seedier side. Set in the deep south, Burke takes you there with description that is so evocative that you can feel it with every sense, and the danger as the story unravels into a tale of corruption and bloody violence. I really wanted the main character to win this battle and it was one almost literally to the death. If you like great writing and to sit on the edge of your seat (near the bayou, so be careful), this is a must-read.

Can you call it “urban fantasy” when most of the action happens in rural areas? You really get a sense of how much young Paxton Locke lost when his mother murdered his father to summon a demon, and how that shapes him in the present into a man who goes out of his way to help others all over the country. Paxton isn’t the only character whose layers we get to dig into either. Without spoiling anything, he does pick up a sidekick in his travels who is more than meets the eye, and the narration occasionally switches to some other colourful characters on their own arcs to intersect Paxton’s.

This study offers a thorough presentation of the traditional (and non-traditional) Jewish thoughts about various topics, including ghosts and apparitions, magic and superstition, and even reincarnation. However, the main thrust is the analysis of six (presumably) documented accounts of possession by spirits and subsequent exorcisms. 

I have listed this work for two reasons. First, it underscores the significance of possession within a community not known for performing exorcisms. Then, more personally, I found the presentation challenging, intriguing, and perhaps even provocative. If such malevolent possession has been documented, why not a benevolent ibbur?

When a police detective goes on leave due to the stress of the job to a remote cabin and witnesses an abduction through a telescope across the river, the reader is drawn in. When that detective discovers that the abduction and missing person happened 10 years prior, this is when you are hooked. I loved this book. As a Police Detective and author of paranormal suspense, it was natural to see how the two skill sets intertwined.

The mystery in this book is based on a true story, which makes it compelling. I loved it because it is a good detective story with a hint of the paranormal.

Jr Ward is an amazing author. She was one of the reasons why I decided to start my vampire series. You got to read this series it will keep you hooked from beginning to end.

Why? Vampires of course! I was looking for a series that wasn't the same traditional story and I found it in this series.

I felt passion when reading this book. You could tell the author put a lot of hard work into this series and it helped me by showing me it’s okay to switch up the rules on a story told a hundred times over.

Part of me identified with the profession of Lily, the main female protagonist of this novel being an FBI agent. I admire how the author took the “fated lovers” with 100% none of the cliché tropes that usually go with this type of storyline. I loved that Lily had real problems outside of her work and has to solve cases in addition to juggling a wedding and everything else going on in her world. Ms. Wilks constructed a very real world and gave the supporting characters their own storylines and arcs which is extremely hard to do while staying true to the overall plot.

Another series starter which I’m happy to have found. I can’t get enough of characters talking to dead people while trying to resolve the spirit’s issues. It leads to sticky, sometimes awkward, situations relying on the main character’s wit and tenacity to see them through to the end. Of course, the living aren’t always a delightful picnic to deal with either. Sorting out a victim of a ninety-year-old murder requires some interesting digging into the past, and Bobbi Holmes doesn’t disappoint.