Top list: Suspense

#1 New York Times bestselling author Stephen King’s beloved novella, Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption—the basis for the Best Picture Academy Award–nominee The Shawshank Redemption—about an unjustly imprisoned convict who seeks a strangely satisfying revenge, is available as a standalone book.

Suspenseful, mysterious, and heart-wrenching, Stephen King’s extraordinary novella, populated by a cast of unforgettable characters, tells a powerful tale of crushing despair and liberating hope through the eyes of Ellis “Red” Redding. Red’s a guy who can get you whatever you want here in Maine’s corrupt and hard-edged Shawshank State Penitentiary (for a price, of course), but the one thing he doesn’t count on is an unexpected friendship forged with fellow inmate Andy Dufresne—an inscrutable one-time banker perhaps falsely convicted of brutal, calculated murder who will go on to transform everyone’s lives within these prison walls.

Originally published in the 1982 collection Different Seasons, it was adapted into the 1994 film The Shawshank Redemption starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman. Nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, this modern classic has become one of the most beloved films of all time. A mesmerizing work of unjust imprisonment and strangely satisfying revenge, Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption remains one of Stephen King’s most beloved and iconic stories.

He is the most feared man in Dublin, and his reputation is hard-earned.

As the second born to the Quinn family, while my older brother, Tag, navigates the politics of running of our territory, I run our army.

The Dublin Devils is the Quinn motorcycle club, and we are a powerful force.

Roaring through the Dublin streets, I command both fear and respect from everyone north of the River Liffey—and from much of the McGuire territory to the south of the river as well.

Not that Quinns go south of the river.

The territorial lines between our two rival families were set in place by Da years ago, and even after his death, we honor the agreement.

The McGuires honor nothing.

So, when Piper McGuire, daughter of our enemy, shows up on our side of the river, bloody and beaten, there’s only one logical answer—send her back.

With tensions already high between our two families, she’s everything we don’t want or need.

And yet, despite hating myself for it—I do want her.

And even knowing it can never work—I do need her.

But there’s another problem…she’s betrothed to another.

Dublin Devil is Book 2 in the Emerald Isle Mafia series. This is a Dark Mafia Romance full of heat, betrayal, and survival that will take your heart hostage and never let go. Each book is a connected standalone with a completed story and HEA. This is a spicy Dark Mafia, enemies to lovers, forced proximity, arranged marriage romance, which features scenes of a violent as well as explicit sexual nature.

From BookTok sensation J. T. Geissinger comes Carnal Urges, a sexy-as-sin dark romance about a powerful mafia king who kidnaps the one woman who will threaten to bring him to his knees.

Carnal (adjective):

1) Relating to the pleasures of the body

2) Given to sensual indulgence

3) The man who kidnapped me

The devil has blue eyes, an Irish accent, and a hatred for me that runs deep.

He blames me for starting a war. Consorting with his enemies. Getting his men killed. Though I’m innocent on all charges, he wants his pound of flesh. With an eye on revenge, he makes me his captive.

But as we'll both soon discover, there are more powerful urges than that for revenge.

When the devil meets his match but she’s his sworn enemy, that’s when the real war begins.

Discover Savage Hearts, the next book in the addictive Queens and Monsters series.

“I don’t just want to hear her laugh, I need to earn it. Every time I gain a little ground, I want more. I want to break out of the shade and back into her light. Without even realizing it, I’ve become addicted to it. To her.”

From the author of the genre-breaking international TikTok sensation Butcher & Blackbird comes the second book in the Ruinous Love Trilogy—a hate-to-love dark romantic comedy packed with danger, chaos, and heat.

Contract killer Lachlan Kane wants a quiet life working in his leather studio and forgetting all about his traumatic past. But when he botches a job for his boss’s biggest client, Lachlan knows he’ll never claw his way out of the underworld. At least, not until songbird Lark Montague offers him a deal: use his skills to hunt down a killer and she’ll find a way to secure his freedom. The catch? He has to marry her first.

And they can’t stand each other.

Indie singer-songwriter Lark is the sunshine and glitter that burns through every cloud and clings to every crevice that Lachlan Kane tries to hide inside. The surly older brother of her best friend’s soulmate, Lachlan thinks she’s just a privileged princess, but Lark has plenty of secrets hiding in the shadows of her bright light. With her formidable family in a tailspin and her best friend’s happiness on the line, she’s willing to make a vow to the man she’s determined to hate, no matter how tempting the broody assassin might be.

As Lachlan and Lark navigate the dark world that binds them together, it becomes impossible to discern their fake marriage from a real one. But it’s not just familiar dangers that haunt them.

There’s another phantom lurking on their doorstep.

And this one has come for blood.

Tropes:

Hate-to-love

Marriage of convenience

Grumpy / sunshine

He falls first

Groveling, but make it psycho

Touch her/him and die

NOW A HIT NETFLIX SERIES

A NEW YORK TIMES AND USA TODAY BESTSELLER

“Hypnotic and scary.” —Stephen King

“I am riveted, aghast, aroused, you name it. The rare instance when prose and plot are equally delicious.” —Lena Dunham

From debut author Caroline Kepnes comes You, one of Suspense Magazine’s Best Books of the Year, and a brilliant and terrifying novel for the social media age.

When a beautiful, aspiring writer strides into the East Village bookstore where Joe Goldberg works, he does what anyone would do: he Googles the name on her credit card.

There is only one Guinevere Beck in New York City. She has a public Facebook account and Tweets incessantly, telling Joe everything he needs to know: she is simply Beck to her friends, she went to Brown University, she lives on Bank Street, and she’ll be at a bar in Brooklyn tonight—the perfect place for a “chance” meeting.

As Joe invisibly and obsessively takes control of Beck’s life, he orchestrates a series of events to ensure Beck finds herself in his waiting arms. Moving from stalker to boyfriend, Joe transforms himself into Beck’s perfect man, all while quietly removing the obstacles that stand in their way—even if it means murder.

A terrifying exploration of how vulnerable we all are to stalking and manipulation, debut author Caroline Kepnes delivers a razor-sharp novel for our hyper-connected digital age. You is a compulsively readable page-turner that’s being compared to Gone Girl, American Psycho, and Stephen King’s Misery.

I left Brentson in the dead of night and made a promise that I would never return. I was determined to leave my past behind, but here’s the thing about it: it always has a way of hunting you down. Now, I’m face-to-face with Nash Henson, my ex-boyfriend, heir to the Henson fortune, and crowned king of Brentson University. He’ll never forgive me for what I’ve done. And when he’s done playing his game with me, there won’t be anything left—because he’s determined to destroy me. Devious Game is the first book in a dark college romance trilogy that has enemies-to-lovers themes. This book may not be suitable for all listeners due to dubious situations that might be triggering. It ends in a cliffhanger, and the next book in the series is Devious Secret.

Patrick Bateman is twenty-six and works on Wall Street. He is handsome, sophisticated, charming and intelligent. He is also a psychopath. And he is taking us to a head-on collision with America's greatest dream - and its worst nightmare...

Drew Marshall may have let me move into his spare bedroom while my house is being renovated, but don’t think for one second his kindness comes without strings—big, ugly fake-relationship strings. That’s okay, though, Dr. Andrew. I’ll agree to your terms, move into your house, and act like your girlfriend when the big day comes, but I also plan to make your life miserable—make you pay for what you did to me. I may not be good at forgiving or forgetting, but I’m excellent at getting even. Get ready to laugh until you cry with this sizzling, hilarious, closed-door romantic comedy!

Since its publication, Quidditch Through the Ages has been one of the most popular books in the Hogwarts library. Read by Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and many more, it is the essential guide to the wizarding world's favourite game.

Charting its journey from Queerditch Marsh in the eleventh century to the sophisticated sport of today, Quidditch Through the Ages will show you the moments of exhilarating triumph and crushing despair (such as supporting the Chudley Cannons) that are part of the game of Quidditch.

Learn all about the history and rules of the game, from some of the 700 fouls (and which World Cup Final saw all of them committed) to the difference between a Transylvanian Tackle and a Woollongong Shimmy.

Narrated by People's Choice Awards Winner and BAFTA nominated Andrew Lincoln, best known for his role on The Walking Dead, the audiobook edition also includes more than an hour and a half of bonus content.

The audiobook edition includes more than an hour and a half of bonus content. This includes the history of the Quidditch World Cup Final and commentary on the 2014 World Cup Final from the perspective of Rita Skeeter (Annette Badland) and Ginny Potter (Imogen Church). This additional content was written by J.K. Rowling and is also available to read on wizarding world.com.

The shelves of the Hogwarts Library are also home to many more fascinating books. If you have enjoyed Quidditch Through the Ages you might want to check out some of its other treasures: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and The Tales of Beedle the Bard. 

Comic Relief, operating name Charity Projects, is a registered charity in the UK with charity nos. 326568 (England/Wales) and SC039730 (Scotland). Lumos Foundation is a registered charity in the UK with no. 1112575 (England/Wales). 15% of the proceeds* received by Pottermore Limited from this audiobook will be made available to the charities for their work across the UK and globally including helping children and young people have a better life. These proceeds will be shared 20% for Comic Relief and 80% for Lumos Foundation.

*Proceeds means the cash-price or cash-equivalent price less sales taxes.

Long-buried secrets. A devastating global conspiracy. And only one man who can stop it: Navy SEAL James Reece. From the “seriously good” (Lee Child) #1 New York Times bestselling author, Jack Carr.

In 1980, a freshman congressman was gunned down in Rhode Island, sending shockwaves through Washington that are still reverberating over four decades later.

Now, with the world on the brink of war and a weakened United States facing rampant inflation, political division, and shocking assassinations, a secret cabal of global elites is ready to assume control. And with the world’s most dangerous man locked in solitary confinement, the conspirators believe the final obstacle to complete domination has been eliminated. They’re wrong.

From the firms of Wall Street to the corridors of power in Washington, DC, and Moscow, secrets from the past have the uncanny ability to rise to the surface in the present.

With the odds stacked against him, James Reece is on a mission generations in the making. Unfortunately for his enemies, the former SEAL is not concerned with odds. He is on the warpath. And when James Reece picks up his tomahawk and sniper rifle, no one is out of range.

From New York Times & USA Today bestselling author Rina Kent comes a new dark mafia romance.

I’m out for revenge.

He’s out to rule the world.

Kirill and I are as different as day and night. We shouldn’t have been in the same frame or universe.

But we meet under the strangest circumstances.

He’s my superior in the military and the man who’ll introduce me to carnage.

His charm and exterior perfection shouldn’t have tempted me.

Behind the smokescreen lurks a manipulative emotionless monster.

And that monster might find out all my secrets, including the reason why I’m pretending to be a man.

He might also lure me to the point of no return.

This book is part of a trilogy and can't be listened to on its own.

©2023 Rina Kent (P)2023 Rina Kent

He’s the most powerful man in Dublin, and he’ll do anything to keep what’s his.

My name is Madelaine Moneta and I am a survivor. I fought my way up from the streets of Chicago to claim a spot at one of the top-tier criminal defense practices in the city, but when the looming shadow of the local mob threatens to engulf the firm, I make a life-altering decision.

Carrying my mother’s ashes, I escape to Ireland, intent on starting anew in my mother’s homeland.

Dublin seems the perfect place to reinvent myself until Tag Quinn—a dark and dangerous charmer at the local pub—sets his sights on me.

Tag Quinn is trouble. As leader of the Quinn family, he’s the King of the Irish Mafia.

THE NUMBER ONE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING SENSATION

WINNER OF WATERSTONES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024

SHORTLISTED FOR THE BRITISH BOOK AWARDS DEBUT NOVEL OF THE YEAR 2025

A BBC BETWEEN THE COVERS BOOK CLUB PICK

‘A full-fat, Michelin-starred treat’

THE SUNDAY TIMES

‘A cult phenomenon’

iNEWS

‘Took the literary world by storm’

BBC

‘A killer Japanese novel’

THE TIMES

'I have been glued to Butter’ NIGEL SLATER

The cult Japanese bestseller about a female gourmet cook and serial killer and the journalist intent on cracking her case, inspired by a true story, and translated by Polly Barton.

There are two things that I can simply not tolerate: feminists and margarine.

Gourmet cook Manako Kajii sits in Tokyo Detention Centre convicted of the serial murders of lonely businessmen, who she is said to have seduced with her delicious home cooking. The case has captured the nation’s imagination but Kajii refuses to speak with the press. That is, until journalist Rika Machida writes a letter asking for her recipe for beef stew and Kajii can’t resist writing back.

Rika, the only woman in her news office, works late each night, rarely cooking more than ramen. As the visits unfold between her and the steely Kajii, they are closer to a masterclass in food than journalistic research. Rika hopes this gastronomic exchange will help her soften Kajii but it seems that she might be the one changing. With each meal she eats, something is awakening in her body. Might she and Kaji have more in common than she once thought?

Inspired by the real case of the convicted con woman and serial killer, 'The Konkatsu Killer', Asako Yuzuki’s Butter is a vivid, gripping exploration of misogyny, obsession and the transgressive pleasures of food in Japan.

Longlisted for the CWA Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger Award 2025

'It isn’t entirely clear whether to read the novel or devour it’ OBSERVER

‘Readers around the world are finding themselves utterly captivated’ DAILY MAIL

‘I really enjoyed it’ MEERA SYAL, on BBC Between the Covers

'Compelling, delightfully weird' PANDORA SYKES

'Unputdownable, breathtakingly original' ERIN KELLY

'You’ll be craving rice, butter and soy sauce in no time’

STYLIST

‘Nothing short of ingenious’ iNEWS

‘Ambitious and unsettling’

GUARDIAN

'Luscious … I devoured this' IMOGEN CRIMP

'A salty morsel with one hell of a bite’ ALICE SLATER

Savage Hearts is the third book in the scorchingly hot mafia romance Queens and Monsters series by USA Today bestselling author J.T. Geissinger.

Savage (adjective):

1) Not domesticated; wild and untamed

2) A brutal or vicious person

3) Malek Antonov

He’s a myth. A ghost. A legend. A Bratva assassin so feared, some won’t even dare to speak his name. He comes in search of vengeance for the death of his brother, but what he finds instead is me.

A girl he thinks is someone else. Someone unrelated to the man who killed his brother.

Except I am.

And when he finds out my true identity, he decides to take me as repayment for what he lost.

Now, I’m a little bird trapped in a cage, and the only way to survive is to make friends with the monster who captured me. But friendship isn’t what the monster has in mind.

Discover Brutal Vows, the next book in the addictive Queens and Monsters series.

For fans of The Silent Patient and Gone Girl, a razor-sharp and Hitchcock-inspired psychological thriller about two ordinary women who make a dangerous pact to take revenge for each other after being pushed to the brink.

One dark evening on New York City’s Upper West Side, two strangers meet by chance. Over drinks, Amanda and Wendy realize they have much in common, especially loneliness and an intense desire for revenge against the men who destroyed their families. As they talk into the night, they come up with the perfect plan: if you kill for me, I’ll kill for you.

In another part of the city, Ruth is home alone when the beautiful brownstone she shares with her husband, Scott, is invaded. She’s attacked by a man with piercing blue eyes, who disappears into the night. Will she ever be able to feel safe again while the blue-eyed stranger is out there?

Intricate, heart-racing, and from an author who “is the real deal” (Lee Child, #1 New York Times bestselling author), Kill for Me, Kill for You will keep you breathless until the final page.

*** THE NEW YORK TIMES NUMBER ONE BESTSELLING AUTHOR ***

AMERICAN ASSASSIN is now a MAJOR MOTION PICTURE starring Dylan O'Brien (Maze Runner), Taylor Kitsch (True Detective) and Michael Keaton.

When Russian president Maxim Krupin discovers that he has inoperable brain cancer, he’s determined to cling to power. His first task is to kill or imprison any of his countrymen who can threaten him. Soon, though, his illness becomes serious enough to require a more dramatic diversion - war with the West.

Upon learning of Krupin’s condition, CIA director Irene Kennedy understands that the US is facing an opponent who has nothing to lose. The only way to avoid a confrontation that could leave millions dead is to send Mitch Rapp to Russia under impossibly dangerous orders. With the Kremlin’s entire security apparatus hunting him, he must find and kill a man many have deemed the most powerful in the world.

Success means averting a war that could consume all of Europe. But if his mission is discovered, Rapp will plunge Russia and America into a conflict that neither will survive.

Praise for the Mitch Rapp series

'Sizzles with inside information and CIA secrets' Dan Brown

'A cracking, uncompromising yarn that literally takes no prisoners' The Times

'Vince Flynn clearly has one eye on Lee Child's action thriller throne with this twist-laden story. . . instantly gripping' Shortlist

'Action-packed, in-your-face, adrenalin-pumped super-hero macho escapist fiction that does exactly what it says on the label' Irish Independent

'Mitch Rapp is a great character who always leaves the bad guys either very sorry for themselves or very dead' Guardian

'In the world of black-ops thrillers, Mitch Rapp continues to be among the best of the best' Booklist, starred review

A killer haunts Prophet, and this time it's personal

The discovery of a body at the Thompson Cabins sets off a chain of events that hits too close to home for Sheriff Gabriel Thompson. When his brother Sam becomes a prime suspect in the murder investigation, Gabriel is forced to keep secrets from Tiber and call in outside help as he fights to prove Sam's innocence. It's a nightmare that becomes all consuming.

Tiber Russo, animal whisperer, is dealing with problems of his own. A stalker threatens him and his entire menagerie of pets. With Gabriel wrapped up in the new case, Tiber tries to solve the mystery on his own. Who in the sleepy town of Prophet wants to do him harm? But when the threats turn lethal, Tiber finds himself in over his head.

Tiber and Gabriel have solved two murders together and started a deep relationship. But this time the forces ranged against them are personal and the target is on them and on the backs of everyone they love. With each of them isolated trying to protect the other, their strength is diminished. Even with the love they share, can they make it out of this alive?

From the #1 New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of the genre-breaking international TikTok sensation Butcher & Blackbird and Leather & Lark comes the final book in the Ruinous Love Trilogy—a friends-with-benefits dark romantic comedy packed with murder, mayhem, and spice.

Doctor Fionn Kane is running from a broken heart, one he hopes to mend in small-town Nebraska, far away from his almost-fiancé and his derailed surgical career. It’s a simpler life: head down, hard work, and absolutely no romantic relationships. He wants none of the circus he left behind in Boston.

But then the real circus finds him.

Motorcycle performer Rose Evans has spent a decade on the road with the Silveria Circus, and it suits her just fine, especially when she has the urge to indulge in a little murder when she’s not in the spotlight. But when a kill goes awry and she ends up with an injured leg, Rose finds herself stuck in Nebraska, at the home of the adorably nerdy town doctor.

The problem is, not every broken heart can be sewn back together.

. . . And the longer you stay in one place, the more likely your ghosts are to catch up.

Newly divorced with a young son to raise, Tucker Beckett is the last man Miranda Owens should be itching to figure out, make smile, and hear laugh. Still there is something about the detective with haunted blue eyes and a dirty mouth that draws her in from the moment they meet. If only life were so simple. As Tucker and Miranda begin to navigate their new relationship, Tucker is tasked with solving the murder of a young woman while their exes begin to play games in an attempt to split the two of them up. Before they fall, these two will need to figure out if the only thing tying them together is the circumstances that brought them together in the first place or if it’s something more.

On any day our paths would never cross. Then I was forced to go to the Ruthless Disciples. Every month they do something called the hunt. I didn't plan to ever attend an event, but I needed the money. I thought it was nothing more than an adult version of hide-and-seek. I had no idea how wrong I was. Nor did I know I’d meet my worst nightmare that night: Andrew “Drew” Marshall, popular-as-hell football star and a Greek god among mere mortals. To anyone else, he would appear to be normal, a good guy. But that night I saw the cruel, dark monster hidden underneath. He was the epitome of evil, the leader of the Disciples, and I was his newest obsession. This is a dark enemies-to-lovers romance with many triggers. It is a complete standalone that contains a happily ever after.