Books I Recommend

Book Recommendations 2022

December 16, 2022 By J.F. Penn

I read a lot of books across many different genres, usually around 3-5 books per week in ebook, audio, and hardback editions.

These are the memorable ones that made a lasting impact on me this year. I hope some of them make it to your holiday reading pile!

At First Light — Barbara Nickless. “Ritual murder. Archaic clues. A visionary killer.” This is the first in a new crime thriller series that hooked me with the main characters. Dr Evan Wilding, a brilliant forensic semiotician; his Ph.D. student Diane who throws axes for fun, and Chicago detective Addie Bisset. I love love loved the Viking research and runes and cool details, and the characters were compelling. I pre-ordered the second book immediately.

The Lighthouse Witches — C.J. Cooke. I sample a lot of fiction and this caught me within a few pages. A cross-genre novel of witches, the love of family, with an edge of the supernatural.

The Gemini Effect — Chuck Grossart. “A single raindrop opens a Pandora’s box when the spawn of perverse genetic research performed during World War II is unleashed on an unsuspecting modern world. By dawn, only a dead city remains, eerily quiet and still, except for mutant beasts that hide from the light, multiply, and await the shadows of night to continue their relentless advance.” Tech-horror fun.

All the Murmuring Bones — AG Slatter. “Long ago Miren O'Malley's family prospered due to a deal struck with the mer: safety for their ships in return for a child of each generation.” I love merfolk fiction, and this is excellent.

Sundial — Catriona Ward. “Rob is afraid of her daughter. Callie collects tiny bones and whispers to imaginary friends, and Rob is afraid of what she might to do Annie, her younger sister. She sees a darkness in Callie that reminds her of the family she left behind, and a life she has tried to forget.” Super dark.

The entire Slough House series — Mick Herron. I watched season 1 on Apple TV, and then binged the entire book series even though I don't even usually read spy books. The characters in this series will keep you coming back for more, and the books are better than the TV show, even though that is also brilliant!

JOANNA PENN WITH MICK HERRON, HARROGATE, SUMMER 2022

The Change – Kristen Miller. “In the Long Island oceanfront community of Mattauk, three different women discover that midlife changes bring a whole new type of empowerment …” I have recommended this to so many people this the year. I LOVE it!

When Women Were Dragons — Kelly Barnhill. “In a world where girls and women are taught to be quiet, the dragons inside them are about to be set free …” Wonderful. I await my dragoning …

The Six Deaths of the Saint — Alix E. Harrow. The Saint of War spares the life of a servant girl so she can fulfill her destiny as the kingdom’s greatest warrior. This is a short story, so it's a quick read but it's a memorable one. I also loved Harrow's The Once and Future Witches, one of my best reads from last year.

The Paper Palace — Miranda Cowley Heller. “A story that unfolds over twenty-four hours and fifty years, as Elle's shocking betrayal leads her to a life-changing decision.” I love deep sense of place and after I read the opening chapter, I couldn't let this go.

The Thursday Murder Club series — Richard Osman. I resisted these books for too long, as I don't usually read cozy mystery, but the characters in this series are addictive.

Queen of Teeth — Hailey Piper. “Within forty-eight hours, Yaya Betancourt will go from discovering teeth between her thighs to being hunted by one of the most powerful corporations in America.” Weird cosmic horror at its best. A well-deserved winner of a Bram Stoker Award.

Never — Ken Follett. “A stolen US army drone. A shrinking oasis in the Sahara Desert. A secret stash of deadly chemicals.” An utterly compelling read because of how real it could be. Its horror lies in how easy it is to start a world war and for that reason, it is a must read in the hope we can avoid it.

I'd love to know what books remain memorable for you this year. Please leave a comment and give me some recommendations!

Happy reading holidays!

The Context Of Death. Interview With Alex Dolan, Author Of The Euthanist

August 26, 2015 By J.F. Penn

Some book titles are designed to appeal to certain types of people.

I saw The Euthanist by Alex Dolan and bought it immediately! It's definitely my type of book, and in this interview, I ask author Alex Dolan about some of the controversial topics that underlie the story.

Tell us how you got into writing.

My father worked for Houghton Mifflin, so I grew up around books and I’ve written since I was young. My dad typeset and bound my first story when I was six. It was called The Jewel, and essentially an Indiana Jones rip-off.

Part of why I like to write is because I like to read. And I’ll read anyone. Tom Robbins’ Jitterbug Perfume remains one of my favorite books because of the imagination he poured into it. My literary crush is Joyce Carol Oates. Michael Faber intrigues me these days because he seems to tackle a different genre with every new title, and he nails it—sort of like a literary Ang Lee.

So, I try to read as much as possible, and every time I read a fresh voice, it inspires me to keep writing, to see if I can add something to the conversation.

Why did you decide to tackle the topic head-on by titling the book The Euthanist?

I’d always had an academic interest in the death with dignity movement, but when my father passed away a few years ago, I started to seriously consider end-of-life decisions, and how much power we all have over those decisions. That’s what made me dig a little deeper into the subject.

Once I started researching it, I was fascinated, and the story evolved from there. I knew going into it that I was writing about delicate subject matter, and I thought it made sense to be clear from the title what the book would be about. Either this is going to interest someone or not, and I wanted a title that let readers know what they were getting themselves into.

I support the charity Dignity in Dying and I campaign for the right of terminally ill but mentally sound patients to choose their own means of death, in their own homes, with their loved ones. I believe sick and dying animals are treated better than sick and dying humans – so I am your target audience!

[For a powerful argument on this topic, check out fantasy author Terry Pratchett's book, Shaking Hands with Death. Terry died of early onset Alzheimer's in March 2015 and was a passionate campaigner for the right to choose his own death.]

How do your own opinions and feelings on euthanasia come out in the book?

I think people should have more choice in end-of-life decisions.

That being said, I don’t preach either side of the argument in the book. It can be a divisive issue, and I try to respect others’ opinions. We’re at an interesting time in this country, where 27 states are currently debating death with dignity legislation, and yet the media seems to avoid covering the issue. I think we should have a very public discussion about it, and my hope is that the book might help ignite that discussion.

My readers love strong female characters and Kali is definitely strong. What parts of you are in her character?

Thank you! There’s not much of me in Kali. She’s largely based on a collection of people I interviewed, which included paramedics, EMTs and firefighters, as well as some personal friends who shared similar characteristics. I wanted to create someone physically formidable, strong-willed and courageous, and my research fed into a composite that became Kali.

How did your research for the book and what kinds of reaction did you get along the way?

Whenever I can, I try to interview people face to face, or at least by telephone. There’s so much I can draw out of a real person that I can’t get from a secondary source. Given how sensitive this material is, I forced myself to limit these kinds of interviews. As I mentioned, I interviewed a number of paramedics, EMTs and firefighters, but I avoided speaking with anyone directly involved in the death with dignity movement, because I didn’t want anyone to feel like they were getting themselves into legal jeopardy by talking to me.

Also, I didn’t want anyone who was considering their own end-of-life decisions to feel like I was exploiting their illnesses for the sake of the book. So where it felt inappropriate to talk to people in person, I relied on secondary sources.

One of themes of the book for me was a consideration about what murder really is and who is a murderer.

Can we define murder based on who is killed and what the motive is? How did you consider and explore that theme in the book?

It’s a good question, and one that I asked myself quite a bit while I was writing this. I leave it an unresolved question in the book, because it’s such a gray area.

One of the aspects of death with dignity that compelled me was that the drugs used in mercy killing are often the same drugs used in capital punishment, which means two people can be killed in the same way and have it considered both compassionate and punitive, depending on the scenario.

The context of death is important.

But the definition of murder can also come down to personal values and biases. If you kill someone in self-defense, you can still think of yourself as a murderer depending on your own morality.

When I was researching the book, a few of the paramedics repeated a saying, “No one dies in an ambulance,” which stems from a law that you need an MD to call a time of death. So there’s some gray area around the difference between biological death and legal death. And if it’s that hard to come up with a tight definition of death, it’s that much harder to come up with a universal definition of murder.

What's next for you?

The next book is another literary thriller set in the art world, where a mysterious painting surfaces and sparks a blood feud between a rich and poor family. It was inspired by the real world relationship between a German painter named Rudolph Bauer and his primary benefactor, Solomon Guggenheim.

Where can people find you and the book online?

You can find The Euthanist on Amazon here.

http://www.alexdolan.com/

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24514903-the-euthanist

https://twitter.com/alexdolan

https://www.facebook.com/alexdolan4

Thriller Books And Authors I Love

April 27, 2015 By J.F. Penn

Here are some examples of novels that I love, and authors I enjoy reading.

You can also check out my reviews on Goodreads here. And if you like any of these books, you’re likely to enjoy my work too!

Stephen King – The Stand. Probably my favorite book in terms of good vs evil. Plus The Shining, Doctor Sleep and others by King that veer towards the supernatural, rather than the purely horror angle.

James Rollins – Sigma series for some kick-ass fun (love Seichan) and the Sanguines series with Rebecca Cantrell for that supernatural edge

Mo Hayder – Jack Caffrey series

John Connolly – The Charlie Parker series. A huge influence on my London Psychic books, because it blends a detective with a supernatural underworld.

J.A.Konrath – Origin. What do you expect if you keep Beelzebub in a bunker?

Jonathan Maberry – Joe Ledger series

Lisa Gardner – The DD Warren series

Matthew Reilly – Fantastic action/adventure Scarecrow series. It’s a bit like Spooks TV show, everybody dies.

Layton Green – The Summoner and Dominic Grey series

Val McDermid – Wire in the Blood and that series. Tony Hill & Carol Jordan series

Preston & Child – Pendergast series, particularly the early, more supernatural ones like The Cabinet of Curiosities

James Michener – The Source. An incredible epic about Israel that continues to inspire me.

Jen Blood – Erin Solomon series, particularly Southern Cross. Fast paced thriller about a cult survivor and a religious conspiracy.

Daniel Silva – Gabriel Allon series. Israeli secret agents, religious conspiracy and political thriller plots, plus art history and restoration.

Clive Barker – The Hellbound Heart

James Herbert – Dark , Ash

Gillian Flynn – Dark Places, Sharp Objects. These darker books are so much better than Gone Girl IMHO!

Barnaby Williams – Anno Domini. What if St Paul murdered Jesus? A particularly bloody retelling.

Lee Child – Jack Reacher series. I love a loner out for justice

Michael Wallace – The Righteous Series. Polygamous Mormons out in the Utah desert tackle mysteries, murder and the apocalypse.

Chuck Wendig – Blackbirds and the Miriam Black series. When Miriam touches someone, she can tell how and when they will die.

Jeremy Robinson – Jack Sigler series, SecondWorld. Non stop action with all kinds of monsters. Check out Island 731 and The Guardian.

Danielle Trussoni – Angelology. The Nephilim live among us.

Jonathan Holt – The Carnivia trilogy. Murder and mystery set in a darker Venice.

Daniel Suarez – Daemon, Freedom. Technothrillers with an edge of horror

Zoe Sharp – Charlie Fox thrillers. Kick ass female bodyguard solves mysteries and rights wrongs. Described as a female Jack Reacher.

Terry Hayes – I am Pilgrim. One of the best portrayals of a terrorist character and an enthralling thriller.

Marcus Sakey – Brilliance series. 1% are born with special talents. Kind of X Men but more realistic!

Laini Taylor – Daughter of Smoke and Bone series. What if a devil and an angel fell in love … and the angels were the enemy. Fantastic series!

Scott Sigler – Infected, Contagious, Pandemic. Michael Crichton-esque but with more horror as the world copes with an alien invasion that turns humans into all kinds of weird

Max Brooks – World War Z. I’m not usually one for zombie books, but this one is incredibly well written. Much better than the film!

Simon Toyne. Sanctus trilogy. What secret lies at the heart of Ruin?

Alan Baxter – Realmshift, MageSign. Dark fantasy with gods and demons and magic.

AJ Hartley & David Hewson – Macbeth, a novel. This fantastic retelling has beautiful language but really brings the story alive as a thriller.

Martin Lastrapes – Inside the Outside. One girl copes with leaving a cannibal cult.

Dan Brown – The Da Vinci Code. I have to include this as Brown changed the genre and religious thrillers took off after this book. It still stands as a great example of the genre, although the later ones haven’t been so good IMHO.

Erin Morgenstern – The Night Circus

Terry Brooks – Running with the Demon. I loved the early Shannara series too, but the demonic books are more my style.

Frank Peretti – This Present Darkness. I read this as a teenager and the unseen supernatural battle of angels and demons influenced my imagination heavily. I see demons everywhere!

Click here for more books that I recommend.

22 Thrillers With Kick Ass Heroines

July 5, 2014 By J.F. Penn

I love reading (as well as writing) thrillers with kick ass female characters!

Here are a selection of books featuring feisty women who can fight as well as outsmart their enemies, some you may have heard of, and others will hopefully be new for you.

Charlie Fox in Die Easy by Zoe Sharp

Charlie Fox, ex-Special Forces trainee turned bodyguard, described as “ill-tempered, aggressive and borderline psychotic, Fox is also compassionate, introspective and highly principled: arguably one of the most enigmatic − and coolest − heroines in contemporary genre fiction – Chicago Tribune” and Lee Child said: “If I were a woman I'd be Zoë Sharp. If Jack Reacher were a woman he'd be Zoë's main character, Charlie Fox.” Click here to sample or buy.

Lucy Guardino in Snakeskin by C.J.Lyons

Just your average Pittsburgh soccer mom, baking brownies and carrying a loaded forty-caliber Glock…CJ Lyons' FBI Special Agent Lucy Guardino has been described by real life FBI Agents as “dedicated, smart, and fearless.” Click here to sample or buy.

Alexandra Poe in POE by Brett Battles & Robert Gregory Browne

Half-Iranian bounty hunter reluctantly working for a defense contractor tracking down terrorists worldwide in the hope of finding her father, an Army colonel, who has been AWOL for 10 years. Poe is tough as nails, and never backs down from a fight, occasionally to her detriment. Click here to sample or buy.

Seichan in Blood Line and the SIGMA series by James Rollins

Born in Vietnam, Seichan was raised on the streets, fighting for survival until she was recruited by the Guild to become one of their most feared assassins. Now part of SIGMA, Seichan seeks her past … Click here to sample or buy.

Morgan Sierra in One Day In Budapest by J.F.Penn

An ex-Israeli military psychologist specializing in psychology and religion, Morgan Sierra joins the secret world of ARKANE to solve supernatural mysteries around the globe. A Krav Maga expert, passionate about protecting her family, Morgan never gives up on a fight or a quest. Click here to sample or buy.

Chandler in Flee by J. A. Konrath and Ann Voss Peterson.

Chandler isn’t a person; it’s the codename for a woman who was shaped from a raw military recruit into a living weapon. She’s an assassin without remorse or fear, doing the bidding of an agency so secret that only three people know of its existence. But when her cover gets blown, she becomes the target of a wide-reaching conspiracy led by a mysterious figure whose connection to Chandler goes far beyond what she could have imagined. Click here to sample or buy.

Eliza Christianson in The Righteous by Michael Wallace

Raised in a polygamous enclave, Eliza still manages to be a headstrong, independent woman, investigating evils both human and supernatural in The Righteous series. She doesn’t flinch from a fight, rescuing others and defending her family to the end. Click here to sample or buy.

Katniss Everdene in The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Forced to fight for her District while the Capitol celebrates and the rest of Panem suffers under their tyranny, Katniss must kill to survive the murderous attempts of the other tributes. Click here to sample or buy.

Lisbeth Salander in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

Salander, a tattooed computer hacker who joins Mikael Blomkvist to investigate a murder in the powerful Vanger family, turns into an avenging angel as the series progresses. Click to sample or buy now.

Pia Sabel in The Geneva Decision by Seeley James

Pia Sabel plays to win. Until a few weeks ago, she was an international soccer star. But now she’s taken the helm of her billionaire father’s private security company, and she’s playing against a whole new set of opponents – the kind who shoot to kill. Click to sample or buy now.

Clarice Starling in Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris

Seeking insight into the deadly madman she must find, FBI rookie Clarice Starling turns to Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a monster cannibal held in a hospital for the criminally insane. As Dr. Lecter invites Clarice into the darkest chambers of his mind, he forces her to confront her own childhood demons in return for knowledge; an unspeakable tuition he exacts to teach her how the monster thinks. Time is running out, but Clarice is stronger than you think … Click to sample or buy now.

Karou in Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Raised half in our world, half in ‘Elsewhere', Karou has never understood Brimstone's dark work – buying teeth from hunters and murderers – nor how she came into his keeping. She is a secret even to herself, plagued by the sensation that she isn't whole. Now the doors to Elsewhere are closing, and Karou must choose between the safety of her human life and the dangers of a war-ravaged world that may hold the answers she has always sought. Click to sample or buy now.

Jane Harper in The Sentinel by Jeremy Bishop

Jane is a sarcastic, strong, no-holds-barred heroine capable of fending off angry whalers, anti-whaling activists…and viking zombies! Shipwrecked on an arctic island where ancient Draugar (the inspiration for modern day zombies and vampires) were buried, Jane, along with a band of survivors must face off against the elements and a 600 year old enemy. Click to sample or buy now.

Kirby in The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes

The girl who wouldn’t die hunting a killer who shouldn’t exist. Harper stalks his shining girls through the years – and cuts the spark out of them. But what if the one that got away came back for him? Click to sample or buy now.

Karen Brown in Inceptio by Alison Morton

Karen Brown, angry and frightened after a kidnap attempt, has a choice – being eliminated by government enforcer Jeffery Renschman or fleeing to mysterious Roma Nova, her dead mother's homeland in Europe. Unable to rely on anybody else, she undergoes intensive training, develops fighting skills and becomes an undercover cop. But crazy with bitterness at his past failures, Renschman sets a trap for her, knowing she has no choice but to spring it… Click to sample or buy now.

Want more thriller recommendations? Click here to check out more recommended books here.

26 Thrillers For A Winter’s Night

December 2, 2013 By J.F. Penn

Winter has definitely arrived.

The trees are almost bare and I've dug out my woolly jumpers and mittens. The pubs are serving mulled wine, and Brits are certainly drinking it!

It's time to curl up by the fire with a good book, so here are some of my recommendations for winter themed thrillers. Please do leave your recommendations in the comments!

The Shining – Stephen King

As the harsh winter weather sets in at the Overlook Hotel, the idyllic location feels ever more remote . . . and more sinister. And the only one to notice the strange and terrible forces gathering around the Overlook is Danny Torrance, a uniquely gifted five-year-old. Click here to sample or buy.

The Wolves of Paris – Michael Wallace

It's the winter of 1450 and Paris is in a panic. A pack of ravenous wolves is loose in the city, feasting on human flesh … These are no ordinary wolves. And if they are not defeated, the city's filthy alleys will be awash in blood. Click here to sample or buy.

White Fire – Preston & Child

Colorado, 1876: At a remote mining camp high in the Rocky Mountains, eleven gold miners are killed, their bodies horribly mutilated, flesh devoured.

136 years later … As the winter snows fall, Corrie's life depends on unravelling a dark secret… the key to which may just lie in a lost Sherlock Holmes story, a tale allegedly so horrifying that its author never dared publish it. Click here to sample or buy.

KILL ZONE: A Lucy Guardino FBI Thriller – CJ Lyons

Four days before Christmas, visions of sugar plums and sleeping through the Nutcracker with her husband at her side are dashed when FBI Special Agent Lucy Guardino becomes trapped behind enemy lines as a vicious drug cartel declares war on Pittsburgh. Click here to sample or buy.

Subterranean – James Rollins

Beneath the ice at the bottom of the Earth is a magnificent subterranean labyrinth, a place of breathtaking wonders – and terrors beyond imagining. A team of specialists led by archaeologist Ashley Carter has been hand-picked to explore this secret place and to uncover the riches it holds.

But they are not the first to venture here – and those they follow did not return. There are mysteries here older than time, and revelations that could change the world. But there are also things that should not be disturbed – and a devastating truth that could doom Ashley and the expedition: they are not alone. Click here to sample or buy.

One Day In Budapest – J.F.Penn

A relic, stolen from the heart of an ancient city. An echo of nationalist violence not seen since the dark days of the Second World War.

As the snow falls on the city and the Danube begins to freeze, Morgan Sierra must race against time to find the Holy Right and expose the conspiracy, before blood is spilled again on the streets of Budapest.

Click here to sample or buy.

Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow – Peter Hoeg

A little boy falls off a roof in Copenhagen and is killed. Smilla, his neighbour, suspects it is not an accident: she has seen his footsteps in the snow, and, having been brought up by her mother, a Greenlander, she has a feeling for snow.

Click here to sample or buy.

Icefall – David Wood

When the bones of the Magi are stolen from their resting place in a German cathedral, the whispered words of a dying priest catapult Dane Maddock and Bones Bonebrake into the midst of a deadly race to solve a centuries-old conspiracy. Click here to sample or buy.

Macbeth, a novel – A.J.Hartley and David Hewson

As winter draws near in Scotland, Macbeth meets a trio of witches and the frustrated hero begins to think that perhaps Scotland needs a new king—him. But what begins as a plan fueled by the best of intentions soon spirals into murder, treachery, and personal collapse. A superb, modern rendition of the classic. Click here to sample or buy.

Lockdown – Sean Black

It may be Christmas Eve in New York, but for ex-military bodyguard Ryan Lock it's business as usual. His task: to protect the CEO of the world's largest bio-technology company from a group of radical, and highly determined, activists. Click here to sample or buy.

Cold Earth – Sarah Moss

A team of six archaeologists from the United States, England, and Scotland assembles at the beginning of the Arctic summer to unearth traces of the lost Viking settlements in Greenland. But as they sink into uneasy domesticity, there is news of an epidemic back home, and their communications with the outside world fall away. Click here to sample or buy.

Drop By Drop – Keith Raffel

Professor Sam Rockman's search for his wife's killer takes him from conspiracy amidst winter snows in Washington D.C. to an abandoned underground center for nuclear weapons in frozen Russia. Click here to sample or buy now.

Ice Station – Matthew Reilly

At a remote US ice station in Antarctica, a team of scientists has made an amazing discovery. They found something unbelievable buried deep below the surface – trapped inside a layer of ice 400 million years old. Something made of metal…something which shouldn't be there…it's the discovery of a lifetime, a discovery of immeasurable value. And a discovery men will kill for. Click here to sample or buy now.

Get Back Jack – Diane Capri

As ice shards pelt her skin on the streets of DC, New York, and Chicago, Kim Otto slips around the edges of Jack Reacher's lethal enemies, only one shot from death, until she faces an enemy with nothing to lose. Click here to sample or buy now.

Antarktos Rising – Jeremy Robinson

Antarctica, freshly thawed and blooming, has emerged as a new hope. Rather than wage a world war no nation can endure, the leading nations devise a competition, a race to the center of Antarctica, with the three victors dividing the continent … But the dangers awaiting the team are far worse than feared.

Click here to sample or buy now.

Second Shot – Zoe Sharp

After a bloody shoot-out in a frozen forest, Charlie Fox is left fighting for her life. As she battles to recover from her injuries, she's still fiercely protective of the girl she's trying to protect, even though her actions will catapult them both back into the firing line. And this time, Charlie's in no fit state to protect anyone, least of all herself … Click here to sample or buy now.

The Defector – Daniel Silva

Grigori Bulganov once saved Gabriel Allon's life in Moscow-and Allon always repays his debts. So when the former Russian intelligence officer vanishes, Allon gathers his team of operatives to go after those responsible. But, in a running battle that rages across the globe, Allon soon realizes that his enemy may already hold the key to victory. And that if he continues, it will cost him more than he can bear… Click here to sample or buy now.

Freezing Point – Karen Dionne

In a drowning, desperate world, the Soldyne Corporation sees an opportunity: Melt Antarctic icebergs into drinking water using their microwave satellite array, ship the water to thirsty nations around the globe, and make a fortune. But deep within the ice waits an enemy more deadly than anyone could imagine–and an apocalyptic horror Earth may not survive. Click here to sample or buy now.

The Terror – Dan Simmons

The ships have now been trapped in the Arctic ice for nearly two years. Coal and provisions are running low. Yet the real threat isn't the constantly shifting landscape of white or the flesh-numbing temperatures, dwindling supplies or the vessels being slowly crushed by the unyielding grip of the frozen ocean.

No, the real threat is far more terrifying. There is something out there that haunts the frigid darkness, which stalks the ships, snatching one man at a time – mutilating, devouring. A nameless thing, at once nowhere and everywhere, this terror has become the expedition's nemesis. Click here to sample or buy now.

The World Beneath – Rebecca Cantrell

Software millionaire Joe Tesla can't go outside, but he knows it's getting on toward Christmas because New Yorkers are hurrying through Grand Central Station with snow-dusted coats and red-wrapped packages. He also knows that one fourth of them might die bloody Christmas deaths if he can't contain a mysterious disease he's discovered in his subterranean realm. Click here to sample or buy now.

Blood and Ice – Robert Masello

Journalist Michael Wilde—his world recently shattered by tragedy—has come to the South Pole looking for solace and a new lease on life. But what he finds on a routine dive in the polar sea is something else entirely: the bodies of a young man and a young woman, bound with chains and sealed forever in a block of ice. Click here to sample or buy now.

The Price – Alexandra Sokoloff

In the dead of a Boston winter, a district attorney begins to suspect his wife has made a terrible bargain with a mysterious hospital counselor to save the life of their dying child. Click here to sample or buy now.

Icebound by Dean Koontz

In an Arctic icefield, a special team of scientists has planted bombs that will detonate automatically at midnight to break away some of the ice. Before they withdraw to the safety of their base camp, a shattering tidal wave breaks loose the ice on which they are working. Now they are marooned on an iceberg during the worst winter storm of the decade. The bombs in the ice beneath them are buried irretrievably deep…and ticking. Click here to sample or buy now.

The Red King of Helsinki – Helena Halme

A fast moving Nordic Noir spy story, set in the wintry streets of Helsinki. The year is 1979 and the Cold War is all but over in Helsinki, the playground of the Russian KGB, when a former British Navy officer Iain is asked to work undercover. He’s to investigate Vladislav Kovtun, a violent KGB spy, dubbed The Red King of Helsinki by the Finnish secret service. This is Iain’s first assignment, and when he discovers the bodies left in Kovtun’s wake, he quickly gets embroiled in danger. Click here to sample or buy now.

Dark Places – Gillian Flynn

Libby Day was seven when her mother and two sisters were murdered in “The Satan Sacrifice of Kinnakee, Kansas.” As her family lay dying, little Libby fled their tiny farmhouse into the freezing January snow … Years later, Libby’s search for the truth takes her from shabby Missouri strip clubs to abandoned Oklahoma tourist towns, the unimaginable truth emerges, and Libby finds herself right back where she started—on the run from a killer. Click here to sample or buy now.

A Thousand Fiendish Angels – J.F.Penn

Three short stories inspired by Dante’s Inferno, linked by a book of human skin passed down through generations. On the edge of horror, thriller and the occult.

Sins of Treachery: On the death of their Grandfather, twin brothers Simon and Gestas are left a map covered in alchemical symbols that could lead them to great wealth and power. But they find more than they expected in the frozen wastes of the Arctic north … Click here to sample or buy now.

What's your favorite thriller based in or around the snowy winter? Please do leave a comment below.

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