Born Bad Series by Meghan O'Flynn

“Brilliant, dark, and impossible to put down. O'Flynn masterfully crafts a twisted tale of buried secrets in Deadly Words. Poppy is unforgettable—unlike any character you've read before. This is storytelling at its finest, and will sit with you long after you've turned the final page.”~Bestselling author Emerald O’BrienA friend once told me that the world needs psychopaths, but I’m not sold that the world needed my father. I only know that I did... more“Brilliant, dark, and impossible to put down. O'Flynn masterfully crafts a twisted tale of buried secrets in Deadly Words. Poppy is unforgettable—unlike any character you've read before. This is storytelling at its finest, and will sit with you long after you've turned the final page.”~Bestselling author Emerald O’BrienA friend once told me that the world needs psychopaths, but I’m not sold that the world needed my father. I only know that I did. Poppy Pratt was a teenager when she watched her father murder her boyfriend. Only a child when she made the call that would put her dad away for the rest of his life. She watched the sheriff lead him off, her father still laughing at the Alabama moon, his arms slick with Shawn’s blood. Eighteen years later, Poppy is a chiropractor with a thriving practice and a house in the Vermont suburbs. She even goes on the occasional date. So, when a mysterious stranger shows up at her house claiming that her father is stalking him, Poppy blows him off. Her dad is in prison—psychopath or not, he’s no threat. And though this man is writing a book about her dad, she can see no reason for anyone to go after him. But then Poppy receives an unmarked package, and her carefully constructed world begins to crumble. A severed ear would throw most anyone off their game. The stranger was right—it might not be her dad, but someone is watching, and they’re after Poppy, too. Could it be an angry family member of one of her father’s victims? An obsessed serial killer fan? But even when Poppy’s new author friend is viciously attacked, she can’t call the police. Shawn wasn’t her father’s only victim, and her stalker clearly knows enough to implicate her in her father’s crimes. It seems she’s destined to go down the same way her father did—with her hands covered in blood. The only question is whether she’ll be the one holding the knife. Skillful, addictive, and crackling with nerve-fraying tension, Deadly Words is a thrilling joyride straight into hell. And O’Flynn ensures that you’ll never want to leave. If you like Gillian Flynn and Gregg Olsen, you’ll love the Born Bad series. less

Like father, like daughter. Poppy never believed she’d be a married woman with a pet pug, but she’s enjoying it…as much as a suburban psychopath can enjoy anything. Of course, feelings are irrelevant. It’s actions that make you a good employee, a good friend, a good wife—her husband would never believe that she’s as numb inside as a dead tooth... moreLike father, like daughter. Poppy never believed she’d be a married woman with a pet pug, but she’s enjoying it…as much as a suburban psychopath can enjoy anything. Of course, feelings are irrelevant. It’s actions that make you a good employee, a good friend, a good wife—her husband would never believe that she’s as numb inside as a dead tooth. And though the fact that she got her serial killer father locked away doesn’t speak well of her as a daughter, she’s content to remain hidden in his shadow. But when a local murder rocks her town, Poppy finds herself at the center of the investigation. Strangely, the lead detective is the same man who investigated her father, an Alabama sheriff who seems to have taken a job with the state police for the sole purpose of watching her. It doesn’t help when evidence from the local murder scene leads back to Poppy—someone is trying to frame her for a crime she didn’t commit. But Poppy won’t make that easy—no way is she ending up in prison like her father. And though her dad may have been a murderous psychopath, he was even more adept at manipulation. You don’t kill fifty people and still have the neighbors convinced you’re a great guy unless you’re an excellent faker. And he taught Poppy well. She’ll give this town something they’ll never see coming. Twisted, sharp as a blade, and addictively macabre, Intended Victims doesn’t let up—O’Flynn is a master of the unexpected. The Born Bad series is a guilty pleasure that will keep readers hooked from page one. For fans of Heartsick, Dark Places, and the Mr. Mercedes series. less

She’s not fragile like a poppy. She’s fragile like a bomb.Poppy Pratt isn’t sure whether it’s normal for a recently widowed psychopath to feel this level of rage, but she does know two things: Her husband is dead because of what she is. And she’s more dangerous than your average psychopath. She was eighteen when her father brutally murdered her boyfriend in their Alabama shed, but she was seven when the training started... moreShe’s not fragile like a poppy. She’s fragile like a bomb.Poppy Pratt isn’t sure whether it’s normal for a recently widowed psychopath to feel this level of rage, but she does know two things: Her husband is dead because of what she is. And she’s more dangerous than your average psychopath. She was eighteen when her father brutally murdered her boyfriend in their Alabama shed, but she was seven when the training started.Seven when she watched her serial-killer father hang a victim from a set of metal hooks. Seven when he first handed her the blade. Not that it bothered her; Poppy’s never been normal. Normal children can’t be accomplices. Normal children show signs of distress when asked to keep bloody secrets.But now those secrets are coming back to take the things Poppy cares about. There’s only one suspect who makes sense—only one that her late husband mentioned by name.Molly. The daughter of one of her father’s victims, the only other child who ever lived with them—a child her father might have groomed along with Poppy. A girl who vanished when they were kids.Poppy barely remembers the girl, but the tactics she’s using to rip Poppy’s life apart are undeniably her father’s. It seems Molly always knew more than she should have—she’s not normal either. And Poppy won’t let her past destroy her future.Now Poppy must go back to where it all began to find a girl who should be dead—a girl barely anyone knew existed in the first place.Her father trained Molly well, but he trained his own daughter better.Sometimes, what matters most is blood.Tense, tightly-focused, and brimming with corrosive wit, Hidden Wounds is absolutely addictive—every page is a gripping reminder of O’Flynn’s grasp on the thriller genre and the hidden psychology of serial killers. Fans of Claire MacKintosh, Chelsea Cain, and Gilly MacMillion will love Born Bad. less