5 Gripping Reads for January

January is the perfect time to reset your reading stack, whether that means diving into a pulse-pounding thriller, a morally complex crime novel or a story that’ll linger long after the final page. These five books span continents and genres, but each is driven by high stakes, unforgettable characters and the question of what we’re willing to risk for truth, love or survival. If you’re looking for reads that’ll grip you early in the year, start here…

The Janes by Louisa Luna

‘Men pretty much have a triangle. Sex, drugs, money,’ she said, drawing a triangle in the air with her finger. ‘Every man who commits a criminal act does it in service to one or more of those three things…Most men, actually, do everything because of them.’ On the outskirts of San Diego, the bodies of two young women are discovered. They are Jane Does: no names, no IDs, no families looking for them. Fearing a human trafficking ring, the police and FBI ask Alice Vega to help find out who the Janes were—and find the other missing women. Alice Vega has a mind like a steel trap. Along with her partner Cap, she will stop at nothing to find the Janes before it is too late. Louisa Luna is writing new, smart, insightful, relevant classics of crime fiction. Vega and Cap rightfully join the pantheon of the most memorable partnerships in crime fiction.

Buy a copy of The Janes here.

20th Victim by James Patterson

The Women’s Murder Club face the fight of their lives in this bestselling instalment in the James Patterson series. THREE CITIES. THREE BULLETS. THREE VICTIMS. Simultaneous murders hit LA, Chicago and San Francisco. SFPD Sergeant Lindsay Boxer is tasked with uncovering what links these precise and calculated killings. With the expertise of the Women’s Murder Club at her disposal, she may be the only one who can solve these country-spanning killings. But the truth proves more complicated than she feared. Lindsay discovers that the victims all excel in lucrative criminal activity. As the casualty list expands, fear and fascination with this shocking spree provoke debate across the country. Are the killers villains or heroes? And who will be next?

Buy a copy of 20th Victim here.

Gathering Dark by Candice Fox

A convicted killer. A gifted thief. A vicious crime boss. A disillusioned cop. Together, they’re a missing girl’s only hope. Blair Harbour, once a wealthy, respected surgeon in Los Angeles, is now an ex-con down on her luck. She’s determined to keep her nose clean to win back custody of her son. But when her former cellmate, Sneak Lawlor, begs for help to find her missing daughter, Blair is compelled to put her new-found freedom on the line. Joined by LA’s most feared underworld figure, Ada Maverick, the crew of criminals bring outlaw tactics to the search for Dayly. Detective Jessica Sanchez has always had a difficult relationship with the LAPD. And her inheritance of a $7 million mansion as a reward for catching a killer has just made her police enemy number one. It’s been ten years since Jessica arrested Blair for the cold-blooded murder of her neighbour. So when Jessica opens the door to the disgraced doctor and her friends early one morning she expects abuse, maybe even violence. What comes instead is a plea for help.

Buy a copy of Gathering Dark here.

The Beautiful Mother by Katherine Scholes

In a remote corner of Tanzania, Essie Lawrence lives with her husband in an archaeologist’s camp. One morning a chance encounter with two strangers sees her making a rash promise. When she returns home to the research base, she has a baby in her arms. Essie is to care for the little girl until the coming of the rains. And then hand her back. The organised world of Magadi Research Camp is turned upside down. As her heart opens up to new life, Essie is drawn into the ancient wisdom of the Hadza, the last hunter-gatherer tribe in East Africa. And she is led back to memories of her own mother and her first home on the island of Tasmania, at the far end of the world. But there is a price to pay. Essie’s marriage, her career – everything she’s worked for – is put at risk. On the shores of the flamingo lake, personal stories are played out alongside the Lawrences’ quest to find the origins of the human species. Nightmares and dreams go hand in hand as past and present merge. What is real and what will turn to dust? And after a season of being a mother, will Essie be able to survive the hardest challenge of all? To love, and then let go …

Buy a copy of The Beautiful Mother by Katherine Scholes here.

Torched by Kimberley Starr

A small Yarra Valley town has been devastated by a bushfire, and Reefton Primary School principal Phoebe Warton can’t sleep. She’s the single mother of eighteen-year-old Caleb who is accused of starting the fire – on purpose. Twelve people are dead, students from her school among them; only a monster would cause such carnage. But where was her son that day? No one knows but Caleb, and he’s not talking. Against mounting community rage, Phoebe sets out to clear her son. But every avenue leads back to Caleb. Why did he vanish from his Country Fire Authority shift? Who else was at the abandoned goldmine that day? Why is Caleb refusing to speak? Phoebe will be forced to confront the nature of guilt and redemption, and decide what boundaries she is willing to cross to save the son she loves. Torched is an explosive, haunting and compelling crime novel about mothers and sons and the ties that bind them.

Buy a copy of Torched here.