To track down a missing girl, former Chicago PD detective Ashe Cayne will have to seek answers in dark places. Hired by her wealthy family when a young woman goes missing, Cayne quickly uncovers secrets she’s been hiding from those who thought they knew her best. He also fears he’ll never find her alive. Then, when her boyfriend is found murdered, Cayne will have to navigate his complicated relationships within the Chicago PD to find the missing woman, see justice done, and earn his redemption. Read the pulse-pounding new thriller from New York Times bestselling author Ian K. Smith. This feeling is something that occasionally overlaps with mysteries. Personally, I almost never try to solve these anymore because I’m never all the way right. Either I have the motive right or suspect wrong, or vice versa. Not sure how that works out, but it happens. Most times I’m off the mark completely. There goes my dream of being a detective. Oh well. Thrillers and mysteries aren’t one and the same, although they can sometimes overlap. And by that I mean most thrillers have a mystery threaded through them, but not all mysteries are thrillers. Just look at the cozy genre. By the definition alone those tend to be exceedingly mild in violence and, by extension, so does the thriller aspect of it. These genres are one area where Black and other PoC authors still have to fight to be heard. There have been amazing books that have come out in both genres over the years. But they do not get the same publicity that books written by white authors have. Even worse is that they have to fight to get classified as that genre. And it’s terrible. Books written by authors of color resonate more with me. I can actually see myself in most of situations, or I have been in them. So they push all the anxiety buttons. Readers shouldn’t have a narrow way of thinking. But sometimes, they do. It’s divisive and harmful for a books by an author of color to not be categorized as the genre that they clearly are. A particular scenario being mild for one part of the community doesn’t negate the fact that for others it is terrifying. Clowns do not scare or bother me on the level that they affect others. However, I would never say a book about scary clowns wasn’t horror just because that’s not my phobia. And to say otherwise comes across as belittling. Especially when it comes from people who call or like to think of themselves as allies. Below is a handful of books that fit either one or both of these genres. While I’m focusing specifically on Black authors here, we have numerous articles that highlight other authors of color. I recommend checking some of those out. This will help to cast a wider net than what you may have been reading in the genre. This book has had a lot back and forth on whether or not this story is actually a thriller and let me say it very loudly for the people in the back of the room. IT IS. Every situation that Sydney found herself in during this book was something that I could resonate with on some level. Nothing in this book was unintentional. And by nothing I mean absolutely nothing. There were no throwaway lines, characters, or situations. This book had me anxious the entire time I read it up until the last page. And I felt unsettled even when reading the very last page. I can’t remember if I heard this advertised as a horror or a thriller when it first came out. In my personal genre catalog I would place it as a satirical thriller. It is a good read, but the comedy here is very dark; so, it helps to have a somewhat twisted sense of humor to be able to fully enjoy it. This book comes with a lot of trigger warnings, primarily dealing with body horror. What seems more terrifying about it is that there is some truth to the horror here about medical experiments being done on Black people without their full knowledge or consent, as evidenced in the stories about the Tuskegee Experiment or the story of Henrietta Lacks. Although this was written in 2014, the themes here will ring uncomfortably loud in the 2020 landscape. Fair warning that this is a series, so there is likely to be some kind of cliffhanger here. A delightful twisty and dark addition to the locked door mystery genre, this one is sure to keep you on the edge of your seat and guessing until the very last page. Most people will probably think of Easy Rawlins and Devil in a Blue Dress when they hear this author’s name, but this book shouldn’t be overlooked, and Fearless is just as endearing as Easy. This book forces both Caren and the reader to come face to face with modern day America, and with unshaking commentary on race, family, politics, and the law, this gripping thriller will have you on the edge of your seat until the very last page. This satirical book, reminiscent of the writings of Ralph Ellison, examines the history of racism in our country. It is also a deep, moving story about family and the desperate lengths we will go to for the ones that we love.
