Books that will keep you up at night

Halloween may have gone and past, but that doesn’t mean you can’t treat yourself to a few scares. This month’s Book Club is all about reads that will have you shaking in your boots!

The Warehouse – Rob Hart

A near-future thriller set in an America addicted to consumerism where gun violence, climate change and unemployment have ravaged the nation, and an online retail giant named Cloud reigns supreme. Cloud brands itself not just as an online storefront but as a sort of global saviour. However, beneath that sunny exterior is a grinding, soul-sucking machine which will stop at nothing to make a buck. The novel was inspired by the tragic story of Maria Fernandes, an employee of Dunkin’ Donuts locations in New Jersey, and it was often the only way she could rest between shifts.

The Second Sleep – Robert Harris

Everything a young priest believes about his faith and the history of his world will be tested to destruction. From the bestselling author of Munich, An Officer and A Spy and Fatherland.

Where the Dead Go – Sarah Bailey

Following The Dark Lake and Into the Night, Gemma Woodstock is back. A little older and a little wiser, Gemma has moved to Sydney for a promising new relationship with fellow detective Mac Gilchrist. Unfortunately, no matter how hard she tries to settle down, it seems the world has other plans for her. The aftermath of a personal tragedy finds her in the coastal town of Fairhaven with her son Ben in town, investigating the brutal murder of a seventeen-year-old-boy and the disappearance of his girlfriend. Navigating Ben’s grief, her hostile co-workers and an unexpected pregnancy, Gemma struggles to keep it together as the pieces of the puzzle fall into place. She certainly can’t trust anyone in Fairhaven and she starts to suspect that she and Ben are in serious danger…

See you at the Toxteth – Peter Corris

For almost four decades Peter Corris was known as ‘the godfather of Australian fiction’ and Cliff Hardy has been Australia’s favourite private investigator since his first case in 1980. This selection of stories starts with Cliff’s early days driving round in his battered Falcon, drinking at the Toxteth Hotel and taking on cases that leave him as battered as his car. As Cliff becomes older and wiser, he prefers to use his head more than his fists, but the cases are as tricky as ever. To further celebrate Peter Corris’s legacy, editor Jean Bedford has also included a selection of his insights into the world of crime and crime writing, along with his ‘ABC of Crime Writing’. From Adultery to Yeti, via Gumshoe, Hitman and The Mob, this entertaining compendium gives a fascinating insight into Corris’s vast knowledge of the genre.

Hudson’s Kill – Paddy Hirsch

Golden Hill meets Gangs of New York in the second book in this sweeping historical crime series set in 19^th century New York. Violence simmers on every street as black and Irish gangs fight for control. When a young girl is found brutally murdered, Marshal Justy Flanagan and Ally Kerry O’Toole must find the killer before a mob takes the law into their own hands. Finding their way into a shadowy community on the city fringes, they encounter a treacherous web of political conspiracy and criminal enterprise and must fight to save not only the city but themselves.

A Grave for Two – Anne Holt

The first instalment in a new crime series. Selma Falck’s career as a lawyer has hit rock bottom. That is until Norway’s best female skier approaches her prior to the Winter Olympics desperate to clear a doping charge. When a male skier is found dead, it becomes clear to Selma that something more serious is at risk. As she encounters corruption, hidden enmity and shady connections, the pattern of recent crimes and ancient sins becomes undeniable. As Selma’s race against time begins, she realises that more lives are at stake.

Beyond Reasonable Doubt – Gary Bell

Elliot Rook is the epitome of a highly successful, old-Etonian QC. Or so everyone believes. In fact, he is an ex-petty criminal with a past he keeps secret. Until now. A young woman of Middle Eastern origin has been found murdered and Billy Barber, a violent football hooligan and white supremacist, stands accused. Barber insists that Rook defend him or he will expose him, bringing crashing to the ground the career Rook has spent his life building. The truth is there for the finding. But at what cost?

The Day the Lies Began – Kylie Kaden

Secrets have a habit of rising to the surface, especially in small towns. Two couples, four ironclad friendships, the perfect coastal holiday town. Wife and mother Abbi, town cop Blake, schoolteacher Hannah and local doctor Will are caught in their own tangled webs of deceit. When the truth washes into their beachside community, so do the judgements: victim or vigilante? Who will forgive, who will betray? Not all relationships survive. Nor do all residents. A domestic noir-thriller with a distinctly Australian flavour.

Dark Sacred Night – Michael Connelly

At the end of a long night, Detectives Renee Ballard and Harry Bosch cross paths for the first time. The latest thriller from the master of crime, includes an extract of the forthcoming The Night Fire.

Lawless – Kimberley Motley

Kimberley Motley, through sheer force of personality, ingenuity and perseverance, became the first foreign lawyer to practice in Afghanistan, let alone the first woman. Her legal work swiftly morphed into a personal mission – to ring ‘justness’ to the defenceless and voiceless. Her radical approach has seen her successfully represent both Afghans and Westerners, overturning sentences for men and women who’ve become to often appalling miscarriages of justice. Lawless is both an extraordinary woman’s story and a legal non-fiction thriller.

The Messenger – Shiv Malik

Every reporter knows the first rule of journalism: never betray your source. But what if it’s your source who betrays you? The Messenger is about the unlikely friendship between a repentant jihadist and a journalist. Full of twists and turns, this troubling real-life thriller probes where we place our faith as it lays bare the deceits pedalled to us by governments and terrorists alike. It questions how we; the wider media and the nation came to be so afraid. This is investigative journalism and storytelling of the highest order.