August’s Best New Thrillers

Texas Ranger, by James Patterson and Andrew Bourelle
Rory Yates is one of 200 lawmen who have been elevated to the status of Texas Ranger. Fast on the draw and dedicated to the Ranger creed of “never surrender,” Yates’ rise cost him his marriage to schoolteacher Anne. When Yates gets a call from Anne complaining of creepy phone calls and strange objects left at her home, he heads home, where he finds his former wife brutally murdered. Worse, Yates is the main suspect, and clearing his name dredges up connections and memories in he’d rather not recall. When a second murder occurs, Yates knows whoever’s responsible is targeting him specifically—and he will need his shooting skills and his reliance on the Ranger code to survive the twisted scheme.

An Unwanted Guest, by Shari Lapena
As a snowstorm surges in, a group of people arrive at Mitchell’s Inn deep in the Catskill Mountains. The storm cuts the power, and then Dana Hart is found dead on the very first evening at the bottom of the stairs. David Paley, an attorney, suspects her fiancé Matthew, but with no way to contact the outside world, he has  no choice but to wait out the storm alongside a potential murderer. Each guest has a dark secret to hide, and as more bodies turn up, it becomes clear the murderer isn’t done yet.

The Other Woman, by Sandie Jones
Emily Havistock meets Adam Banks, a good-looking, affluent IT recruiter in London, and thinks she’s found the perfect man. Then she meets Adam’s mother Pammie, with whom Adam has an unhealthy, extremely close relationship. Pammie clearly dislikes Emily, and does whatever she can think of to split them up, as Emily begins to suspect that the death of Adam’s previous girlfriend wasn’t an accident. Emily is willing to fight for Adam—even if it means ignoring the warning signs that there’s something deeply strange going on.

Assassin’s Run, by Ward Larsen
The fourth David Slaton novel opens with the professional assassination of a Russian oligarch on his yacht off the coast of Capri, killed with a single bullet. Because of the skill required, as well as other clues, Russian intelligence suspects a legendary Israeli assassin is responsible, but David Slaton knows the famous killer didn’t do the job—because he is that storied assassin. To clear his name, he travels to Capri and begins to investigate, pulling together the threads of an international conspiracy that leads directly to the Russian government itself.

The Other Sister, by Sarah Zettel
Geraldine and Marie Monroe’s mother died 25 years ago, and many folks still suspect their father did her in. Geraldine always blamed herself, and fled home as soon as she could. Marie stayed in the family home, called Rose House, with her emotionally abusive father and still lives there with her son Robbie. To the outside world, Marie is the good sister who stayed with her family and Geraldine is the bad one who ran away. When Geraldine returns home after losing her job, claiming to have come for Robbie’s graduation, she presents Marie with a plan to murder their father as final revenge for childhoods filled with harsh discipline and cruel lies. But Geraldine and Marie can’t even truly trust one another.