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Thriller

Ararat

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Ararat by Christopher Golden
Format:  Book
Who it’s For:  Adults

After a huge avalanche forces Adam Holzer and Meryam Karga, a couple climbing Mount Ararat, to hunt for shelter in one of the mountain’s caves, they stumble upon what they believe to be Noah’s Ark. Thrilled by their finding, the couple visions of turning their luck into a best-selling biography. Inside the ark is a great coffin that rapidly becomes the primary interest of the crew. Speculating who might be inside, with theories stretching from Noah himself to other biblical figures–the crew, after a passing disagreement, makes the choice to break open the coffin. But instead of discovering Noah, a horrible, evil-looking, horned cadaver rests inside.

What could go wrong?

Quite a lot. Particularly when an invading strangeness runs its nails down everybody’s back; when the crew turns abnormally malicious, needy, or fearful. When the crew awakens screaming, mysteriously overwhelmed by long-buried childhood terrors. When people disappear.

Find Ararat in the catalog!

The Ruins

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The Ruins by Scott Smith
Format: Book
Who it’s for: Adults

Two young couples decide to take a trip to Mexico.  The group enjoyed the beach, hotel, and making friends with fellow tourists when the brother of one of the couples goes missing.   The group ultimately decides to go searching for the missing brother.  Trekking through the Mexican jungle, the group stumbles upon a village which is only the beginning of the creeping horror; they endure throughout the story.  What started as an exciting day-trip gradually spirals into a terrifying nightmare when they find the remains of an ancient ruins site… and the disturbing presence that lurks there.

Find The Ruins in the catalog

We Ride Upon Sticks

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We Ride Upon Sticks by Quan Barry
Format:  Book
Who it’s for:  Adults

It’s 1989 in Danvers, Massachusetts, and the Lady Falcons field hockey team is easily the worst team in their high school league. Fed up with losing, the team uses their knowledge of the town’s history as the site for the 1692 Salem Witch Trials to make a deal. This dark deal involves armbands cut from a blue athletic sock and an Emilio Estevez journal.

All of a sudden, the Lady Falcons cannot be stopped. They’re breaking records and are on their way to the state championships. But at what cost? Emilio needs to be fed dark energy. The girls begin doing wicked deeds in order to strengthen the journal and continue winning.

Their goalie has a mark on her neck that looks like it’s growing teeth and it really does seem like their center forward’s bangs might be communicating with them telepathically.

If this sounds to you like the weirdest book ever, you wouldn’t be wrong. While the writing is dense, the description, ‘80s references, and strange point-of-view make you feel like you are a part of the 1989 Lady Falcons. You really get to know each member of the team and what drives them to make the pact with Emilio.

We Ride Upon Sticks is truly impossible to put down once you begin. This is a great choice for fans of Bunny by Mona Awad or anyone else who enjoys strange stories about witchcraft and dark magic.

Find We Ride Upon Sticks in the catalog!

 

Micro

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Micro by Michael Crichton
Format:  Book
Who it’s for:  Adults

On the island of Oahu, a greedy and power-obsessed science mogul named Vin Drake has created a nanotechnology company.  A team of young science graduate students travels to Hawaii to work for Drake’s company.  Almost instantly when arriving on the island, the group gets absorbed in an elaborate scheme that contains cons, killing, and corporate greediness.  This results in Drake turning against the students.  They are shrunk to a size smaller than ants. In this reduced state, they must travel through the island jungle and face challenging obstacles, as the sociopathic Drake attempts to capture them and stamp them out.  I honestly could not set this book down.  This page-turning thriller has you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end.

Find it in the catalog!

 

Migrations

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Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy
Format:  Book
Who it’s for:  Adults

Picture a future where most animals have become extinct.  Scientists are studying how to keep those remaining from complete termination.  The answer may lie with the Arctic terns.  Franny Stone is convinced of this truth.  To prove it to herself, Franny has made her way to Greenland with the goal of talking a fishing crew into following the terns on their last migration.  If Franny can get the crew to follow the terns that she has been able to catch and tag, she is convinced that the fishermen will find the fish they desperately need to support their livelihood, and Franny will prove her theory.

Here the mystery begins.  As the crew attempts to follow the terns through frigidly calm seas and unrelenting storms, the reader learns about the dangers of daily life on a fishing vessel, and Franny’s past life. One becomes intent on trying to figure out just who Franny is and what she has left behind.  The author describes Franny in the perilous present and then shifts to the past to explore who Franny was as a child, teenager and adult.  Why are the terns so important to her?  What is Franny running from? Why was she in jail? Where are her parents? Where is her husband?  Will the crew survive their dangerous journey? Will the terns survive their migration?  Will it be their last? The listener hangs on to the author’s every word until all answers are revealed in the story’s thrilling conclusion.

Find it in the catalog.

 

Never Never

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Never Never by James Patterson and Candice Fox
Who it’s for: Adults
Format: eBook, digital audiobook

Detective Harriet Blue never would have imagined that her brother would be arrested for murder.  She never would have anticipated the media onslaught.  And she never would have pictured herself utilizing her survival skills in the middle of the desolate Australian Outback, the Never Never.

Harriet Blue, better known as “Harry,” was reassigned temporarily.  Pop, her police chief, wanted her away from the investigation of her brother Sam.  As much as she wanted to clear Sam, Harry knew that her involvement would taint the process.

Soon Harriet was traveling down a dusty road towards a mining camp in the Never Never.   Seated next to her was a complete stranger, her temporary partner, Edward Whittacker.  “Call me Edward,” he said.  “Okay, Whitt.” she replied.  Harriet and Witt soon found out that more than one employee were missing from the Bandya Mine.  It seemed more than coincidence.  Had they wandered into the desert?  Did the Bilbies, local prostitutes, know more than they were telling? Were Richie and his gang dealing more than drugs?  Had the nomadic eco protesters elevated their opposition to murder?

In spite of the coarse lifestyle of the miners, I found myself drawn to Harriet Blue.  Tough and private from an unstable upbringing with her brother in the foster care system, Harry had honed her self-defense and detecting skills.  She was rough around the edges yet intelligent and a bit vulnerable inside.  I want to read more about Harry and see how her brother’s story unfolds.  I am also intrigued by the Australian setting.  And this book is the first book in a series!

Find it on OverDrive/Libby!