by John Grisham (1989)
The groundbreaking legal thriller that introduced attorney Jake Brigance. When a devastated father takes vengeance against his daughter's assailants, Brigance mounts an electrifying courtroom defense in a town consumed by racial fury.
Scott Turow
When prosecuting attorney Carolyn Polhemus is murdered in her apartment, chief deputy Rusty Sabich is tasked with finding the killer—until forensic evidence turns the investigation inward and he finds himself charged with murder.
A.E.W. Mason
Unassured of a family inheritance, Henry Thresk dedicates himself to pursuing a career in law. His determination is exacting; as a man of limited means, it has to be. Even when he meets Stella, a supremely appealing young woman, he refuses to consider love and marriage. He must stick to the path he has laid out for himself. Eight years later, on a solicitor call to Bombay, Henry finds himself face to face with a photograph of his long-lost love. Stella is married to Captain Ballantyne, an older man clever at politics and languages who is revealed to be a violent brute. Henry is determined to rescue Stella, but before he can enact a plan the captain is discovered shot to death with his wife’s rifle. Henry, a respected man of the law, is called as a witness for the defense—only the first of many twists in this deftly plotted mystery. If his instincts are wrong, he will sacrifice his life and career for a woman he hardly knows.
Frank C. Strunk
"A breakout book. A rich layering of thought and emotion...take it beyond the thriller genre." -- "The Cincinatti Post" Cole Clayfield is called a throwback by those who know him. A Kentucky mountain man lost in modern times, he's more comfortable alone in his isolated cabin, hunting with his dogs, or teaching his granddaughter Shelby to understand nature and respect the earth. Then Shelby is suddenly kidnapped at gunpoint by a sociopath named Darnell, shocking Clayfield's tracking instincts into action. Desperate to get his granddaughter back alive, Clayfield sets out to do what he does best: hunt down an animal. Scaling the rough mountain trail and striding the mean city streets, Clayfield is on Darnell's trail, inching closer and closer to the madman who is holding his granddaughter -- praying that it's not too late to save her, and that Darnell pays with his life's blood for what he's done.
Gillian Flynn
On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears. As the police investigate and Nick’s lies mount, everyone asks: Did Nick Dunne kill his wife?