Molly Black
FREE
FBI Suspense Thriller

🔍 FBI Special Agent Maya Gray, 39, has seen it all. She’s one of BAU’s rising stars and the go-to agent for hard-to-crack serial cases. When she receives a handwritten postcard promising to release 12 kidnapped women if she will solve 12 cold cases, she assumes it’s a hoax.

Until the note mentions that, among the captives, is her missing sister.

Maya, shaken, is forced to take it seriously. The cases she’s up against are some of the most difficult the FBI has ever seen. But the terms of his game are simple: If Maya solves a case, he will release one of the girls. And if she fails, he will end a life.

In GIRL TWO: TAKEN (book #2), Maya must solve the murder of a female corrections officer. A seemingly black-and-white case, closed years ago, the local police refuse to take it up again. But as Maya delves into the world of prisons, correction officers and ex-cons, she quickly sees there is more there than meets the eye. She, it turns out, was not the only officer murdered. It was a serial. And this killer is more complex—and unpredictable—than anyone can imagine.

Molly Black continues her Maya Gray series (this is Book 2) with a high-stakes thriller where an FBI agent must solve 12 cold cases to save 12 kidnapped women—including her own missing sister. Fans of James Patterson’s Alex Cross or Kendra Elliot’s Mercy Kilpatrick will appreciate the personal stakes combined with procedural investigation and the ticking-clock pressure of lives hanging in the balance.

Here’s the genius premise: The killer has created a twisted game where solving cold cases earns the release of captives, but failure means death. This Book 2 case involves a murdered female corrections officer in what turns out to be an unrecognized serial killing pattern. The prison world setting (corrections officers, ex-cons, institutional corruption) adds layers of complexity, and the “black-and-white case” that’s actually anything but creates investigative tension. Maya’s missing sister ensures every failure has devastating personal consequences.

Lyn Cote
FREE
Christian Romantic Suspense

❄️ A selfless nurse, a wounded sheriff, and a cunning, malicious thief–can they stop him?

She will do anything to protect her elderly patients. Wendy Carey, Steadfast’s home health nurse, wants the crimes targeting her patients stopped. But when the new sheriff points out she’s the obvious link between the home invasions, she’s blindsided. When will that old stigma from her troubled family stop stinging?

He can’t forgive himself for a long ago rookie mistake. New county sheriff Rodd Durand sees these crimes as his first challenge since returning to his hometown. He must not tarnish his family’s good reputation. Years of experience in big city law-enforcement should be enough to help him catch this mean-spirited thief. Should be.

But what can either of them do to catch a thief who leaves no evidence? How is that even possible? And a record-breaking snowy winter makes this even harder.

Lyn Cote launches her Northern Intrigue series with a Christian romantic suspense featuring a home health nurse whose elderly patients are being targeted and the new sheriff who must catch an evidence-free thief. Fans of Dani Pettrey’s Alaskan Courage series or Irene Hannon’s Hope Harbor will appreciate the small-town setting, faith elements, and the mystery of how crimes are being committed without leaving traces.

What makes this work: Wendy being the obvious link between crimes creates immediate suspicion despite her innocence, and her troubled family stigma adds emotional baggage to overcome. Rodd’s rookie mistake from his past and his family reputation concerns make him flawed and relatable. The record-breaking snowy winter isolates the town and adds atmospheric tension while making investigation harder. The “how is this even possible” angle regarding the evidence-free crimes creates a locked-room mystery feel.

Ben Rehder
FREE
Humorous Police Procedurals

🦌 It’s the week before deer hunting season, as close to a statewide holiday as you get in Texas, and the locals are getting restless.

Game Warden John Marlin has his hands full with poaching complaints coming in faster than he can write out-of-season tickets. Then a call of a different sort comes in. A man dressed up in some sort of deer costume has been shot at the Circle S ranch, and witnesses are reporting a massive wild-eyed buck prancing about the pasture in a lovesick frenzy.

Marlin’s seen a lot in his years, but this is wilder than he could have imagined: the man in the deer suit is a good friend, and the whacked-out whitetail isn’t exactly a stranger either. It’s the beginning of a mad, frantic weekend in Blanco County, one that will see a few more men shot, an invasion by Colombians with more than hunting on their minds, and damn near the end of Marlin’s life.

Ben Rehder debuts his Blanco County Mysteries with what’s described as the funniest crime writer in Texas, featuring game warden John Marlin investigating a man shot while wearing a deer costume and a lovesick buck causing chaos. Fans of Carl Hiaasen’s Florida noir or Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum will appreciate the comic mystery approach to serious crime in rural Texas.

Why this is delightful: The premise is gloriously absurd—a man in a deer costume shot during hunting season while an actual deranged buck prances around—but Rehder uses the comedy to explore Texas hunting culture, poaching, and apparently Colombian cartels. The “mad, frantic weekend” structure keeps pacing tight, and the fact that both the costumed victim and the whacked-out deer are known to Marlin adds personal stakes to the chaos. This is cozy mystery energy with bullets and Colombians.

Z.L. Arkadie
FREE
Romantic Suspense

💼 He was supposed to marry another woman. She was supposed to expose his family’s darkest secrets. Neither expected to fall into bed—or into something far more dangerous.

Jasper Blackstone is the billionaire eldest son of a powerful dynasty built on ambition and ruthlessness. Cold. Calculated. And always in control. As the family fixer, he silences scandals, hides sins, and protects the Blackstone legacy at any cost—even if it means sacrificing his own future.

Holly Henderson is a sharp, relentless journalist, secretly hired by Jasper’s sister to investigate their corrupt patriarch. Getting close to Jasper was part of the plan. Falling into his bed—and his world—wasn’t.

As forbidden desire collides with buried truth, Holly unearths secrets even darker than she imagined—including revelations that could destroy the Blackstones forever. But when the empire begins to fracture and the patriarch falls, Jasper and Holly must decide: protect the past, or burn it down for love.

Z.L. Arkadie launches The Dark Billionaire series with a romantic suspense where a journalist hired to expose a corrupt dynasty falls for the family fixer who’s supposed to be her target. Fans of Sylvia Day’s Crossfire series or Skye Warren’s dark romance will appreciate the morally complicated hero, the undercover investigation angle, and the “burn it down for love” stakes.

Here’s the tension: Holly was hired by Jasper’s own sister to investigate their father, meaning family loyalty is already fractured. Jasper as the “family fixer” makes him complicit in covering up crimes, creating moral complexity—he’s not innocent, but he might be redeemable. The arranged marriage Jasper was supposed to make adds urgency, and Holly falling for him despite her mission creates the classic spy-falls-for-target dilemma. When the patriarch falls and the empire fractures, both must choose between institutions and each other.

Sheila Lowe
FREE
Action Thriller Fiction

🚂 Imagine waking up on a train with no recollection of how you got there. You have no idea who you are–no name, no memories, no life. The only thing you know is, you cannot tell anyone, especially the police.

By chance or by fate, leaving the train in a beach town, this young woman runs into someone who knows her and gives her a ride home. There she finds two IDs, two sets of keys. One face, but two separate lives.

Claudia Rose, Detective Joel Jovanic, and Dr. Zebediah Gold from Sheila Lowe’s Forensic Handwriting Mystery series play a vital role in helping her uncover a devastating past and learn what she saw that robbed her of her memory.

Sheila Lowe creates an amnesia thriller with dual identities where a woman wakes on a train with no memory, discovers she has two separate lives, and must uncover what traumatic event erased her memory—all while knowing she can’t trust the police. Characters from Lowe’s Forensic Handwriting Mystery series appear to help, making this a crossover spinoff that works standalone.

What makes this compelling: The two IDs, two sets of keys, two separate lives discovery is brilliantly unsettling—which identity is real? Both? Neither? The instinctive knowledge that she can’t tell police suggests either she’s a criminal or she witnessed something that makes authorities dangerous. The forensic handwriting expert angle (Claudia Rose) provides unique investigative tools, and the “what she saw” framing promises a specific traumatic revelation rather than gradual memory return. Beach town setting provides apparent safety that likely proves illusory.

Mary Burton
Regularly $5.99, Today $2.99
Kidnapping Thrillers

🔗 A woman’s harrowing past comes back to haunt her in a novel of twisting psychological suspense by New York Times bestselling author Mary Burton.

Ten years ago, fifteen-year-old Scarlett Crosby was held captive in a terrifying ordeal with a girl named Della. Scarlett escaped, their predator was killed, and Della simply vanished. Detective Kevin Dawson always wondered if Della even existed.

A decade later, Scarlett is a successful artist. As hard as she tries to move on, the mysterious Della remains her inescapable obsession. Then a girl’s body is discovered—a link to Scarlett’s horrific past—and all her old traumas resurface. So does Della. Scarlett has seen her hiding in plain sight. The girl who knows Scarlett’s secrets, who understands the desperate compromises Scarlett made to endure hell, and who, like Scarlett, embraced the darkness to survive.

Mary Burton (New York Times bestseller) creates a captivity thriller where the other victim may never have existed—or may have returned with dangerous intentions. Fans of Chevy Stevens’s Still Missing or Lisa Gardner’s survival thrillers will appreciate the trauma aftermath and the ambiguous fellow captive who haunts the protagonist.

Here’s what’s chilling: Detective Dawson’s skepticism about Della’s existence plants doubt from the start—was Scarlett so traumatized she invented a companion? But now Della has reappeared, and the phrase “embraced the darkness to survive” suggests both girls made morally compromising choices in captivity. The desperate compromises Scarlett made could mean she’s not the innocent survivor everyone believes, and Della knows exactly what she did. The new body links to their past, raising the question: is Della victim, accomplice, or something worse?

Jenny Hale
Regularly $4.99, Today $0.99
Friendship Fiction

🍦 From the USA Today bestselling author of The Magic of Sea Glass, with over one million copies of her books sold, comes an absolutely beautiful summer romance, perfect for fans of Sheila Roberts, Jill Shalvis, and Debbie Macomber.

Alice Emerson and her best friend Sasha Miller have decided to swap inland living for the picturesque beaches of the Outer Banks. They pour everything they have into launching an ice cream shop in the little cottage on the beach where Alice spent blissful childhood summers with her grandfather.

As Alice and Sasha add color to the walls of the shop, their fresh new life begins to take shape, and love is the last thing on Alice’s mind. But she keeps running into the mysterious Jack Murphy, and finds herself falling for his golden-boy charm and warm smile.

With everything on her plate, Alice tries not to think he could be the one for her. Jack’s only there for the season, and Alice has had her fair share of heartbreak. Then she discovers an old locket tucked away that contains a family secret that turns Alice’s world upside down and might just threaten the future of the ice cream shop.

Jenny Hale (USA Today bestseller with over one million copies sold) delivers a beach romance with an ice cream shop, best friend partnership, and family secrets. Fans of Susan Mallery’s Happily Inc series or RaeAnne Thayne will appreciate the small-town Outer Banks setting, the fresh start premise, and the seasonal romance tension.

What you’re getting: Alice and Sasha’s best-friend business venture provides the foundation for the story—they’re building something together, which raises the stakes beyond just romance. The grandfather’s beach cottage adds nostalgia and emotional connection to the setting, while Jack being “only there for the season” creates built-in conflict. The old locket with family secrets that threatens the shop means Alice faces both romantic and practical obstacles. At $0.99, this is perfect for fans of cozy summer reads with heart.

Victor Methos
Regularly $5.99, Today $2.99
Legal Thrillers

⚖️ Far from the neon glare of the Vegas Strip, attorney Piper Danes walks away from a hotshot law firm to work as a guardian ad litem (GAL). Piper was once a vulnerable youth herself, and a GAL gave her hope when she needed it most. Now she’s committed to paying it forward.

Her latest case is unlike any other: fifteen-year-old Sophie Grace is the sole survivor of a gruesome family murder. Teaming up with the formidable Judge Hope Dawson and enigmatic Detective Lazarus Holloway, Piper delves into a world more sinister than she could have imagined.

Their hunt for the truth leads to a serial killer known only as “the Creeper,” a predator who hides in the shadows. But as the team inches closer to unveiling the murderer, they find themselves in the crosshairs. Trapped in a web of lies, Piper will do anything to protect Sophie and stop the killer…before she becomes his next victim.

Victor Methos launches a Vegas-set legal thriller where a guardian ad litem (child advocate attorney) must protect a teenage family-murder survivor from a serial killer. Fans of John Grisham’s The Innocent Man or Karin Slaughter’s Will Trent series will appreciate the legal angle combined with serial killer investigation and the vulnerable teen at the center.

What makes this compelling: Piper’s backstory as a former vulnerable youth makes her connection to Sophie Grace personal and authentic—she’s not just doing a job but paying forward the help she once received. The sole survivor of family murder angle means Sophie either witnessed something or the killer left her alive for a reason. “The Creeper” hiding in shadows and targeting the investigative team creates escalating danger, and the Judge Hope Dawson and Detective Lazarus Holloway partnership suggests a series with recurring characters.

Fiona McIntosh
Regularly $4.99, Today $2.49
Historical Mystery

💎 Soon to be a major feature film from the producers of Big Little Lies and Gone Girl

Paris, 1963. Behind Severine Kassel’s carefully crafted image as the Louvre’s most respected jewellery curator lies a woman haunted by unspeakable trauma. When she’s invited to London to authenticate a collection of rare Byzantine pearls, her composed facade finally cracks. These are not just any pearls—they belong to her family, stolen in an act of unimaginable cruelty two decades earlier.

Her shocking revelation sets off a frenzied hunt for former Nazi officer Ruda Mayek. As Severine follows Mayek’s trail, the tightly controlled life she’s built around herself is shattered. Will her own carefully guarded secrets be revealed?

Fiona McIntosh (million-copy bestselling author) delivers a WWII revenge thriller where a Louvre curator discovers the pearls stolen from her family decades earlier, launching a hunt for the Nazi officer responsible. Fans of Kate Quinn’s The Rose Code or Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale will appreciate the dual-timeline structure (WWII trauma and 1960s pursuit) and the strong female protagonist seeking justice.

Why this works: The Byzantine pearls as physical evidence of past crimes creates a tangible thread connecting present to past, and Severine’s position at the Louvre gives her expertise and resources for investigation. The “carefully guarded secrets” suggest Severine’s survival came at a moral cost, and pursuing Mayek risks exposing what she did to endure. The upcoming film from Big Little Lies and Gone Girl producers proves the story’s cinematic appeal. McIntosh takes readers from Prague forests to Paris galleries to Yorkshire moors in a sweeping narrative about whether vengeance brings closure or destruction.