Historical Thrillers/Suspense/Horror

Not Born of Woman by Teel James Glenn

Send a Monster to catch monsters!

1939, just after a Nazi Rally at Madison Square Garden, A serial killer is loose, leaving occult symbols on murdered young women.

Adam Paradise is a PI with a secret; he is assembled from bodies by VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN!

Adam has his mismatched hands full as he navigates a maze of deceit and murder to a Nazi summer Camp Siegfried on Long Island in a battle that may cost Adam the very humanity he so aspires to achieve.

Midnight Burning by Paul Levine

When American Nazis conspire to assassinate twenty celebrities and ignite an insurrection against the U.S. government, the world’s two most famous men – real-life friends Albert Einstein and Charlie Chaplin – fight back, armed only with their brainpower, acting skill, and raw courage. This fictional tale unfolds against the backdrop of real events known as “Operation Hollywood,” a fascist terror plot in 1937 Los Angeles. The supporting cast includes Charles Lindbergh, Joseph Goebbels, William Dudley Pelley, founder of the Silver Shirts paramilitary force, and Georgia Ann Robinson, LAPD’s first Black female officer.

Operation Lightning Bolt by Hilary Green

The year is 1943. Britain is at war with Germany. When Lilian Harvey is found dead, murdered in a particularly sadistic manner that suggests she has heard things she should not have heard, the staff at the Special Operations Executive unit sound the alarm. When the message arrives on the desk of Colin Gibbins, head of SOE, he sends for Kim Maxwell, one of the first women agents to be sent to France. Returned to Beaulieu under the guise of a lecturer in ‘field craft’, Kit begins her investigation. Aided by Roland, a new recruit with a rather shady past, she begins to uncover a plot that extends far beyond the secretive world of SOE.

The Savage Instinct by M.M. DeLuca

England, 1873. Clara Blackstone has just been released from a private asylum for the insane. Reunited with her husband, Henry, she enters Durham and encounters a mob gathered to witness the imprisonment of Mary Ann Cotton, accused of poisoning nearly twenty people, including her husbands, children and stepchildren. Clara becomes increasingly suspicious of Henry’s oppressive nature and finds an outlet as a prison visitor. Her fascination with Cotton grows and soon she’s not just a notorious figure from the headlines, but an unlikely confidante, mentor—and perhaps accomplice—in Clara’s struggle to protect her money, her freedom, and her life.

Once These Hills by Chris McGinley

It’s 1898 in eastern Kentucky.  Three violent convicts escape the penitentiary and unleash Hell on the tiny mountain community of Black Boar.  Lydia King, just a young girl, witnesses the horrors firsthand, her father savagely brutalized and her mother violated.  Years later, the most violent of the band returns to finish what he started . . . but this time, Lydia is ready for him. 

Jimmy and Fay by Michael Mayo

Thursday, March 2, 1933. Fay Wray is in New York for the world premiere of King Kong at Radio City Music Hall, and somebody is threatening to peddle dirty pictures of her taken on the set. The photos are phony, but this has happened before. The star wants it taken care of and the RKO lawyers agree. Speakeasy owner (and movie fan) Jimmy Quinn, trusted by both mobsters and cops, agrees to act as go-between. The job leads to Polly Adler, Charlie Luciano, the city’s best pornographer, Miss Wray’s troubled marriage, a figure from Jimmy’s past, and a powerful banker.

Send the Word by James Hockenberry

1918: The Great War is reaching its climax. U.S. Army Officers Gil Martin and Paul Keller struggle to secure victory, but at what cost? They do not know who is more treacherous: the German army, supposed friends, or scheming rivals. During the American advance, a cunning assassin emerges to threaten General Pershing. In the final days of the war, Martin & Keller battle through the ghastly German defenses in the Meuse-Argonne. For both, the story becomes a personal struggle of sacrifice, loss of faith, and despair. Through it all, each will face betrayal, bewildering obstacles, and certain death.

The Butcher’s Daughter by David Demchuk and Corinne Leigh Clark

London, 1887: At the abandoned apartment of a young journalist, a dossier of evidence is discovered; a frightening correspondence between the journalist and the woman she thinks may be the infamous Mrs. Lovett—Sweeney Todd’s accomplice, “a wicked woman” who baked men into pies and sold them in her pie shop on Fleet Street. As the woman relays the harrowing account of her life—from her upbringing on Butcher’s Row in the unruly streets of Victorian London—her missives unlock an intricate mystery that brings Miss Gibson closer to the truth, even though it may cost her everything. 

The Chronicle of the Versemaker by Craig C Charles

The Chronicle of the Versemaker mixes equal parts of A Gentleman in Moscow, The Madonnnas of Leningrad, and Doctor Zhivago to create a compelling read of three remarkable people pushed to their limits while navigating the complex interplay of art, politics, and faith during one of history’s most brutal sieges – Leningrad. Set against the backdrop of WW2, The Chronicle of the Versemaker transcends the typical “war story” genre. At its heart is museum director Joseph Orbeli, poet Anna Akhmatova, and composer Dmitri Shostakovich tasked with safeguarding the cultural heritage of pre-revolutionary St. Petersburg amidst the chaos of war.

The Brisling Code by J.L. Oakley

An experienced intelligence agent at 22, Tore Haugland faces certain danger when London sends him to occupied Norway knowing that his predecessor was killed by the Gestapo only a week before. The dying agent left a mysterious message London calls the “Brisling Code.” London wants him to discover its meaning and gather information on the expansion of the U boat base in Bergen. If Haugland can’t discover the meaning of the Brisling Code in time, it could cost him his life and expose the members of the local resistance he works with. But what if the message is wrong?