Thrillers with a pulse

The Body Finder

• YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults
• Chicago Public Library Best of the Best
• Kids' IndieNext Pick

This creative mystery has it all… the heart of a romance novel wrapped up in pages that almost crackle with the electricity of suspense.Justine Magazine

Violet Ambrose is grappling with two major issues: Jay Heaton and her morbid secret ability. While the sixteen-year-old is confused by her new feelings for her best friend since childhood, she is more disturbed by her “power” to sense dead bodies—or at least those that have been murdered. Since she was a little girl, she has felt the echoes that the dead leave behind in the world… and the imprints that attach to their killers.

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Violet has never considered her strange talent to be a gift; it mostly just led her to find the dead birds her cat had tired of playing with. But now that a serial killer has begun terrorizing her small town, and the echoes of the local girls he’s claimed haunt her daily, she realizes she might be the only person who can stop him.

Despite his fierce protectiveness over her, Jay reluctantly agrees to help Violet on her quest to find the murderer—and Violet is unnerved to find herself hoping that Jay’s intentions are much more than friendly. But even as she’s falling intensely in love, Violet is getting closer and closer to discovering a killer… and becoming his prey herself.

Desires of the Dead

Interweaving suspense, steamy romance, supernatural elements, and themes of jealousy, anger, and other deadly sins, this fast-paced, compelling read… Wholly absorbing.ALA Booklist

Violet can sense the echoes of those who’ve been murdered—and the matching imprint that clings to their killers. Only those closest to her know what she is capable of, but when she discovers the body of a young boy she also draws the attention of the FBI, threatening her entire way of life.

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As Violet works to keep her morbid ability a secret, she unwittingly becomes the object of a dangerous obsession. Normally she’d turn to her best friend, Jay, except now that they are officially a couple, the rules of their relationship seem to have changed. And with Jay spending more and more time with his new friend Mike, Violet is left with too much time on her hands as she wonders where things went wrong. But when she fills the void by digging into Mike’s tragic family history, she stumbles upon a dark truth that could put everyone in danger.

The Last Echo

The suspenseful ending will have readers tucking under blankets and imagining horror-movie scenarios. Tell them not to read this one right before bed.School Library Journal

Violet kept her morbid ability to sense dead bodies a secret from everyone except her family and her childhood-best-friend-turned-boyfriend, Jay Heaton. That is until forensic psychologist Sara Priest discovered Violet’s talent and invited her to use her gift to track down murderers.

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Now, as she works with an eclectic group of individuals—including mysterious and dangerously attractive Rafe—it’s Violet’s job to help those who have been murdered by bringing their killers to justice. When Violet discovers the body of a college girl killed by “the girlfriend collector” she is determined to solve the case. But now the serial killer is on the lookout for a new “relationship” and Violet may have caught his eye…

Dead Silence

If you’re in the mood for some psychological thrillers, evil masterminds, strong heroines and hot heroes, then I’d definitely pick up the Body Finder series.USA Today

Violet thought she’d made peace with her unique ability to sense the echoes of the dead and the imprints that cling to their killers… that is until she acquired an imprint of her own. Forced to carry a reminder of the horrible events of her kidnapping, Violet is more determined than ever to lead a normal life. However, the people who run the special investigative team Violet works for have no intention of letting her go.

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When someone close to Violet becomes a suspect in a horrific murder, she finds herself pulled into a deadly hunt for a madman with an army of devoted followers. Violet has survived dangerous situations before, but she quickly discovers that protecting those closest to her is far more difficult than protecting herself.

Skin Contact

It was just a doll… just a dream… Except, Rafe knew the truth. Before Rafe met body-finding Violet Ambrose and joined her team at the Center, there was another girl. Sophie was everything to Rafe. She was different from any girl he’d ever known. And Sophie was on the run from a dangerous past.

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Now, if Rafe can make it to the remote Montana house in time, he might have the chance to save the girl he loves. But to do so means revealing the ability he’s been hiding from everyone, even those closest to him. “Skin Contact” was originally published in the anthology Enthralled.

The Pledge

• YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults

Derting’s chilling dystopia envisions an America ruled by monarchy… right on when depicting the bonds of family, friendship, and first love.Publishers Weekly

In the violent country of Ludania, the classes are strictly divided by the language they speak. The smallest transgression, like looking a member of a higher class in the eye while they are speaking their native tongue, results in immediate execution. Seventeen-year-old Charlaina has always been able to understand the languages of all classes, and she’s spent her life trying to hide her secret.

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The only place she can really be free is the drug-fueled underground clubs where people go to shake off the oppressive rules of the world they live in. It’s there that she meets a beautiful and mysterious boy named Max who speaks a language she’s never heard before… and her secret is almost exposed.

Charlie is intensely attracted to Max, even though she can’t be sure where his real loyalties lie. As the emergency drills give way to real crisis and the violence escalates, it becomes clear that Charlie is the key to something much bigger: her country’s only chance for freedom from the terrible power of a deadly regime.

The Essence

Derting’s follow-up casts Charlie in an untenable circumstance that only her inner strength can defeat.Booklist Online

Though it has been months since Charlaina—Charlie—defeated the tyrant Sabara and took control of the Ludanian crown, Sabara has not disappeared. The old queen’s Essence has fused itself to Charlie’s psyche and is viciously fighting to overpower Charlie.

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Balancing her new duties as Queen and battling both Sabara’s voice and a growing resistance to her rule push Charlie to the brink of exhaustion. She wants to be the same old Charlie she has ever been but now she is Your Majesty.

As Charlie journeys to an annual summit to meet with the leaders of nearby Queendoms—an event where her ability to understand all languages is the utmost asset—she is faced with the ultimate betrayal. And the only person she can turn to for help is the evil soul residing within.

The Offering

No anticlimactic ending here, as the final book in the Pledge trilogy has its fair share of exhilarating and heart-stopping moments.RT Magazine, 4 stars

To save her country, Charlie must sacrifice… but how much? Love and war are at stake in the riveting conclusion to the Pledge trilogy. Charlie, Queen Charlaina of Ludania, has settled into her role as leader and ruler of her country. She’s done admirable work to restore Ludania’s archaic and broken communications systems with other queendoms, and she’s mastered the art of ignoring Sabara, the evil former queen whose essence is alive and well within Charlie.

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When the negotiation of a peace agreement with the Queen of Astonia goes awry, Charlie receives a brutal message that threatens all of Ludania and all that Charlie loves. Backed into a corner, it seems the only way to avoid war is for Charlie to offer herself to her enemy.

But things aren’t so cut and dry. Peace is never that simple. Other forces have aligned with the enemy, and Charlie must ask herself how much she is willing to surrender to protect all that she loves.

The Taking

• Top Page-to-Screen Pick, Studio System News

Heart-stopping action and suspense combined with a budding romance make this book appealing to a wide range of readers.Booklist

A flash of white light… and then… nothing. When sixteen-year-old Kyra Agnew wakes up behind a Dumpster at the Gas ’n’ Sip, she has no memory of how she got there. With a terrible headache and a major case of déjà vu, she heads home only to discover that five years have passed… yet she hasn’t aged a day.

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Everything else about Kyra’s old life is different. Her parents are divorced, her boyfriend, Austin, is in college and dating her best friend, and her dad has changed from an uptight neat-freak to a drunken conspiracy theorist who blames her five-year disappearance on little green men.

Confused and lost, Kyra isn’t sure how to move forward unless she uncovers the truth. With Austin gone, she turns to Tyler, Austin’s annoying kid brother, who is now seventeen and who she has a sudden undeniable attraction to. As Tyler and Kyra retrace her steps from the fateful night of her disappearance, they discover strange phenomena that no one can explain, and they begin to wonder if Kyra’s father is not as crazy as he seems. There are others like her who have been taken… and returned.

The Replaced

Derting wastes no time diving right back in to Kyra’s journey…Kirkus Reviews

Explosive and romantic, with creepy, otherworldly elements and twisty, psychological thrills, The Replaced will have you questioning what exactly it means to be human.

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Kyra hasn’t been the same since she returned from her mysterious five-year disappearance. Now, on the run from the NSA, Kyra is forced to hide out with others who, like her, have been Returned. Yet she is determined to find Tyler, the boy she loves who was also abducted… all because of her. When her group intercepts a message that Tyler might still be alive, Kyra risks everything to get him back. But he is being held by a shadowy government organization that experiments on the Returned, and going after him puts the rest of the group in danger.

The Countdown

In the concluding book in the otherworldly Taking trilogy, Kyra struggles to understand who she is as she races to save the world from complete destruction.

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Ever since Kyra was abducted by aliens and then returned to earth, she has known there was something different about her. Now she knows the truth: she is an alien too. Her alien captors replaced all her human DNA with their own—gifting her with supernatural powers like incredible healing, enhanced eyesight, and telekinesis. But when she’s captured by an unexpected enemy, Kyra begins to wonder if her abilities are also a curse.

No matter what the truth is, Kyra is sure of one thing: She just rescued the love of her life, Tyler, and she is not going to stand by and let anyone hurt him or her friends. Whatever it takes, Kyra will do everything in her power to save the world… even if it means making the ultimate sacrifice.

Enthralled: Paranormal Diversions

A heart-breaking story… I couldn’t help falling in love with [Rafe] and his inner strength.Marie Romero, Book Love

Sixteen of today’s hottest writers of paranormal tales weave stories on a common theme of journeying. Whether they’re writing about vampires, faeries, angels, or other magical beings, each author explores the strength and resilience of the human heart. Suspenseful, funny, or romantic, the stories in Enthralled will leave you moved.

Grim

The diversity of tone and treatment should please most fans of the genre.Booklist

Inspired by classic fairy tales, but with a dark and sinister twist, Grim contains short stories from some of the best voices in young adult literature, including Kimberly’s modern-day retelling of Hansel & Gretel, “Light It Up,” alongside Ellen Hopkins, Amanda Hocking, Julie Kagawa, Claudia Gray, Rachel Hawkins, Malinda Lo, Sarah Rees Brennan, and more.