As an expert in abnormal psychology working for the FBI, Dr. Alex Cross is used to calmly solving gruesome crimes, but in Kiss the Girls the case is personal.  His niece–a law student at Duke–is kidnapped while on campus, and he comes to the Triangle to try to help find her.  The North Carolina police and FBI are dealing with “Cassanova,” a man who is collecting beautiful and talented female victims.  There is also a second predator on the loose, a killer on the west coast with the nickname “The Gentleman Caller.”  A break in the case comes when one of Cassanova’s victims, a UNC med student, fights her way free of her captor.  This is the second book in the Alex Cross thriller series and the only one set in North Carolina.  It inspired a 1997 film of the same name starring Morgan Freeman and Ashley Judd.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

Posted: May 6th, 2009 under 1990-1999, 1995, Durham, Historical, Novels in Series, Orange, Patterson, James, Piedmont, Suspense/Thriller.
Comments: 2

Reverend Adam Samuel is using his psychic powers to kill women and, perhaps, to endanger the whole world.  The FBI Special Crimes Unit, under Noah Bishop, tries to put a stop to Father Samuel’s villainy.  Bishop recruits Tessa Gray, an agent from a civilian organization, to pose as a vulnerable young widow who has inherited property next to Samuel’s mountain compound. Tessa has psychic powers, but she is a relatively inexperienced operative. When she arrives at Samuel’s compound, she finds herself surrounded by Samuel’s many fanatical and well-connected followers. Even when she joins forces with the local police chief (who also serves as the novel’s romantic interest), her chances for success look slim.  The back story on Reverend Samuel is horrific, but his crimes are just as troubling to contemplate. This is the second book in a planned trilogy; the first title was set chiefly in Georgia.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

Posted: March 8th, 2009 under 2000-, 2009, Hooper, Kay, Mountains, Novels Set in Fictional Places, Suspense/Thriller.
Comments: none

Author J. D. Rhoades has taken a break from his Jack Keller series to create a thriller about undercover FBI agent Tony Wolf. Wolf has been on the lam (or deeply undercover) in rural North Carolina for four years. When he intervenes to rescue two boys from a kidnapper, his cover is blown. For Wolf, it becomes a case of “no good deed goes unpunished” as a biker gang he double-crossed and his old colleagues come after him to get some answers and to settle scores.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

Posted: September 23rd, 2008 under 2000-, 2008, Novels Set in Fictional Places, Rhoades, J.D., Suspense/Thriller.
Comments: 1

Regan Landry is a journalist working on a profile of Lester Ray Barnes, who had just been released from death row after it was learned that he was convicted on faulty evidence. Now, long after Landry begins her profile, Barnes disappears at the same time a string of grisly crimes are committed on the Outer Banks. Landry teams up with an FBI officer and they travel to the North Carolina coast to investigate.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC Library Catalog.

Posted: April 15th, 2008 under 2000-, 2006, Coast, Novels in Series, Stewart, Mariah, Suspense/Thriller.
Comments: none

• Island Murders. Wilmington, N.C.: Coastal Carolina Press, 2001.
• Cape Fear Murders. Wilmington, N.C.: Coastal Carolina Press, 2003.

Carroll Davenport is a Wilmington developer, but after she is falsely accused of murder she starts investigating crimes on the side. With the help of the protective Sheriff Stan Council and Ben Satterwhite, an FBI agent and possible love interest, Carroll chases criminals all over Wilmington and Wrightsville Beach

Posted: April 14th, 2008 under Canada, Wanda, Coast, Mystery, Novels in Series, Series.
Comments: none

Christy Petrino sought a simple vacation at Ocracoke Island after breaking up with her mobster boyfriend. But when somebody makes an attempt on her life, she must figure out whether the New Jersey mob or an Outer Banks serial killer (nicknamed “The Beachcomber”) is out to get her. This romantic suspense novel teams Christy with FBI agent Luke Rand. Those familiar with Ocracoke may raise an eyebrow at Robards’s description of “cliffs on the island, tall rocky cliffs leaning out over the ocean . . . .”

Check this title’s availability in the UNC Library Catalog.

Posted: March 13th, 2008 under 2000-, 2003, Coast, Hyde, Novels in Series, Robards, Karen, Romance/Relationship.
Comments: none

Lucas Jordan is a successful profiler for the FBI, using his psychic abilities to track down missing people. When a string of grisly murders hit Golden, N.C., a fictional mountain town, Lucas is called to the case. The psychopathic killer keeps Lucas guessing throughout the book, and raises the stakes when he turns his sights on people close to the detective.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC Library Catalog.

Posted: March 13th, 2008 under 2000-, 2004, Hooper, Kay, Mountains, Novels Set in Fictional Places, Suspense/Thriller.
Comments: none

Carroll Davenport, a local developer who has an unlucky habit of getting drawn into murder investigations, is back on the case when she finds North Carolina State Senator William Burriss III murdered alongside his mistress. The killers may or may not have ties to Carroll’s mafioso late husband. With the help of Ben Satterwhite, an FBI agent and possible love interest, Carroll chases criminals all over Wilmington and Wrightsville Beach in this sequel to Canada’s 2001 novel Island Murders.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC Library Catalog.

Posted: March 13th, 2008 under 2000-, 2003, Canada, Wanda, Coast, Mystery, New Hanover, Novels in Series.
Comments: none

Figure Eight Island, the exclusive resort community near Wilmington, seems an unlikely place for a crime wave, but dead bodies are showing up all over the island. The first suspect is Carroll Davenport, a local developer who has had a few too many friends and relatives who died violent deaths. But Carroll is soon cleared and decides to pursue the case on her own. In the course of investigating the increasingly complicated case, Carroll covers a lot of ground, visiting many sites in the Wilmington area that will be familiar to locals.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC Library Catalog.

Posted: March 13th, 2008 under 2000-, 2001, Canada, Wanda, Coast, Mystery, New Hanover, Novels in Series.
Comments: none