Happy Tuesday! Today’s Top Ten Tuesday theme is a Halloween freebie so I thought I’d talk about some of my fave books that you might want to read with allllll the lights on! Or … you know… just maybe don’t read these at night lol.
Let’s start with some classics. Danger In the Shadows by Dee Henderson and Private Justice by Terri Blackstock are both intense reads with super creepy villains. In Henderson’s book, the bad guy always finds a way to find the heroine, no matter how tight her security, but he doesn’t make it obvious he’s been there which to me is even creepier. In Blackstock’s novel, there is a serial killer after the wives of the Newpointe firefighters – and her descriptions of his/her movements and garb are just bone chilling.
Jaime Jo Wright’s debut novel The House on Foster Hill is deliciously mysterious and spooky, and she does a phenomenal job of setting the scene with sentences like this, “Cavernous windows opened in a silent scream on the face of the Gothic house tilted on the crest of Foster Hill. Its gables towered as if to mock her, and balconies curved in permanent, evil grins.” Ahhh I love it! Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco is about as close to horror as I’ll ever read and there are some rather gruesome scenes (not for shock and awe but just by the nature of the Jack the Ripper crimes). But the writing style is just riveting and takes some stunning turns that will have you running around turning all the lights on and grabbing a flashlight for good measure.
Both of these books are in the middle of their respective series, but their villains are so creepy that I had to include them! Just go ahead and put both series on your TBR lists – all the books are wonderful! Gone Without a Trace by Patricia Bradley has a seriously messed-up bad guy and the way Bradley writes the buildup to the reveal had me riveted to the page. Lynette Eason’s When the Heart Stops is the 2nd of three very intense books in this trilogy but the serial killer villain and his/her calling card had me making sure I slept with the lights on after staying up too late to finish reading it.
Conspiracy of Silence by Ronie Kendig and A Cry From the Dust by Carrie Stuart Parks are both the first books in intense and riveting series. I’m only including the covers of these first books but ‘read with all the lights on’ applies to every subsequent book as well. The bad guys are really bad, and the hero/heroine find themselves in some terrifying situations. And THEY ARE SO GOOD!!!
Colleen Coble’s Beneath Copper Falls and Irene Hannon’s Trapped both have elements of psychological thriller to them, and they are tough to put down once you’ve started reading them. Really messed up villains and a feeling of powerlessness as the reader to help the characters – even though you know what’s getting ready to happen – give these books a firm spot on this list.
What about you? What are some books you’ve had to read with all the lights on?
Actually, I don’t sleep well with the lights on! lol So, even if I may read a CF Romantic Suspense that possibly gets a “little” intense, I’m okay with it, although I may have an interesting dream. . . Hmmmmm. Thanks for the review. They all look good! Would love to enter a giveaway and win some print books–some of the above on your list!
thanks, Lual – no giveaway this time 🙂
Jaime’s is 100% Gothic appropriate, and someday I do want to give “Stalking Jack the Ripper” a chance. Someday. (I’m probably too much of a wimp.) SO fun to see an oldie Dee Henderson on this list, too. She’s one of my first contemporary suspense authors. 🙂
one of mine, too, Rissi! Stalking surprised me – i wasn’t expecting to like it as much as I did. But I don’t recommend the 2nd one. However, I’m looking forward to reading the 3rd one that just came out!
Great choices!! I so want to read Stalking Jack the Ripper. I’ll remember to leave the lights on!
yes! do! And don’t eat while you’re reading it either lol – unless you have a very strong stomach 😛
Great list, Carrie! I’m listening to Lynette Eason’s No One to Trust — another creepy villain.
YES! i agree.
I definitely read Jaime Jo Wright with the lights on. I have Stalking Jack the Ripper in my library TBR pile and was about to read it the other day. Only I was eating so had to put it down when I started reading the first page. Maybe now I can revisit. 🙂
oh yeah – not to be read while eating LOL
Oh, Wow! Thanks for mentioning me with these awesome authors!!
yours was actually one of the first i thought of 🙂
Lynette Eason’s Don’t Look Back! Creepy dude in that one!!!
yes! she writes such great villains!
The Bride Collector and BoneMan’s Daughter, both by Ted Dekker, for sure!
I LOVE the books on this list, though I haven’t read Stalking yet. I neeeeed to. Also Colleen Coble’s!!!!
I’m a wimp when it comes to scary things. So I don’t tend to read very scary books. But I did read a number of Frank Peretti books until the night I had been reading “The Oath”. I got up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom but didn’t turn on the light. Unbeknownst to me, my husband woke up while I was at the sink. He came up behind me and scared the living daylights out of me! After that, he forbade me from reading any more Frank Peretti books. 🙂
I would definitely have to have all the lights on or read these during the day. They are so creepy!!!
The first couple books in Restoration series by Terri Blackstock were creepy and intense in a different way …. although there was a killer on the loose, it was loss of technology, looting, and neighbors turning on each other instead of helping each other that scared me….
Got to admit it: the first book in the K-9 Military Unit (Love-Inspired Suspense) had a creepy feeling to it… unfortunately, Security Forces are not much closer to catching the serial killer 4 months later, although they’ve caught a few other killers running around in the meantime…