Top Adult Fiction Titles of 2021: Part One
How many of these popular titles have you checked off your to-read list? You can check availability or place a hold by clicking on any title below. Don't forget to check out part two of this list!
Top titles
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The Sentinelby Lee Child Jack Reacher gets off the bus in a sleepy no-name town outside Nashville, Tennessee. He plans to grab a cup of coffee and move right along. Not going to happen. The town has been shut down by a cyber-attack. At the centre of it all, whether he likes it or not, is Rusty Rutherford. He's an average IT guy, but he knows more than he thinks. As the bad guys move in on Rusty, Reacher moves in on them ... And now Rusty knows he's protected, he's never going to leave the big man's side. Reacher might just have to stick around and find out what the hell's gone wrong ... and then put it right, like only he can. |
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The Missing Sisterby Lucinda Riley The six D’Aplièse sisters have each been on their own incredible journey to discover their heritage, but they still have one question left unanswered: who and where is the seventh sister? They only have one clue – an image of a star-shaped emerald ring. The search to find the missing sister will take them across the globe – from New Zealand to Canada, England, France and Ireland – uniting them all in their mission to complete their family at last. In doing so, they will slowly unearth a story of love, strength and sacrifice that began almost one hundred years ago, as other brave young women risk everything to change the world around them. |
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Suspectsby Lesley Pearse Welcome to Willow Close, where everyone is a suspect ... On the day Nina and Conrad Best move into their new home in picture-perfect Willow Close, a body is discovered. Hurrying inside with their belongings, they see horrified neighbours gather around the police cordon - one of the residents has been attacked and brutally killed in the woods. When police start to interview the residents of the Close, they soon discover each neighbour harbours their own secrets. Because everyone on the Close is far from what they seem. Nina and Conrad thought they'd found their dream home. But have they moved into a nightmare ... ? |
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The Seven Sisters: Maia's Storyby Lucinda Riley Maia D'Apliése and her five sisters gather together at their childhood home, 'Atlantis' - a fabulous, secluded castle situated on the shores of Lake Geneva - having been told that their beloved father, the elusive billionaire they call Pa Salt, has died. Maia and her sisters were all adopted by him as babies and, discovering he has already been buried at sea, each of them is handed a tantalising clue to their true heritage - a clue which takes Maia across the world to a crumbling mansion in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. Once there, she begins to put together the pieces of where her story began... |
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The Storm Sisterby Lucinda Riley Ally D'Aplièse is about to compete in one of the world's most perilous yacht races, when she hears the news of her father's mysterious death. Rushing back to meet her five sisters at their family home, she discovers that her father – an elusive billionaire – has left each of them a clue to their true heritage. With her life now turned upside down, Ally decides to follow the trail that her father left her, leading her to the icy beauty of Norway. There, Ally begins to discover her roots – and how her story is inextricably bound to that of a young unknown singer, Anna Landvik, who lived there over a hundred years before. As Ally learns more about Anna, she also begins to question who her father really was. |
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The Fixby David Baldacci Amos Decker witnesses a murder just outside FBI headquarters. A man shoots a woman execution-style on a crowded sidewalk, then turns the gun on himself. Even with Decker's extraordinary powers of observation and deduction, the killing is baffling. Decker and his team can find absolutely no connection between the shooter -- a family man with a successful consulting business -- and his victim, a schoolteacher. Nor is there a hint of any possible motive for the attack. Enter Harper Brown. An agent of the Defense Intelligence Agency, she orders Decker to back off the case. Decker's never been one to follow the rules, especially with the stakes so high. Forced into an uneasy alliance with Agent Brown, Decker remains laser focused on only one goal: solving the case before it's too late. |
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Where the crawdads singby Delia Owens For years, rumours of the 'Marsh Girl' have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. But Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand. Then the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. When two young men from town become intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new life - until the unthinkable happens. |
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The Midnight Lineby Lee Child Reacher rides the bus north from Milwaukee. At a comfort stop in Wisconsin dairy country he takes a stroll. Among the cheap junk in a pawn shop window he notices a West Point class ring for sale. It's tiny. A woman cadet's ring. Why would she pawn it? Reacher knows what Serena Sanderson must have gone through to get it. He fights through a biker gang and a South Dakota gangster, following the trail of the ring to the emptiness of Wyoming, in search of Major Sanderson. Is she OK? |
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To Italy, with loveby Nicky Pellegrino Love happens when you least expect it... Assunta has given up on love. She might run her little trattoria in the most romantic mountain town in Italy, but love just seems to have passed her by. Sarah-Jane is finished with love. She's buying an old convertible and driving around Italy this summer - it's the perfect way to forget all about her hot celebrity ex-boyfriend! But when Sarah-Jane's van breaks down outside Assunta's restaurant in Montenello, she has to stay longer than she intended! And the trouble is, love is everywhere. |
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Legacyby Nora Roberts A novel of a mother and daughter, of romance and ambition, and a traumatic past reawakened. Adrian Rizzo is a beautiful young woman with a successful business and a wonderful family and friends. She's worked hard to build a happy life for herself. When she receives a death threat in the post, she puts it down to jealousy and tries to forget about it. But Adrian doesn't realise that it's more than just spite. Someone is very unhappy about her happy life and will stop at nothing to bring it all crashing down. |
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You'll Never See Me Againby Nora Roberts Is it wicked to fake your death to escape a loveless and brutal marriage? Betty married a fisherman, knowing theirs would be a hard life together. But when he returns from the Great War shell-shocked and broken she discovers how hard and bitter life can truly be. Beaten down by her husband's anger as well as terrorised by his cruel mother, she longs to be free. So when a great storm sweeps through their village, demolishing houses and taking lives, she sees her chance to escape. Out in the world alone, surviving only by her wits and resourcefulness, Betty must become someone else. But soon she discovers that once you've done one wicked thing, it is easy to do another. And she begins to wonder whether she will ever do good again... |
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Camino Windsby John Grisham The hurricane is devastating: homes and condos are levelled, hotels and storefronts ruined, streets flooded, and a dozen people are killed. One of the victims is Nelson Kerr, a friend of Bruce Cable's who wrote timely political thrillers. But evidence suggests that the storm wasn't the cause of Nelson's death - he had received several mysterious blows to the head. Who would want Nelson dead? The local police are overwhelmed with the aftermath of the storm and in no condition to handle the case. Bruce begins to wonder if the shady characters in Nelson's novels were more fact than fiction. And somewhere on Nelson's computer is the manuscript of his new novel - could the key to the case be right there, in black and white? |
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Better off deadby Lee Child Reacher never backs down from a problem. And he's about to find a big one, on a deserted Arizona road, where a Jeep has crashed into the only tree for miles around. Under the merciless desert sun, nothing is as it seems. Minutes later Reacher is heading into the nearby border town, a backwater that has seen better days. Next to him is Michaela Fenton, an army veteran turned FBI agent, who is trying to find her twin brother. He might have got mixed up with some dangerous people. And Reacher might just need to pay them a visit... |
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The Four Windsby Kristin Hannah Texas, 1934. Elsa Martinelli had finally found the life she'd yearned for. A family, a home and a livelihood on a farm on the Great Plains. But when drought threatens all she and her community hold dear, Elsa's world is shattered to the winds. Fearful of the future, when Elsa wakes to find her husband has fled, she is forced to make the most agonizing decision of her life. Fight for the land she loves or take her beloved children, Loreda and Ant, west to California in search of a better life. Will it be the land of milk and honey? Or will their experience challenge every ounce of strength they possess? |
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A Time for Mercyby John Grisham Deputy Stuart Kofer is a protected man. Though he's turned his drunken rages on his girlfriend, Josie, and her children many times before, the police code of silence has always shielded him. Buto one night he goes too far, leaving Josie for dead on the floor before he passes out. Her son, sixteen-year-old Drew, knows he has only this one chance to save them. He picks up the gun and takes the law into his own hands. In Clanton, Mississippi there is no one more hated than a copy killer - but a cop killer's defence lawyer comes close. Jake Brigance doesn't want this impossible case but he's the only one with enough experience to defend the bot. As the trial begins, it seems the gas chamber is inevitable for Drew. But, as the town of Clanton discovers once again, when Jake Brigance takes on an impossible case, anything is possible. |
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One Good Deedby David Baldacci In 1949, Aloysius Archer arrives in the dusty Southern town of Poca City. He has nothing but a handful of dollars, the clothes he's wearing and an appointment with his new parole officer. After his wartime experiences in Italy and a prison sentence for a crime he didn't commit, Archer is looking for a fresh start and a peaceful life. On his first night of freedom, Archer meets local business tycoon Hank Pittleman, who promises Archer handsome compensation to work as his debt collector. Yet Archer takes on more than he bargains for, as he becomes embroiled in a long-running feud between the drought-struck town's most dangerous residents. When one of them dies, the authorities label Archer as their number one suspect. A bloody game is being played above and below the law. Everybody playing has a deeply buried secret, and Archer must uncover them all - if he's to avoid going back behind bars. |
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Say Goodbyeby Karen Rose Eden faces a final reckoning when the cult's past victims hunt them down. When two of Eden's newest members send out a cry for help, it reaches FBI special agent Tom Hunter, whose friend and fellow FBI special agent Gideon Reynolds and his sister, Mercy, are themselves escapees of the Eden cult, their lives in danger from the Founding Elders who want them silenced forever. The three have vowed to find the cult and bring it down, and now, they finally have a solid lead. Neutralizing Eden's threat will ensure Tom's new friends can live without fear and will save those who are being held there against their will. But his own fear spikes when his best friend, ex-Army combat medic Liza Barkley, joins the case, putting her life--and their blossoming love--in danger. With everything they hold dear in the balance, Tom and Liza, together with Gideon and Mercy, must end Eden once and for all. |
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Sooleyby John Grisham After seventeen-year-old Samuel "Sooley" Sooleymon receives a college scholarship to play basketball for North Carolina Central, he moves to Durham from his native, war-torn South Sudan, enrolls in classes, joins the team, and prepares to sit out his freshman season, but Sooley has a fierce determination to succeed so he can bring his family to America, working tirelessly on his game until he dominates everyone in practice, and when Sooley is called off the bench, the legend begins. |
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Blue Moonby Lee Child In a nameless city, two ruthless rival criminal gangs, one Albanian, the other Ukrainian, are competing for control. But they hadn’t counted on Jack Reacher arriving on their patch. Reacher is trained to notice things. He’s on a Greyhound bus, watching an elderly man sleeping in his seat, with a fat envelope of cash hanging out of his pocket. Another passenger is watching too ... obviously hoping to get rich quick. As the mugger makes his move, Reacher steps in. The old man is grateful, yet he turns down Reacher’s offer to help him home. He’s vulnerable, scared, and clearly in big, big trouble. What hold could the gangs possibly have on the old guy? |
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A Minute to Midnightby David Baldacci Atlee Pine has spent most of her life trying to find out what happened that fateful night in Andersonville, Georgia. Her six-year-old twin sister, Mercy, was taken and Atlee was left for dead while their parents were apparently partying downstairs. One person who continues to haunt her is notorious serial killer, Daniel James Tor, confined to a Colorado maximum security prison. Does he really know what happened to Mercy? The family moved away. The parents divorced. And Atlee chose a career with the FBI dedicating her life to catching those who hurt others. When she oversteps the mark on the arrest of a dangerous criminal, she's given a leave of absence offering the perfect opportunity to return to where it all began, and find some answers. |
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Before you knew my nameby Jacqueline Bublitz This is not just another novel about a dead girl. When she arrived in New York on her 18th birthday carrying nothing but $600 cash and a stolen camera, Alice Lee was looking for a fresh start. Now, just one month later, she is the city's latest Jane Doe, an unidentified murder victim. Ruby Jones is also trying to start over; she travelled halfway around the world only to find herself lonelier than ever. Until she finds Alice's body by the Hudson River. From this first, devastating encounter, the two women form an unbreakable bond. Alice is sure that Ruby is the key to solving the mystery of her life - and death. And Ruby - struggling to forget what she saw that morning - finds herself unable to let Alice go. Not until she is given the ending she deserves. |
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False Witnessby Karin Slaughter Leigh and her sister Callie are not bad people - but one night, more than two decades ago, they did something terrible. And the result was a childhood tarnished by secrets, broken by betrayal, devastated by violence. Years later, Leigh has pushed that night from her mind and become a successful lawyer - but when she is forced to take on a new client against her will, her world begins to spiral out of control. Because the client knows the truth about what happened twenty-three years ago. He knows what Leigh and Callie did. And unless they stop him, he's going to tear their lives apart ... |
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Behind Closed Doorsby Catherine Alliott From the outside, anyone would think that Lucy Palmer has it all: loving children, a dashing husband and a gorgeous home. But when her marriage to Michael comes to an abrupt and unexpected end, her life is turned upside down in a flash. As the truth of her marriage threatens to surface, Lucy seizes the opportunity to swap her house in London - and the stories it hides - for a rural escape to her parents' farmhouse in the Chilterns. But Lucy gets more than she bargained for when she moves back to her childhood home, especially when it throws her into the path of an old flame. Coming face-to-face with her mistakes, Lucy is forced to confront the secrets she's been keeping from herself and those she loves. Is she ready to let someone in? Or will she leave the door to her past firmly closed? |
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The Cellistby Daniel Silva The fatal poisoning of a Russian billionaire sends Gabriel Allon on a dangerous journey across Europe and into the orbit of a musical virtuoso who may hold the key to the truth about his friend's death. The plot Allon uncovers leads to secret channels of money and influence that go to the very heart of Western democracy and threaten the stability of the global order. |
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Walk the Wireby David Baldacci When Amos Decker and his FBI colleague Alex Jamison are called to London, North Dakota, they instantly sense that the thriving fracking town is ripe for trouble. The promise of a second gold rush has attracted an onslaught of newcomers all hoping for a windfall, and the community is growing faster than houses can be built. The sudden boom has also brought a slew of problems with it, including drugs, property crimes, prostitution—and now murder. London is a town replete with ruthless business owners, shady government officials, and religious outsiders, all determined to keep their secrets from coming out. When other murders occur, Decker will need all of his extraordinary memory and detective skills, and the assistance of a surprising ally, to root out a killer and the forces behind Irene Cramer's death . . . before the boom town explodes. |