Standalone Suspense/Thrillers

Excerpts, book club questions and more:

The Son’s Secret

Now available

What if you’re the only one who believes your son is missing? A chilling, twisty psychological suspense novel, perfect for fans of Laura Dave and Gillian Flynn.

Maggie Lawson is the smart, capable dean of a boutique college, but even the most confident mother has a weakness—her child. When Maggie can’t reach her college senior son, Aiden, to tell him that his father has been shot, she starts to panic. She texts. She calls.

Is Aiden ghosting her, or have the dangerous stories Aiden’s father, her investigative journalist ex-husband, pursues finally brought trouble to her door? Maggie is sure that something is very wrong, but no one believes her. As dark events unfold, she must rely on her own investigative instincts to find Aiden. But when Maggie uncovers a devastating secret, she faces a race against time to save him.

New Orleans is a perfect setting for the mixed bag of motives in this page-turner.
Kirkus Reviews
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Girl on the Run

When a fairytale fantasy night becomes a nightmare, Chessa Paxton must run for her life…but will the truth set her free?

Chessa Paxton, an event planner in Lake Tahoe, celebrates a successful night at the Happily Ever After Ball, but her dream quickly becomes a nightmare when she wakes up beside the body of her dead husband. Nauseous and confused, feeling as if she’s been drugged, she can’t explain to the sheriff why her princess costume is bloodied. With her father already a convicted murderer, she feels invisible shackles ratcheting onto her wrists and ankles. She runs! But she can’t escape vivid flashes of memory: a massacre in a meadow; men and women in fairytale costumes; Snow White’s dead body shielding her from bullets.

Though Chessa is a former costumer and adept at disguise, she quickly learns that hiding while trying to prove herself innocent is the most difficult task imaginable. Especially when the sheriff wants to throw her in jail and the real killer wants to silence her forever.

The frantic plot will keep readers on edge.
Kirkus Reviews
Daryl Wood Gerber has proven again to be a gifted storyteller and one to watch in this genre. An absolute must-read!
—Escape with Dollycas
…a roller coaster of a ride that had my heart palpitating.
—Dru’s Book Musings
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Day of Secrets

A mother he thought he’d lost. A father he never knew. An enemy that wants them dead. Can Chase Day discover why his family is a target before an unknown enemy destroys him?

At the age of five, Chase Day became an orphan. For thirty-one years, after a rebellious youth, he did his best to build a normal life—first as a Naval Officer and then as a history professor at a boutique Bay Area college. But now all that changes when he finds his mother, whom he thought had died in a fire, dying from a gunshot wound. In her last breath, she urges him to locate and protect the father he never knew. Where has his father been? Why has he never made contact? And, most critically, why does he need protection? In his search for the truth, Chase will learn the meaning of friendship and family and suffer the heart-wrenching pain of betrayal.

Spellbound from start to finish. This author grabbed my attention and wouldn’t let go. A fantastic debut into the suspense genre.
—Escape with Dollycas
The many unusual characters, the beautiful Lake Tahoe setting, and a spunky and resourceful heroine, make this a must-read mystery.
Kings River Life Magazine
A twisting tale of family secrets with a shocking murder at its core and a wicked ending that will keep you turning the pages until the end.
—Bestselling Author Jamie Freveletti