Lee Child is coming to give a lecture at my university in April. I already have my ticket and a copy of Gone Tomorrow on my bedside reading pile to read (very soon) in anticipation. I have never read any Jack Reacher novels, though I know they are hugely popular. Knowing how often I reach for women authors it is not surprising really, but I am looking forward to finally making his acquaintance. I am working on putting together a display of Jack Reacher-like stories at the library where I work and have a pile of books to include in the case, but male authors and protagonists seem to dominate the genre. So I have been looking for women writers to add to the mix and I have come up with a few that look like worthy additions to the mix. If you are a keen reader of this subgenre, do let me know how close I have come to picking books/writers that offer the same reading thrill as Lee Child. (And suggestions are always welcome, of course).
Legal Tender: A Rosato & Associates Novel, Lisa Scottoline - "In the second thrilling novel in New York Times bestselling author Lisa Scottoline’s Rosato & Associates series, a successful lawyer now finds herself on the opposite side of the bench when she’s framed for murder."
Touch & Go (Tessa Leoni), Lisa Gardner -- "Ten minutes after walking the elite Back Bay townhouse and investigator Tessa Leoni already doesn’t like what she sees. Signs of an abduction. Clearly the work of professionals. At best, the entire family has been kidnapped. At worst…"
The Neighbor: A Detective D.D. Warren Novel, Lisa Gardner -- "A young mother, blond and pretty, vanishes from her South Boston home, leaving behind only one witness—her four-year-old daughter—and one suspect—her handsome, secretive husband."
The Jump, Martina Cole -- "You might break out, but you'll never be free.Donna Brunos will do anything for her husband. Including breaking him out of prison.She believes her beloved Georgio when he tells her he's been framed for armed robbery. But planning the jump opens Donna's eyes to a shocking world where the man she married is not who he seems. Now Donna is in danger - and in serious need of an escape of her own..."
A Place of Execution, Val McDermid -- "On a freezing day in December 1963, Alison Carter vanishes from her rural village, an insular community that distrusts the outside world. For the young George Bennett, a newly promoted inspector, it is the beginning of his most difficult and harrowing case--a suspected murder with no body, an investigation with more dead ends and closed faces than he'd have found in the anonymity of the inner city, and an outcome that reverberates through the years."
Postmortem, Patricia Cornwell -- "Under cover of night in Richmond, Virginia, a monster strikes, leaving a gruesome trail of stranglings that has paralyzed the city. Medical examiner Kay Scarpetta suspects the worst: a deliberate campaign by a brilliant serial killer whose signature offers precious few clues. With an unerring eye, she calls on the latest advances in forensic research to unmask the madman. But this investigation will test Kay like no other, because it’s being sabotaged from within—and someone wants her dead."
If Only She Knew, Lisa Jackson -- "It begins on a dark stretch of highway in northern California. Caught in a blinding glare of headlights, two vehicles swerve and crash—leaving one woman dead, and another in a coma. When the surviving woman awakens, her memory is gone and her face has been reconstructed. Her family tells her that her name is Marla Cahill—but they’re all strangers to her. "
Cop Town, Karin Slaughter -- "...an epic story of a city in the midst of seismic upheaval a serial killer targeting cops and a divided police force tasked with bringing a madman to justice Atlanta 1974 As a brutal murder and a furious manhunt rock the city's police department. Kate Murphy wonders if her first day on the job will also be her last She s determined to defy her privileged background by making her own way wearing a badge and carrying a gun But for a beautiful young woman life will be anything but easy in the macho world of the Atlanta PD where even the female cops have little mercy for rookies."
A Dark and Twisted Tide, Sharon Bolton -- "Award-winning author Sharon Bolton has once again crafted a tightly plotted, utterly unpredictable thriller around one of the most compelling characters in crime fiction today, intensely private London police officer Lacey Flint, whose penchant for keeping secrets is only matched by her determination to uncover those of others."
Mean Streak, Sandra Brown -- "Dr. Emory Charbonneau, a pediatrician and marathon runner, disappears on a mountain road in North Carolina. By the time her husband Jeff, miffed over a recent argument, reports her missing, the trail has grown cold. Literally. Fog and ice encapsulate the mountainous wilderness and paralyze the search for her."
Birdman, Mo Hayder -- "In his first case as lead investigator with Londonâs crack murder squad, Detective Inspector Jack Caffery is called on to investigate the murder of a young woman whose body has been discovered near the Millennium Dome in Greenwich, south-east London. Brutalized, mutilated beyond recognition, the victim is soon joined by four others discovered in the same area—all female and all ritualistically murdered. And when the post-mortem examination reveals a gruesome signature connecting the victims, Caffery realizes exactly what heâs dealing with—a dangerous serial killer."
Fragile, Lisa Unger -- "Everybody knows everybody in The Hollows, a quaint, charming town outside of New York City. It's a place where neighbors keep an eye on one another's kids, where people say hello in the grocery store, and where high school cliques and antics are never quite forgotten. As a child, Maggie found living under the microscope of small-town life stifling. But as a wife and mother, she has happily returned to The Hollows's insular embrace. As a psychologist, her knowledge of family histories provides powerful insights into her patients' lives. So when the girlfriend of her teenage son, Rick, disappears, Maggie's intuitive gift proves useful to the case--and also dangerous."
Breaking Creed, Alex Kava -- "Ryder Creed and his dogs have been making national headlines. They’ve intercepted several major drug stashes smuggled through Atlanta’s airport. But their newfound celebrity has also garnered some unwanted attention. When Creed and one of his dogs are called in to search a commercial fishing vessel off the coast of Pensacola Beach, they discover a secret compartment. But the Colombian cartel’s latest shipment isn’t drugs. It’s human…"
I have read a few books by a couple of the authors, but I have not read any of these particular titles! A whole swathe of fiction that is completely open to me. Maybe a new discovery here?