The Enemy At Home | The Night She Disappeared | Nothing Good Happens After Midnight | The Bad Sister | The Betrayed Wife | They Won't Be Hurt | Hide Your Fear | You'll Miss Me When I'm Gone | No One Needs To Know | Tell Me You're Sorry | Unspeakable | Terrified | Disturbed | Hotel Angeline | Vicious | Final Breath | One Last Scream | Killing Spree | The Last Victim | Left For Dead | Watch Them Die | Make Them Cry | The Next To Die | Only Son
THE ENEMY AT HOME
At the height of World War II, one woman joins America’s “Army at Home” of defense plant workers—only to discover she’s connected to a brutal killer they call the “Rosie Ripper.” Kevin O’Brien’s provocative new thriller will be available on August 22, 2023.
1943, Seattle, the World War II Home Front: With her doctor husband stationed in North Africa, Nora Kinney feels compelled to do more for the cause than tend to her Victory Garden or help with scrap metal drives. She joins America’s women’s work force…
At Boeing’s B-17 plant, Nora learns to wield a heavy riveting gun amid the deafening noise of the assembly line—a real -life counterpart to “Rosie the Riveter” in the recruitment posters. Yet, while the country needs their help, not everyone is happy about “all these women” taking over men’s jobs. Nora is also worried she’s neglecting her children, especially her withdrawn, troubled teenage son. Amid this turmoil, a sinister tragedy occurs: One of Nora’s coworkers is found strangled in her apartment.
It's the beginning of a terrifying pattern, as women war-plant workers like Nora are targeted throughout Seattle and murdered. Eclipsing Nora’s fear for her safety is her secret growing conviction that she and the killer are somehow connected—and the haven that was her home has become her own personal battlefield….
The night she disappeared
From a deep sleep, Seattle TV reporter Anna Malone awakens to her phone ringing. She rarely drinks, and this hangover is brutal. Why can’t she shake the feeling that something terrible happened last night? And why can’t she remember any of it?
What Anna does remember: an awkward dinner at a posh restaurant with her married lover, Dr. Russell Knoll, and his unsuspecting wife, Courtney. Russ’s phone call reveals that Courtney—a brilliant, beautiful, deaf author on the brink of literary stardom—has gone missing. As days go by without a trace, Russ and Anna come under police scrutiny. And a powerful TV rival starts a smear campaign against “the other woman,” Anna.
Anna already suspected that Courtney had a dark side. Is she truly missing? Or is it all a hoax to expose Anna and Russ? No scenario that Anna imagines can compare to the twisted game unfolding around her, one chilling turn at a time…
“Once again, O’Brien delivers a nail-biter, riddled with twists and turns that race to a stunning conclusion.”
Nothing Good Happens After Midnight
“This volume is guaranteed to keep readers burning the midnight oil well into the wee hours.”
#1 New York Times bestselling author, Jeffery Deaver, and Suspense Magazine present this “superlative anthology” (Publishers Weekly) with 13 original short stories by award-winning, master suspense authors. That includes Kevin O’Brien’s “Cell Phone Intolerant,” a “darkly amusing vigilante tale.”
The Bad Sister
The site of the old campus bungalow where two girls were brutally slain is now a flower patch covered with chrysanthemums. It’s been fifty years since the Immaculate Conception Murders. Three more students and a teacher were killed in a sickening spree that many have forgotten. But there is one person who knows every twisted detail…
Hannah O’Rourke and her volatile half-sister, Eden, have little in common except a parent. Yet they’ve ended up at the same small college outside Chicago, sharing a bungalow with another girl. Hannah isn’t thrilled—nor can she shake the feeling that she’s being watched. And her journalism professor, Ellie Goodwin, keeps delving into Hannah and Eden’s newsworthy past…
When Hannah and Eden’s arrival to the college coincides with a string of mysterious deaths, Ellie knows it’s more than just a fluke. A copycat is recreating those long-ago murders. Neither the police nor the school will accept the horrific truth. And the more Ellie discovers, the more she’s convinced that she won’t live long enough to be believed…
The shattering conclusion to the FAMILY SECRETS saga that began with THE BETRAYED WIFE.
“O’Brien expertly keeps the suspense ratcheted up throughout.”
– T h e S e a t t l e T i m e s
The Betrayed Wife
FAMILY SECRETS can be deadly.
“Keeps you guessing...A wonderful book that has a huge twist ending.”
Sheila O’Rourke has always known her husband, Dylan, isn’t perfect. She has turned a blind eye to his affairs, because he’s a good father and he’ll never leave her.
But then a homeless teenager, who has been stalking Sheila, suddenly claims she’s Dylan’s daughter. The revelation is as much a shock to Dylan as it is to Sheila and their three children. The girl’s mother recently died in a bizarre, grisly “accident” that has unsettling parallels to something in Sheila’s past.
Sheila reluctantly welcomes the strange girl into their home. But she can’t feel safe. She wants to forgive her husband. But how much longer can she put up with the lies and the deceit? And a chain of disturbing events in their home is just the beginning of a deadly, twisted game, plunging the perfect family into a perfect nightmare.
They Won’t Be Hurt
“Terrifying and fast-paced, THEY WON’T BE HURT is any parent’s worst nightmare. Kevin O’Brien has written a thriller that ratchets the tension high.”
ONCE YOU LET THEM IN, THEY WILL NEVER LET YOU GO...
The lights are on in the Singleton vacation home on Lopez Island, Washington, illuminating the horror within. Scott Singleton, former NFL star turned television evangelist, lies dead. The bodies of his wife and children are found on the second floor, bound, gagged and stabbed repeatedly. The police’s main suspect—the property caretaker—has disappeared.
In her isolated vineyard home two hours away, Laura Gretchell is on edge. Her husband is out of town on business, and the children are understandably shaken. Laura tries to tell herself there’s no reason to fear. Then the door handle rattles, and the real terror begins.
They’re in her house, holding her children hostage, and Laura has only one option: do exactly what the intruders say. But as Laura races to find the information they seek, she realizes that the enemies within her own home are only part of the nightmare. Because someone wants to keep the truth hidden at any cost, no matter how many more must die…
Hide your Fear
“The climbing suspense keeps you on the edge of your seat...highly entertaining...”
THE ONLY WAY YOU'LL STAY ALIVE IS IF HE NEVER FINDS YOU...
A home provides more than comfort and shelter. It stores memories…and hides secrets. Divorcee Caitlin Stoller and her children recently moved into a charming old Tudor-style house in the coastal town of Echo, Washington. The place was a bargain, but as the weeks pass, Catlin starts receiving messages—first friendly, then unsettling, hinting at the property’s dark past…
Caitlin’s teenage daughter, Lindsay, isn’t fitting in at her new school. To make matters worse, there are stories about local high school students who’ve disappeared without a trace—all star swimmers like Lindsay. Then there are the rumors that their new home is cursed. Caitlin doesn’t want to believe the whispers, but something strange is going on. Personal items go missing, and there are too many accidents…
Someone knows how to get inside the Stollers’ home—and inside their heads. The rumors about the house are true. There’s no escaping the nightmare that started here long ago, and no place to hide from a killer who knows exactly how this story will end…
You’ll mIss me when I’m Gone
“The suspense builds from page one and ends with a climax you won’t see coming.”
NO FORGIVENESS, NO REMORSE, NO SECOND CHANCE…
Andrea Boyle moved to Seattle to give her seventeen-year-old nephew, Spencer, a fresh start after the death of his parents. Andrea has found her own new beginning with Luke, a successful playwright and father of a teenage son, Damon. The boys appear to have little in common, but in truth they share a private torment.
When a tragedy befalls Damon, it’s just the beginning of a nightmare that unfolds. But the worst is yet to come once a dark secret from Spencer’s past is exposed. And when Luke is brutally attacked, both of their futures are at stake.
Now it’s up to Andrea to prove Spencer’s innocence to the police—and to herself. Because for reasons she has revealed to no one, even Andrea can’t help questioning the truth—and fearing that she may be the next to pay the ultimate price.
No One Needs to Know
“O’Brien has crafted another creepy, compelling thriller...Everyone needs to know about this one.”
IT'S TIME TO TELL WHAT REALLY HAPPENED...
In July, 1970, actress Elaina Styles was slain in a rented Seattle mansion along with her husband and their son’s nanny. When the baby’s charred remains were found in a shallow grave close to a hippie commune, the police moved in—only to find all its members already dead in a grisly mass suicide.
Now, decades later, a film about the murders is shooting at the infamous mansion. On-set caterer Laurie Trotter ignores gossip that the production is cursed. But then people start dying…
As Laurie digs deep into what happened all those years ago, the truth emerges—more twisted than any whispered rumor—and a legacy of brutal violence reaches its terrifying climax.
Tell me you’re sorry
“If you want darkness, if you crave chills, this tale is for you.”
A KILLER ALWAYS HAS THE LAST WORD
A family is wiped out after a burglary gone wrong. An executive accused of embezzling kills himself and his loved ones. A house fire claims the lives of all its inhabitants. Separate incidents with two common threads—a first wife who took her own life, and a secret the victims took to their graves…
Stephanie Coburn has barely recovered from her sister’s mysterious suicide when her brother-in-law and his new wife are murdered, her face disfigured beyond recognition. Stephanie never met the bride, has never even seen a clear photograph. But she knew her sister, and she knows something is desperately wrong.
The police won’t listen. Her only ally is another victim’s son. Step by step, they’re uncovering a trail of brutal vengeance and a killer who will never relent—and whose forgiveness can only be earned in death.
unspeakable
“If Hitchcock were alive today and writing novels, his name would be Kevin O’Brien.”
WORDS CAN'T DESCRIBE WHAT HE DOES TO HIS VICTIMS...
Unthinkable Crimes: A family of four murdered in their hotel room. A single mother and her boyfriend both stabbed to death. A sordid history of violent crimes, repeated over and over—but decades apart…
Unrelenting Fear: Therapist Olivia Barker has heard things, stories that keep her up at night, details that only a killer would know—a killer who could be one of her patients….
Unspeakable Truth: As the body count rises, so do Olivia’s fears. A rock is thrown through her window; her car tires are slashed; a chilling message is scrawled on her bathroom mirror. Olivia knows she’s getting closer to the truth. But the truth could be the last thing she’ll ever know…
Terrified
“A genuine page-turner.”
THE MORE YOU KNOW, THE MORE YOU FEAR
Megan Keeslar died years ago—or so everyone believes. In fact, she disappeared to escape her sadistic husband, Glenn. When dismembered body parts were found near their home, Glenn was convicted of his wife’s murder. And Megan, terrified for her unborn child’s safety, never came forward with the truth…
Since then, Megan has built a new life in Seattle for herself and her son, Josh. She’s never forgotten that she’s a fugitive, and Josh knows nothing about her past. But someone does. First, there are anonymous emails and threats—just as she learns Glenn has been released from prison. Then the unthinkable happens: a masked man breaks into their home and abducts Josh.
To save her son, Megan must put herself at the mercy of a maniac. Is Glenn a cold-blooded killer determined to destroy her world piece by piece, or is the truth even more twisted? Megan thought she knew fear, but her nightmare is only beginning…
Disturbed
“A powerful thriller... nearly 500 pages of intense, emotional, and meticulously plotted suspense...”
DECEPTIVE…DEPRAVED…DISTURBED…
The houses on Willow Tree Court are sleek and modern—the kind designed to harbor happy families and laughing children. No one would guess the secrets that lurk beyond the neat lawns and beautiful facades.
Molly Dennehy is trying to fit in to her new surroundings, though her neighbors are clearly loyal to her husband’s ex-wife. But that’s the least of Molly’s worries. Her stepson’s school has been rocked by a brutal slaying, and a psychopath is murdering families in their Seattle homes. Homes just like Molly’s on Willow Tree Court.
With each passing day, Molly becomes more convinced that someone is watching her family, someone consumed with rage and vengeance. On this quiet road, a nightmare has been unleashed, and the trail of terror will lead right to her door.
Hotel Angeline
A novel in 36 voices
Forward by Nancy Pearl
Introduction by Garth Stein
36 of the most interesting writers in the Pacific Northwest came together for a week-long marathon of writing live on stage. The result? Hotel Angeline, a truly inventive novel that surprises at every turn of the page. The authors include Erica Bauermeister, Carol Cassella, Jamie Ford, Elizabeth George, Stephanie Kallos, Erik Larson, Jennie Shortridge, Garth Stein, Susan Wiggs and yours truly. Not surprisingly, someone gets killed in my chapter. Proceeds go to promote writing programs, reading and literacy.
Vicious
“O’Brien is a master at ratcheting up the suspense and doing the thing that all suspense writers long to do: keep us compulsively turning the page in an almost frantic quest to find out what happens next.”
He lives to hear them scream…
For more than two years, he held Seattle in a terror grip. A cold-blooded killer who abducted young mothers right in front of their sons and murdered them execution style. Then, as suddenly as the killings began, they seemed to stop.
Susan Blanchette is looking forward to a relaxing weekend getaway with her fiancé, Allen, and young son, Matthew. But something about the remote lake house doesn’t feel right. A woman vanished from the area a year ago, and now Susan thinks she’s spotted someone lurking around the property. And when Allen disappears, her fear grows…
A psychopath has returned, ready to strike again, drawing nearer to Susan as each minute of the weekend ticks by. But she’s just one pawn at the heart of a killer’s deadly game. A killer who is unrelenting, unstoppable, and absolutely vicious…
Final Breath
“Another unforgettable story...you will want to read FINAL BREATH in one sitting, even if it keeps you up all night.”
Once a killer has chosen you, the only thing you can do is die…
At first, the deaths seemed random. A young Portland couple brutally murdered in a robbery…a Chicago woman who plummeted to her death from an office building…an aspiring screenwriter asphyxiated in his New York apartment. But the macabre souvenirs TV reporter Sydney Jordan receives hint at a connection that is both personal and terrifying.
After events in her own life went wrong, Sydney fled to Seattle with her teenage son. But instead of getting a fresh start, Sydney is plagued by strange occurrences. Someone is watching, someone who knows her intimately…someone who is just waiting to play the next move in a twisted game…
one last scream
“White knuckle action! Kevin O’Brien takes the reader deep into the darkest corners of the human mind, where one woman’s past threatens to wipe out her future.”
When you're caught in a killers web, the only thing that can save you is...One last scream...
Twelve women have vanished, leaving behind no trace or clue—their whereabouts still a mystery after eleven years.
Amelia Faraday is beautiful, smart, and a walking disaster. Suffering from blackouts, she also suffers from something worse—the feeling that she is personally involved in a series of deaths.
Now as a new string of murders begins, and she continues to experience blackouts, Amelia wonders if she is a cold-blooded killer—or a pawn in a deadly game that’s only just beginning.
Killing Spree
“Bestselling author O’Brien’s latest is a fast-paced thriller... crisp, clear writing and taut suspense...”
When a serial killer gets a taste for blood...he only wants to do one thing...kill and kill again...
Years ago, the Seattle police were baffled by the Schoolgirl Murders. The killer staged the scenes, dressing his female victims in school girl uniforms and saddle shoes. No woman in Seattle felt safe, until they caught the man responsible, and the case was forgotten…
Across the country, a killing spree is taking place. The first victim is attacked in a taxi by a mysterious stranger. The next is found strangled in a changing room. A hitchhiker is left by the side of the road, his identity brutally stolen. The murders are so bizarre, so random, no one would think to connect them…
Only Seattle writer Gillian McBride sees the disturbing coincidences between all the murders – and it’s hitting too close to home. Somehow, she is the link between the past and the present – and to a twisted serial killer who shows no signs of stopping…
The Last Victim
“THE LAST VICTIM is a fascinating combination of flashbacks (the) gradual revelation of an amazingly dysfunctional family, and page-turning suspense. O’Brien has a deft touch, drawing believable portraits of weird people, while providing a complex plot that will keep the reader guessing up to the last page. Highly recommended.”
A KILLER’S MASTERPIECE WILL BE PAINTED…IN COLD BLOOD…
At first, Bridget Corrigan’s work with her twin brother’s senatorial campaign is an exciting distraction from the trauma of her messy divorce. But everything changes when Bridget is reminded of the secret she and Brad have kept since high school, a secret that could destroy the campaign – and their lives. Someone else knows what they did. Someone who’s been picking off the members of their little group one by one…
His job keeps him busy. He follows them, photographs them, and immortalizes them on canvas. He knows exactly how they’ll look when the last breath is drawn, because he has planned out their deaths with perfect precision. And the best is yet to come: Bridget Corrigan. He has very special plans for her portrait – she just doesn’t know it yet…
With every “accident” that befalls the members of her old clique, Bridget feels danger edging closer to home. Yet uncovering the truth about the killer would mean revealing what happened that horrible night years ago. She’ll have to find someone to trust – the question is, who? Because turning to the wrong person could be the last mistake she ever makes…
Left for Dead
“O’Brien’s latest thriller offers up a relentless dose of suspense and chills that is sure to please fans of psychological suspense. There are just the right amounts of twists and turns in this wild ride though terror, and the final denouncement will leave the readers gasping. Highly recommended.”
SOMETHING SHE CAN’T REMEMBER…
When Claire Shaw wakes in a Seattle hospital, she remembers nothing of what has happened to her. She doesn’t recognize the concerned faces of her husband and friends. She knows only that she is lucky to be alive, the single surviving victim of a viscous serial killer.
She was a mistake – not like the others. But next time, there would be no escape – and her eyes would fill with that perfect, beautiful terror…
On an isolated, quaint island resort, Claire has returned to a life she barely knows anymore. A town that feels as if it, too, is hiding something in its dark woods, remote cabins, and chilly smiles. Bit by bit, Claire’s memory is taking terrifying shape in a place where fear is very much at home…
Watch them die
“Fast-forward to scary as hell! Read this page turner with the lights on!”
DIFFERENT VICTIMS… DIFFERENT METHODS… THE SAME MADMAN…
The blonde film student. The brunette paralegal. The red-headed artist.
The first victim is strangled. The second is stabbed repeatedly. And the third is pushed out an open window.
In the city of Seattle, no single woman is safe. From afar he watches the ones he so desperately wants. But should his latest obsession betray him, he will have no choice but to punish her – by finding new and brutal ways to teach her a lesson. And by finally loving her – to death…
Make them Cry
“Exciting and fast-paced... This is a first-rate murder-mystery in an unusual setting, with an exciting ending... Imaginative and well written... Add this book to your summer reading list.”
EVERYONE HAS SECRETS… SOME ARE MEANT TO BE KEPT… BUT OTHERS CAN KILL…
The beautiful young judge. The hardworking waitress. The handsome college student.
The victims are all different…but they all have one gruesome detail in common.
A clever serial killer is stalking the streets of Seattle. Searching for his next victim. Creating a monument of madness that will be built victim by victim…piece by piece…bone by bone…
The Next to Die
“O’Brien mixes show-business intrigue with taut psychological suspense in a clever Hollywood-based thriller... Hot button issues augment the narrative tension, and O’Brien’s snappy dialogue effectively maintains the breakneck pacing of this haunting read.”
EVERYONE HAS SOMETHING TO HIDE…
The virile, all-American husband. The brainy golden girl. The happily wed bi-coastal couple.
Someone who has uncovered their darkest secrets. Someone who is hell-bent on making them pay for their sins…
Now there is no escaping the shadowy jury that watches their every move. Infiltrates every part of their lives. Stalking. Judging. Condemning. Punishment will be swift…severe…final… death.
Only Son
“O’Brien is full of surprises, in this deep and moving story. The characters are truly drawn... Four stars!”
“A POWERFUL NOVEL OF HEARTBREAK AND HOPE” – Reader’s Digest
Divorced and alone, Carl Jorgenson has one dream: to have a son and give him the life and love he never had. His dream becomes a reality the day Amy McMurray leaves her son alone for one brief, unforgivable moment. In that split second, all their lives change forever.
So begins the remarkable story of a mother’s search for the child she has lost but will never abandon…of a man desperately holding on to the single thread of hope in his life…and of a young boy, a son to both, a stranger to himself, who teaches them about love, loss and forgiveness.
Illuminated by a rare compassion, ONLY SON is a deeply felt, powerfully realized novel about the search for love and a place to belong. It is a novel about fate, the irreversible choices we make, and the forces we cannot control.