Kevin O’Brien books in order

Every parent’s worst fear has become her reality…

SOME LIES

It only takes a minute for Amy McMurray to run from her car to the cash machine. That brief, unforgivable minute is enough time for her infant son to be snatched from the back seat and for Amy’s family, her marriage, and her peace of mind to be shattered beyond repair.

ARE TOO CLOSE

To everyone who meets him, Carl Jorgenson seems an exemplary single father. His son, Sam, is bright, considerate, and devoted to his dad. Only Carl knows about Sam’s real identity and about his own unthinkable crime.

TO BE SEEN

One careless slip, one chance meeting is all it will take for the devastating truth to be revealed. Sam is growing up, asking questions, increasingly suspicious that the life he believes in is a lie. But with that knowledge comes dread. Because when someone has risked everything to create a family, how far will they go to protect it?

Everyone Has Something To Hide. . .

The virile, all-American husband. The brainy golden girl. The happily-wed bi-coastal couple.

Someone Is Watching. . .

Someone who has uncovered their darkest secrets. Someone who is hell-bent on making them pay for their sins. . .

No One Suspects The Truth. . .

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. .

Everyone Has Secrets. . .

The beautiful young judge. The hardworking waitress. The handsome college student.

Some Are Meant To Be Kept. . .

The victims are all different. . .but they will all have one gruesome detail in common. . .

But Others Can Kill. . .

A clever serial killer is stalking the streets of Seattle. Searching for this next victim. Creating a monument of madness that will be built victim by victim. . .piece by piece. . .bone by bone. . .

Different Victims

The blonde film student. The brunette paralegal. The red-headed artist. 

Different Methods

The first victim is strangled. The second is stabbed repeatedly. And the third is pushed out of an open window.

Same Madman

In the city of Seattle, no single woman is safe. From afar he watches the ones he so desperately wants. Willing to do whatever it takes to prove his love. 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 . . .

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 vicious serial killer.

Someone Who Won’t Forget

She was a mistake—not like the others. She didn’t understand. That was obvious now. But she would come to understand. Next time, there would be no escape—and her eyes would fill with that perfect, beautiful terror . . .

Some Things You Can’t Imagine

On an island isolated from the mainland, 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 . . .

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 been keeping 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, but he loves every moment of it. Following them, photographing them, and immortalizing 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 really 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 . . .

When a Serial Killer Gets a Taste for Blood . . .

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 . . . 

He Only Wants to Do One Thing . . .

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 . . . 

Kill and Kill Again . . .

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 past and present—and to a twisted serial killer who shows no signs of stopping . . .

When You're Caught In A Killer's Web. . .

Twelve women have vanished, leaving behind no trace or clue--their whereabouts still a mystery after eleven years. . .

The Only Thing That Can Save You Is. . .

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.

One Last Scream. . .

Now as a new series of murders begins, and she continues to suffer from blackouts, Amelia is left wondering if she is a cold-blooded killer--or a pawn in a deadly game that's only just beginning. . .

A Seattle reporter is stalked by a serial killer.

A young Portland couple is brutally murdered in a game gone awry. A Chicago woman plummets to her death from an office building. An aspiring screenwriter is asphyxiated in his New York apartment. At first, the deaths seem random. But then television reporter Sydney Jordan starts receiving macabre souvenirs that hint at a connection—one that is both personal and terrifying.

When her life fell apart in Chicago, Sydney fled to Seattle with her teenage son. But instead of getting a fresh start, Sydney is plagued by strange occurrences. Someone is watching her closely—someone who knows her intimately. She is his chosen one. Every murder is a piece of a twisted puzzle designed for her. Soon, Sydney will understand why each victim had to suffer—and why she's next in line.

A family vacation weekend becomes a race for survival against a vicious serial killer.

For more than two years, a serial killer held Seattle in a terror grip. After abducting young mothers right in front of their sons, he 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. Someone who can't resist the urge to kill, who derives pleasure from others' pain, and who is drawing nearer to Susan as each minute ticks by. But she's just one pawn in a killer's master plan. And once the plan Is set in motion, it cannot be stopped . . .

Deceptive

The houses in 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.

Depraved

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 known as the Cul-de-Sac Killer is murdering families in Seattle homes. Homes just like Molly's.

Disturbed

With each passing day, Molly grows 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. . .

The more you know, the more you fear...

TRUTH

Megan Keeslar died years ago--or so everyone believes. In fact, she disappeared to escape from 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...

IS MORE TERRIFYING

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 that Glenn has been released from prison. Then the unthinkable happens: a masked man breaks into their home and abducts Josh...

THAN FICTION

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...

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

Olivia Barker is a therapist with no connection to the murders. But she 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

Olivia has no proof for her suspicions. But as the body count rises, so do her 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. . .

Suicides and suspicious deaths leads a desperate woman onto a killer’s twisted path.

A family is wiped out after a burglary gone wrong. A disgraced executive kills himself and his loved ones. A house fire claims the lives of all its inhabitants. These seemingly separate incidents have 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 before her brother-in-law and his new wife are murdered. Stephanie never met the bride, but she knew her sister well enough to know that something is very wrong . . .

The police won't listen. Her only ally is another victim's son. Step by step, they're uncovering the trail of a brutal killer obsessed with vengeance—and whose forgiveness can only be earned in death . . .

A mysterious mass suicide sets the stage for a devious killer.

In July 1970, actress Elaina Styles was slain in her rented Seattle mansion along with her husband and their son's nanny. When the baby's remains were found buried in a shallow grave close to a hippie commune, 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 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 rumor, and a legacy of brutal vengeance reaches its terrifying climax . . .

No Forgiveness

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…

No Remorse

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.

No Second Chance

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 next to pay the ultimate price…

A new family moves into an old house, and a new chapter of its deadly history begins...

Divorcée Caitlin Stoller and her children recently moved into a charming old house in the coastal town of Echo, Washington. The place was a bargain, but as weeks pass, Caitlin starts receiving messages—first friendly, then unsettling—hinting at the property’s dark past . . .

Caitlin’s daughter, Lindsay, isn’t fitting in at the local high school. To make matters worse, there are stories of students disappearing without a trace. Caitlin doesn’t want to believe the whispers—about her home or Lindsay’s school. But as personal items go missing, and dangerous accidents become frequent, it seems clear that something strange is going on.

The Watcher knows how to get inside the Stollers’ home—and inside their heads. The rumors are true. But the full horror is even worse. 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 . . .

ONCE YOU LET THEM IN

The lights are on at 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 four of their five children are found on the second floor, bound, gagged, and stabbed repeatedly. The oldest daughter was shot downstairs. And the police’s main suspect—the property caretaker—has disappeared. 

THEY WILL NEVER

In her secluded 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. 

LET YOU GO

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 . . .

SOME NIGHTMARES YOU CAN'T FORGET

From the depths of 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 recall any of it?

BUT EVEN WORSE

What Anna does remember: an awkward restaurant meal with her married lover, Russ Knoll, and his unsuspecting wife, Courtney. Russ's phone call reveals that Courtney is missing, and as days go by with no trace, he comes under police scrutiny. Anna's in the spotlight too, thanks to a TV rival with a grudge. Anna's not proud of her affair, but she and Russ aren't bad people. They're certainly not the killing kind.

IS THE ONE YOU CAN'T REMEMBER...

Anna already suspected that Courtney--a successful, charming author--might have a darker side. Is she truly missing? Perhaps the sudden disturbances in Anna's life aren't accidental after all. But no scenario that Anna imagines can compare to the twisted game unfolding around her, one chilling piece at a time...

A serial killer preys on women in WWII-era Seattle.

1943, Seattle. While raging war reshapes the landscape of Europe, its impact is felt thousands of miles away too. Before the war, Nora Kinney was one of countless housewives and mothers in her comfortable Capitol Hill neighborhood. Now, with her doctor husband stationed in North Africa, Nora feels compelled to do more than tend her victory garden or help with scrap metal drives . . .

At the Boeing 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 desperately needs their help, not everyone is happy about “all these women” taking over men’s jobs. Nora worries that she is neglecting her children, especially her withdrawn teenage son. But amid this turmoil, a sinister tragedy occurs: One of Nora’s coworkers is found strangled in her apartment, dressed in an apron, with a lipstick smile smeared on her face.

It’s the beginning of a terrifying pattern, as women war-plant workers like Nora are targeted throughout Seattle and murdered in the same ritualistic manner. And eclipsing Nora’s fear for her safety is her secret, growing conviction that she and the killer are connected—and that the haven that was her home has become her own personal battlefield . . .

Thirty-six 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.

Something is amiss at the Hotel Angeline, a rickety former mortuary perched atop Capitol Hill in rain-soaked Seattle. Fourteen-year-old Alexis Austin is fixing the plumbing, the tea, and all the problems of the world, it seems, in her landlady mother’s absence. The quirky tenants—a hilarious mix of misfits and rabble-rousers from days gone by—rely on Alexis all the more when they discover a plot to sell the Hotel.

Can Alexis save their home? Find her real father? Deal with her surrogate dad’s dicey past? Find true love? Perhaps only their feisty pet crow, Habib, truly knows. Provoking interesting questions about the creative process, this novel is by turns funny, scary, witty, suspenseful, beautiful, thrilling, and unexpected.

The sun sets. The moon takes its place, illuminating the most evil corners of the planet. What twisted fear dwells in that blackness? What legends attach to those of sound mind and make them go crazy in the bright light of day? Only Suspense Magazine knows…

Teaming up with New York Times bestselling author Jeffery Deaver, Suspense Magazine offers up a nail-biting anthology titled: “Nothing Good Happens After Midnight.” This thrilling collection consists of thirteen original short stories representing the genres of suspense/thriller, mystery, sci-fi/fantasy, and more.

Readers’ favorites come together to explore the mystery of midnight. The ‘best of the best’ presenting these memorable tales, include: Joseph Badal, Linwood Barclay, Rhys Bowen, Jeffery Deaver, Heather Graham, Alan Jacobson, Paul Kemprecos, Shannon Kirk, Jon Land, John Lescroart, D. P. Lyle, Kevin O’Brien, and Hank Phillippi Ryan.

Take their hands…walk into their worlds…but be prepared to leave the light on when you’re through. After all, this incredible gathering of authors, who will delight fans of all genres, not only utilized their award-winning imaginations to answer that age-old question of why “Nothing Good Happens After Midnight”—they also made sure to pen stories that will leave you…speechless.

THE PERFECT FAMILY

Sheila O’Rourke has always known her husband isn’t perfect. Who is? But things have been better since they moved to Seattle to make a fresh start. So much so that when sixteen-year-old Eden turns up, claiming to be Dylan’s child by another woman, Sheila tries to be welcoming. 

CAN BECOME

At first, Sheila feels sympathy for the girl. Eden’s mother recently fell to her death in an incident with unsettling parallels to Sheila’s past. Still, Eden is a difficult house guest, sowing discord among the family. Sheila has already been on edge for weeks, receiving anonymous texts, noticing odd noises coming from the house next door. And that’s just the start. 

A PERFECT NIGHTMARE

Sheila wants to trust Dylan. She wants to feel safe in her own home. But no one can hurt you more easily than the ones closest to you...the ones you keep believing until it’s too late . . .

TOO CLOSE

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. . . . 

TO SEE

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. . . . 

THE DANGER

When Hannah and Eden’s arrival coincides with a spate of mysterious deaths, Ellie knows it’s more than 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 to be believed. . . .

Three books in one:

Disturbed

The houses in 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 known as the Cul-de-Sac Killer is murdering families in Seattle homes. Homes just like Molly's.

With each passing day, Molly grows 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...

The Last Victim

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 been keeping 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...

Watch Them Die

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 of an open window.

In the city of Seattle, no single woman is safe. From afar he watches the ones he so desperately wants. Willing to do whatever it takes to prove his love. 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 . . .