Lloyd Devereux Richards spent 14 years writing his debut book Stone Maidens and more than a decade trying to sell it. But then, the 74-year-old’s daughter made a TiKTok video, turning him into a viral sensation and selling his book out on Amazon.
Here, the author picks five candid thrillers that will have you on the edge of your seat.
A Place of Execution by Val McDermid
A masterpiece of psychological thrillers and suspense – the story of the puzzling disappearance of a young girl in a remote English hamlet. The inhabitants’ suspicion of outsiders foils the detective, and a known rapist is hanged for the crime. Many years later, a journalist uncovers an unsettling truth that the detective himself realised: the man convicted was not the murderer.
Dolores Claiborne by Stephen King
Written in the first person without chapter or scene breaks, this story is told from the jail cell of the defiant housekeeper Dolores Claiborne, who is suspected of murdering her alcoholic husband who sexually assaulted his daughter.
Watchers by Dean Koontz
An intriguing and satisfying thrill read that many believe is Koontz’s best, this story follows the relationship between a man and a special dog who is empowered with reasoning abilities by the highly secret laboratory it escaped from.
Bad Actors by Mick Herron
The author’s marvellous Slough Horse spy series is bested by this read, which follows the gritty and astute Jackson Lamb, who heads a group of reject secret agents pitted against government officials attempting to wrest control over MI5.
