Some monsters are born in darkness. Others are made by it. In the forests near Upper Klamath Lake, a young Sasquatch witnesses the violent loss of his family—hunters, poachers, or just humans doing what humans do when they encounter something they fear and don’t understand. What follows shapes him into something else, something that transcends cryptid folklore and becomes genuine nightmare fuel. Over the years, he transforms into a legend whispered about by locals who know better than to go into certain parts of the forest: a towering creature with red eyes and a growing obsession with a blonde-haired girl he once saw near the edge of the woods. That glimpse imprinted on him, became the focal point of whatever passes for emotion in a traumatized cryptid’s psychology. 👁️

That girl was Nicole Beretti. Now a Special Agent, Beretti is in Blackridge recovering after the recent cryptid conflict—because apparently her job involves enough creature encounters to require recovery time between incidents. She grew up believing her parents died in a tragic accident, the kind of random automotive tragedy that destroys families but doesn’t suggest anything supernatural or sinister. But when a neighbor recounts the truth—how a creature forced their car off the road and dragged her parents from the wreckage to their deaths while young Nicole presumably watched or heard or understood something was wrong—the past Nicole thought she’d buried comes roaring back with vengeance-fueled clarity. 🚗

Together with Agent Jacobi, she uncovers two decades of sightings and attacks scattered across the region, some only days old, creating a pattern that law enforcement either missed or deliberately ignored because “Sasquatch killed people” doesn’t make it into official reports. The creature has been hunting, learning, evolving—and leaving a trail of victims that all connect back to that initial trauma near Upper Klamath Lake. Beretti sets out to uncover the truth about what really happened to her parents and bring down the creature that tore her family apart, but this isn’t a simple revenge mission. The creature remembers her too. The blonde-haired girl it’s been obsessed with for two decades is now hunting it with federal authority and weapons. 🔫

Luka T. Jacobs delivers horror suspense that treats cryptids as genuine monsters rather than misunderstood animals—this Sasquatch isn’t a shy forest dweller avoiding humans, it’s an apex predator with human-level intelligence, generational trauma, and a specific vendetta that’s been simmering for twenty years. The red eyes aren’t just atmospheric detail; they’re a warning system locals have learned to recognize as the last thing you see before you die. Beretti’s investigation becomes personal in the most dangerous way: she’s hunting something that’s been hunting her family specifically, that’s killed strategically, that knows the forest better than any human ever will. This is cryptid horror where the monster isn’t random—it’s targeted, patient, and has been waiting for Nicole Beretti to figure out the truth so the real hunt can begin. 🌲

What makes this essential: A cryptid horror thriller where Special Agent Nicole Beretti discovers the “accident” that killed her parents was actually murder by a traumatized Sasquatch with red eyes who’s been obsessed with her for twenty years, leading to a hunt where both predator and prey remember each other intimately.

From the quiet streets of Highmill, New York, to the shadows of her own past, psychologist Dr. Skye Johnston is about to be thrown into a deadly game of cat and mouse where her professional expertise in criminal psychology becomes uncomfortably personal. She thought she’d left her troubled childhood behind—buried the trauma, built a successful practice, created distance between who she was and who she became. But when a dead body appears on her doorstep, Skye discovers that the past doesn’t stay buried just because you’ve stopped looking at it. Someone knows exactly who she is, where she came from, and what secrets she’s spent years hiding. The body isn’t random—it’s a message specifically for her. 🏠

Skye is forced to confront her past in order to save her future, teaming up with K9 officer Logan Fletcher to unravel a mystery that keeps circling back to her own history. Logan brings tactical training and a highly skilled dog to the investigation, but Skye brings something more dangerous: inside knowledge of how killers think, how trauma shapes behavior, how someone from a troubled background might become either a psychologist who helps people or a killer who destroys them. As they dig deeper, the professional boundaries between psychologist and law enforcement blur—Skye isn’t just consulting on this case, she’s living it. Every clue points toward her past, every victim seems connected to her history. 🔍

The investigation reveals that the killer may be closer to home than Skye ever imagined—not just geographically close but psychologically intimate, someone who knows her patterns, understands her vulnerabilities, has been watching her long enough to know exactly how to unravel her carefully constructed life. Is it someone from her troubled childhood seeking revenge? A patient who became obsessed? Someone who shares her past trauma and blames her for surviving when they suffered? The worst part of hunting a killer who knows you intimately is that you can’t trust your own judgment—every suspect could be someone you’ve repressed, every theory could be contaminated by your own blind spots. 💀

KJ Kalis delivers police procedural that explores the particular horror of being both investigator and target, of having your professional skills tested against someone who’s studied you as carefully as you’ve studied criminal psychology. Skye’s troubled childhood isn’t just backstory—it’s the weapon being used against her, the vulnerability the killer exploits. Will she be able to piece together the puzzle before it’s too late, or will confronting her past destroy the future she’s built? Fans of thrillers and murder mysteries will devour this pulse-pounding tale of suspense and betrayal where the line between hunter and hunted depends on which secrets you’re willing to face. ⚖️

What makes this essential: A police procedural thriller where psychologist Dr. Skye Johnston finds a body on her doorstep connected to her troubled past, forcing her to team with K9 officer Logan Fletcher to hunt a killer who knows her intimately—where every clue points back to secrets she’s spent years burying.

Mayhem. Margaritas. Welcome to my new life. After Aunt Elizabeth’s sudden death, I’m the unexpected owner of The Tarpon Cove Cottages, a beachfront property in Tarpon Cove, Florida where the humidity is a solid 100%, the locals are a-hundred-and-ten percent crazy, and my inheritance comes with a body count I definitely didn’t budget for. The cottages are beautiful in that weathered Florida Keys way, the beach is pristine, and the sunset views would be absolutely perfect if they weren’t being managed by a weasel who wants me gone. The property manager makes his hostility crystal clear from day one: I’m an outsider, I don’t understand how things work here, and he’d much prefer I sell to him for pennies on the dollar and disappear back to wherever I came from. 🏖️

Between Joseph, my resident gossip who knows absolutely everything about everyone and isn’t shy about sharing unsolicited information, and Miss January, a booze-loving neighbor who sleeps in the bushes with the dedication of someone who’s given up on conventional living arrangements, I’ve got my hands spectacularly full. Joseph provides running commentary on every person, scandal, and historical grudge in Tarpon Cove, which would be overwhelming except it turns out local knowledge is essential when you’re trying to figure out who wants you dead. Miss January stumbles through the property at odd hours offering slurred wisdom and occasionally witnessing things she probably shouldn’t, making her both a liability and an unexpectedly useful source of information. 🍹

Then a PI with a gunshot wound and a smile that could melt glaciers shows up at my cottages, dragging a whole new level of danger into my life along with undeniable chemistry and complications I absolutely don’t need. He’s bleeding, charming, evasive about why someone shot him, and clearly using The Tarpon Cove Cottages as a hideout from something or someone dangerous. The smart move would be calling the police and washing my hands of whatever trouble he’s running from. But between his wounded-hero appeal and the way he looks at me like I’m not just another property owner, I make the spectacularly unwise decision to let him stay. Now the property manager’s hostility has escalated to actual threats, Miss January keeps finding suspicious things in the bushes, and my gunshot-wound PI is involving me in investigations that may or may not be legal. 🔫

Deborah Brown delivers women’s humorous fiction that captures the chaos of inheriting property in a Florida Keys community where everyone is slightly unhinged and nothing is ever as simple as it seems. The humor comes from culture clash—outsider meets entrenched local crazy—mixed with the absurdity of trying to run a business while dodging murder attempts and managing colorful characters who treat boundaries as suggestions. This is beach-town mystery with margaritas, mayhem, and the gradual realization that “paradise” in the Florida Keys comes with a significantly higher body count than the tourism brochures suggest. 🌴

What makes this essential: Women’s humorous fiction set in the Florida Keys where inheriting The Tarpon Cove Cottages means dealing with a hostile property manager, a gossip named Joseph, a booze-loving neighbor in the bushes, and a wounded PI who brings danger along with his devastating smile—launching a series where paradise has a body count.