Books like 'Down Time'
Readers who enjoyed Down Time by Barry Lyga also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
mystery horror thriller crime dark unreliable-narrator suspense
-
An Evil Mind by Chris Carter
Rated: 4.48 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsA freak accident in rural Wyoming leads the Sheriff's Department to arrest a man for a possible double homicide, but further investigations suggest a much more horrifying discovery - a serial killer who has been kidnapping, torturing and mutilating victims all over the United States for at least twenty-five years... -
Hunting Evil by Chris Carter
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 20 ratings'Every story one day comes to an end.' As roommates, they met for the first time in college. Two of the brightest minds ever to graduate from Stamford Psychology University. As adversaries, they met again in Quantico, Virginia. Robert Hunter had become the head of the LAPD’s Ultra Violent Crimes Unit... -
Written in Blood by Chris Carter
Rated: 4.35 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsDon't miss GENESIS, the latest must-read serial killer thriller from master of the genre, Chris Carter. Available to order now. ‘Wonderful storytelling, with a superbly drawn killer, it underlines exactly how good Carter has become’ Daily MailTHE SUNDAY TIMES NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER A serial killer who will stop at nothing… The Killer His most valuable possession has been stolen... -
The Dying Hour by Rick Mofina
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIn Book 1, The Dying Hour introduces Jason Wade, a rookie crime reporter with The Seattle Mirror, a loner who grew up in the shadow of a brewery in one of the city's blue-collar neighborhoods. At The Seattle Mirror, he is competing for the single full-time job being offered through the paper's intense intern program... -
-
Psychopath by Jeff Menapace
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe final game is here… A decade has passed. The Lambert family is thriving. Amy Lambert is a successful entrepreneur and in a promising relationship with Allan Brown. Caleb Lambert is a respected member of the United States Marine Corps. Carrie Lambert is a flourishing college student. Or so they wish. Nothing could be further from the truth... -
Gia and the Forgotten Island by Kristi Belcamino
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAn exciting new series character ...Gia Santella is a fast-driving, hard-drinking, karate-trained free spirit, who is gorgeous, sexy, and a young heiress. She also has a fierce temper and zero tolerance for people in power preying on the vulnerable ... especially when the injustice takes place in her neighborhood... -
Trophies by Todd Travis
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsTHE LONG AWAITED SEQUEL TO CREATURES OF APPETITE IS HERE!TROPHIES... Young beautiful women are disappearing. Different types, with different backgrounds, most with a lot of debt, few friends and no close family to speak of. Gone.Someone is collecting trophies. Only one person can see it. Special Agent Emma Kane.Kane knows she'll need help on this ordeal... -
Il était deux fois by Franck Thilliez
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsEn 2008, Julie, dix-sept ans, disparaît en ne laissant comme trace que son vélo posé contre un arbre. Le drame agite Sagas, petite ville au cœur des montagnes, et percute de plein fouet le père de la jeune fille, le lieutenant de gendarmerie Gabriel Moscato. Ce dernier se lance alors dans une enquête aussi désespérée qu'effrénée.Jusqu'à ce jour où ses pas le mènent à l'hôtel de la Falaise.. -
Witness by Caroline Mitchell
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsTo Rebecca it was a brave decision that led to her freedom from domestic abuse. To Solomon it was the ultimate betrayal.It’s been ten years since Rebecca’s testimony saw Solomon locked away. Enough time for the nightmares to recede, the nerves to relax; enough time to rebuild her life and put the past behind her.Then one day a phone rings in her bedroom—but it’s not her phone... -
Anatomy by Sebastian Fitzek, Michael Tsokos
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsThis is the autobiographic work by German inference fiction master according to his personal experience. Only the readers with high IQ can understand the ending... -
I Will Make You Pay by Teresa Driscoll
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsEvery Wednesday, like clockwork, the terror returns. It seems like an ordinary Wednesday, until the phone rings. A mysterious caller with a chilling threat. Journalist Alice Henderson hangs up, ready to dismiss it as a hoax against the newspaper. But the next Wednesday, the stalker makes another move—and it becomes clear that this is all about Alice... -
Wicked Little Words by Stevie J. Cole, B.T. Urruela
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsEdwin Allen Mercer I want them all to read my words. And they do. Every last blood-stained sentence, they've read and praised me for. They love the gore and violence, the realness. And I get a sense of power with it all because I know a secret: the victims in my books—they’re real and have all died on my table. And maybe that’s why the last book had such awful reviews... -
Evil Unveiled by Robert McCammon
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratings"New York Times" bestselling author Robert McCammon continues his triumphant return with the conclusion of an epic tale of suspense that reinstates him as one of the great storytellers of our time....The Carolinas, 1699: After hearing damning testimony from the townspeople of Fount Royal, magistrate Isaac Woodward sentences the accused witch, Rachel Howarth, to death by burning... -
December Park by Ronald Malfi, Eric G. Dove
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIn the quiet suburb of Harting Farms, the weekly crime blotter usually consists of graffiti or the occasional bout of mailbox baseball. But in the fall of 1993, children begin vanishing and one is found dead. Newspapers call him the Piper because he has come to take the children away. But there are darker names for him, too . . -
-
Vengeful Games by Jeff Menapace
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsPLAYTIME IS NOT OVER...In Autumn of 2008, the Lambert family headed to western Pennsylvania for a weekend getaway to the family cabin.They visited hell instead...The Fannelli brothers. Two psychopaths who believed themselves exceptional, put on this Earth for the soul purpose of tormenting others for their own amusement. To make people play their twisted games... -
Le Manuscrit Inachevé by Franck Thilliez, Jean-Yves Berteloot
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsAux alentours de Grenoble, un jeune a fini sa trajectoire dans un ravin après une course-poursuite avec la douane. Dans son coffre, le corps d’une femme, les orbites vides, les mains coupées et rassemblées dans un sac... -
ART by Matt Shaw, Michael Bray
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWARNING: The following book has some scenes which some readers may find distressing. This novel is intended for a mature audience only. Martin Andrews is in a rut. Tired of the daily grind of life as a police officer and with a heavily pregnant wife, he is disillusioned, desperate to give his unborn child a chance in a world in which he has lost all faith... -
Hideout by Jack Heath
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA tense, unputdownable thriller from the author of Hangman.Timothy Blake has nothing to lose. He's headed to an isolated house in rural Texas with a hammer in his pocket and murder on his mind. His target is Fred, the ringleader of a criminal empire on the dark web. Once Fred is gone, Blake can disappear for good.But it turns out that Fred isn't alone. Five other psychopaths live in the house... -
Looking Glass Sound by Catriona Ward
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 7 ratingsIn a lonely cottage overlooking the windswept Maine coast, Wilder Harlow begins the last book he will ever write. It is the story of a sun-drenched vacation of his youth, of the terrible tragedy that forever bonded him with his friends Nat and Harper in unknowable ways, and of the killer that stalked the small New England town where they spent their summers... -
One Fear by Belle Brooks
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratings“My one fear is now my reality.” He didn’t offer his name when he fulfilled his need to include me as a player in his game. I’m number thirteen. Just a number given to the bitches who wronged him. I was blindsided. Stolen from my life. In his devilled eyes, I have a debt to pay…he wants my final breath to see us even... -
Speak the Dead by Grant McKenzie
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWhen Sally Blue was six years old, sleeping peacefully in her bed, a gunshot woke her up and subsequently ripped her world apart.Jolted awake by the scary noise, Sally ran to her parent's bedroom for comfort. Instead, she found her mother slumped against the headboard, her ravaged nightdress drenched from a double-barreled wound... -
The Cove by Malcolm Richards
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsCarrie thought her son was dead. She was wrong. She’d only taken her eyes off him for a second. But that was all it took for a perfect day at the beach to turn to horror. Cal disappeared beneath the waves. His body was never found. Seven years later, Carrie has a new family. But her life in the sleepy Cornish town of Devil's Cove is about to be torn apart again. A boy washes up on the shore... -
Last Call by Sean Costello
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsTHIS BOOK is RATED-R FOR LANGUAGE by the publisher.In the space of a single day, twenty-year-old Trish West purchases her first car, gets accepted into veterinary college, and finds her rockstar father, Jim Gamble, a man who vanished into the streets before she was born and now clings to life in a Toronto intensive care unit.Eager to establish a relationship with Mr... -
The Pale White by Chad Lutzke
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsAfter being held against their will in a house used for trafficking, three girls plan their escape.Alex: A hardened goth-punk who’s convinced she’s a vampire with a penchant for blood.Stacia: A seventeen-year-old raised by an alcoholic mother, her fellow captives the only family she’s ever truly had.Kammie: The youngest of the three—a mute who finds solace in a houseplant... -
-
The Neighbor by London Clarke
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsClaire Vogel is a recently divorced mother of four girls and a successful counselor living in a planned and prestigious community. She knows all her neighbors, and they know her. But Claire has a secret. To cope with hidden, deep-rooted pain, she often participates in risky, reckless behavior... -
By Reason of Insanity by Shane Stevens
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThomas Bishop was twenty-five when he escaped from an institution for the criminally insane. Behind him was a grotesque history of pain, murder and rage. Ahead lay a path of horrifying vengeance that would trigger the most intense manhunt in history... -
Black for Remembrance by Carlene Thompson
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsCaroline Webb knows what it means to lose the person you love most. Twenty years ago, her five-year-old daughter, Hayley, was the light of her life, her treasure, her angle. Then came the terrible day when Hayley was kidnapped from her favorite swing. More than a month passed before her burned, lifeless body was found. All that remained was the silence of Caroline's heartache--and her guilt.. -
The List by Kiersten Modglin
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsTen years ago, the small town of Bates, South Carolina was changed forever with the appearance of a slip of paper.Six names.Six people set to die.Six months later, they were gone. But the list maker was far from done with their town.Like clockwork, new lists come out every six months. To keep their names off of them, the citizens go to extraordinary lengths and keep terrifying secrets... -
The Girls He Adored by Jonathan Nasaw
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsFor ten years, the charmingly disheveled veteran FBI Special Agent E.L. Pender has been investigating the apparently random disappearances of a dozen women across the country. The only detail the cases have in common is the strawberry blond color of the victims' hair, and the presence of a mystery man with whom they were last seen... -
The Sleepover by Keri Beevis
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsWhen you’re a kid, you imagine monsters to have horns and fangs. That they hide under the bed or in the wardrobe. And you believe they can only come after you when it’s dark.You don’t expect them to look like everyday people or that they may be someone you already know…The summer in question started out with hot, fun-filled days and new friendships... -
People Like Them by Minka Kent
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsNobody’s perfect—although one beautiful couple certainly comes close. Discover the cracks beneath the polished surface in this unsettling short story from bestselling author Minka Kent.Veronica and Ryan Hartley are the envy of Auburn Drive. When the exclusive neighborhood hosts its annual progressive dinner party, the couple’s perfection is on display... -
La Ligne noire by Jean-Christophe Grangé
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIl existe, quelque part en Asie du Sud-Est, entre le tropique du Cancer et la ligne de l'Equateur, une autre ligne. Une ligne noire jalonnée de corps et d'effroi.. -
The Asylum Confessions: Merry with all that Murder by Jack Steen
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThey arrive alive. They always leave dead.But first, they give me their confessions, and this one has to everything to do with Christmas.Merry Ho-Ho and all that holiday cheer. This book has it the cozy, loving, gift-giving while chomping on cookies right before you die - type of feels you know you'll read with one of my confession books... -
The Devil's Work by Mark Edwards
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsA gripping psychological thriller from the bestselling author of Follow You Home and The Magpies . It was the job she had dreamed of since childhood. But on her very first day, when an unnerving encounter drags up memories Sophie Greenwood would rather forget, she wonders if she has made a mistake. A fatal mistake... -
-
The Mother by T.M. Logan, Gemma Whelan
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsFramed for murder. Now she's free . . .A woman attends a funeral, standing in the shadows and watching in agony as her sons grieve. But she is unable to comfort them - or reveal her secret.A decade earlier, Heather gets her children ready for bed and awaits the return of her husband Liam, little realising that this is the last night they will spend together as a family... -
Doll House by John Hunt
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratings"A book of the year!" –Buried in a Book"This book is not for the faint of heart. It's deliciously dark and gruesome." –Where the Reader Grows"All you girls were less than human. Playthings in a twisted doll house."Olivia is taken from the sidewalk near her college and thrown into a van... -
Unspeakable by Kevin O'Brien
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsUnthinkable CrimesA family of four murdered in their hotel room. A single mother and her boyfriend both stabbed to death. A sordid history of violent crimes, repeated over and over--but decades apart. . .Unrelenting FearOlivia Barker is a therapist with no connection to the murders. But she has heard things. Stories that keep her up at night. Details that only a killer would know... -
The Cross by Steve Cavanagh
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsAn exclusive race against time ebook short thriller. **Contains an extract from Steve Cavanagh's brilliant debut novel, THE DEFENCE** Eddie Flynn, con-man turned criminal lawyer, has an impossible choice.He has damning evidence against a corrupt NYPD detective who stands accused of killing a suspect... -
ASBO by Iain Rob Wright
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsYOUR FEAR IS THEIR ENTERTAINMENT...Andrew’s life is one of bored contentedness: a teenage daughter, a faithful wife, and a middle-class job. He even has a Mercedes. His life is without drama, and the comfort of middle-age is setting in.That all changes when he refuses to buy a pack of cigarettes for the local gang of youths... -
Wildlife by Jeff Menapace
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIn the Everglades, there are sights that should never be seen… Deep in the Florida Everglades, a tragic accident has ignited a deadly feud between two families. Meanwhile, a young writer, his girlfriend and her family take a boat ride into the isolated wilds of the Everglades for research on a new book, only to become unwitting witnesses to a brutal crime... -
Petrified Women by Jeremy Ray
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsSome pranks go too far. This one could be deadly.Harley has the perfect boyfriend. Why can’t her best friend see that? He’s nothing like the others, especially the one who still haunts her memories. She’s finally picked a “keeper” with Aiden.Sure, he’s a bit eccentric. His wood carving hobby is a little odd. His need for isolation while he carves his life-size female figurines is strange... -
Deuils de miel by Franck Thilliez
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsMeurtre dans une église ... Une femme nue, rasée, intérieurement explosée...Sur son crane, des papillons, vivants... un message codé, gravé dans la pierre ... la menace de fléaux... Le mythe de l apocalypse et ses multitudes de victimes deviendra-t-il réalité ? C est ce que le commissaire Sharko tentera d empêcher, par tous les moyens, au cours d une enquête plus qu éprouvante... -
The Island by Adrian McKinty
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIT WAS JUST SUPPOSED TO BE A FAMILY VACATION.A TERRIBLE ACCIDENT CHANGED EVERYTHING.YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE CAPABLE OF UNTIL THEY COME FOR YOUR FAMILY.After moving from a small country town to Seattle, Heather Baxter marries Tom, a widowed doctor with a young son and teenage daughter... -
Webcam by Jack Kilborn, J.A. Konrath
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsLibrarian’s note: This is a previously-published edition ofKindle ASIN: B01CVWSXCQ. Someone is stalking webcam models.He lurks in the untouchable recesses of the black web.He's watching you. Right now.When watching is no longer enough, he comes calling.He's the last thing you'll ever see before the blood gets in your eyes... -
-
Entwined by Lynda La Plante
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsNo matter how cruelly twins are separated, their lives will always be entwined.In the newly liberated streets of modern Berlin two women, a pampered, beautiful Baroness, losing control of her mind, and a fearless wild animal trainer, facing the greatest challenge of her career, are drawn together by a series of tragic and extraordinary coincidences... -
The Dying Place by Luca Veste
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratings“No one believes you. Nothing you say is the truth.” DI Murphy and DS Rossi discover the body of known troublemaker Dean Hughes, dumped on the steps of St Mary’s Church in West Derby, Liverpool. His body is covered with the unmistakable marks of torture. As they hunt for the killer, they discover a worrying pattern. Other teenagers, all young delinquents, have been disappearing without a trace... -
The Last Whisper in the Dark by Tom Piccirilli
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsProfessional thief Terrier Rand hasn’t gotten caught yet. It’s only his conscience chasing at his heels. In the follow-up to Tom Piccirilli’s acclaimed novel The Last Kind Words, prodigal thief Terrier Rand has come home to the family that has lawbreaking in its blood... -
Deity by Steven Dunne
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA brilliant new serial killer thriller from a hugely talented British author to rival the best from Mark Billingham, Peter James and Peter Robinson. When four Derby College students are reported missing, few in Derby CID, least of all DI Damen Brook, pay much attention. But then a film on the internet is discovered purporting to show the students committing mass suicide... -
Hinton Hollow Death Trip by Will Carver
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsFive days in the history of a small rural town, visited and infected by darkness, are recounted by Evil itself. A stunning high-concept thriller from the bestselling author of Good Samaritans and Nothing Important Happened Today. 'Cements Carver as one of the most exciting authors in Britain... -
Animosity by James Newman
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAndrew Holland is a bestselling horror writer. While none of Andy's neighbors has any interest in reading his macabre books, they're pleased to have a celebrity author living among them. Then, one morning, Andy finds the body of a child several hundred feet from his front door. A little girl who has been raped and murdered. And everything changes on Poinsettia Lane. Andy's neighbors turn on him...
Or - use our amazing romance book finder to get recommendations based on your favorite content tropes and themes. Mix and match at will.