Visits From The Drowned Girl

From the author of cult classic THE MINOTAUR TAKES A CIGARETTE BREAK comes a dark narrative that begs the question: at what point do we become responsible for the things that we see? Benny Poteat observes the world from above, working hundreds of feet in the air repairing tension lines. He's seen a lot of things from this vantage point, but nothing can compare to watching a girl die. She approaches the river that snakes far below him and walks purposefully into the rushing water, never to reappear. Startled at both what he’s witnessed and his inability to prevent it, what Benny does next will forever alter the course of his life: He does nothing. He gathers up the drowned girl’s belongings and doesn’t tell a soul what he saw. Instead, Benny visits the address on a business card he finds in the drowned girl’s bag and slowly insinuates himself into the life she once lived. But even as he immerses himself in her world, he wonders: What does it mean to watch someone die? And what can explain his strange attraction to the drowned girl? VISITS FROM THE DROWNED GIRL is an unforgettable tale about the seductive but ultimately pernicious nature of secrecy. As Benny struggles to figure out what to do and who to tell, his burden becomes unbearable, and the secrets he keeps threaten to pull him under.

Winner: 2022 Hugo Award for Best Series Finalist: 2023 Hugo Award for Best Novella In Where the Drowned Girls Go, the next addition to Seanan McGuire's beloved Wayward Children series, students at an anti-magical school rebel against the oppressive faculty "Welcome to the Whitethorn Institute. The first step is always admitting you need help, and you’ve already taken that step by requesting a transfer into our company." There is another school for children who fall through doors and fall back out again. It isn't as friendly as Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children. And it isn't as safe. When Eleanor West decided to open her school, her sanctuary, her "Home for Wayward Children," she knew from the beginning that there would be children she couldn’t save; when Cora decides she needs a different direction, a different fate, a different prophecy, Miss West reluctantly agrees to transfer her to the other school, where things are run very differently by Whitethorn, the Headmaster. She will soon discover that not all doors are welcoming... At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

"People throw the word 'classic' about a lot, but A Drowned Maiden's Hair genuinely deserves to become one." — Wall Street Journal Maud Flynn is known at the orphanage for her impertinence, so when the charming Miss Hyacinth and her sister choose Maud to take home with them, the girl is as baffled as anyone. It seems the sisters need Maud to help stage elaborate séances for bereaved, wealthy patrons. As Maud is drawn deeper into the deception, playing her role as a "secret child," she is torn between her need to please and her growing conscience -- until a shocking betrayal makes clear just how heartless her so-called guardians are. Filled with tantalizing details of turn-of-the-century spiritualism and page-turning suspense, this lively historical novel features a winning heroine whom readers will not soon forget.

"This ghost story gave me chill after chill. It will haunt you." -- R.L. Stine, author of Goosebumps "Do you know what it feels like to be forgotten?"On a cold winter night, Iris and her best friend, Daniel, sneak into a clearing in the woods to play in the freshly fallen snow. There, Iris carefully makes a perfect snow angel -- only to find the crumbling gravestone of a young girl, Avery Moore, right beneath her.Immediately, strange things start to happen to Iris: She begins having vivid nightmares. She wakes up to find her bedroom window wide open, letting in the snow. She thinks she sees the shadow of a girl lurking in the woods. And she feels the pull of the abandoned grave, calling her back to the clearing...Obsessed with figuring out what's going on, Iris and Daniel start to research the area for a school project. They discover that Avery's grave is actually part of a neglected and forgotten Black cemetery, dating back to a time when White and Black people were kept separate in life -- and in death. As Iris and Daniel learn more about their town's past, they become determined to restore Avery's grave and finally have proper respect paid to Avery and the others buried there.But they have awakened a jealous and demanding ghost, one that's not satisfied with their plans for getting recognition. One that is searching for a best friend forever -- no matter what the cost.The Forgotten Girl is both a spooky original ghost story and a timely and important storyline about reclaiming an abandoned segregated cemetery."A harrowing yet empowering tale reminding us that the past is connected to the present, that every place and every person has a story, and that those stories deserve to be told." -- Renee Watson, New York Times bestselling author of Piecing Me Together

Detective Angie Pallorino took down a serial killer permanently and, according to her superiors, with excessive force. Benched on a desk assignment for twelve months, Angie struggles to maintain her sense of identity--if she's not a detective, who is she? Then a decades-old cold case washes ashore, pulling her into an investigation she recognizes as deeply personal. Angie's lover and partner, James Maddocks, sees it, too. But spearheading an ongoing probe into a sex-trafficking ring while keeping Angie's increasing obsession with her case in check is taking its toll. As startling connections between the parallel investigations emerge, Maddocks realizes he has even more than Angie's emotional state to worry about. Driven and desperate to solve her case, Angie goes rogue, risking her relationship, career, and very life in pursuit of answers. She'll learn that some truths are too painful to bear, and some sacrifices include collateral damage. But Angie Pallorino won't let it go. She can't. It's not in her blood.

“Freaking awesome! OMG!… I am obsessed!… Totally addictive… I cannot find the right words to say. All I know is that everyone should get this book… Just awesome!” MagpieReviews In the thin glow of moonlight, a mess of auburn curls gleams against the rocks. Hands bound, the girl’s fragile body is limp and still. Seconds later, a wall of raging white water crashes down, swallowing her whole… A knock on the door late in the evening can only mean trouble for Detective Josie Quinn, but fear chokes her at the news that the one of her own team is missing. No one has seen Denton PD’s beautiful Press Liaison Amber for days. Sweet-natured and totally dedicated to the job, she’d never let her colleagues down. A message scrawled on the frosted windscreen of Amber’s car leads Josie to a nearby dam. But the body they pull from the water is not Amber… Josie won’t sleep until she finds a name for the innocent girl left to drown, and the meaning of the numbers scribbled in a tattered pink diary found on Amber’s desk. But when the trail leads her to a twisted truth about Amber’s family, Josie wonders if anyone really knew her at all? Her team crumbling around her, Josie must stay strong and focused to get the job done. But as prime suspects start going missing, and rumors of an argument the night Amber disappeared surface, could one of her own staff be to blame? Finding Amber alive is Josie’s only chance of knowing the truth and stopping a dangerous killer in their tracks. But as a blizzard closes in, how many more precious lives will be snatched before she can? An absolutely astounding crime thriller that will keep you up all night and leave you sleeping with the lights on. This gripping rollercoaster ride, perfect for fans of Angela Marsons, Robert Dugoni and Rachel Caine, will have you TOTALLY HOOKED! Everyone is talking about The Drowning Girls: “Literally kept me guessing right up until the end… a twist I never in a million years saw coming!!... unputdownable!!” Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars “Fantastic... Heart thumping... Twists, turns and family betrayal have you turning the pages late into the night.” Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars “WOW… captivated from the very first page… Perfect!” NetGalley reviewer, 5 stars “Buckle Up!... a wild ride!... absolutely fantastic… Loved it!!!” m45, 5 stars “WOW! A ~page-turning~ nailing-biting read!” Linda Strong Book Reviews “Absolutely brilliant…This is one fantastic book. All I can say is brilliant from page one right to the end!! And bring on the next one!!” Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars Readers adore Lisa Regan: “BUCKLE UP… never-ending twists and turns. You think you know what to expect… and then BAM she hits you with something so out of the blue that you can’t help but gasp.” Katie Mettner Books, 5 stars “Absofrickenloutly amazing… fantastic start to finish… one of those books that you stay up way too late to read… pick up this book ASAP… be prepared to be hooked.” Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars “I. Don’t. Know. How. She. Does. It… My heart pounded in my chest, my pulse raced, I shed some tears, and my hands shook… absolutely incredible.” Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars “Mind-blowingly brilliant!! I read it in a day… just blew me away!!… Worth 10 stars if possible. A must read.” NetGalley reviewer, 5 stars “***CRACK*** Lisa Regan has knocked it out of the ballpark yet again, and I could not be happier!!!… I devoured this book… twists and turns galore in addition to a HUGE amount of emotion… Whew!… I LOVED IT!… I was glued to the pages from the very first page. She had me guessing, she had my heart pounding, she had me pleading “no, no, please no”… Read, read, read this book!” Open Book Posts, 5 stars

19-year-old mage Lady Lyriana Batavia is third in line to the Seat of Power in Bamaria: a position of wealth and privilege, but not safety. Bamaria falls under the rule of the Lumerian Empire, survivors of a celestial war whose island sank in the Drowning. Now all Lumerians submit to the Emperor and his strict laws about magic. He decides what magic can be practiced and what powers remain forbidden. He decides who will die for possession of forbidden magic. Lyr’s own cousin was executed for wielding the wrong kind. And for years, Lyr has sworn to protect her older sisters, helping them conceal their own illicit magic. But when Lyr must participate in the ceremony that reveals her power, she uncovers something else entirely. Something that means banishment from the Empire. Faced with death in exile, and leaving her sisters behind, Lyr has no choice but to accept a deadly contract. She has seven months to train as a warrior and pass the Emperor’s brutal test of strength—all without magic. But when she’s forced to train with Lord Rhyan Hart, the man she’s secretly loved since she was a girl—a feared warrior in exile himself, forbidden to her in every way—she’s in danger of losing far more than her family, life, and country. Rebel forces, and an invading army, are destabilizing Bamaria, just as her family’s secrets threaten to reveal themselves. Surviving the training, and saving her sisters may mean sacrificing her own heart.

The Conjuring meets Sadie in this queer ghost story, when seventeen-year-old podcaster Dare finds herself in a life-or-death struggle against an evil spirit. Dare Chase doesn’t believe in ghosts. But as the host of Attachments, her brand-new paranormal investigation podcast, she knows to keep her doubts to herself if she wants to win over listeners. Her first season’s subject is the Arrington Estate—a sprawling manor rumored to be haunted by the spirit of Atheleen Bell, who drowned in its lake almost thirty years ago. Dare’s more interested in investigating the suspicious circumstances of Atheleen’s death, which she thinks point to a decades-old murder, not something supernatural. But Arrington is full of surprises. As Dare is drawn deeper into the mysteries of the estate, she’ll have to rethink the boundaries of what is possible. Because if something is lurking in the lake…it might not be willing to let her go.

Drowned, set in the idyllic countryside during a short-lived Swedish summer, gets under one’s skin from the first page, creating an atmosphere of foreboding in which even the perfume of freshly picked vegetables roasting in the kitchen becomes ominous. Marina has left behind her stalled relationship and floundering career in Stockholm to visit her sister in rural Skåne, where she lives in a house full of books, gorgeous flowers and, as Marina soon learns, many secrets. Nothing is as it seems in this spellbinding novel of psychological suspense that combines hothouse sensuality with ice-cold fear on every page. More than a mere thriller, this debut novel delves deep into the feminine soul and at the same time exposes the continuing oppression of women in Sweden’s supposedly enlightened society. Mixing hothouse sensuality with ice-cold fear on every page, Drowned heralds the emergence of a major new talent on the international scene.

Her eyes fluttered open as the first splash of frigid water crashed through the open window beside her. She shook her head, startled to be awake—to be alive. She was in her car, in the river. She blinked, tried to focus. And then it came back to her. He’d tried to kill her… One month since she lost her husband, Dr Leah Wright knows it’s time to return to her family home. Though the crime scene tape and blood stains are gone, she will never feel safe with her daughter there again. Receiving a call from Detective Luka Jericho to assist with a police investigation is a welcome distraction, until she sees the scene: a wife dead, another family ripped apart. As Leah is the new head of the Crisis Intervention Center, Luka knows she can help him speak to the victim’s traumatized husband, who he suspects might have had something to do with his wife’s death. But when Leah interviews the woman who lives across the hall, they uncover evidence of a serial killer in their rural Pennsylvania town. The same person who claims responsibility for drowning Luka’s fiancée seventeen years ago… With danger closer to home than ever before, Leah realises that to find the killer they may need to dig into Luka’s past. But the killer is already taunting Luka, promising to kill again. Is it already too late to save another innocent life? Brilliantly suspenseful until the very last page, The Drowned Woman is perfect for fans of Karin Slaughter, Kendra Elliot and Tess Gerritsen. An addictive new thriller in the Jericho and Wright crime series from New York Times bestselling author CJ Lyons. What readers say about The Drowned Woman: “This is what a thriller should be! The tension is high and I found myself holding my breath a couple of times… action-packed and full of suspense… I didn't figure it out until right before the reveal.” Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars “Completely and utterly enthralling and impossible to put down. I have devoured this book in just one sitting… I have felt as though I have watched this one play out in front of me.” Little Miss Book Lover 86, 5 stars “Oh My Gosh. I’m already excited to read the next book in the series! This was such an intricate, intriguing and suspenseful story! The twists and turns kept me guessing and on the edge of my seat. Definitely a ‘could not put down’ book!” Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars “What a book!! Grab this book for an intriguing read!!!” Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars “Reeled me in from the first chapter and didn’t let go till the end… the suspense kept me guessing until the end. I couldn’t put this book down till I finished it… I can’t wait to read the next book in this series.” Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars “Twisted and unexpected, the story draws the reader in for a page-turning story that demands to be read from start to finish in one sitting.” Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars “Wow CJ Lyons has done it again! The second instalment of the Wright/Jericho series is even better than the first. It had me gripped from the first page and I devoured it. I cannot wait for the next book.” Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars “Brilliant, captivating book… CJ Lyons knows how to start a book and right for the first page we have a murder… Can’t wait to see where this goes.” Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars