BookBites: Gripping Suspense and Confronting Personal Demons

"Her Eyes Underwater"
by Romona Simon

She's an unsuspecting university student. He's a stranger with a dark secret. Will she see past her infatuation before she becomes his next victim? During a chance encounter, Julia Strauss meets a captivating man. She is instantly attracted and pursues him obsessively. What she doesn't know is that behind all the charm, he has a secret agenda. 

Can Julia see beyond the haze of her infatuation before it's too late?

If you enjoy impassioned dark romance-thrillers full of suspense, then Her Eyes Underwater is for you. Set in the vast and pristine wilderness of 1970s Montana, this true-crime-inspired novel is a unique mix that will grab you from the first page. Purchase at https://amzn.to/31cyXbM. 

"Emergency Powers"
by James McCrone 

A ripped-from-the-headlines urgency: a fractious FBI, an undermined Attorney General, corruption, murder, and powerful people using all manner of treachery to maintain their hold on power.

The accidental president is no accident. When the president dies in office, FBI Agent Imogen Trager knows that the conspiracy she chased down a blind alley still has life- and she needs to get back in the hunt. The old case may be the key to stopping a brutal, false- flag terrorist attack meant to finalize the new puppet president's grip on power. Imogen doesn't know it yet, but she's running out of time. Purchase at https://amzn.to/2FtVvft. 

"Boop and Eve's Road Trip"
by Mary Helen Sheriff 

Eve is done - with college, with her mom, with guys, and with her dream of fashion design. But when her best friend goes MIA, Eve must gather the broken threads of her life and search for her.

When Eve's grandmother, Boop, a retiree with Southern charm, finds out about the trip, she hijacks her granddaughter's road trip. Boop knows healing Eve will require a lot. Nevertheless, Boop is frustrated when her efforts yield the same failure that her sulfur-laced sip from the Fountain of Youth wrought on her age. She knows sharing her 60-year secret might lessen Eve's depression - but at what cost? Purchase at https://amzn.to/2JMbncn. 

"Purple Lotus "
by Veena Rao 

Three years after her arranged marriage to tech executive Sanjay, Tara moves to the American South from Mangalore, India. Tara's memories of childhood abandonment and isolation mirror her present life of loneliness and escalating abuse at the hands of her husband.

Constantly pressured by her patriarchal family to make peace with her circumstances, Tara learns to confront the victim-shaming society she was raised within, finding strength, self-worth and support in kind-hearted strangers, new friends and her first love. Purchase at https://amzn.to/3flAv7i. 

NOTE: BookBites is a continuing series bringing readers information and ideas for their next read. For more reading ideas, visit BookTrib.com and subscribe to our weekly newsletter.