Nonfiction Thrillers

After more than a decade, when sisters Nikki, Sami, and Tori Knotek hear the word mom, it claws like an eagle’s talons, triggering memories that have been their secret since childhood. Until now. For years, behind the closed doors of their farmhouse in Raymond, Washington, their sadistic mother, Shelly, subjected her girls to unimaginable abuse, degradation, torture, and psychic terrors. Through it all, Nikki, Sami, and Tori developed a defiant bond that made them far less vulnerable than Shelly imagined.

Genovese, Gambino, Bonnano, Colombo, and Lucchese. For decades these Five Families ruled New York and built the American Mafia (or Cosa Nostra) into an underworld empire. Today, the Mafia is an endangered species, battered and beleaguered by aggressive investigators, incompetent leadership, betrayals, and generational changes that produced violent, unreliable leaders and recruits.

Serial killer Gary Heidnik's name will live on in infamy, and his home, 3520 North Marshall Street in Philadelphia, is a house tainted with the memory of unbelievable horrors. What police found there was an incredible nightmare made real. Four young women had been held captive - some for four months - half-naked and chained. They had been tortured, starved, and repeatedly raped. But more grotesque discoveries lay in the kitchen: human limbs frozen, a torso burned to cinders, an empty pot suspiciously scorched....

Short Stories by Texas Authors – Volume 10 (2025) showcases the range and punch of contemporary Texas storytelling—gritty realism, luminous literary work, and bold imagination—curated by Texas Authors Press, a division of the Texas Authors Museum & Institute of History. Drawn from the annual short story contest and arranged by score, this limited 2025 edition moves from a motel-room survival in Cheryl King’s “A Wonderful Horrible Life” to myth-forged courage in Emeryl Williams’s “Guardian of the High Reaches: The Story of Jul and Ari,” then roots itself in place with B. ...

Jack the Ripper is one of the most notorious serial killers in history—and yet over one hundred years later, his identity remains cloaked in mystery. Or does it? There’s only ever been one man who could solve this crime: the inimitable Sherlock Holmes. When news of the first murder hits the paper, the story immediately catches Holmes’ attention—and he’s determined to be involved in the case. Soon, Holmes has entered a dangerous cat-and-mouse game with the Ripper, trying to unmask the murderer before being framed for the crimes himself. As he wanders the dark, seedy streets of ...

Two men, each handsome and unusually adept at his chosen work, embodied an element of the great dynamic that characterized America’s rush toward the twentieth century. The architect was Daniel Hudson Burnham, the fair’s brilliant director of works and the builder of many of the country’s most important structures, including the Flatiron Building in New York and Union Station in Washington, D.C. The murderer was Henry H. Holmes, a young doctor who, in a malign parody of the White City, built his “World’s Fair Hotel” just west of the fairgrounds.

In February 1959, a group of nine experienced hikers in the Russian Ural Mountains died mysteriously on an elevation known as Dead Mountain. Eerie aspects of the incident—unexplained violent injuries, signs that they cut open and fled the tent without proper clothing or shoes, a strange final photograph taken by one of the hikers, and elevated levels of radiation found on some of their clothes—have led to decades of speculation over what really happened.

Shots rang out in Savannah's grandest mansion in the misty,early morning hours of May 2, 1981. Was it murder or self-defense? For nearly a decade, the shooting and its aftermath reverberated throughout this hauntingly beautiful city of moss-hung oaks and shaded squares. John Berendt's sharply observed, suspenseful, and witty narrative flows like a thoroughly engrossing novel, and yet it is a work of nonfiction.

From Pulitzer Prize–winning author Gilbert King comes a chilling exploration of one of America’s most haunting wrongful conviction cases. Based on the hit podcast, Bone Valley dives into the dark heart of rural Florida, where a young man’s life was upended by a tragic miscarriage of...

When Misty was six years old, her family started to live and dress like the Amish. Misty and her sister were kept as slaves on a mountain ranch where they were subjected to almost complete isolation, sexual abuse, and extreme physical violence. When Misty reached her teens, her parents feared she and her sister would escape and took them to an Amish community where they were adopted and became baptized members. Misty was devastated to once again find herself in a world of fear, animal cruelty, and sexual abuse.

The murder of an international attorney, the posturing of a power-hungry politician, the schemes of a psychotic stalker, and the high-stakes drama of a daring rescue mission: Navy JAG Lieutenant Commander Zack Brewer is in the spotlight and the danger zone.

Joshua Jordan, former US spy-plane hero now turned weapons designer, has come up with a devastatingly effective new missile defense system—the Return to Sender laser weapon. But global forces are mounting against America, and corrupt White House and Capitol Hill leaders are willing to do anything to stop the nation’s impending economic catastrophe—including selling out Joshua and his weapon.

One of Jane Austen’s most beloved works, Pride and Prejudice, is vividly brought to life by Academy Award nominee Rosamund Pike ( Gone Girl). In her bright and energetic performance of this British classic, she expertly captures Austen’s signature wit and tone. Her attention to detail, her literary background, and her performance in the 2005 feature film version of the novel provide the perfect foundation from which to convey the story of Elizabeth Bennet, her four sisters, and the inimitable Mr. Darcy.

THE MAN WHO MADE THE WORLD AFRAID TO LOOK AWAY Behind every masterpiece of suspense lies a secret… and behind Alfred Hitchcock lay a shadow that refused to die. For over half a century, Alfred Hitchcock ruled Hollywood with his camera, his silence, and his genius. But behind the calm, droll smile and polished English wit was a man haunted by fear, driven by obsession, and consumed by the need to control everything—and everyone—around him. The Shadow Behind the Camera: The Untold Story of Alfred Hitchcock pulls back the curtain on the most shocking, little-known truths of cinema’s ...

"This isn’t a myth—it’s a predator." In the secluded woodlands of Northern Michigan, the Harwood family finds their peaceful life shattered when they encounter a creature of legend—the Dogman. Recently settled into their new home, the Harwoods are unprepared for the terror that stalks them under the cover of night. Annette Harwood, a determined mother and wildlife biologist, becomes obsessed with proving the creature’s existence as her husband, Michael, grapples with protecting their two children from a threat he cannot understand. The tension builds with each passing night, ...

Dive into the mysterious world of 'Deceit in Denver,' where Tim's journey is more than just a struggle for financial stability. In this enthralling tale, After losing his cleaning business Tim and his family move to Denver, seeking a new beginning. Tim starts a new job but finds himself tangled in a web of lies and deceit. But Tim's reality is turned upside down when he encounters supernatural elements. Guided by Sheena, a ghostly presence, Tim navigates through unethical business practices and personal dilemmas. As he grapples with the challenges of his new job and the complex dynamics of ...

On 29 July 2023 the family and friends of Erin Patterson sat down for lunch in Leongatha, a small town in rural Australia. On the menu: beef Wellington. The next day, four of the guests were hospitalised, and within a week, Erin's mother- and father-in-law, Don and Gail Patterson, and her husband's aunt Heather Wilkinson were dead. Heather's husband, Ian, survived . . . but only just. Doctors suspected death cap mushroom poisoning, and four months later, Patterson was arrested and charged with three counts of murder and one of attempted murder.

"Winter Unleashes the Damned." Tom and Rachel Smith, along with their son Caleb and infant daughter Lily, move to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to build a cabin and embrace a quiet, self-sufficient life. But as winter deepens, unsettling signs emerge—distant howls, claw marks on the cabin, and Caleb’s vivid nightmares of a skeletal creature with antlers and glowing eyes. Seeking answers, Tom visits a nearby Ojibwe elder who warns him of the land’s dark past. Over a century and a half ago, a man named Thomas Bellamy was trapped in a brutal winter and driven to cannibalism. The act ...

What begins as a rescue mission quickly turns into a harrowing fight for survival. When renowned cryptozoologist John Hadley disappears while investigating a series of caves deep in the Sierra Nevada mountains, his daughter, Emil*, is thrust into a desperate search to find him. Teaming up with Evan Morgan, a local deputy and former flame, Emily uncovers disturbing clues that suggest her father was onto something far more dangerous than she ever imagined. As they push deeper into the wilderness, they soon realize they are not alone. Something ancient and powerful lurks in the caves—...

Maddie is beyond done with her cousin Genesis' entitled and shallow entourage. Genesis is so over Miami's predictable social scene, with its velvet ropes, petty power plays, and backstabbing boyfriends. While Maddie craves family time for spring break, Genesis seeks novelty - like a last-minute getaway to an untouched beach in Colombia. And when Genesis wants something, it happens. But paradise has its price.